Can I Sell My Practice?

April 30, 2025Can I Sell My Practice?Written by Gregory W. Sampson and Rebekah Steely BrookerShare this PostWith the undeniable graying of our profession, more lawyers are facing retirement and, for some less fortunate, an unplanned early termination of their practice by disability, death, or other circumstances. This leads lawyers and their families to ask whether their hard work building a practice can reap the financial benefits they deserve. The short answer is yes, but the method chosen must be carefully executed to comply with applicable rules of professional conduct. When a lawyer plans to retire or close a practice, a number of traditional methods have worked successfully for decades under our professional responsibility rules. One is to hire an associate, mentor them, and work out a plan for the associate’s ascension and takeover of the practice with an exit compensation plan for the retiring lawyer. Others merge their practice with other firms bringing their client matters with them with consent and negotiate a retirement or exit compensation plan with the new firm. Still others engage co-counsel on open matters with client consent and enable that co-counsel to continue representation upon withdrawal, often with no compensation for the matters transferred beyond …

Practice Tips on File Destruction

October 21, 2024Practice Tips on File DestructionShare this PostIntroduction In Texas, there is no bright line rule that states when a client file can be destroyed. Thes practice tips are based on the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the guidance provided in a few ethics opinions. Applicable Rules and Ethics Opinions Ensure that the destruction of a client file does not violate the following rules or ethics opinions: Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 1.05:  Prohibits disclosure of confidential information of current or former clients except in certain circumstances set forth in the rule. Rules 1.09 and 1.10: Prohibit a lawyer from taking adverse action against a former client related to the matter in which the lawyer represented the client. Rule 1.14: States client funds and property must be kept separate from lawyer’s own property in a trust account and records of the account shall be maintained for 5 years after termination of the representation. Rule 1.15 (d):  A lawyer must take reasonable steps to protect a client’s interest when representation ends, including giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for the client to hire another attorney, returning documents or property to the client, and refunding any unearned fees. A …

Checklist for Closing Your Own Practice Without a Successor

Checklist for Closing Your Own Practice Without a SuccessorIt is important to create a transition plan with a timeline for closing your practice when you do not intend to sell your practice or transfer it to a successor attorney or firm. The following checklist outlines some of the issues to address when creating your plan and to protect the interests of your clients. A series of rules that may be implicated when you close your practice, of which you should be aware. are listed below. If you formed an entity through the Secretary of State, such as a professional corporation or a limited liability company, you must also dissolve the entity. See Section B, Dissolving the Professional Entity of a Sole Practitioner, for information on how to do so. Checklist for Closing Your Own Practice Without a Successor   Choose an Exit Date It is best to choose a target date for when you want to stop practicing law and create a plan of action. Some attorneys prefer to slowly transition by wrapping up cases and not accepting any new matters with the intention that there will be few, if any, client matters in need of closure or transition to …

planning - Texas Bar Practice

The Arc of a Lawyer’s Law Practice

The Arc of a Lawyer’s Law Practice The pace of change continues to accelerate. The profession can expect cessations issues as part of the fallout. The discipline of law practice is changing. In Texas, regional offices of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel encountered an increase in demand to address situations in which lawyers had died or were otherwise “absent” from law practice. The development echoed findings of the ABA National Task Force on Lawyer Wellness. The trends are not unique to Texas; the scope of the issue is national. Texas centralized calls to CDC Special Projects and formed a pilot program. In time, patterns emerged. The most difficult scenarios involve sudden cessations and “prospective cessations.” Some lawyers intended to cease practice; others didn’t. Some lived through personal crises; others didn’t. Lawyer suicides left scores of matters pending, with no lawyer. In 2019, the State Bar formed a Succession Planning Workgroup to confront these issues. Considering the experience of the pilot program, it became apparent that the challenge of cessations is not so much an issue for classic lawyer discipline, as it is for the discipline of law practice. Most calls involve deceased attorneys, and in those cases, the grievance system affords …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

How To Protect Your Clients and Firm in the Event of Death, Disability, Impairment, or Incapacity

How To Protect Your Clients and Firm in the Event of Death, Disability, Impairment, or Incapacity This information is designed to help you protect your clients’ interests in the event you are suddenly rendered unable to practice law. With some advanced planning, you can ensure a smoother transition for your clients and allay potential ethical pitfalls. Successor Attorney If you suddenly become unable to practice law, someone will need to review your case files to ascertain if there are pending or upcoming filing dates, contact clients to return or transfer files, handle the firm’s financial affairs, and deal with other issues that may need immediate attention.  Due to the content contained in the files, and the need to be able to spot legal issues, the best person to do this is presumably an attorney, or “successor attorney.” By determining in advance who will serve as your successor attorney, you offer better protection for your clients and a faster transition out of law practice. Once you have found a suitable attorney who agrees to wind down your practice, it is important to discuss what duties the successor attorney will need to perform, the scope of their responsibility, what event will trigger the …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

