INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL FIRMS

 

 

 

The Legal practice means, “Client representation through providing advice and counsel” and it is business of law as profession.

The practice of law involves giving legal advice, drafting legal documents, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits. It is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or Attorney at Law, barrister, solicitor or civil law notary. However, there is a substantial amount of overlap between the practice of law and various other professions where clients are represented by agents.

Here the client representatives are called as Legal Practitioners and above said practices are considered as Legal Practice.

 

The above said practice a done with different kinds of setup and the most commonly found are given below:

1)   Individual law practice

2)   Associate legal practice.

Here we will see a brief discussion about the advantages, disadvantages, challenges and benefits of the legal practitioners, who are engaged in any of these two given practice kinds.

 

An individual practice is a kind of practice where there exists only one single practitioners or practice is done under a single name, by the word individual or sole practice we can come into conclusion that practice is done by a single person. It is a practice where the legal practitioner is the solely manager and the creator of the office and it is the kind of practice which requires less capital to start and this practice does not require much of permissions or licenses from the Government to start. It is very easy to form and maintain this is the very reason that we find many Individual practitioners than other kind of practices. Advantages and Disadvantages of sole practice are as follows.

 

 

HIGHLY VARIED WORK

 

Here its being a single handled work, a Lawyer can work on varied subjects, this means he can take up different types of matters like Civil, Criminal, Administrative law etc.

 

FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULE

 

Here the lawyer is the head he can schedule his working hours according to his will. Here he is under no other person or body so he can fix up his working hours to his wish and can make his hours flexible according to his availability.

 

NO OBLIGATIONS

 

Here he is the sole regulator of his office; he is under no obligations from third persons. He can manage his office accordingly to his preference.  

 

SIGNIFICANT CLIENT CONTACT

 

Here he has good contact with his clients and he has a very good direct contact with his clients. The lawyer has a very good contact with his clients and it being an informal setup there can be no barriers between the clients and lawyers, which in turn develops trust in the minds of the clients on the lawyers.

 

INFORMAL, RELAXED ATMOSPHERE

 

Unlike Associate legal firms, sole practice culture is often more relaxed and informal. It is not a well organized office like as an Associate Legal Firm and most of the times we find it like a domestically kind of set up rather an official setup.

 

 

QUICK DECISIONS CAN BE TAKEN

 

Here quick decisions can be taken when compared to Associates as it requires no big process. Here the number of employees is very less, quick decisions can be taken.

 

 

REWARD FOR SKILLED PRACTICERS

 

Here reward for the hard work is given and it is recognized to full extent. This means the more hard work with skilfulness the much the reward.

 

 

EASY TO FORM

 

It is very easy to form a sole practitioner office and doesn’t require many formalities like an Associate legal firm and because it is easy to form we find many sole practitioners taking up this kind of practice.

 

These are some of the benefits of a solo practice. However, working of lawyers has some challenges or disadvantages and they are below.

 

Modest Earnings

 

Sole practice often has lower budgets than Associate firms and generally has fewer earnings, although exceptions to this rule exist.

 

Limited Resources

 

Sole practice has fewer resources requiring legal professionals to assume roles outside their traditional job description. For example, attorneys may be required to make their own photocopies; paralegals may need to file documents with the court.

Small Support Staff

 

With little or no support staff, lawyers may need to file papers with the court or perform other non-billable tasks themselves.

 

Exposure to Market Fluctuations

 

Sole practice stability and revenue may rest on a few clients; the loss of one major client could affect the future of the practice. These being dependent up on limited clients, when any unwanted happens then these practisers are exposed to market and fluctuations can be seen in their profession. 

 

 

Little Formal Training

 

Sole practice often espouses a “sink or swim” culture in which professionals must learn quickly to stay afloat.

 

Social and Professional Isolation

 

Solo practices may face isolation since limited staff members reduces the opportunity to socialize, network, share knowledge and seek guidance from others.

 

Reputation

 

Sole practice takes a long time to earn reputation and recognition and they are not matched with Associate legal firm’s reputation in most of the cases.

 

Local Perspective

 

Sole practice are generally have a local client base and lack the multi-jurisdictional presence of larger firms, thus limits the types of legal work performed and the types of clients served.

 

 

Cannot Advertise

 

Sole practitioner of law cannot advertise for his or her profession.

 

These are some of the benefits and challenges of the Sole Practice.

 

An Associate legal practitioner often refers to an Attorney or Lawyer etc, who has not been made a partner in to the law firm; it means he is a person who is employed by the law firm and he who is not a partner to the firm and he does not share ownership, profits or decision making of the firm.

This very concept has its roots in European countries and it is an old concept in Western and Developed countries. This is not a recent concept to India, but its growth can be seen in recent past because of rapid growth in Industrial sector and the legal consequences arising out of the growth has made this kind of Legal Firms to increase rapidly.

