What else do we need in addition to "Key Man" insurance?

Our practice has grown so quickly.
That's a good thing.
But it leads to new things to think about.

In addition to "Key-Man" insurance, it might be time get a "Back-Up Attorney."

We have talked about the possibility of one of us "disappearing. " Could Gary carry on without me? Probably. But could he do it with the level of efficiciency that we enjoy today? Not really.

And I know that I could not do what he does best.
I could never negotiate as well as he does.
He is the "RainMaker" in this law firm.

So we must consider how our practice would survive the death or disability of either one of us, or both.

How should we protect our clients’ interests if such an event occurred?

• We are thinking of selecting an attorney to serve as our “back-up attorney.” We will have to give him appropriate authority (in writing) to act in the event we cannot continue our practice.
• 
  We must clean up our sloppy files. If a "Martian" landed in a spaceship and walked into our office, the "Martian" should be able to find anything in the files and know when things need to be done. It's time to update our folders. Good file organization and an up-to-date calendar system is key to protecting the interests of our clients.
  
• 
  We'll take a look to be sure that our trust account procedures are adequate and that we have provided appropriate authorization to allow the back-up attorney to access trust funds, if necessary. This will ensure that clients’ funds can be made available to them in a timely fashion

Thanks to the Maryland State Bar Association Law http://www.msba.org/departments/loma/weeklytips/weeklytips.htm