The Sterling Family Law Show

Solo to Partner: Merging Law Practices the Right Way - #168

• Jeff Sterling Hughes

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Merging law practices might be your best move. Kathy closed her solo firm after 'wearing every hat.'

Here's the brutal truth about solo practice: you can't actually practice law when you're doing everything else. Kathy had a case involving the Smith and Gadow firm and evaluated their professionalism firsthand before joining. The collaborative law firm structure, mentorship benefits, and family law firm specialization convinced her to close her practice. 

Now she's a named partner with certified specialist credentials and AAML fellowship. This episode breaks down the practice transition strategy, becoming a law firm partner timeline, and attorney partnership opportunities most solos never consider. You'll learn why scaling through merger beats staying stuck in admin hell.


📲 Subscribe Now: https://www.youtube.com/@TylerxDolph 

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📄 CHAPTERS
0:00 - Merging Law Practices: Teacher to Law Firm Partner Story 

3:47 - Why Solo Practitioners Burn Out Wearing Every Hat 

7:40 - Joining Established Firm: Specialization Over Survival Mode 

9:07 - Law Firm Partnership Track: What It Actually Takes 

11:25 - Collaborative Law Firm Structure vs. Siloed Practices 

17:05 - Multi-Attorney Consultations: Better Client Experience 

19:27 - Solo Practitioner Merger Advice: Culture Fit Matters


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SPEAKER_01:

Kathy was a school teacher for over 13 years before deciding to get into law. She then built her own practice and has recently moved and merged into a larger practice in the Arizona area. And I really hope you enjoyed this episode. My name is Tyler Dolph. I'm the CEO of our digital marketing agency called Rocket Clicks that works exclusively with family law firms across the country. We also own and operate our own family law firm called Sterling Lawyers that has grown over 30 attorneys in 25 offices across two different states. And we have this podcast which we love and adore you for listening to. Today we continue our law firm owner and partner interview series. Kathy has a really great story to tell from being an educator to being a solo practitioner to then merging and joining another firm and becoming a partner there. Kathy, thank you so much for your time today. I'm so excited to hear your story. Would you mind introducing yourself to uh to us and giving us a little background on kind of how you came to be here?

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So my name is Kathy Stillman, and I am a partner at Stillman Smith Gatto, which is exclusively a boutique family law practice in Phoenix, Arizona. So I actually, my first profession was in elementary and special education, and I was a teacher for over 13 years and had some really great experiences being a teacher, really enjoyed it. Along the way, I decided that I did not want to be a principal, which is kind of the next level, right? When you're as an as an educator, you could be a principal, and so I ended up deciding to go to law school. I had a grandparent that had passed away, and my initial thoughts were that I would maybe go into estate planning. You know, that kind of sparked that, and there are just many ways, you know, the law provides for a lot of different options and opportunities. And so I went to law school. I thought it was was fascinating, and I did start off as uh working in the area of estate planning. Uh I was living out, say I went to law school at the University of Wyoming and practiced in Wyoming in estate planning there for a while, but then I moved back to Arizona where I had gone to undergrad. And that was almost 20 years ago. And I had children. I kind of went back to teaching and did some teaching and that sort of thing while my children were young, which was a great profession while I while my kids were young. And then I went through a divorce myself. And through that process, I decided I wanted to get back into the legal field. And so I sat for the bar in Arizona and opened my own firm actually at the time, uh, which is never easy. I wore every hat. I was my paralegal, my intake, billing. Uh and I actually had a case with one of the partners at the firm, and through that, just was met with exceptional service. Every every person I engaged with at the firm at the time, it was from Smith and Gaddo. And every every person I interacted with was professional, every pleading, everything that came out of the office was done right. And as a sole practitioner, I engaged with a lot of different practitioners and did some family law. But it was through that case that I get got to know um Jenny Gatto. And I ended up doing some contract work for the firm. And a few months later, I decided to join the firm and close my practice because I wanted to be a part of that, um, of that culture, just knowing that people are looking to do everything. They, you know, they were a firm that people referred to, you know, both Jennifer Gaddo and Steve Smith, who are the my other two partners, uh have an exception, exceptional background history. The firm had been in place for for years, over 30 years, and they were tremendous mentors to me. They they were just very giving in wanting to share, help people become better practitioners. And everything that the firm does is is only family law. We stay in that lane. We that's that's what we do. We want to help people through that process, and I wanted to become a part of that. And that was nine and a half years ago. And through their mentorship, I have become a certified specialist. All three of us are certified specialists through the State Bar of Arizona in the area of family law, and we are all all three of us are also fellows with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which is a national organization that really provides a lot in the same area and said a lot to me with regard to Steve and Jenny because they're it is about mentorship, it's about building a community of practitioners that work together to become better, to you know, to have that mentorship across the board so that there's good representation for people out there. And they've really strived to do that. And much of the practitioner that I've become today is thanks to their mentorship and the high standards that they hold uh for for their own work and and you know in the courtroom and in the community. So it's been I've been very special.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's great. We uh we love the AML community. Um, we actually do a lot of work with them as well. Uh I think your your story is fascinating. One that you spent so much time as a teacher and then have been able to navigate that pretty dramatic career change and and do so very successfully. Uh the uh we talked to a lot of attorneys who start their own firm, you know, and realize that you can't really be an attorney if you're a solo practitioner because you also have to be an entrepreneur and you have to pay the bills and, like you said, do intake and all the things. Uh what was the experience like, you know, having to go through that, learn all of those things, and then be able to come into an environment at your current firm to really thrive? Was it like uh you weight lifted off your shoulders because you could then go back to doing what you do best? Or do you miss any of the admin stuff from your own firm?

