People Before Profits
Thirty Years Representing Attorneys. Preparing Law Firms. Protecting Their Future.
For more than three decades, Shelton & Steele has advised attorneys and entrepreneurial law firms through some of the most important decisions of their professional lives. What began as a national legal recruiting and consulting firm has evolved into one of the country's leading independent advisors to law firms exploring strategic growth through Legal MSOs, mergers and acquisitions.
Although our work has expanded significantly over the years, our philosophy has remained unchanged. We have always believed that attorneys and growing law firms deserve experienced, independent advisors who understand not only the legal profession, but also the business decisions that determine its future.
We Saw the Future of the Legal Profession Before It Arrived
Years before Legal MSOs became a recognized part of the legal industry, Shelton & Steele predicted that outside capital, artificial intelligence and operational modernization would fundamentally reshape the way entrepreneurial law firms compete and grow. Rather than waiting for the market to mature, we began studying it.
Since then, we have evaluated more than seventy Legal MSOs representing a wide variety of investment philosophies, governance structures and operating models. Most failed to meet our standards. That experience allows us to provide independent market intelligence developed through years of research, evaluation and direct engagement with both law firms and investors.
Our role is not to promote transactions. Our role is to help clients determine whether a transaction is the right strategic decision, identify the right partner if it is and guide leadership through the evaluation process with confidence.
Independent Advice for Independent Law Firms
Every transaction brings together experienced professionals. Investment bankers prepare Confidential Information Memoranda and manage structured sale processes. Attorneys negotiate legal agreements. Accountants validate financial information. Each performs an essential function.
Shelton & Steele serves a different role.
We prepare leadership before discussions begin. We explain sophisticated business concepts in plain English. We help firms understand governance structures, operating models and strategic alternatives before important decisions are made. Throughout the evaluation process, we remain focused on the one responsibility that belongs exclusively to us: helping law firms make informed decisions that protect their long term interests.
The Difference Is What Happens After the Meeting
One of the most valuable parts of our advisory process begins after every significant meeting.
Following discussions with prospective investors or strategic partners, we conduct private debriefings with the firm's leadership. Those conversations provide managing partners and executive committees with an opportunity to ask the questions they were uncomfortable asking during the meeting, discuss concerns privately and gain a clearer understanding of complex business concepts, governance provisions and strategic issues.
Many of the concerns that ultimately derail promising opportunities are never raised in the boardroom. They emerge afterward, when leadership begins questioning autonomy, culture, economics or the long term implications of the relationship. By identifying and addressing those issues immediately, we help our clients move into every subsequent discussion better informed, better prepared and more confident than before.
A Network Built Around the Client
Sophisticated business decisions require sophisticated advisors. Throughout every engagement, Shelton & Steele works closely with a nationwide network of highly respected ethics counsel, Legal MSO transaction attorneys, tax advisors, financial analysts and other specialists whose expertise complements our own. Each advisor contributes a different perspective while we help ensure the firm's leadership understands the guidance they receive and remains focused on achieving its long term objectives.
More Than Transactions
Whether we are advising a law firm considering a Legal MSO, evaluating a merger opportunity or helping leadership explore strategic alternatives, our objective remains the same. We prepare our clients before important decisions are made, protect their interests throughout the evaluation process and provide the market intelligence, strategic guidance and experienced professional network necessary to help them make confident, informed decisions.
Our success is not measured by the number of transactions completed. It is measured by the quality of the relationships we help build, the confidence our clients gain throughout the process and the long term success they achieve after the decision has been made.
Our Mission
To prepare law firms for the future, protect what they have built and help them make the strategic decisions that will define the next generation of their success.
A Guide to Eliminate Unethical Legal Recruiting Practices
DEVELOPED BY FREDERICK SHELTON OF SHELTON & STEELE, LLC
"You and your firm set high ethical standards. When you helped Silverman Acampora merge with Rimon P.C. in October after one year of talks, you and your team were nothing but the consummate professionals. Thank you for all that you have done for us, your integrity, and most of all, your continued friendship and guidance."
Anthony Acampora
Co-Managing Partner
Silverman Acampora
Consulting & Rainmaking Development
Because they know our income is predicated on moving them to a new firm, it often surprises attorneys when we tell them to stay put. The reason we do so is simple: Our assessment of their situation makes clear that staying where they are would be in their best interest.
By making sure we adhere to our core philosophy (The best interest of the candidate will always come first), we receive more referrals and "return candidates" than our competitors.
We've said all of the above and more, on numerous occasions. We've also helped attorneys figure out whether they should go in-house, into the public sector or leave the law altogether, to take a risk on a new business venture.
Moreover, we provide strategic career mapping that enables attorneys to plan months and even years into their current or new positions. For example, if an attorney has the goal to eventually go in-house at a Fortune 500, we offer specifics as to what practice areas and experience to gain, what type of firms or companies would give them the best leverage in the future, and when they should move and how.
We offer a flat fee structure and if our attorney clients aren't sure they are getting their money's worth at any time within the first half hour, we refund the entire amount.
WE HAVE NEVER HAD ANYONE REQUEST A REFUND.
The recruiter I worked with at Shelton & Steele was honest, candid, forthright, savvy, generous with his time, and extremely knowledgeable about the legal marketplace in every possible way. He really took the time to get to know me and my goals. Not only that, but he has continued to provide coaching support long after the transition, to help me get my message out and reach more clients. In fact, what prompted me to write this recommendation is that I just had a call from him with some outstanding marketing suggestions for taking my practice to the next level.
SUSAN METCALF
Partner, Potomac Law Group