Israeli law firm shares profits with all employees

• Author: Nitsan Shafir
• Published date: 08 November 2021
• Publication title: Globes (Rishon LeZion, Israel)

Porat Group, which has 100 employees in Israel and abroad, of which 30 are lawyers, was founded by Adv. Nir Porat. The group, which has been operating in its current format since 2017, specializes in tech industries, and the law firm is engaged in legal activities in commercial law, technology, litigation, labor tax law, and real estate as well as a deeper expertise in tech areas including blockchain, fintech, cryptocurrencies, online commerce, payments, and gaming. In addition to its legal services, the firm provides business and strategic support.

According to the group's managing partner Nir Porat, "The promotion and remuneration prospects currently offered at law firms are not attractive enough and cannot serve as an effective instrument for attracting employees or keeping them," He says that the people that firms are most interested in attracting are fed up with the traditional salary model.

How to reach quality lawyers

For some time law firms have been reporting high demand and difficulties in hiring quality human resources, mainly in the tech sector. The Covid pandemic has caused many to take stock on whether they are in the right place for them, and the coming of age of the millennial generation brings with it a different approach to jobs as well as new expectations in traditional industries and the tech boom has resulted in a huge rise in the amount of work for firms - and all this has provoked law firms into rethinking traditional concepts in terms of work methods.

The need to attract and retain quality lawyers has caused this law firm to "think outside the box" and to abandon traditional remuneration methods in an unprecedented way for the sector. The firm offers a percentage of the income from clients to lawyers and even interns on every case that they handle from the first day, on top of a fixed based salary. In contrast to capital partners at law firms, the Porat model does not deduct overheads but does deduct third party expenses. Every lawyer receives a basic salary and percentages received according to the involvement of the lawyer or intern.

According to Porat, the payment to an employee is about 20% and is divided up between the team handling the case. Sometimes it is the lawyer or intern who has brought the client to the firm and they receive higher remuneration accordingly. For example, the employee who brought the client receives 10%, the partner handling the case receives 5%, with 3% for lawyers and 2% for interns. These percentages...