SPEAKER_00:

I wouldn't say I miss it. And now that I'm a partner, I became a partner uh almost a year ago in July of 2024, and we did change the firm name from From Smith Gatto to Stillman Smith Gatto. Um, the partner, Sandra From had retired just before I actually started working for the firm so many years ago. It's hard to be a practitioner, and and when you're a sole practitioner, you sometimes take on more of a general base of clientele, different types of law, and you don't get to be as specialized in a particular area sometimes. It takes it takes quite a bit of time. So definitely when I made that transition, I enjoyed that I was able to focus on building my skills, building my practice as a family law practitioner, because you do spend an exorbitant amount of time with the admin side of things, and it makes it hard for you to do do your work work, the things that you've been trained to do. Um, as a partner, I've circled back into doing, you know, having more administrative uh responsibilities, but I do enjoy it. But but being just part of such a great organization, it made it, it really made it worthwhile because I knew that I was working for and with just top quality people. And like I said, really the mentorship was such a big part of building and growing my practice and uh very appreciative of that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it could be pretty lonely, you know, being a solo practitioner and not having anyone to lean on, and now having a team is is pretty awesome. How would you you know help um maybe the the people below you as they're trying to become partners in their firm? You know, was that always the kind of the promise when you came over, or did you have to hit certain milestones? Like what what allowed you to become successful and become a partner in the firm?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think some of it was just my personal you know drive. I'm very competitive. I was an athlete in college, and you know, I I want to be one of the best. I want people to think that and to um to have those skills. And like I said, for me and part of being part of the AAML, part of the family law community, it's really important to me to try and be involved in different types of programming that help build those skills and open up, you know, to where someone can call you, feel comfortable to call you on the phone and say, I have this problem or I have this issue, and that's how you learn. And as many divorces as anyone has seen, there's just always something different about every single divorce or child custody or you know, any type of those situations, they're so difficult, and no two situations are the same. And having a large community of trusted professionals that you can reach out to and talk with about things that are coming up, brainstorming, how can we be creative in helping these people get through one of probably one of the most difficult times in their lives? It's it's hard, and sometimes we get into, you know, or what experiences have we had with judges and trying to help build continue to build that community so that people don't feel afraid to pick up the phone and say, Oh, what do you think about this? What about that? And that's you know, we have six attorneys total in our office. Um, besides for the three of us that are partners, we have three associates, and that is really important to us is we meet, we meet regularly to talk about cases, to we have that open door so that if there are questions about cases that people have, again, that that's how we all learn. And someone else may have seen it, someone else may have experienced it, and we get a chance to to help build that.

SPEAKER_01:

It's awesome to hear about the collaborative nature of your firm and the opportunity to to leverage the other staff members on cases. You know, we've heard of a lot of firms that are very siloed and and don't have that same approach. Do you do you believe that that is uh a curated approach that the the founders instilled into the culture of the company? And is that something that you guys really kind of focus on as an organization?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. It's one of one of the key things and one of the things we really try and instill is make sure that you know we're all just right down the hall from each other. And as much as you know, COVID and some things have maybe broadened the whole virtual element of the practice of law, we still feel like it's very important to see each other and have that in-person interaction to where, you know, like just this morning, I had, you know, one of the other associates came in and said, What do you think about this? And we're all just trying, like I said, it's really important of having those people to mentor. And as we have new, you know, staff, we have a lot of training for not just our attorneys, but for our staff in making sure that we are working through the process and oversight to you know to give suggestions and feedback. And I would like to think that I think they feel very comfortable coming to us and not feeling like it's a big deal, but but more the norm for them for people to come in and say, what do you think about this? Or can you look over you know what I have here? Or that that feedback is and I know it was invaluable to me as my practice is growing. I continue, you know, we go to each other all the time. We have monthly meetings in addition to just that open door policy of let's let's talk about this and see if we can come up with something.

