Over the past decade, the advantages of group practice have significantly contributed to the increase in the number of lateral hires and the joining together of groups of attorneys in general practice and specialty law firms.
Without regard to the actual size of the firm, any level of growth poses inherent problems involving the management of the individual lawyers, facilities and resources. The attorney in the smaller firm may keep informed about the firm’s activities by personal observation and involvement, while his or her counterpart in the larger organization may rely more on the official lines of communication. Each of these attorneys will be adequately served so long as some formalization of the management processes has been imposed to ensure adequate control over all of the firm’s affairs.
