Biglaw

A law firm without an ampersand can still thrive

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For those attorneys back on the market, we’d like to note other firm options beyond those with ampersands. A recent issue of Fortune Magazine profiles web-based law firm Axiom. Founded in 2000 by Biglaw refugees, it appears the high-end legal temp agency has been steadily growing.

Back in December 2006, the Wall Street Journal profiled the firm–then with 150 attorneys and offices in New York and San Francisco–noting that its associates make salaries in the high-$100,000s and mid-$200,000s, work 40 hours per week, and offer legal services up to 50% lower than top law firms. It got attention again last year, when it opened a new office in London, and added more attorneys taking its count up to nearly 200.

It looks like this baby is still growing. Its office count is now up to five, with additional offices in L.A. and Chicago, and the attorney count is up to 216. Its website brags of “law redefined” and has bios for its support staff giving them nicknames, like “Last of the Faux-Hicans,” “The Hammer,” and “Jazz Hands.”

A venture capitalist tells Fortune that Axiom is “almost like an online dating service for the legal profession.” (Ed. note: No, that would be ATL Courtship Connections.) Beyond the online component, a big difference from a traditional law firm is that Axiom is a corporation instead of a partnership, and having been funded by venture capitalists, will actually have to go public at some point.

The WSJ law blog notes that some fear the idea of being consigned to “temping hell.” But in a gallery of testimonials, a San Francisco Axiom attorney praises the life-work balance at Axiom, saying, “I will passionately find creative solutions to your company’s thorniest legal issues, but I will also find time to passionately ride my dirt bike in my hot pink riding gear.”

Well, if that’s not an advertisement for temping, what is? What do you think? Ready to send your resume to Axiom?

Legal eagles set free [Fortune]

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Axiom: A Different Kind of Legal Practice? [WSJ Law Blog]

Finding Happiness On the Slow(er) Track [Wall Street Journal]

Take the law into your own hands [Financial Times]

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