Taylor English, a full-service law firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, marked its 15th-anniversary milestone this year. Since its establishment in 2005, the law firm has grown to approximately 180 attorneys working throughout the United States. Recognized as one of the top law firms in the country, Taylor English stands itself out when it adopted a hybrid business model by embracing a remote workforce into its traditional law practice three years ago.
"I decided to move to Taylor English because it incorporated the good elements from both traditional law firms and a remote law firm," said Taylor English partner Masae Okura.
Like a traditional law firm, Taylor English has the full infrastructure of operating in a large office space with access to partners in various practice areas and support of associates and paralegals. At the same time, it provides a remote program that allows attorneys to work remotely at a minimum cost.
Having experience of working in both traditional law firms and a remote law firm, Okura fully understands the benefits of both styles and eventually made the switch to Taylor English because what it offers perfectly meets Okura's needs and business style.
As a lawyer pursuing global practices, work flexibility is an important factor to Okura due to the nature of her work. Beyond the work flexibility, Taylor English's wealth of talented attorneys is also an indispensable asset of Taylor English.
"I was always looking for a good team of lawyers that I can work with," said Okura. "I was able to establish a good working relationship with attorneys in other practice areas."
Having that connection allowed the attorneys at Taylor English to provide a wide range of services to their clients. And since the attorneys have the flexibility to set their reasonable rate, the attorneys can work with each other without having to worry about an astronomically high hourly rate that is automatically set by the firm.
Although the pandemic upended the legal industry, Taylor English has been able to weather the storm because of its first-of-its-kind, low overhead operating model. Beyond that, the early adoption of the remote platform made it easy for 180 attorneys and 60 staff to make the transition to work-from-home setups.
It's safe to say that even though Taylor English did not intentionally anticipate a pandemic, the law firm had long been prepared to operate in a difficult time as this pandemic.
"The pandemic only gave us an opportunity to test our business model," said Okura. "We thought that this is the future of the legal industry, where more firms will adopt the virtual method with lower cost."
Despite the challenges and chaos this pandemic has brought, Okura said she was able to speak to a wide range of clients and they are busier than before.
Taylor English has been hosting webinars, sending newsletters, and have cooperated with other organizations to help people to navigate through the complicated immigration issues that we're facing today.
"I expect to strengthen the new relationship we created during this pandemic and continuously provide client-friendly services."
Published on Kigyo Gaikyo August 2020
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