Q. I am an attorney in New Orleans who has been in practice for ten years. I practiced with a small firm for eight years as an associate and then opened my own firm two years ago. I primarily work from home supplemented with a virtual pay-as-you-go office. I do not have any staff employees. I have been approached by a 14-attorney firm that would like me to join their firm as a partner. Their offer includes a salary that I feel is low and a bonus based upon a percentage after covering my salary, other direct costs, and indirect firm overhead. The overhead allocations seem extremely high to me. In my practice, I am bringing in around $100,000 in gross fees and my overhead averages $10,000-$15,000 per year. My profit margin is around 90 percent. I feel like I am better off building up my practice rather than accepting their offer. What are typical overhead and profit margins for law firms?
This May, we're celebrating you during Member Appreciation Month. To help you meet your MCLE requirements, we're offering a free live CLE webcast for the first 700 member registrants next Thursday, May 10, from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Get the tips you need to drive your practice down a path of success with this full-day seminar in Naperville on June 1, 2018. Topics include: risk management; using software you already have; automated document assembly; succession planning; Moneyball for lawyers; open source investigations; and much more!
NEW! ONE ON ONE CONSULTATIONS! Reserve your space for a consultation with an Affinity Consulting Representative. (Pre-registration is required and space is limited.) Appointments are available before the seminar (7:30 – 8:30 a.m.) and after the program (5:15 – 6:15 p.m.). You will get some dedicated time with an expert to get their advice on what you could be doing to improve the management of your practice in the areas you most need help! Only open to ISBA Members who are registered for this seminar. Please contact the CLE Department at 800-525-8908 to reserve your space.
Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides free legal services to eligible individuals in central and southern Illinois, is looking to hire two staff attorneys at its Central Regional Office in East St. Louis.
Foreclosure Staff Attorney
Responsibilities for this opening include representation of clients in foreclosure. Responsible for giving presentations to members of our client population about their rights.
The polls for the ISBA Election closed yesterday, Monday, April 30, at 4:30 p.m. Results will be made available on Monday, May 7.
The three contested seats in the 2018 election are: third vice president, Board of Governors, First Judicial District — Cook County, and Board of Governors, Area 8 — Judicial Circuits 3 and 20. All members were eligible vote for third vice president. Members were also able to vote for any office that falls in the geographical area of their ISBA address.
ISBA books are a great resource to help save you time and money.Covering a wide range of subjects, all books are written by recognized authorities and are focused on Illinois law. Each title is available in a convenient paperback format, and most are also available as a downloadable Fastbook PDF. Because Fastbooks are downloadable and searchable, they make it easy to always have the law at your fingertips.
Most books are also bundled with a complimentary Fastbook PDF that you can download after placing your order.
This May, we're celebrating you during Member Appreciation Month. We have a full calendar of prizes, discounts and giveaways, so stay tuned to ISBA communications for detailed announcements with instructions for how you can get in on the fun. You can look forward to a bookstore sale, a free live CLE webcast, free one-on-on legal tech consultations, member renewal incentives, a social media contest, and more. View our Member Appreciation Month page for additional details.
As more and more litigants choose to represent themselves, Illinois courts continue their effort to adapt to this "new normal" (see the October 2017 IBJ cover story.) One such adaptation is a program launched by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice late last year that gives grants to 13 judicial circuits to help them better serve pro se litigants and manage their impact on the justice system.
Asked and Answered
