Skill Sets Different at Smaller Firms, Attorneys Find

A decision that changed the legal career of Lori Wenderoff was one that was made outside of the courtroom. Wenderoff works in a small four attorney firm in Northridge representing major corporations in worker’s compensation cases and she had been overseeing the business side of the firm as well as working cases. The decision to hire an office manager to handle personnel, insurance, and billing relieved Wenderoff of those business duties and allowed her to concentrate on her caseload. “If anyone is going to start their own (firm) it is worth every penny to have someone in that position,” Wenderoff said. “Being a good lawyer is a different skill set from being a good business person.” That difference in skill sets becomes all the more pronounced when a lawyer practices on their own or only has a few partners. Add in a sluggish economy as has been the case the past two years and those business skills become vital to a law career, particularly to those practice areas vulnerable in a recession. Sole practitioners and lawyers at small firms wouldn’t be where they are if there wasn’t already a bit of an entrepreneur in them to begin with. It’s a big decision to go out on your own, these lawyers say, but it’s a decision they rarely regret. With that decision comes a freedom not found at large- or even medium-sized firms; freedom to practice law the way they want, service the clients the way they want. “It takes confidence, a willingness to take a risk and fall flat on their face,” said Myer Sankary, a full time mediator in Sherman Oaks and who has had his own law practice for 36 years. When these solo attorneys and small firms succeed they play a big role in the justice system. Not all clients can afford the fees charged by the large law firms and lawyers who are on their own or in small firms can give the same quality representation at a lower cost. The vast majority of lawyers in California work either on their own or in small firm, which is defined by the state bar as 10 attorneys or less. Individuals in need of legal assistance are more than likely represented by those attorneys while the corporate and institutional clients gravitate toward the big firms. A big reason lawyers go out on their own is so they can represent individuals and not corporate clients, said Steven Mehta, an attorney in Valencia. “In some sense, it’s the general store versus Home Depot,” Mehta said. Being a sole practitioner or associate at a small firm is also the launching point of many a legal career as not all law school graduates will be hired at large firms or there is just no space to take them. Caption: Woodland Hills attorney Doron Tisser said he never wanted to work at a large law firm. Attorneys who spent much of their careers away from the larger practices nonetheless still worked at one at sometime. Wenderoff did, Sankary did, and so did Doron Tisser, an estate planning attorney in Woodland Hills. A large firm is never where Tisser wanted to be because in that setting he would not be able to offer the type of service he wanted. “You were dealing with a legal issue and not as much with the personal and emotional issues,” Tisser said. A smaller firm does offer a flexibility not typically found at bigger practices that may have bureaucratic procedures and processes to follow to respond to changing client needs. On the other hand, those large firms also provide the support of secretaries and paralegals to take care of much of the paperwork generated in a legal practice. Doing it yourself A sole practitioner often learns the nuts and bolts of that paperwork by taking it care of it themselves. “At this point I’d be an excellent legal secretary if I didn’t want to be a lawyer,” said Matthew Mickelson, an attorney in Encino. And if the thinking is that only a job at a big firm will produce a big paycheck, think again. Mickelson earned $100,000 plus a $30,000 bonus the first year at his first job. He now brings in the same from his judgment enforcement and business litigation practice. Brent Finch took a $50,000 pay cut when he went from a national firm on the other side of the hills to a mid-sized firm in Woodland Hills. When he started his own practice he began earning more than he ever had. Overhead for a single attorney is easy to control, said Finch, who handles real estate and business law cases. He subleases an office from another firm and pays by the hour for use of that firm’s secretary. “I do not need a full time associate,” Finch said. “I can use a contract attorney to help out on an as needed basis.” While general law practitioners are still found in the legal community, specialization has become necessary for those attorneys wanting to set themselves apart. Solo attorneys and small firms can be found across all specializations. When Finch went on his own, he did not change his practice areas. Mickelson contends that criminal law and personal injury practices lend themselves well to sole practitioner because not a lot of infrastructure or large space and large staff is needed. In representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases there is the likelihood the case will not go to trial and will be settled. There is no need for a staff to prepare motions or do discovery, Mickelson said. Surviving the downturn In a down economy there are also practice areas that continue to do well. Estate planning is one, said Doron Tisser, which he attributes to the necessity of planning out an estate or administrating a trust being non-discretionary in the face of an illness or death. Business likewise has been good at Wenderoff Solomon LLP. The caliber of companies that Wenderoff and her colleagues represent has pulled them through the downturn. Not all lawyers are so fortunate. Those in practice areas that charge by the hour are likely to run into cash flow problems that can lead to difficulty meeting payroll, rent and other expenses. On top of that is the attorney’s legal obligation to continue to represent the client, even if that client is unable to pay. “It causes hardship on both sides,” said Nancy Goldstein, an attorney in Westlake Village and incoming chairman of the Solo and Small Firms section of the State Bar of California. “Lawyers don’t like to work for free, unless they choose to do so. The problem is when you are not making that choice voluntarily.” Financial issues Preventing this cash flow problem is where business acumen comes in handy. Attorneys should know how to budget out a case and be informed by the client how much money is available and how much can actually be paid, Sankary said. “This is not often done and this creates bitter fights,” Sankary said. A law school education, however, doesn’t prepare an attorney to run their own business. That’s where the continuing legal education programs from regional and state bar associations play a role. There is also following the sense of when to hand off those business-side duties to those who can better handle them, such as Wenderoff did with her decision to hire an office manager, or as Tisser does with delegating responsibilities to staff members. “I do not schedule appointments,” Tisser said. “My staff knows what I shouldn’t do.”