Lehman Walsh Lawyers, first established in 2016 and now made up of five solicitors, is only growing – and Ms Eighani said that their consulting principal model, partners on commission, allows extra freedom and independence for those working at the firm.

“We believe that by continuing to give independence freedom and to add solicitors consulting principles, we allow them to be able to do what they do best, which is lawyering without having to worry about office politics, outgoings, hierarchy, trying to compete for titles,” she said.

“You can practise as you would in a traditional law firm, but you would do so by being completely independent. We will not direct you to do anything in particular, you manage your own clienteles. It’s essentially running your own practice, but being part of a bigger firm under the umbrella of Lehman Walsh Lawyers.”

Ms Eighani decided to bring this working model in after experiencing a “light bulb moment” during the pandemic.

“It was actually in the middle of the pandemic, when I also observed that a lot of colleagues were going out of business because they just could not keep the light on,” she said.

“But when we announced that structure and I started to get approached by colleagues who obviously had the same mindset as myself, I realised that there are other firms who are also implementing this structure, and it was good to see that, that the profession is slowly becoming more innovative and shipping away from the traditional practise of law.”

This kind of working model has a number of benefits for both firm owners and working lawyers, added Ms Eighani.

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“We cover everything for you. You are part of Lehman Walsh Lawyers, but you’re still independent. We look after the outgoings, being the rent, practising certificate, insurance, which is the main burden for a lot of solicitors, especially the ones that are starting out, having to pay for insurance without actually generating any income. We look after all that, and in return, what we expect you to do is to be a team player, to be part of Lehman Walsh Lawyers.

“It’s a structure that both parties benefit from. You are part of a bigger firm, which in return means that you can attract bigger clients, generate more income, and we will have you as part of our team, which will then help us grow and be a bigger firm and attract more consulting principles or partners on commissions and bigger clients as well,” she added.

“But the biggest part of our firm and this structure is the referral system where you get to interact with other solicitors. Refer work to them. They refer work to you. The way we explain it to our partners on commission is that it’s a decentralised model. It’s a centralised law firm, being Lehman Walsh Lawyers, managing all these decentralised law firms, which are the partners on commission and the consulting principles.”

In terms of the challenges associated with such a working model, Ms Eighani said that the recruitment process had been particularly difficult.

“We are a long way away from solicitors shifting away from practising law in a traditional way. It has been quite challenging to explain to potential candidates what this structure is about and how it could benefit them. So, the biggest hurdle has been trying to explain to solicitors who are practising that you can practise without being a full-time employee or firm. It was good timing because COVID kind of forced people to understand that anyway,” she said.

“They were forced to experience working from home and since, we have had a lot more candidates applying for this position because they got to taste off what it’s like to be free, manage your own time, work from home and be able to be as productive as actually attending the office. We have passed that hurdle now because COVID has done our job a little bit by giving people a little rundown of what it’s like to be in these types of structures.”

Because of these hurdles, Ms Eighani learnt a number of lessons – and Lehman Walsh Lawyers has improved and grown as a firm as a result.

“We needed to restructure. We were purely working on a partner on commission basis, which meant that everyone who was part of the firm was an independent solicitor. We learned throughout the recruitment process that since we implemented this structure, that it’s best to maintain a traditional law firm that offers this flexibility to solicitors. What we have coming up is that we are going to restructure Lehman Walsh Lawyers, and we are going to be a traditional law firm, which offers these services to consulting principles,” she explained.

“It will be a 50/50; if you would like to be part of a traditional structure, you can still be. You can still come to the office, have that desk, have your interaction with other solicitors, and if you are a solicitor who wants to work from a different country or a different town, you can still do so by still being part of Lehman Walsh Lawyers.”

More to come.

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Janya Eighani, click below: