Thursday 27 June 2013

The Important Law Firm Partnership Agreements Your Firm Will Need

You are confident in your knowledge, skills and abilities and you are ready to start your own law firm. The enthusiasm is certainly overwhelming, but you have to arrange all legal, financial and management matters before you can begin the actual practice of law. You have to use a number of law firm partnership agreements to establish the entity and to cover all aspects of its operation. Here are some of the main ones that you should consider drawing.
As a start, you will need a standard law firm partnership agreement. It should cover all the main aspects regarding the establishment and functioning of the entity. There are a number of important points that should be included in this agreement. The joint and individual liabilities should be described. This is applicable to the management and partnership structure of the firm. The latter is really important if the entity is large or has large scale expansion plans. The income distribution and the expenses and allowances should be covered as well.
Most firms prefer to provide for all aspects of the partnership in the establishment document. In this way, all legal and financial matters between the partners will be arranged in advance. You should definitely consider using an agreement with provisions for the withdrawal, retirement, expulsion and death of a partner. These will save you a lot of hassle and money in the future.
The partners in some law firms have more specific professional and business relations and want these to be established in the law firm partnership agreement. Furthermore, some entities prefer to have separate agreements for new partners regarding their function and position in the business. In such cases different documents will be necessary. These include an agreement with provision for eventual retirement of senior partner and/or an agreement with provisions for terminating the interest of a partner.
It is best for a contract to employ law firm to be drawn in advance. This document will guarantee the smooth operation of the entity from the start. This contract should establish all the major aspects of the relationship between clients and the firm. The different types of remuneration, including retainer fees and contingent fees, should be stated and explained. The terms and conditions of pro bono work should be covered as well.
Your firm should also use counsel agreement with law, if you plan to have "of counsel" attorneys in your firm. It is important for the role of such employees to be clearly established in this document. Their ties to the entity should be explained. Their operation practices and responsibilities, if any, should be clearly described. All financial ties and remuneration matters should be clarified in this document.
You have to put in a lot of thought, time and effort in drawing these law firm partnership agreements. As highlighted earlier, all sides of all aspects should be covered. This will allow the firm to operate effectively and profitably. If you feel that you cannot come up with the documents on your own, you might want to opt for ready templates. These will certainly aid you in securing the smooth operation of your firm.
Get law firm partnership agreement templates drawn by professional attorneys! Find the best law firm retainer contract form to secure your profits! Give your law firm a head start now!


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