Frequently Asked Questions

You work how, when, and where you want. We are Collaborative, Cloud-based, and Flexible. Partners average 18 years of experience at AM Law 200 firms and/or sophisticated corporate in-house departments. You can rest assured that your partners aren’t training on your client’s dime; your colleagues are highly credentialed and seasoned.  

Yes. CM Law serves over 40 Fortune-ranked clients and handles complex, high-value matters with Big Law-level talent—at lower rates. That’s because clients know we work hard on attracting the best attorneys with stellar credentials and experience, right on par with the caliber of partners practicing at traditional Big Law firms. 

You can earn up to 90% of what is collected for work you do and refer out to your partners. Pay is COMPLETELY formula-based, transparent, and rewards origination, collaboration, and recruiting. No politics or year-end memos. Our origination credit, working attorney credit and compensation system are designed to foster collaboration and differ substantially from traditional law firm systems. By way of example, it is possible at CM Law for you to earn (take home) up to 90% of the revenue you generate by originating and working on a client matter. By comparison, according to a recent ALM survey, most traditional law firms operate at margins which provide that partners share in profits at much lower thresholds (30-50%) and under a system where your actual compensation (and point value) is determined subjectively by others. 

We’ve all been there…conflicted out of a matter or onboarding a client.  Have you lost origination credit to that certain ‘favored’ senior partner with all the political clout at the firm? We do things differently at CM Law.  Although we have a traditional conflict check system and Business Acceptance Committee, conflict checks are never decided by politics and client credit is determined by a predetermined formula that is fair to all partners. Welcome to a real democracy. 

Conflicts are resolved quickly – by a committee of your peers using a fair, formula-based system—no politics and conflicts are never resolved ‘at the Accounting office.’ 

Yes. Most do. While working in a home office has certain advantages such as eliminating rent and saving time and cost of commuting, it may not be for everyone. You may find having a more traditional office arrangement is a better alternative for you. Again, it’s your choice. 

Some of our partners choose to lease an office or a co-share space together or independently. Office setup is 100% your choice! 

The firm has retained an outsourced marketing group and spends a considerable amount on firmwide branding and public relations initiatives that benefit your practice as well as the entire firm (e.g., PR agency services, website, social media, newsletter, standard logos/graphics). You will be introduced to our marketing team quickly upon joining. If you want to sponsor an event at your local bar association or develop custom marketing materials or hard copy advertisements for a local chamber of commerce, etc., those out-of-pocket costs are your responsibility. That said, the firm’s outsourced marketing group provides you with substantial support helping design marketing materials and they will promote your event on the firm’s social media, etc. Partners pay for their own business development, client meals, entertainment and travel costs. The CM Law “Grid” (internal Sharepoint site) contains a robust library of marketing materials, resources, and templates to help you with your personal business development efforts, responses to Requests for Information, etc. 

No billing quotas, period.

Our firm consists of self-starting /entrepreneurial partners, and we trust that our partners are committed to building their legal careers (whether that be generating new client business or grinding out billable work – or both). We value and respect each other’s judgment to ensure life/work balance. That said, our partners have spoken, and we have listened!  We are not the firm for you if your goal is to be a part time attorney because you are primarily focused on your other career.  Though many of our partners are adjunct professors or have a side/family business, our partners are expected to work full-time and aim for at least $150K in annual take-home. Please do not hesitate to discuss with any member of the Leadership Team should you have any questions or concerns!  

We wouldn’t be totally honest if we didn’t tell you that we really enjoy each other. Volunteering on a firm committee is not mandatory, but it ends up being fun–plus it gives each partner a voice to help make CM Law an even better place to practice. We hope you’ll want to be part of the team and contribute to the overall success and improvement of the firm. Every partner plays an important role in making CM Law the best firm possible!

Want to know the financial state of the firm, practice groups, or compensation formula?  No problem.  We believe in putting it all out there for all our partners to see, understand, and comment.  This is a true partnership.  There are no “year– end bonuses” or percentages determined by closed door meetings.  You’ll be able to sit down and calculate your income yourself – using our objective and transparent formula. Every partner at the firm has full access to our quarterly financial reports and annual ‘State of the Firm’ report.

The firm provides back-office support for all attorneys, so your billing, collections and other basic administrative matters are handled for you–a cost which is funded by the firm’s share of revenue it receives on client collections.  But if you are used to having individual secretarial support and need it for your practice, that option is available to you at your cost. The firm’s email system, instant messaging platform, document sharing platform, document management system, and billing system are all provided to you from your percentage paid to the firm. We are happy to go into greater detail with you during our discussions. 

The firm provides you with all Tech support needed for any issue that arise with the firm-provided software systems. If you are tech-savvy, then you likely will not need additional support. For our partners who are not tech-savvy, we strongly recommend that they find their own IT support person to assist with everyday IT issues that may arise that you are not equipped to handle (e.g., your QuickBooks tax software isn’t working, your printer doesn’t work, etc.) If you do not already have an IT support person, you can subscribe to the firm’s preferred IT vendor for technical support – either on a regular basis or on an ad hoc basis at very reasonable rates. 

Fun, innovative, and collaborative. Everyone is experienced and committed to improving the legal profession.