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The Distributed Law Firm Model

Anthony Joseph Dovale

Summary

  • A distributed law firm model reduces overhead costs by eliminating the need for physical office space.
  • Attorneys in distributed firms enjoy better work-life balance, gaining extra time by avoiding commutes and managing schedules that suit their personal lifestyles.
  • The broader candidate pool in distributed firms fosters greater diversity, leading to innovative ideas and improved productivity, particularly beneficial in specialized fields like IP law.
The Distributed Law Firm Model
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Distributed law firms have been around for over 20 years. In recent years, they have become more prevalent, partly due to better technology and, of course, the COVID-19 global pandemic. The industry has changed considerably, but the driving factors remain the same. While the move to a distributed model has been primarily driven by economics for firms, attorneys, and clients, an important factor is an attorney’s own quality of life.

Distributed law firms are not dependent on location, which allows work in a manner that fits personal lifestyles—at home, in the office or another physical location, or virtually. Attorneys are distributed nationally or globally so as to allow law firms to provide full service to their clients while permitting the flexibility and freedom of the attorneys to work anywhere.

A distributed model has many advantages over traditional law firms, including a more cost-efficient structure. This often means eliminating the need for office space and cutting the many costs associated with operating an office to zero. Any remaining overhead—especially technical support—becomes a fraction of office-based law firms. This is particularly true for patent prosecution practices, which historically have been loss-leaders for large traditional firms. In a distributed model, even heavy flat or fixed-fee patent prosecution can be profitable because the overhead is so low.

Culturally, distributed law firms have been proven to foster productivity and allow for more flexibility. Both aspects contribute to enhanced attorney recruitment and retention. Working remotely multiplies the pool of potential candidates as geographical location becomes irrelevant. While a distributed law firm will still look for candidates barred in a particular state when fulfilling a specific need, this search will not be restricted to larger cities only.

The model’s flexibility attracts attorneys in all specialties, but intellectual property (IP) attorneys are a particularly good fit as the practice area is heavily federal. In fact, the practice of IP law has greatly benefited. Distributed law firms can staff their IP groups with the best possible candidates from around the country. These firms can cover almost every technology or IP specialty—an almost impossible task for geographically bound, traditional law firms.

For the individual attorney, the distributed model also offers many work/life advantages. Attorneys who practice in a distributed law firm might gain an additional two hours a day without having to factor in a commute. That is an extra 10 hours per week to spend with friends and family or as additional work hours, contributing directly to the bottom line. Attorneys can even choose to live in less expensive locations and not worry about a commute into metropolitan areas.

Working from home or another preferred space—supported by the infrastructure of a well-organized distributed law firm—can truly empower attorneys to manage their own time. What can be a straitjacket of consecutive eight-hour stretches at a traditional law firm—invariably supplemented with additional hours in the morning and evening—cannot beat a personalized schedule: as long as the work gets done, it really does not matter when it is done. Reduced frictions make room for family time and personal needs.

Diversity has been an issue with IP law groups for a variety of reasons. But in a distributed law firm, the pool of candidates is necessarily larger and the geographic territories from which they come are practically unlimited. Thus, there is more success in attaining diversity than with traditional model law firms. The result is more diverse firms with new ideas, greater productivity, and a richer culture.

Specific to the practice of IP law, with distributed law firms almost every task for an IP attorney can be accomplished remotely. Electronic filing eliminates the days of an attorney running to the post office at midnight to beat a statutory deadline. Also gone are the paper-filled, trifold folders of old, which used to contain every single patent or trademark file. The documentation process is now 100% digital. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is digital, and 80% of its workforce now works remotely.

The distributed law firm model creates happier attorneys, increases productivity, improves work culture at the firm, and leads to higher retention rates. With a distributed model, everyone can benefit.

©2022. Published in Landslide, Vol. 15, No. 2, December/January 2023, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

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