Dennis J. Eisinger, managing partner of Eisinger, Brown, Lewis, Frankel & Chaiet, offers an inside view of the operations at the Hollywood-based law firm.

How big is your firm, where is it located and what are its primary areas of practice and focus?

Eisinger Brown's principal office is located in Hollywood and serves as the base for our representation of our numerous clients in South Florida. We also provide legal representation to clients throughout the state from locations in Boca Raton, Fort Myers and Gainesville. We have eight attorneys, seven paralegals and other support staff who assist in our legal practice. Our primary practice areas are community association law, community developer representation, transactional real estate law, corporate law, commercial litigation and insurance defense law.

Please explain your firm's governance structure and compensation model.

Eisinger is managing partner of the law firm and has been since inception of the firm in 1996. The partners of the firm meet regularly to discuss various operational and substantive law issues. We work hard to reach consensus and compromise on matters of concern to the firm. True democracy reigns at our law firm in the decision-making process. Compensation is based upon past performances as well as projections for the next fiscal year, taking into account quantifiable factors such as anticipated business origination and billable hours while also considering subjective matters such as time spent on administrative activities, service to existing clients, charitable and trade organization participation, and “teamwork” efforts. Based on these factors, shareholder percentages and compensation for others are periodically adjusted.

What do you view as the two biggest opportunities for your firm, and what are the two biggest threats?

The biggest opportunity for our firm involves the expansion of our community association practice. We presently represent nearly 600 community associations throughout Florida. We believe that this area of practice will continue to grow given the 50,000-plus community associations within Florida and our demonstrated expertise in this area. Attorneys of our firm have developed particular expertise and experience in this area of law over the last three decades. The same can be said with respect to our insurance defense practice. While initially focusing on general liability and first-party insurance claims, we now also appear to be one of the go-to law firms for several insurance companies with respect to community association, community development and real estate matters involving insurance claims of all kinds. Our biggest “threat” perhaps is the educational efforts of our very own lawyers. Specifically, considerable time is expended by Eisinger, as well as other attorneys of the firm, in educating the public through seminars, state Department of Business and Professional Regulation programs for community association board members, DBPR continuing education programs for community association managers, and Eisinger's initiation and teaching of a community association development and association law course at the University of Florida law school since 2004. Through efforts such as these, we truly hope to educate our existing clients, new clients, community association managers and third-year law students so that the legal needs of community associations can actually be minimized rather than expanded. While not necessarily good for our firm's business, we are truly pleased when our clients' operations are smoother and require less, rather than more, legal assistance. Toward that end, we are also extremely active advocates in the use of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methodology to resolve disputes prior to or at the beginning of litigation.

After the recession hit, the prevailing theory was that midsize firms would start to see more work come their way from large clients who could no longer justify paying Big Law rates. What has been your experience?

Unquestionably, our firm has benefited by the considerably higher hourly rates established by Big Law. As a suburban, no‐frills law firm, our profitability has always been quite good which reflects our efficient representation of our clients. Our hourly rates are quite attractive compared with rates of other law firms, and we certainly are not second to any law firm in knowledge, expertise and practicality when it comes to providing legal representation to our clients.

Are your clients pushing for more alternative fee arrangements, and if so what types? Is your firm amenable to those requests?

Most work handled by our firm is based on an hourly fee basis, though we will make exceptions
in appropriate circumstances. While we certainly recognize the use of flat fee and contingency
arrangements by other law firms, we believe that those arrangements in our areas of practice are frequently offered to enhance law firm profitability at the expense of the client (i.e., by garnering fees in excess of what would have been achieved through hourly rate compensation). Accordingly, in the interest of fairness to our clients, we generally bill our time at hourly rates especially since we believe that our expertise and experience permits us to work efficiently for the benefit of our clients.

There is much debate around how law firms can foster the next generation of legal talent. What advantages and disadvantages do midsize firms have in attracting and retaining young lawyers, particularly millennials?

We believe that small to midsize law firms are naturally attractive to young lawyers and
millennials based upon their “work to live” rather than “live to work” philosophy. Our attorneys
certainly work very hard. However, we are not the “sweatshop” of the 1980s or 1990s. Our size offers many advantages, including the ability to hold social events for the benefit of our attorneys, staff and their families. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, holiday parties, events such as bowling and sporting events, and our annual Halloween Day when all employees are encouraged to come to work in costume. With that said, for those younger attorneys who do prefer to work 2,500-plus hours each year, larger firms are perhaps better for them (though worse for their families!).

Does your firm employ any nonlawyer professionals in high‐level positions (e.g. COO, business development officer, chief strategy officer, etc.)? If so, why is it advantageous to have a nonlawyer in that role? If not, have you considered hiring any?

We are quite fortunate to have employees and third‐party vendors who have been with us for many, many years and who provide tremendous assistance with respect to bookkeeping/financial expertise, administrative expertise, computer technology, etc. While those positions are filled by qualified nonlawyers, virtually all other aspects of our provider services and business generation occurs through licensed attorneys and, where appropriate, through our paralegals.

What, if any, technology advancements have you made in your firm in recent years? What are the challenges in implementing tech changes?

Technological advancements made by our firm during the last few years includes a sophisticated and user‐friendly assessment collection system which allows our clients to be up to date on the status of all collection files. We have invested in mobile technology that allows our attorneys to work remotely and have gone paperless, which has not only saved our clients costs but brought environmental benefits as well. The firm has increased its internet presence through its continuously updated and improved website. We are continuously adding security measures as required, improving bandwidth internet connection to the internet, along with all necessary upgrades to our wired and wireless technology as industry standards evolve. The challenges faced with technology are that technology is constantly changing, and as a midsize firm we have to prioritize our focus to best benefit our clientele.

What would you say is the most innovative thing your firm has done recently, whether it be internal operations, how you work with clients, etc.?

We have recently initiated a consumer satisfaction program whereby clients are routinely contacted to make sure that they are happy with the services being provided by the attorneys and/or paralegals assigned to their legal needs, and we solicit client input and suggestions through this action.

Does your firm have a succession plan in place? If so, what challenges do you face in trying to execute that plan? If you don't currently have a plan, is it an issue your firm is thinking about?

We are fortunate to have a “natural” succession plan in place. Attorneys within the firm presently range from the age of 32 through 61, with ages between attorneys being “spaced out” fairly proportionately. Accordingly, as our older attorneys age, we believe that work generated and/or performed by them will easily be made up through the maturation of our younger attorneys. In addition, given the great camaraderie between our attorneys and staff, and unusually high workplace satisfaction quotient, we really do not anticipate the full retirement or loss of attorneys services for several more years. Additionally, it is our expectation that two or three younger associates shall be hired within the next 12 months or so given our projection of incoming legal work.