During Ep. 27 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. addresses the following question: What is Senior Attorney Match’s Design Phase?   As Poock explains, Senior Attorney Match’s Design Phase involves 4 steps, the cumulative goal of which involves assisting selling law firms determine what they have, who wants what they have, determining their best option(s) for sale, and addressing payment terms to expect from a purchaser. The 4 steps of the Design Phase include the following: Step 1: Step 1 of the Design Phase focuses on determining the value of what a Senior Attorney-led firm has, including analyzing the following 5 components of value: (a) The Selling Law firm’s Book of Business, including its clients and referral sources; (b) Client volume by practice area; (c) Revenues by practice area; (d) Bios, skill sets, and experience of key employee lawyers and para-staff; and (e) Digital Value Step 2: Analyze who wants and needs what a selling law firm offers. As Poock explains, there are 2 purchaser options, of which Growing Law Firms present typical purchasers, and internal successors represent infrequent purchasers. Poock points out that Growing Law Firms want and need the following 3 resources that Senior Attorney-led law firms offer: (a) New clients, i.e., instant client growth; (b) An experienced workforce, consisting of lawyers and para-staff; and (c) Treasure chests of Subject Matter Knowledge to convert to digital content to attract the attention of today’s and tomorrow’s clients who search online for lawyers and law firms to retain. By contrast, internal successors infrequently purchase their boss’ law firm because internal successors typically want and need the following per their roles as key employee lawyers: A Reliable, Predictable, and Safe Job. Step 3: Determine a preferred sale option. During this step, Senior Attorney Match explores the following 4 sale options Senior Attorney sellers to consider: (a) Join/Seller to a Growing Law Firm (preferred); (b) Structure and internal sale (potential); (c) Maintain the Status Quo (Risky); or (d) Become a referring attorney per a given state’s version of Rule 1.5 of the Professional Rules of Conduct (alternative to a sale and maintaining the Status Quo). Step 4: Address Law Firm Sale Payment Options. During this step, Senior Attorney Match explains the following 3 payment options available to a selling law firm: (a) Law Firm Sales 1.0, which primarily consists of earnout terms, payable as negotiated fee sharing upon collections attributable to a selling law firm’s Book of Business during a negotiated period time: (b) Law Firm Sales 2.0, which includes a fixed payment attributable to a selling law firm’s digital and brand value, plus an earnout; or (c) Additional payment options, including : (i) A fixed price; (ii) A Buy-Sell Agreement with internal successors or a third party law firm; or (iii) A tiered purchase approach, typically negotiated with an internal successor.