Olmstead & Associates

Olmstead & Associates is a practice management, marketing, and technology consulting firm that works with law and other professional service firms ranging in size from 100 professionals to firms with solo practitioners. The firm, founded in 1984 and based out of St. Louis, Missouri, serves clients across the United States assisting them with implementing change and improving operational and financial performance, management, leadership, client development and marketing. Our clients benefit from our results-orientated team approach to consulting engagements where we focus on implementing change and improvements rather than simply providing advisory services. We partner with our clients and serve as a member of our clients management team and function as an advisor, coach, teacher, and facilitator. Our coaching program provides attorneys and staff with one-on-one as well as group coaching to help them get “unstuck” and move forward on initiatives, reinventing both themselves and their law practices.

Website: https://www.olmsteadassoc.com/
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Law Practice Management Asked and Answered Blog

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John Olmstead

Latest from Olmstead & Associates

Question: 
I am the managing partner in a twelve-lawyer estate litigation law firm in Chicago. I believe that our firm needs to be doing much more with AI implementation in our firm. We are using AI for legal research, litigation support, and general case related support activities. However, we have not implemented AI at all in general administrative and accounting operations which are areas where we have five staff employees handling a variety of tasks. I believe that we are inefficient and over staffed. I am having a tough time finding where to start so we can get a handle…
Continue Reading Law Firm Back Office Operations Improvement with AI – How and Where to Begin

Question:
I am a solo attorney in Bloomington, Illinois and have been practicing for 40 years. My practice handles estate planning and estate administration. I have one secretary who is also planning on retiring when I do.  I want to retire at the end of next year and sell or merge my practice. What are the chances of success and what can I expect to be able to receive for my practice? I generate $200,000 a year in fee revenue and net $100,000 in total earnings for myself. My clients mostly come from personal and professional referral sources. A few…
Continue Reading Law Firm Succession Planning – Selling a Solo Estate Planning Practice

Question:
I am the founding partner and sole owner in our firm located in Miami, Florida. We have a total of four lawyers, four paralegals, and four support staff in our firm.  We are an estate planning firm that handles estate planning, estate administration, and elder law matters for our clients. Estate planning matters are charged a flat fee and estate administration are billed based on time spent on the matter. At a recent attorney meeting the subject of AI and the impact upon estate planning came up and our discussion led us to the question as to the impact…
Continue Reading Law Firm Future Strategy – AI’s Impact Upon Estate Planning Practices

Question:
I am the founding and senior partner in our firm which is located in Tucson, Arizona. We have a total of ten lawyers in the firm, six of which are equity partners including myself, two are non-equity partners, and two are associates. We are a real estate and business boutique litigation firm.  I determine compensation for all the attorneys and staff in the firm. For partners I use a combination of working attorney fee collections and client fee originations and make a subjective determination regarding the other contributions a partner has made to the firm. I would like a…
Continue Reading Law Firm End of Year Partner Compensation – Determining Subjective Contributions

Question:
Our firm is a small general practice firm with three partners and two associates in Southern Illinois. We have been deploying AI for the past year primarily in our litigation cases and have experienced time savings and efficiencies from using AI tools. Since our litigation cases were all contingency fee cases AI did increase our profitability on these cases – we are not sure about our time bill matters. As managing partner in the firm, I am wondering what the impact of AI is going to have on our business and management strategy going forward. What are your thoughts?

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Continue Reading AI Is Changing Law Firms—Is Your Management Strategy Keeping Up?

Question:
I am the managing partner of a small boutique litigation firm in Southern, California. There are two equity partners in the firm and five associates. Two of our associates have been with us for 8 and 15 years respectively and are critical to the success of our practice. We do not want to lose them, so we are considering making them non-equity partners and giving them the title of partner. We are not ready for equity partners at this time. All associates in the firm are paid a salary and a discretionary bonus. How can we make their promotion…
Continue Reading Non-Equity Partnership in Law Firms – Issues to Consider & Implementation Suggestions

Question: 
Our firm is a twelve-lawyer litigation firm in Chicago. We have six equity partners and six associates in the firm. One of our partners is 85 and the others are 78, 72, 69, 58, and 52 respectively. We have no succession plan in place, and we have done nothing for prepare for eventual transition. Any suggestions on where and how we should start?
Response:
You need to begin to have some serious discussions with your senior partners as to their retirement goals and timelines and determine how close together their exits will be. Can the remaining three partners hold…
Continue Reading Law Firm Succession Planning in a Multi-Partner Firm – Where to Begin?

