After years of complaining at how inefficient law firms are, we here at 3 Geeks have begun work on a business plan to open a law firm in North Carolina. Although we would rather stay here in wonderful Houston, Texas, we have it on good authority that the North Carolina legislature is set to pass the “Allow Non-attorney Ownership of PC Law Firms” bill which will allow for up to 49% ownership of a law firm by non-attorneys. Add to that, the fact that the North Carolina flag is designed very similarly to the Texas flag, we’ve decided it must be an okay place to do business.

Toby and I have been saying for years that law schools produce lawyers that are ready for the bar exam, and prepare them to “think like a lawyer,” but that their skills at running a business aren’t usually as good as their ability to cross-examine a witness. We’ve tried for some time now to dole out information, tips, hints and tricks on making the operations of running a law firm better for both the client and the lawyer, but we feel that the North Carolina option will give us a chance to really put our ideas into motion, and potentially make a hefty profit along the way. We have one of the Financial Geeks looking into the tax benefits of creating an offshore operations in Grand Cayman that may enable us to expand into the UK market as well (Geeks seem to like New Zealand for some reason.)

Although the details need to be tweaked a bit, we’re looking at a bevy of names for the firm:

  • Geek, Geek & Geek, PC
  • Geek³, PC
  • 3 Geeks and a Law Firm, PC

We’ll have to check on the actual naming rules of North Carolina, but we’re pretty sure we couldn’t go with one of the suggested firm names of “We’re better because non-attorneys are managing this firm, PC”

“It’s a win-win situation,” commented one of the Geeks in a recent conversation over margaritas. “Lawyers can focus on winning cases and bringing in new business, while we work on Alternative Fees, improving efficiencies, and coaching the attorneys on better business models that will attract more clients.”

The initial idea for the firm is that 3 Geeks would recruit a core group of attorneys in the initial stages, and grow to a size of 51 attorneys, each as equity owners of the firm, each with a 1% stake. Although the Geeks would not have to vote as a block… let’s face it, we’d be pretty stupid not to. So, although technically the Geeks would be minority owners, the idea is that we’d still run the show.

If the North Carolina project works out as well as we think, we would hire lobbyists to start pressuring other state legislatures to enact either a 49% non-attorney ownership rule, or even better, just do away with the majority ownership requirements altogether. In the end, we think that we’ve launched on this April Fool’s Day an announcement that will be the future of how law firms are managed.