Ask any lawyer, and they'll probably tell you that the governing philosophy at their firm is something like "democracy run-amok" or, at best, an oligarchy. But one Dallas law firm has been singled out by D CEO Magazine for being run like a corporation.
According to the story, "The Divorce CEO," Dallas' 17-lawyer McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing, L.L.P., which houses some of Dallas' best known and most powerful divorce lawyers, is run by "CEO" and founder Mike McCurley, who D CEO calls "one of the leading matrimonial lawyers for the executive set."
Most family lawyers are either working at a full-service law firm, solo practitioners who handle divorces along with whatever else comes in the door, or mid-sized "law firms" that are actually a "loose collection of sole practitioners working under the same roof, each of whom work on his or her own docket of cases," McCurley told the magazine.
In contrast, McCurley Orsinger "employs a team approach where all members enjoy a working familiarity with each case, embracing an interactive structure in which all lawyers ... are able to communicate at any given moment about a case," the article says.
"We meet every week, discussing every case," McCurley says. "I don't know any other firm that does that."
The all-hands-on-deck approach was born out of the firm's need to service an increasingly sophisticated client base, McCurley says.
"We're a 24/7 law firm because CEOs expect that," he said.
In addition, many of their lawyers have undergrad degrees in business economics, math or accounting-again, because their client base consists primarily of business people with frequently complicated financial dealings.
"Why would you put the dissolution of your most important asset-your marriage-in the hands of people who don't understand business?" McCurley asked.