Resources

Consistent with our belief that conversation and collaboration breed productive ideas and even innovative perspectives, we are pleased to use this section of our website to share strategic resources. We invite you to visit often, share your thoughts and comments, as well as suggestions for topical resources others might find helpful. We'll include articles and white papers authored by Hayse LLC, as well as point you to content produced by others we find to be provocative.

Perspective and direction are essential to navigating any crisis. This is especially so as Covid-19’s impact on law firms remains unclear. As the premier advisor to law firms in transition, HayseLLC is pleased to provide this downloadable perspective on managing law firm crisis ...

Law firm succession is an issue of our times. Thousands of law firms will wrestle with its difficult realities sometime within the next decade. For some the time has already come; and many firms simply are not prepared. Firms unsure about handing the keys to the next generation, risk repercussion in at least three important areas.

Barely a week goes by without another announcement of two law firms deciding tomerge or otherwise combine. The incidence of mergers and acquisitions in today’s legal industry signals an increasing acceptance of the idea that growth by joining forces with another firm or group can be preferable to growth by organic means. For many law firm leaders, an M&A strategy provides a propellant that blasts their firms to a place they want to be.

According to Altman Weil’s MergerLine, a compilation of law firm M&A transactions, the numbers on law firm M&A activity unequivocally demonstrates the tactic’s popularity.

Law firms can be great customers for banks. A law firm’s needs can be many: working capital loans, equipment financing, depository services, trust department services, and capital loans for partners. The relationship that evolves from these needs can spawn further relationships – introduction to attorneys and staff who have personal banking needs; introduction to law firm clients that have business banking needs. As long as the bank/law firm relationship is a smooth one, it can prove to be a long lasting and lucrative partnership.

When a law firm’s loan with the bank exhibits signs of tension or trouble, it is imperative that the bank gives the matter its immediate attention. Indeed, because a law firm’s asset value is in its attorneys that can resign at any time, a loan workout with a law firm is challenging. For most banks, the fundamental objective of getting paid is coupled with a desire to see the law firm smooth out its bumps in the ...

What is a Law Firm in Transition?

There is no denying that the legal profession is in a tremendous state of flux.

An unfortunate number of law firms have faced significant challenges to their ability to move forward in a way that realizes their aspirations. We know the high-visibility names. Scores of other firms are wrestling with significant transitional questions today.  While some are more severe than for others, the truth is that in the current market more firms may be challenged by transition than those that are not.  These firms face one or more of four types of transition, generally identified as ...

For the law firm that depends on financing to operate, the relationship between a law firm its lenders is key to the firm's successful operation.  When carefully established and properly developed the relationship can be of enormous value to both parties.

The Relationship

First, from the banker's perspective, law firms as customers have the potential to be of great value. Law firms generally have the need for a variety of the banks services including:

Mass Layoffs at a Top-Flight Law Firm -- from Deal Book

Last Days of Big Law -- from New Republic

Who’s eating law firms’ lunch? -- From ABA Journal

Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption -- From Harvard Business Review