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How to Attract and Acquire a Practice Group

By Lawrence Mullman and Jon Lindsey
November 02, 2006

If you could bring in a new group of clients generating $10 million in annual legal fees, would your partners make it a priority? How about $15 million? Or $20 million? Those were the estimated historical revenues of three different groups of rainmakers (and supporting casts) assisted by Major, Lindsey & Africa in the first half of 2006 as they transitioned to new law firms. Such acquisitions of groups led by major rainmakers reflect a sea change in how the legal profession does business, particularly with respect to growth. No longer satisfied with a model of organic growth 'up through the ranks' or the more recent sporadic additions of individual partners, more firms are turning their focus to the acquisition of entire practice groups; bringing with them seven- and eight-figure practices. (Mergers of entire firms, while far more common than a generation ago, are a topic for another article. While they provide many of the benefits of a group acquisition ' and sometimes far more ' there are fewer and fewer attractive and willing merger partners to consider.) For most law firms, growth no longer focuses simply on the number of attorneys, but rather on increasing revenue per lawyer, profits per partner, geographic footprint and diversity of practice areas.

The Advantages of Growth by Groups

In today's marketplace, firms are increasingly interested in acquiring integrated practice groups of three or more partners who have worked together for some time with the ancillary associate attorney and non-legal support. (In all but the most rare cases, the group has an established client base that generates revenues per lawyer equal to, or higher than, that of the acquiring firm.) This is a logical extension of firms' continuing desire to grow, but with a more sophisticated and conservative approach.

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