Choosing the Right Tax Law Firm

A law firm is a business established by single attorney or many lawyers to practice law. The various services offered by a law firm include offering advice to clients about tax laws, informing clients on their legal rights and duties, assisting clients in civil and criminal cases, various forms of business dealings and business issues where legal help is required.

Tax Planning Solutions

Tax Law Firms

Some tax law firms are involved in offering only specialty services associated to law like labor law, tax law, criminal defense, patent law, etc. Larger tax law firms consist of many departments dealing with the various specializations so they can have a varied client base and market. They also provide different kinds of services related to tax law to their clients. The big law firms also have separate departments for litigation and corporate issues. The corporate departments of these law firms offer advice to big organizations on various business deals; the litigation department takes care of legal issues of the clients.

In many countries, like the US and UK, the government allows only lawyers to own law firms. This keeps them from raising funds through initial public stock options. In the US, the American Bar Association ensures that this rule is followed in all jurisdictions.

Reviewing Law Firms

When looking for a tax law firm, prospective clients need to check the firm’s organization which must be based in the jurisdiction in which it practices. These are some of the most important organizational structures :

• Single owner - where a single attorney owns the law firm.
• General partnership - where all attorneys share he profit.
• Law Corporation - where stocks are offered to the attorneys; like a business.
• Limited Liability Company (LLC) - where the attorneys are members but they are not responsible to creditors of the law firm.
• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) - where the attorney owners are partners but are not liable to any creditor of the law firm nor are they responsible for any faults of other partners of the firm.

Rates

The rates of tax law firms vary based on the kind of organization chosen by the client. Also, when choosing a tax law firm, the following points need to be kept in mind :

• The reputation of the law firm.
• The expertise of the attorneys in various areas of law.
• The specialty services offered by the law firm.
• If the law firm offers comprehensive service.
• If the law firm is a member of American Bar Association.

Ranking of the Law Firm

The ranking of the law firm also helps in choosing the right tax law firm. Rankings are predominantly based on partnership and association with other companies, its employees as well as clientele. Substantive ranking is dependent on the American Lawyer’s Corporate Scorecard and Top IP firms. Workplace ranking is dependent on the quality of the lawyers the benefits they receive from the firm. Statistical rankings include the balance-sheet of the firm in terms of profit.

Martindale-Hubbell is involved in the lawyer rating system and has been ranking lawyers and law firms in United States and Canada purely based on the opinions of the members of the American Bar and the Judiciary along with a questionnaire sent to lawyers and judges in the area of practice. The rating is based on legal ability scoring – C (good), B (high), A (very high) – and general ethical standards rating based on abiding to standards set professionally on behavior and principles, dependability, meticulousness. Based on the Martindale-Hubbell rating, a lawyer or a law firm cannot opt for legal ability rating unless they received a “V” (very good) under the ethical standards rating.