Answering the Dreaded ‘Portables’ Question

When looking for a new law firm job, there's one inevitable question that seasoned lawyers often dread: "What are your portables?"

Feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place--underestimating may kill the application, but overstating could lead to problems later--many attorneys have trouble providing a firm number. And, of course, even the most accurate projection could quickly change, if a client selects new counsel or other circumstances change.

But the problem is easily solved, consultant Dan Binstock of BOG Legal Search writes in a Legal Times in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). Don't just provide one estimate of the amount of portable business you're likely to bring the new firm, he advises, offer three--optimistic, conservative and realistic, in that order.

Law firms understand the difficulties that attorneys face in this situation, and the risks of relying on projected billables, he writes. "That is why firms often prefer to hire a lateral partner with a $3 million book that consists of 10 smaller clients over a lateral partner with a $3 million book containing one really big client."