Professor Dobris Comments on Trust and Estates Practice for WealthManagement.com
Professor Joel Dobris commented for WealthManagement.com on the economic considerations in play as trust and estates lawyers consider whether to practice with large firms or small and mid-sized alternatives.
Big law firms offer more benefits and prestige, but often do not value their trust and estate services as highly as other more profitable areas of practice. "T&E practices don't generate the kind of income that a finance or mergers and acquisitions practice does," said Dobris.
The article references research in which Professor Dobris found that Northern California trust and estates attorneys charged clients between $275 and almost $800 an hour, with some charging $1,000 an hour. "Bigger firms are asking for a lot of money that the smaller firms don't dare ask for or don't feel the need to ask for," he said.
Joel C. Dobris is a Professor of Law Emeritus with UC Davis School of Law whose special interests include property, trusts and estates, estate planning, and trust and nonprofit investing.