A New Path for Scottish Lawyers: Freedom, Fair Reward, and the Fee-Share Model

For many lawyers in Scotland, the traditional path has always seemed clearcut: climb the ranks in a big, reputable, firm, secure partnership, and enjoy the rewards that come with time, experience, and effort.

In recent years, though, other credible paths have emerged. By comparison to these new models, the well-worn and time-honoured route is, for some lawyers, losing its appeal.

After toiling for years in environments where profit per partner, administration, meetings, billing targets and firm politics often dictate day-to-day life,
it’s perhaps not surprising that some people crave an alternative.

With the rise of fee share law firms, notably gunnercooke with its offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Partners are finding the freedom to choose their clients, set their own prices, avoid thankless tasks like recording time and WIP, and work in ways that align with their personal values.

They also, typically, earn more than they ever have done previously, because they are remunerated in an innovative way – in this model, Partners simply retain the lion’s share of their billing (as much as 90% of it, once they have hit certain billing thresholds).

It’s obviously a far more attractive proposition than setting up a solo practice.

Trying to ‘go it alone’ might hold some attractions but it’s an unrealistic and daunting idea for most people, carrying with it obvious operational and practical challenges. When you are a solo practitioner, it becomes your responsibility to build your client base, and it’s you that is accountable for everything – compliance, marketing, administration, finance, not to mention the client work itself.

Without the support structures of a larger organisation, that can be overwhelming.

Joining a firm like gunnercooke, on the other hand, allows lawyers all the flexibility and autonomy they would enjoy if they were running a ‘solo’ practice, but with all the benefits and collaborative opportunities of being part of a full-service corporate law firm.

The Partners in gunnercooke specialise in the work they love, avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, and build closer relationships than ever before with their clients. They take on meaningful cases while spending more time with family. They could, for example, choose to work from a cottage on the coast or by the pool in the sunshine, rather than having to go into an office in the city every day.

Importantly, though, they can still meet with colleagues and know that they have the certainty of a robust community of highly credible peers in complementary practice areas that help them to grow their own practice by enriching their offering to clients.

When viewed through this lens, it is clear why the fee-share model from firms like gunnercooke offers a compelling alternative for lawyers who want independence without being completely alone.

Under this model, lawyers operate as self-employed partners while retaining a significant share of their fees that means they usually earn more than they ever have done in their career to date.

Crucially, Partners benefit from the reputation and prestige of a large firm’s brand, along with the obvious advantages of a top 75 law firm’s infrastructure and central services. They also join a growing community of like-minded peers with a spirit of collaboration.

They gain the freedom to run their own practice with the safety net and credibility of a respected firm.

Whilst gunnercooke’s Scottish firm is built around offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Partners are fully integrated with the broader firm, opening opportunities to work seamlessly between Scottish and English regulatory environments, and even to work multi-jurisdictionally with gunnercooke colleagues in the US, Germany, Austria and beyond. If this article has inspired you to find out more about escaping the constraints of the traditional model, get in touch.

Written by Matthew Dashper-Hughes, Global Talent Director at gunnercooke.