Question:
I am the managing partner of a sixteen-lawyer insurance-defense firm in Orlando, Florida. There are four equity partners in the firm, twelve associates, and eight paralegals plus administrative personnel. We manage the defense for various insurance company’s  insured primary in auto accidents, premises liability, and slip and falls cases. Our work comes primarily from four insurance companies. All of our clients are billed by the hour at low hourly rates with restrictions on the amount of time that we can spend on certain matters. We have resisted using any form of AI and we are continuing to staff our…
Continue Reading Insurance Defense Law Firm Survival in the Age of AI

Question: 
I am the managing partner of a twelve-lawyer business litigation firm in Toledo, Ohio. There are four equity partners, six non-equity partners, and two associates in the firm. Until three years ago I handled all of the administrative matters in the firm and was assisted by the firm’s bookkeeper. My practice and clients were suffering due to the amount of time I was spending handling the administrative concerns of the firm. So, the firm hired a professional legal administrator. Three years later it seems as if I am spending more time than before on administration and my practice is…
Continue Reading Law Firm Management – Characteristics of an Effective Administrator

Question:
I am the sole owner of a general practice firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. I have been in practice for 45 years and I am the only lawyer in the firm. I have a receptionist and a paralegal that also serves as my office manager and bookkeeper. I have tried hiring associates over the years, several times, but after spending time training them they eventually go elsewhere. I would like to reduce my workload and eventually retire. How should I approach finding and keeping an associate differently? Thank you for any ideas that you may have.
Response: 
This is a…
Continue Reading Law Firm Associate Recruiting and Retention Strategies in a Sole Owner Firm

Question:
I am the managing partner of a ten lawyer firm in Kansas City, Missouri. There are five partners and five associates in the firm. We are an insurance defense firm and our clients are a handful of insurance companies. Our cases are primarily slip and fall, premises liability, and auto accident cases. I have been the managing partner for two years and frankly I am getting burned out on the position and none of the other partners want the job. I am working 60-70 hours a week and am spending so much time on administrative matters that I don’t…
Continue Reading Law Firm Management – What is Keeping Law Firm Owners and Managing Partners Awake at Night

Question: 
I am a partner in a fourteen lawyer firm in Des Moines, Iowa with seven equity partners (shareholders) and seven associates. We are a business litigation firm exclusively. The seven equity partners (shareholders) have all been practicing law for fifteen years. We formed the firm five years ago when we all left a large law firm in area. The firm is structured as a professional corporation (PC). For the past five years we have managed the firm as a group with the seven of us making all of the management decisions. This requires us coming together at least once…
Continue Reading Law Firm Governance and Management Structure for 14 Lawyer Firm

Question: 
I am an associate working in a small family law practice located in Chicago. There are two attorneys in the firm – the owner/founder who is 74 and me. I have been out of law school for seven years and have worked with the firm since I graduated. Virtually all of the business that comes into the firm is originated by the owner. The owner of the firm has advised me that he wants to retire and would like me to take over his practice. I am interested. What are the potential issues and how should I proceed?
Response:…
Continue Reading Law Firm Acquisition – Acquiring a Founder’s Practice

Question:
I am the managing partner of a three lawyer estate planning practice in Bloomington, Illinois. I am the sole owner with no partners. The other two lawyers are associates that have been with the firm for several years. (One three years and the other seven years.) In addition to the attorneys we have a receptionist, a bookkeeper/office manager, and three paralegals.
We have recently gone through some lawyer and paralegal turnover and we are way behind in servicing client work and are experiencing client complaints. We are in the process of trying to staff up and hire another lawyer…
Continue Reading Estate Planning Firm Needs Help – Should we Hire an Experienced Lateral Associate

Question: 
I am the founder and sole owner of a business litigation firm in Orlando, Florida. I am 72 and want to retire and exit the practice within the next year. My office lease expires next year and I am not willing to sign another lease. There is one associate attorney that has been out of law school and with me for two years. He has yet to try any cases. There is also one paralegal in the firm that has been with me for 20 years.
While it would nice to receive some value and monetization for the effort,

…
Continue Reading Law Firm Sole Owner Succession and Exit – Top Challenges

Question:
I am the owner of a five-lawyer estate planning/administration firm in Fresno, California. The other four lawyers are associates in the firm with estate planning and administration experience ranging from one year to ten years. We have three paralegals, a office manager/bookkeeper, and a receptionist. We are using state of the art cloud-based practice management software for billing, accounting, calendaring, document storage and management, and lead tracking. We use MS 365 products for e-mail and word processing. We use specialized cloud-based software for estate planning document drafting and preparation. While most of our estate planning work is billed on…
Continue Reading Law Firm Operations Management Exception Report