The revised and updated "Tool Kit for Buying & Selling a Law Practice" is a complete learning system that includes these elements:
1. "Buying or Selling a Law Practice: Principles of Valuation," a handbook that discusses several different approaches to valuing a law practice,
2. "Buying or Selling a Law Practice: The Audiotape," a one-hour audiotape that covers selected principles of ethics, valuation, matching buyer with seller, and negotiation,
3. "Buying or Selling a Law Practice: The Workbook," which contains forms to assist you in determining the value of a law practice PLUS the current state rules of professional conduct that govern the sale of a law practice, and
4. "Workbook Forms," a computer disk of workbook valuation schedules.
WHO WANTS TO SELL A LAW PRACTICE? Surveys show that many lawyers are unhappy in their practice of law. They would opt out of their practice today if they could find a way to "cash in" on their years of toil. Many have built a quality law practice that provides a good living. But, for whatever reason, the joy of the practice has waned. They feel trapped by the need to continue to earn a living and the failure of the profession to permit the sale of this asset. Since 1989, one jurisdiction after another has changed its rules of professional conduct. The net result is that now, in these jurisdictions, the practitioner can sell his or her practice. The profession is finally recognizing the reality that a lawyer has built something of real value. The lawyer no longer has to merely close the doors; he or she can finally receive payment for the true economic value of the law practice upon transfer to another licensed professional.
EVEN "LATERAL HIRES"... And, almost every business day of the year, attorneys are transferring from one firm to another, taking their "book of business" with them. These lateral hires are, in effect, selling their client lists, their caseload and their expectation that their clients will follow them (otherwise known as "goodwill"). "Lateral hires" are selling their practice of law.
AND SURVIVING SPOUSES... The Tool Kit for Buying or Selling a Law Practice can be an important tool for surviving spouses of attorneys. Survivors may now be able to receive more than a mere pittance for the years of effort of the deceased attorney/spouse. If the estate of a deceased attorney can be liable for failure to transfer client files after death of the attorney (as Maine held recently), then certainly the estate ought to be able to reap the benefits by selling the practice.
AND OTHERS... Still other attorneys just want to know how to value their practice, even for their own personal satisfaction.
The "Tool Kit for Buying or Selling a Law Practice" was prompted by and reflects the growing demand for rule changes across the country. The tide is rising as more jurisdictions support the American Bar Association Model Rule 1.17, which originated from the ABA General Practice Section, endorsing the principle permitting the sale of law practices.
Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, is a certified management consultant in Los Angeles who advises attorneys and law firms on how to deliver their services more effectively while increasing their profits at the same time. He is the author of "The Profitable Law Office Handbook: Attorney's Guide to Successful Business Planning" and the creator of "Law Practice Management Review: The Audio Magazine for Busy Attorneys." He is also the author of the book, "Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law: Planning & Operating for Survival & Growth," published by the American Bar Association, and developer of "The Tool Kit for Buying or Selling a Law Practice."
