It’s amazing to look back over the last 4 years and realize just how far we’ve come. I’ve been with Practus since the very beginning because I believed in what the firm could be. I believed there was a better way to practice law with more work-life balance, freedom, and a culture that really incorporated the values our team envisioned. In 2018 when we launched, we had 16 total team members, 11 of which were attorneys and one practice area. Fast forward 4 years, and we now have 22 practice areas, 39 attorneys, and 57 total team members that make the firm what it is today.
But the real growth isn’t just about the numbers; it’s about the community and collaboration that we’ve all developed over the past 4 years. We’ve celebrated each other’s successes, enjoyed friendly competitions, supported each other, and exceeded our clients’ expectations along the way.
What makes Practus truly unique is that this culture was built in a fully virtual environment. While some might think of a virtual law firm as a challenge to cultivating relationships, it actually makes it easier to stay connected regardless of where we’re located:
“We used to rely on walking into other lawyers to catch up and share as the day permitted. Now, we are all able to do that through the Practus environment.”
Robert Fried, Partner
The connection doesn’t stop at friendly conversation. Most of our attorneys collaborate to give clients the experiences they look for in a top-tier law firm. When clients have complex issues, fellow partners are ready to support each other and their clients.
In fact, it’s common to see attorneys referring work to each other in different practice areas or taking on a project together from the start when more legal work is needed. And what’s so great, is our attorneys actually share those stores with the entire staff. I love hearing the cool stories of client wins or learning about interesting projects our partners have collaborated on. Bob Elwood is great about calling out partner attorneys for a job well done on these joint projects.
One of the best parts about this is seeing it happen from the moment someone joins Practus:
“One of the reasons I joined Practus last year was because after speaking with John and a number of the folks at the firm, I felt that even as a “virtual” firm it truly was a partnership and that my (future) partners would have my back and provide support when needed, as I would do. And of course that is exactly how it has turned out.”
Steve Young, Partner
As I talk with every person who joins the Practus team during onboarding, I listen to how passionate the attorneys are about practicing law and embracing this modern law firm, and I know that we’re living up to our values as a firm. One of those values being: we believe in the power of innovation, never resting on our laurels, always pursuing new thinking and ideas to help us work smarter and deliver the best results to our clients.
With the freedom to embrace innovation, attorneys have found new ways to reach clients and encourage new learning in the legal field. For example, Jesse Camacho, has a LinkedIn newsletter called Clarifying the Crypto that teaches people all about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and decentralized finance. Another partner, Janet Hallahan, shares her legal knowledge on cyber security by hosting several CLEs and speaking engagements throughout the year. The financial services practice area often collaborates on legal insights to give readers critical information as soon as it’s released.
Whether it’s a blog, a talk, or joint representation of a client, our attorneys are actively engaged in joining forces to make Practus the law firm I believed it could be back in 2018. And each new addition to the Practus team in the last 4 years has helped us gain a different perspective and new experiences. It truly is the people that makes us the firm we are today.
