A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about how transactional attorneys should not be afraid to go to court.  I received a lot of positive feedback about the piece from a number of attorneys across the country.  Some litigators urged me, somewhat jokingly, not to reveal how easy litigation really is, lest we all receive fewer referrals from transactional attorneys!  A few other litigators seemed to agree with me that technological improvements and other factors have made it much easier for all kinds of lawyers to litigate cases.

Several attorneys also reached out to me and expressed that litigators are also oftentimes nervous about handling transactional matters themselves.  I saw this mentality when I worked at various litigation shops, where attorneys either had transactional lawyers at their firms handle transactional matters or referred these cases to other shops.  I recently started my own practice, and although I focus on litigation, a sizable amount of my work involves transactional matters.  My experiences have shown me that litigators do not need to fear transactional matters, and should be willing to incorporate more transactional work in their practices.

One of the reasons why many litigators are hesitant to handle transactional matters is because they do not have forms or other documents that might be necessary to complete a transactional project.  Of course, it makes sense that a given transactional issue might seem foreign to a litigator if they have never reviewed documents related to the matter before.

However, it is extremely easy to find forms for all kinds of transactional matters with Lexis, Westlaw, and other resources.  Sometimes, you can even just find a form with search engines and work off of these materials for free.  In addition, most attorneys (including myself) are part of email lists connected to bar associations.  As I’m sure many us have seen firsthand, litigators searching for forms related to a transactional matter can usually email these lists and ask for models, or even for answers to simple questions.  As a result, many litigators do not need to be afraid of handling most kinds of transactional matters.

Furthermore, handling transactional issues can help promote the litigation practice of a law firm.  For instance, if a litigator helps a client close on a property, they might be considered by a client if there is ever litigation about the deal.  In addition, if an attorney helps negotiate a contract for a client, they might be asked to prosecute or defend a claim based on that agreement.  There are, of course, other examples of transactional work generating litigation matters, and many of the litigation shops I worked at tried to bring in transactions partners to increase the amount of litigation they handled.  In any event, it is easy to see how working on transactional matters can increase the amount of “bread and butter” litigation work an attorney has in their practice.

In addition, handling transactional matters can help litigators provide better service to their clients.  Many clients want to use as few attorneys as possible to handle their various legal issues.  The more attorneys clients need to retain to handle their legal work, the more difficult it is for clients to communicate with their counsel and keep track of all of their legal issues.  In addition, using a number of different attorneys can keep attorneys and clients from creating trust and understanding that can only be forged after handling various legal matters over an extended period of time.

If litigators handle more transactional matters for clients themselves, they can save their clients the hassle of finding different counsel and dealing with multiple points of contact, varying billing procedures, and other issues.  In addition, handling transactional matters for clients can give litigators better perspectives about their clients and allow them to create more meaningful connections with them.

Of course, litigators should not handle transactional matters of clients if they do not feel competent to do so.  Doing bad transactional work for a client can threaten the trust a client has for an attorney, and this can impact the amount of litigation work a litigator is given by a particular client.  In addition, there are a number of reasons why it might not pay to work on transactional matters, including malpractice premiums, referral arrangements with transactional attorneys, and others.  And if litigators are busy enough with “bread and butter” litigation matters, it might make the most sense to simply refer transactional matters to a lawyer who specializes on those issues.

However, litigators should not be afraid of handling many types of transactional matters, since it is relatively easy to work on simple transactional issues.  Handling transactional matters can not only increase the amount of work that is completed by a firm, but can help generate litigation matters as well.

Jordan Rothman is the Managing Attorney of The Rothman Law Firm, a New Jersey and New York litigation boutique. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jrothman@rothmanlawyer.com.