Law firm org chart example
A partnership of about thirty drawn with both halves on the page: the practice groups where the legal work happens, and the business services side that most firm charts leave off entirely, even though it is where the headcount has been growing for a decade.
How a law firm is usually structured
Ownership and management are separate questions in a firm, and a chart can only show one of them. A managing partner sits at the top, elected by the partners and usually still carrying a caseload; the executive committee beside them is governance and belongs on its own chart. Beneath, the firm divides into practice groups — corporate, litigation, employment, real estate — each led by a partner who is a practising lawyer first and a manager second.
Inside a group the ladder is unusually explicit: equity partner, income or non-equity partner, of counsel, senior associate, associate, and in many firms a fixed number of years between each rung. Of counsel is the placement everyone argues about. It is less a level than a status — a retired partner still taking work, a specialist who does not want partnership, a lateral being tried out — so put them in the group whose work they do and let the title say the rest.
The other half of the chart is business services, under an executive director or chief operating officer: finance, marketing and business development, IT, HR, records. In a firm of any size this is a third of the people and almost none of the org charts. Legal support — paralegals, legal secretaries, docketing clerks — sits here too, managed by a supervisor rather than by the attorneys they work for, with matter assignments drawn as dotted lines.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Ownership and management | Managing Partner, Executive or Management Committee, Practice Group Leader, Office Managing Partner |
| Attorneys | Equity Partner, Income or Non-Equity Partner, Of Counsel, Special Counsel, Senior Associate, Associate, Staff Attorney, Trainee Solicitor |
| Legal support | Paralegal Manager, Senior Paralegal, Paralegal, Legal Secretary or Legal Assistant, Docketing Clerk, Law Clerk |
| Business services | Executive Director or COO, Director of Finance, Marketing & Business Development Manager, IT Manager, HR Manager, Records Manager, Office Manager |
Where these charts go wrong
Common failures: charting attorneys only, so the executive director who runs a third of the firm is missing; drawing associates under individual partners when the group assigns them; putting the chief operating officer under a partner with no time to manage them; and treating the managing partner as a chief executive, which no partnership agreement has ever supported.
Questions people ask
- How is a law firm organised?
- By practice group, under a partnership. A managing partner and an executive committee sit at the top; each practice group — corporate, litigation, employment — is led by a partner and staffed with counsel, senior associates and associates. Alongside them an executive director runs finance, marketing, IT, HR and the legal support pool.
- Where does of counsel go on a law firm org chart?
- In the practice group whose work they do, drawn between partner and senior associate, with the exact title on the card. Of counsel describes a relationship with the firm rather than a rung on the ladder, so the position is a convention and the title is the information.
- Who do paralegals report to?
- A paralegal manager or legal support supervisor, not the attorneys they work with. Day-to-day direction comes from whoever owns the matter, which is a dotted line. Charting paralegals under individual partners makes the pool impossible to manage and hides who handles their reviews and workload.
- Should business services be on the same chart as the attorneys?
- Yes. The firm has one head and two hierarchies underneath, and a chart showing only the attorneys will be wrong about a third of the firm. If you need a partner-facing view, make a second chart of the practice groups alone rather than deleting the people who run the business.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programmes beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control centre, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defence, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.