Agreement Partnership

Of counsel', one of these mysterious law firm terms, simply means a lawyer who is employed by a firm to do work but is not an associate or a partner.A retired partner of the firm who, although not actively practicing law, nonetheless remains associated with the firm and available for occasional consultation.

Members and Partners are generally owners of the law firm. Generally, the term members are used if the firm is a corporation, partners are used in a partnership or LLP. They generally receive a draw or salary, depending upon structure...

Typically, the designation of counsel means an attorney who is employed by a firm but not as an associate or partner. Often the designee is a former judge or government official transitioning to private practice.

An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ownership interest in the firm even if associated with the firm for many years. First-year associates are entry-level junior attorneys and are generally recent law school graduates in their first year of law practice.

The highest of these levels is that of partner in a law firm. A partner is a member of the law firm's management and, in the highest level, has an equity stake in the law firm.

"Of counsel" role These attorneys are people who work for the firm, like associates, although some firms have an independent contractor relationship with their counsel. But unlike associates, and more like partners, they generally have their own clients, manage their own cases, and supervise associates.

The difference between an associate and a partner in a law firm is experience level and seniority. A law firm partner is an attorney with partial ownership of the law firm.Associate attorneys are regular employees. They make a salary and often receive benefits like health insurance.

The biggest difference between a partner and an Of Counsel is that Of Counsel are salaried employees of a firm, whereas equity partners are firm owners and are compensated based on shares of firm profits.

Noun. advice or guidance on conduct, behaviour, etc. discussion, esp on future procedure; consultationto take counsel with a friend. a person whose advice or guidance is or has been sought. a barrister or group of barristers engaged in conducting cases in court and advising on legal matterscounsel for the prosecution.

A lawyer or a law firm may be "of counsel" to another law firm as long as there is a close, regular, personal relationship with the firm.A lawyer who owns a mediation company is "of counsel" to a law firm in which his/her spouse is a partner.