SPEAKER_01:

Have you felt the benefit of that as you are mentoring kind of the next uh your associates or the next round of partners?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I've really gotten good feedback. I think that my I also like doing that because my background is teaching. So I really feel like my teaching background lends itself to this practice, not only my interaction with parents and dealing with children, which comes up, you know, in quite a lot of the cases. So I feel like I have have that advantage, but just my nature is that I want to teach, try and break things down and you know, make things more, you know, simplified. That was what part of my job. Uh I was a special education teacher for a large percentage of that time that I was teaching. And part of that role was learning how to simplify, how to break things down, how to explain it. The um divorce seems like it should be. I use divorce, even though we do a lot of things. We do premarital agreements and and appeals, and you know, our practice is broader than that. But your families that are going through such a difficult time, there's so much information on the internet, and that can be dangerous, right? It's kind of like looking at an MD and diagnosing yourself. And because of that, that's one of the things that's important to us is being being certified specialists and working towards that to make sure that we are on top of all the case law, we're doing all of those things because those nuances are the sorts of things that set you aside and set you apart from other areas because that's all we do. And I'm looking to help simplify that process for clients to help walk them through it because it isn't quite as straightforward as we all feel, right? Oh, you know, I've got 10 friends that got divorced, or I have, you know, whatever. They everybody knows somebody, most likely, that's gone through the process, and it just isn't the same for everybody. And we really pride ourselves on telling people what they need to hear, maybe not what they want to hear. And that can be difficult, but we want to help people through the process, get them, you know, get them to the other side, to where the new normal is and help them through some of that difficult stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

That's uh part of the deal, you know, being uh we always say like divorce, uh working divorce cases is is working with amazing people on kind of their worst day or the the worst time period of their life. And so you have to have a lot of compassion and be able to listen and and understand what's happening.

SPEAKER_00:

And we want to see them bloom, right? You know, to blossom. It's like you said, when they come in, often it's at their lowest, and it's not an easy process, and it's not a short, fast process either. And that can take a toll, and we try and help, you know, provide them with a good team, give them you know information, and sometimes the scariest part is the unknown. And to the extent that we can help relieve that, this is what's going to happen, this is how it's you know likely to happen. Here is your best and worst case. Um, it's not a win-lose situation. It's you know, when families are breaking up, it's never easy. And it really is about just finding the best way to navigate, help them understand what's going to happen so that it's not as scary, it's still going to be scary, there are still going to be difficult times, but we're looking to advocate and get them through that.

SPEAKER_01:

That's so great. When I was thinking about the, you know, the fact you had your own firm and you came into another firm. Um were there like different uh ways that you needed to change how you had your divorce process or the the conversations you were having with clients? Like, did your current firm provide that foundation and process of how they do their divorce cases? And you know, we're gonna do this, then we're gonna do that, or and and maybe that was different than how you did in the past. How was that kind of transition?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think everything starts with the initial consultation with clients when they come when they come in, right? It's probably one of the scariest days. They never thought they'd be there. They've probably been told, like I said, they've been barred bombarded by numerous people telling them what they should do. They don't know what to think. And part of our process here, we usually have more than one attorney in consultations. We don't have an intake person that's that they'll never see again. They come in, they meet with us, and through those consultations, that was a large part of my learning process was the format and kind of the way that both Jenny and Steve, you know, gather information. Like I said, they they're they're that staple there, and they both have very different styles. They're both amazing attorneys, but I learned from both of them, and I'd say my style probably reflects a little bit of each of them because as you sit in those consultations, it's just not an hour, we're gonna shove you out the door. We sit there and take the time that it takes to answer questions and to take them through the process, to gather information about their specific case, because all of those details are very important. And our advice to anyone is only as good as the information we get. So if we don't take the time to get that information and walk them through those those steps, then we likely aren't giving them necessarily great advice because we haven't put in the time to really we have to dig a little bit sometimes. You know, people tell you what they perceive to be the most important thing, and you may realize it's actually something else that's there, but you have to take the time. And that was definitely something, you know, their style and their consultation style, I think, uh, was I've I've learned a lot over the years, and but we still do that. It still is usually two to three attorneys, and you know, their meeting, we all have different perspectives, and we all talk about different parts of the divorce process, and you know, sometimes we have different ideas of well, we we actually think it might be this, and and the the potential clients get to know us, and I think that that is really important in in finding a good fit. It's important for clients to find someone that they feel comfortable with because they're going to be exposing themselves and some of their most personal information to someone that's a complete stranger that they're paying money to. That that's not easy, and we don't expect that, but we want them to get to know us so that they know that we're right for them.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. Kathy, as we kind of finish up here, if there's someone listening to this who's a solo practitioner who's thinking about joining a larger firm, what advice can you give them as they're kind of making that consideration?

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's to get to know them, right? To find out again if they're a good fit for the model of the firm and and what they what they have to offer, what they can offer to the firm, you know, what what benefits they're going to bring to the firm, what the firm can do for them, and how they can use those things together. Um, there's certainly exposure. There are lots of opportunities through the local bar associations, you know, to get um, I think it's important to have connections. Whether you're still staying as a solo practitioner, but have connections just with other practitioners that that are out there and experienced. I think that that can play a big role in success and trajectory.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. I totally agree. Like I mentioned, I'm really appreciative of your time. Uh, I appreciate your story and your insights. We will look forward to continue following your journey. And uh again, really, really appreciate it.

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