Lynda ArtesaniLegal Accountant and Data Migration Specialist at The Proper Trust

Is This a Midsize Firm? Law Firm Size v Revenue

17 Oct 2023 · 1 min

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In this brief commentary, the speaker argues that the classification of a law firm as "mid-sized" should be based on the type of law practiced, the staffing model, and especially revenue generated per attorney. He illustrates this with a case study of an 84‑year‑old attorney with nearly 60 years of experience who specializes in mediation, corporate transactions, and M&A. This attorney bills over $1,000 per hour and alone produces revenue that many firms would need three or four lawyers to match. The speaker notes that the attorney’s ability to intersperse high‑value work with personal pursuits keeps him active, and concludes that, revenue‑wise, this solo practice qualifies as a mid‑sized firm.

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For me, it depends on the kind of law that they're practicing and the type of staff that they need. You know, as an example, we've got one client who's— he's 84 years old. He's been practicing law for almost 60 years, and he is the go-to person for mediation and those sorts of things here with corporate transactions and mergers and acquisitions and things like that. I mean, he charges over $1,000 an hour, and he's generating that revenue by himself. That some firms take 3 and 4 people to do. Yeah. And he has breaks in between his special work that he does and gets to do fun things. And that's why he's still practicing law. It's kind of cool. So to me, revenue-wise, he's a mid-sized firm.