By Steve Lash
The Daily Record Newswire
Becoming “of counsel” can provide attorneys with all the joys and few of the stresses of being a partner or associate at the law firm, say lawyers who have made — or seriously contemplated – the jump.
Thomas B. Lewis was with Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP for 30 years before becoming of counsel at the Baltimore firm in early 2015, a workload-lightening move that the 65-year-old said will give him time to travel and hike while his knees and back still allow.
The of-counsel position provides a “wonderful transition” toward retirement that enables attorneys to stay “professionally and intellectually active” in the practice of law, said Lewis, adding that he advises clients and counsels the firm’s attorneys in complex real estate issues, such as tax increment financing. Meanwhile, Lewis said he no longer has to do the “heavy lifting” of a partner or associate, such as shepherding cases from beginning to end.
William Hubbard, director of the Center for the Law of Intellectual Property and Technology at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said serving as of counsel at a law firm in the city enables him to enjoy the richness of academia and the challenge of litigation in the specialized sphere of intellectual property.
“For me, it’s perfect,” said Hubbard, of counsel at Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White LLC. “It provides a nice middle ground. I can stay involved in the practice of law while continuing to stay engaged as an academic.”
Barbara E. Palmer said she became of counsel at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake P.A. in 2008 when “my children started having children.”
“I wanted to slow down,” she said. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”
Just a few months ago, attorney Jeffrey Scholnick was looking forward to trading in his solo practice in Towson to become of counsel at a nearby small firm.
After 20 years on his own, Scholnick hoped associating himself with a firm would allow him finally to take a long vacation and not have to worry about coverage for his clients or paying the rent on his office.
But those plans were dashed in April when the firm, which he declined to name, disbanded.
The four attorneys agreed that a loose association with a law firm, being neither a partner nor an associate, denies the salary but provides other benefits: for Lewis, a “stimulating and rewarding” relationship with a firm he knows well and helped build; for Hubbard, a place to practice part-time the type of law he teaches full-time; for Palmer, time with family while still practicing family law; and for Scholnick, the promise of vacation and relief from the grind of managing a solo practice.
Lewis said an abrupt retirement would have ill-served not only his clients and colleagues at the firm but himself.
“That’s a hard cutoff to weather,” he said. “I like much better a transitional approach and I couldn’t be happier with it.”
Hubbard said his association with Silverman Thompson keeps him outside the fray of law-firm politics while enabling him to assist its attorneys in patent cases as needed. This hands-on assistance provides a greater benefit – and at less cost – to the firm than having it retain him as an expert in its patent cases.
“I can add substantial value at key decisional nodes in a dispute,” Hubbard said. “I don’t need to be shepherding a case through every phase of discovery. I like to think of myself as a specialty tool but one that doesn’t take up too much space in the drawer.”
As for the classroom, Hubbard said he believes recounting his current cases for the firm provides his students a welcome break from the contrived fact patterns they so often must decipher in their other law-school classes.
“My students need to be able to succeed in real-world legal disputes and not the stylized hypotheticals that sometimes dominate law-school discussions,” he said.
Palmer said becoming of counsel at Joseph Greenwald’s Rockville office provided “an opportunity for me to spend more time with my family” – and earn a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy.
“I went back to school,” she said. “It was just a wonderful opportunity.”
Palmer said she continues to handle family-law cases from beginning to end, though she has taken on fewer clients since becoming of counsel.
“We can turn 65 and it doesn’t make a difference,” she said. “I am still practicing law.”
Scholnick said his disappointment with not getting the much-needed break that becoming of counsel promised is outweighed by his relief that the firm’s demise occurred before he left his office space to join them.
Scholnick, a business litigator and bankruptcy attorney, said he is left wondering how he had not seen the pending collapse of the firm. He performed asked legal-community colleagues about the reputation and solvency of the firm and whether anyone knew of any infighting.
“I did just about everything but try to hypnotize them and see what’s going on inside their brains,” Scholnick said.
All of his inquiries checked out, and he was looking forward to trading in his shingle for the loose affiliation as of counsel.
Instead, his experience taught him valuable lessons he gladly shares with similarly situated attorneys.
“Be very careful if you are a solo and you have a lot to protect,” such as your client list, Scholnick said. “Look before you leap. See if there are any cracks in the wall or in the foundation because it is covered up with dirt.”
Scholnick has not given up, however, on the idea of becoming of counsel at a firm with lawyers who could cover for him and from whom he could get referrals.
“In the long run, it would be nice to be able to go on vacations,” Scholnick said. “It would be nice to have that kind of back up.”
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