They tend to involve multiple complex issues: contract issues, tort issues, professional responsibility issues, to name a few. And yes, they often are focused on money. But for law firm partners—who typically have worked together for years, trusted each other implicitly, and relied on each other to build and run a business together—money disputes are just one part of it.

There also is an emotional component to these disputes, including feelings of betrayal and resentment, that also must sometimes be addressed in order to reach a successful resolution.

Mediating law firm dissolutions requires us to call on every aspect of our expertise and experience related to law firms. Is dissolution the best option for the firm? That threshold question is a critical starting point because there may be alternatives that are better for everyone. If dissolution, winding up, and termination are the best path, navigating this process requires diligent expertise.

Clients’ interests must be protected, matters must be transferred, the firm’s assets and liabilities must be assessed, and a plan must be devised for satisfying obligations and distributing resources in a compliant and fair way. This ongoing process, customized to your law firm, permits the parties to focus on what matters and to avoid hitting roadblocks in the dissolution process that sidetrack attention and energy or prevent moving forward.

Attorney contingent fees often lead to disputes, among the lawyers involved, about how to fairly distribute the fees. This is especially true in matters involving law firm departures, when contingent fee cases are transferred to new firms, or when new lawyers take a more prominent role in the case. A failure to promptly resolve these disputes also means a delay in getting paid.

It’s not uncommon for contingent fee lawyers to rely on informal relationships, and ambiguous agreements, when a contingent case begins, and the lawyers handling the case may change over time. By the time a contingent case settles, or goes to trial, those attorneys may find themselves in seemingly intractable and difficult disputes about how they should be compensated from the fees recovered. Knowing the law and equity on these questions is critical, but often the applicable principles don’t provide clear or robust solutions for this problem. Our mediation process for resolving attorney contingent fee disputes is as unique as your case.