A Guideline for Judges

A Guideline for JudgesWhat to Do When an Attorney has Abandoned His Practice, Is Incapacitated, or Deceased: Assumption of Jurisdiction, A Guideline for Judges or Other Interested Persons Attorneys are aging. Because of a weak economy many attorneys are sole practitioners (while others never wanted anything other than to practice on their own) and are forced to work as long as they can. It is a combustible combination. Unless an attorney practices in a smaller location or before the same judge or judges, it may take a while to learn that an attorney has become incapacitated or has died. A client may learn an attorney is no longer available when the attorney’s phones are disconnected and the office appears abandoned. A judge may learn the attorney is unavailable when a client contacts the court for information on what to do to continue with his or her case when the attorney has disappeared. The Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, Part XIII, provide for the cessation of practice as follows: 13.02 Assumption of Jurisdiction: A client of the attorney, Chief Disciplinary Counsel, or any other interested person may petition a district court in the county of the attorney’s residence to assume jurisdiction over the attorney’s …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

Checklist for an Attorney Who Closes Another Attorney’s Office

Checklist for an Attorney Who Closes Another Attorney’s Office This checklist is intended as a guideline only as circumstances surrounding the closing of a law office vary. Check the attorney’s calendars to look for case deadlines. Search the attorney’s office to look for documents that need to be filed. Open and review all unopened mail, especially certified mail, and file it. Review electronic sources to ensure that the client file is complete and up to date. Review the firm’s electronic records for client-related material, including such things as e-mail communications, instant messages, or other documents generated during the course of the case, especially those communications that indicate pending deadlines. Look for an office procedure manual. Determine whether anyone has access to a list of clients with active files. Review active client files to determine which cases need to be dealt with first. Make sure that any case with a statute of limitations running, or that is set for hearing or trial, are handled immediately. Look for cases with discovery settings. It is important to handle these cases immediately. Contact the client for matters that are urgent or set for the near future. Ask the client for permission to reset. As …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

What to do if Your Attorney Dies, Disappears, Becomes Disabled, or is Suspended or Disbarred

What to do if Your Attorney Dies, Disappears, Becomes Disabled, or is Suspended or DisbarredWhen a client is unable to contact an attorney for any reason Client’s valuable legal rights may be compromised. Therefore, it is important to: 1) obtain your file; 2) ascertain the status of the case, including any pending deadlines or court settings; and 3) hire new counsel if you are unable to locate your attorney. The following are suggestions that may assist you in protecting your rights and ensuring that your legal matter is handled appropriately. 1. Gather information regarding the location of your file a. If the attorney disappears, first try to ascertain where/if s/he has relocated. To ascertain if the attorney has relocated: Contact the State Bar of Texas to determine if the attorney has provided new contact information; If not, contact the landlord of the building to determine if the attorney left a forwarding address; or Send a letter, certified mail return receipt requested, to determine if/where the letter is delivered (you may have to check the USPS website for the location of the delivery). b. If the attorney becomes disabled or dies: Determine if another attorney has agreed to assume responsibility for …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

Best Practices When Selling A Practice

Best Practices When Selling A Practice×to print brochure from the pdf version, click here. One of the most misunderstood “non-rules” in the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC) is the so-called ban on selling a legal practice. There simply is no such ban. There are no rules that prohibit lawyers from selling all or part of their practices. That being said, there are TDRPC Rules that impact the sale of a law practice, and lawyers need to be familiar with them. For purposes of selecting applicable Rules, “sale of a law practice” refers to the conveyance of client matters from the lawyer who has an attorney-client relationship with the client (“selling lawyer”) to an acquiring lawyer. The relevant TDRPC Rules include the following: Rule 1.01 Competent and Diligent Representation The acquiring lawyer needs to have the competence to render legal services and represent the clients in the particular matters previously handled by the selling lawyer. This presents a challenge when the acquiring lawyer may not know enough about the matters in the files to determine competence to represent particular clients. See Rule 1.05 below, “Confidentiality of Information.” Rule 1.02 Scope and Objectives of Representation If the acquiring lawyer intends …