From the above we can get an idea that it is a business kind of setup rather than the formal setup of sole legal practice.

Establishment of these firms requires a lot of formalities, these firms requires many kind of permissions and licenses to start up. These firms are like partnership firms kind of and they have to fulfil the formalities just like that of partnership firms.

 

As we know that a coin has two sides even this setup has its own Advantages and Challenges, they are discussed below:

 

 

High Salaries

 

These Associate Legal Firms pay high salaries to its employees because of their High earnings. These are the highest paid environments found in Legal profession.

 

 

Well Credentialed Colleagues

 

Since these firms offer high amount of financial packages one can expect that it recruits the most well qualified lawyers or legal persons etc, from the prestigious law schools which will in turn help others to excel in profession.

 

 

Much of the high-end, complex litigation and transactional legal work is given to law firms which boast high-calibre talent and a broad range of resources.

 

 

Clients of law firms tend to be more plentiful and diverse than those of sole practice. A large, diversified client base makes it less likely that the firm will encounter financial difficulty if a client takes its business elsewhere.

 

Law firms have more on-site resources than individual practice. Law firm resources range from full-service copy centres and extensive law libraries to in-house gyms and full-service cafeterias.

 

 

An Associate law firm has extensive administrative and support staff at its disposal. Staff may include legal administrators, legal secretaries, paralegals, marketing specialists, IT personnel, file clerks, librarians, court filers and messengers.

 

 

Associate law firm offices may offer more plush and spacious surroundings those of small firms, public interest firms and the government. Large law firm offices are generally located in prime areas of town, close to the courthouse, fine dining (to woo clients and recruits) and other amenities.

 

 

Many of the mega-firms have multi-jurisdictional practices and multiple locations across the globe allowing lawyers and paralegals to serve international clients.

 

 

Associate law firms often establish well-defined training and mentoring programs for associates, paralegals and other law firm professionals. Many large firms also have elaborate summer associate programs and in-house educational programs that provide continued growth and learning opportunities for its employees.

 

 

 

Many law firms contain complex organizational hierarchies creating more opportunities for promotion. For example, the career path of a lawyer in a large firm might progress from entry-level/junior associate to mid-level associate, senior associate, non-equity partner, equity partner and senior partner.

 

 

Many large law firms create diversity initiatives to promote the success of its women and minority attorneys and encourage equal opportunity. Here we see different type of people, who have come from different back ground and different ideas by this one can find that minority or women or juniors etc, are given equal opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working for a top-name law firm that is well-recognized and highly regarded in the legal community affords the employee a certain level of status and prestige.

 

 

High-end, complex legal work in a broad range of practice areas provides an intellectually challenging environment for law firm attorneys and paralegals.

 

These are some of the advantages of Associate legal firms and below are the challenges.

 

 

Life in an Associate law firm may mean higher salaries and challenging work but it is not without its challenges. It has its challenges accordingly to its benefits and the challenges are given below.

 

Long hours are the norm in most large law firms. 50 to 80 work weeks are not uncommon among lawyers and paralegals. Working in these firms takes a great amount of time from law practitioners.

 

Associate and Large law firms attract a wealth of high-calibre legal talent, all competing for the best assignments, promotions, limited partnership spots and a slice of the profits.

 

Law firms are notorious for imposing high billable hour quotas. Typical quotas range from 2,000 to 2,200 hours a year which equates to around 42 hours of billed time a week. Since administrative tasks (such as billing time) and non-billable tasks (such as marketing) are inevitable, billing 42 hours means working 60 or more hours a week.

 

Due to selective hiring processes and above-market earnings, lawyers, paralegals and other professionals in a Associate law firm are held to a high standard of competence.

 

New associates in legal law firms may operate with little autonomy and complete routine, mundane tasks such as document review, cite-checking and multi-jurisdictional research, leaving the juicier assignments for more experienced attorneys. Paralegals might be stuck with low-end work so that more complex tasks can be billed by attorneys at a higher rate.

 

The complex, high-end legal work accomplished in law firms often carries a steeper learning curve than less sophisticated transactions.

 

Associate law firms may be harder to break into for those lacking experience or top academic credentials. Lawyers in the top firms generally have superior academic credentials and first-tier law school training. Paralegals in large law firms often have a four-year degree, a paralegal certificate and several years of experience within their specialty.

 

Associate legal firm employees most of them do not have direct relationship with most of its clients only the senior or the superiors contact and the rest just have to do the work which was given to them.

These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of Sole practice of Law and Associate Legal Firm practice. From the above we can get a good idea about the position of lawyers working in Associate firms and Individual Practice. These are all the benefits and challenges that a lawyer has to enjoy or overcome to get through this wonderful profession. In the end I conclude that practicing law in any type, lawyers have many advantages and challenges to overcome and it is not a cake walk for the would be lawyers.