Sonnenschein and the Demise of Big Firm Estate Planning Groups
My sources tell me that the Chicago-based firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP has decided to get rid of its trusts & estates practice group. I assume this is true -- a quick internet search reveals that top partners have left the group:
Eileen B. Trost left in late December (Chicago Tribune article)
Roy M. Adams has just left (hat tip: Professor Beyer's blog)
[added: 1/12/07 at 12:18 pm -- An update: I talked to another source who says that Sonnenschein isn't getting rid of its entire group, just 6-8 of its top T&E attorneys. My point in reporting this news is not to get into a dispute with Sonnenschein over the extent of its cutbacks in trusts and estates personnel, only to focus on the fact that there ARE cutbacks being made, which leads to the next part of my post, below.]
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see other big law firms start to follow suit (an exception might be firms like McDermott, which are built around their estate planning and probate practices). I enjoyed my experience at Sidley & Austin, but it was clear that the estate planning department generally was treated as second class citizens. My understanding is that compensation for estate planning partners is lower than for litigators and corporate attorneys. I suspect this is true at a number of big firms, many of which view estate planning as a "service group" (there to provide support to other groups, or planning to the firm's attorneys).
All of this makes sense, I suppose. Law firms have increased their focus on profits, and estate planning simply isn't as profitable a practice area as corporate or litigation. You can probably get away with charging Microsoft of AT&T $1 million a year (or more) for representation. Needless to say, I've never charged $1 million to do an estate plan, or to administer an estate.
It may be that big firms don't need estate planning groups (or don't think they do -- big firms, like Kirkland & Ellis, are famous for changing their minds on this point). But I think that goes both ways -- good estate planners don't need big firms, either. We're probably going to see more T&E boutique firms (like this one) spring up in the near future, which is a good thing.
