Four Reasons to Work With a Small Law Firm

Of the state’s 22,000 practicing attorneys, 19,000 work in law firms with 17 or fewer lawyers, according to a Washington Bar Association estimate. More than 60 percent work in firms with five or fewer lawyers. Of the 3,000 that work in larger law firms, the vast majority work in three offices:  the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Washington, K&L Gates, or Perkins Coie.

If you are a tech or biotech startup and your inclination is to work with a larger firm, chances are you will have to take a number.  Here are four reasons to consider using a smaller law firm.

1. Responsiveness. Getting quick responses to your legal questions as they come up, not at the end of the day or several days later, is a major reason to work with a small law firm attorney.  Many large law firm attorneys do not answer their phones but instead call their clients back at set times, like the end of the day.  In contrast, small law firm attorneys answer their phones all day long, fielding questions and providing answers when you need them, not when it’s convenient to respond.

2. Personal Attention. Do you want your attorney to know you and your business on a deeper level, to understand the fundamentals about what makes your startup tick?  Small law firm attorneys do this best.  Under the small law firm model, you will work directly and with one attorney and will not be shifted from one attorney to another, as is frequent in large law firms.  You will know the attorney who will answer the phone, who will give you legal solutions, and who will be drafting all of your documents.

3. Customized Legal Solutions. If you are interested in more than boilerplate agreements or standard responses to your legal issues, you may want to consider working with an attorney that has the time to think outside the box and whose training includes more than just graduation from a top law school.  Many small law firm practitioners not only have this but accolades from engineering colleges and business schools.

4. Cost Predictability. If you are on a budget and want to contain your legal spending by using alternative fee arrangements, big law is not going to be your best bet.  Yes, they defer their billings, meaning that they will permit you to pay later as opposed to immediately.  However, this is not an alternative fee arrangement, this is an alternative billing arrangement.  Alternative fee arrangements, or AFAs, are things like project based costing or fixed fees.  These pricing methods have been used in consulting for many, many years and give you a predictable cost for your legal work that will not change as your project evolves.

So, if service is important to you, if knowing what your legal costs are going to be in advance is important to you, and if building a personal and enduring relationship with your legal advisor is important to you, you may be better off going with the other 60 percent of legal practitioners.