Legal Structuring and Operations
Our firm helps entrepreneurs, law firms, and investors structure law firm ownership and run day-to-day operations.
Ownership
There are several ways to participate in the ownership of a law firm. From the traditional ownership structure as an attorney owning the firm to more novel structuring such as Alternative Business Structures (ABS) and MSO-PC arrangements, there are pathways for non-attorneys to be a part of firm ownership.
ABS Structure
MSO-PC
An Alternative Business Structure (ABS) is a type of law firm authorized by several states that allows nonlawyers to co-own and participate in the delivery of legal services.
ABS structures allow you combine legal, business, financial, and compliance expertise under one roof without violating ethics rules or traditional firm restrictions.
Arizona has the most established Alternative Business Structure pathway, with more states with similar arrangements allowing for a pathway whereby non-attorneys can own equity in a law firm. We guide you through every step of forming and licensing your ABS from strategy through launch.
Our team understands the intersection of law and business, making us uniquely equipped to help you launch and grow your ABS successfully.
The ABS model allows innovation, but it also comes with strict compliance and ethics oversight. We help you build compliance from day one, including:
Policies for conflicts management and confidentiality
Systems for financial and ownership transparency
Annual ABS reporting and governance updates
Ethics training for nonlawyer owners and management teams
With our compliance support, your ABS can operate confidently and sustainably under the respective state regulatory framework.
Setting up a relationship between a Management Services Organization (MSO) and a Professional Company (PC) can be a way for attorneys to take the day to day operational grind off of their plate and manage those services through a separate entity. This entity can be owned by the attorneys themselves or the MSO can be an unrelated organization. Entering into an MSO-PC engagement can also provide avenues for capital investment, improving efficiencies, and upgrading technology for the firm with the right partner. This structuring has been around for decades and provides two-way value opportunities between law firms and potential capital partners.
Management Services
Solo attorneys spend 70% of their time on work that isn't practicing law.
We fix that. Underscore provides managed operations for law firms. Technology, compliance, billing, and back-office administration. So your only job is the one you went to law school for.
WHAT THIS IS
You practice law. We run the admin.
Underscore operates as a managed services organization for independent law firms. One relationship replaces the patchwork of vendors, part-time hires, and midnight admin sessions keeping your practice together. We handle the operational infrastructure — technology, compliance, billing, reporting — so you can practice law instead.
Fixed fee structure. No percentage of revenue. No equity. No interference with your professional judgment.
WHO THIS IS FOR
For attorneys with more admin than hours
You're doing $300K+ in revenue. You have real clients and real work. But you're also the IT department, the bookkeeper, the compliance officer, and the office manager. The worst part is none of that is billable. The average solo practitioner bills only 31% of their working hours. The rest vanishes into operations nobody trained you for.
If you're managing three vendors who don't talk to each other, doing books on Sunday night, and leaving growth on the table because there's no time left after running the business, we can help.
What's included
- Entity formation & MSO-PC structuring
- Practice management deployment
- Microsoft 365 & cloud infrastructure
- Trust accounting oversight
- State compliance & annual filings
- Multi-state registration
- Billing & collections infrastructure
- Financial reporting & practice analytics
- Vendor & technology procurement
- Hiring & contractor onboarding
WHY US
We’re a law firm too. We get it.
We built this infrastructure to run our own practice before we ever offered it to anyone else. We know the ethics rules because we live under them. Your firm stays yours. Your name, your clients, your independence. We're here to make it run like a firm three times its size.
Frequently Asked Questions
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After an initial application, we will determine the best path for your objectives. We offer services to form the company, draft your application, create governance and compliance policies, and provide on-going compliance and counsel support if needed.
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Great question! A lot will depend on your strategy and goals. In addition to resources available on our site to help you decide, we would be happy to discuss the options with you!
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Our management services are billed on a cost plus flat percentage fee basis. We are committed to transparency and will provide detailed expense reporting so you can see all costs related to supporting your firm.
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We will work with you to determine the right offer and support for your unique situation and business.
Ready to build your Firm?
Schedule a consultation to discuss your ownership strategy and explore our support services.