Pillars of Law Firm Protection

• Citation: Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 0072
• Year: 2025
• Pages: 0072

Pillars of Law Firm Protection Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 72 Georgia Bar Journal May 2025

GBJ | Law Practice Management

Mitigate huge areas of risk to you and your firm by using the framework outlined in this article.

BY JONATHAN E. HAWKINS

Risks are everywhere. As lawyers, we know this. A huge part of our job is advising our clients about risks and helping manage them. But are you looking after the risks that are facing your firm? A framework I use to advise my law firm clients is what I call the Four Pillars of Law Firm Protection. Lawyers and law firms need protection from:

1. Their clients.

2. Their internal people.

3. Third parties.

4. Themselves.

It can be overwhelming, and you may not know where to start. To make this easier, apply the 80/20 rule. Start with the high-impact, low-hanging fruit.

Pillar 1: Protection From Your Clients

Three high-impact ways to protect yourself from clients are through your client retainer agreement, your conflict check system and malpractice insurance.

Client Retainer Agreements

One of the best ways to protect yourself from clients is through a well-drafted client retainer agreement. A well-drafted client retainer agreement will:

• Clearly identify the client. The more specific, the better. Specifying exactly who the client is and is not will also alert you to any potential conflicts or the need to obtain conflict waivers or consents, if allowed.

• Clearly state the scope of the work. Often clients assume you will do more for them than you intend. This is why clarity is so important when defining the scope of an engagement. The scope of the work needs to be clear and specific. Exactly the work you are doing for a client, and, oftentimes, the work you are not.

• Set proper expectations. For example, how will you communicate with the client? What's required from the client— e.g., truthfulness, cooperation, preservation of evidence? Never make statements to clients that a certain result will be obtained. In fact, your engagement should explicitly state something like, "there is no guarantee of success."

• Clearly explain fees ant costs. How will you charge the client? Will a retainer be required? If so, how will it work? Is it for fees, expenses or both? Will it be evergreen, held as security, advance to apply to future invoices or replenishing? How often are invoices sent out? Any interest on late payments?

Conflict Check System

The longer you...