PricewaterhouseCoopers' law firm services practice offers tax, audit and consulting resources to law firms and their partners throughout the world.
Over a decade ago, we recognized the need for a strong international network geared specifically to law firms and began developing an ongoing dialogue with our global partners who had law firm clients. These relationships have since matured into a close-knit circle of experienced law firm advisers. We now provide law firms with "one-phone-call" solutions to global tax issues, advice on international operations and coordinated tax planning to domestic and foreign offices.
Some of the key areas where we assist law firms include:
Our long-standing relationships with law firm clients are built on high-quality work, timely delivery and current advice. Moreover, we focus on "connected thinking" in the way that we coordinate all our services worldwide for the benefit of our clients. As a result, we are a leading domestic and international service provider to law firms worldwide, serving many of the US AmLaw 100 and the UK Lawyer 100 in a tax, audit or advisory capacity.
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Our tax services for law firms offer creative solutions to federal and state and local tax issues. We are experienced in analyzing the complexities of the tax laws and apply that experience in assessing a law firm’s tax reporting and compliance process.
Our tax services team handles both the compliance and tax planning services for law firms so as to leverage information gathering and to identify tax planning opportunities. This structure is designed to increase efficiency and provide quick responses to client inquiries—often resulting in "one-phone-call" solutions.
When law firms do business in various global locations, they can be subject to a wider range of tax issues than they are used to in their home countries. With our strong international network, we offer professionals with cross-border tax experience to help address the tax issues facing law firms with global operations.
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Income taxes are typically a partner’s single greatest annual expenditure and they merit significant attention. An inadequate understanding of tax rules and their potential impact on personal goals and strategies could jeopardize assets and long-term financial plans.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has provided personal financial planning and wealth building services for over 50 years. These services are delivered by our personal financial services (PFS) team, a practice dedicated to serving the unique financial needs of partners, executives and high-net-worth individuals.
The goal of our program is to help law firm partners in meeting their individual income tax filing requirements and identify tax saving opportunities, while reducing the administrative burden on the partner—as well as the law firm itself. Important elements of our partner tax services include:
- Tax preparation: Providing timely, consistent preparation of partners’ returns, regardless of their location worldwide.
- Tax planning" Conducting quarterly and year-end estimated tax planning, including preparation of income tax projections.
- Retirement and benefits planning: Analyzing participation and plan distribution options available in the law firm’s retirement plans and recommending appropriate elections to meet anticipated retirement needs.
- Wealth transfer planning: Working with estate attorneys to help partners effectively use various trusts/entities and recommending corrections to beneficiary designations to reduce estate taxes.
- Insurance planning: Helping partners manage personal risk by recommending liquidity and survivor income coverage levels, identifying gaps in insurance and eliminating significant uninsured risks.
- Cash flow and debt management: Helping partners effectively manage their draw amounts with capital, retirement plan, 401(k), living expenses and estimated taxes.
- Education funding: Assessing education savings vehicles for a particular family situation.
- Investment planning: Creating a personal investment policy statement and asset allocation approach specific to a partner’s investment needs.
- Wealth management system: Creating a personalized financial website for each partner that aggregates financial investment information nightly, serves as a repository for financial documents (i.e., tax returns, insurance policies, wills, etc.) and provides a platform for more sophisticated financial planning in a single, convenient location.
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Our advisory services practice for law firms works with many of the country's leading law firms to help them achieve financial and managerial results consistent with their specific needs and objectives. As a professional services organization ourselves, we have a deep understanding of the challenges facing law firms and can help identify and implement practical solutions in their business operations.
Through an independent, third-party view, we can help law firms maintain or gain a competitive edge through a wide variety of strategic advisory services:
- Law firm M&A services: Advising law firms on various aspects of proposed mergers, including structure, tax implications to the firms or their partners, accounting systems, year-ends and due diligence issues.
- Operational reviews: Performing an analysis on the effectiveness and efficiency of the core business operations at law firms in terms of quality, control and cost and making appropriate recommendations.
 Risk management for law firms (105kb): Providing an enterprise-wide risk management approach, which addresses operational, market, regulatory, employee/professional, client reputation/brand, IT and financial/accounting risks.- Dispute analysis & Investigations: Offering financial, economic, and statistical services to law firms involved in litigation, arbitration or mediations, and regulatory investigations or other regulatory issues.
- National economic consulting (NEC): Supplying a broad range of economic, statistical, and modelling services that a law firm’s public affairs team may need to develop strategy and garner support for a public policy position. NEC is an integral part of our Washington national tax services office, PwC's policy analysis and advocacy organization.
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For many years, we have had the distinct privilege of providing assurance and advisory services to many of the top law firms throughout the US. We have been able to achieve and maintain this distinction due to three key factors:
- Knowledge: Our professionals understand the fundamentals of the law firm profession and focus on improving that understanding to provide greater value
- Effectiveness: We make significant use of technology to meet your reporting deadlines, work with management and personnel on key issues and resolve any concerns in a timely manner with minimum disruption to law firm operations
- Communication: Through regular meetings and discussions, we stay in touch continuously throughout the audit so that communication channels remain open and questions get answered
Our audit services approach is one that adds substantial value to law firms. It consists of four principal phases:
- Detailed planning of an integrated audit approach coordinated with a law firm’s financial management
- Interim testing of key internal controls and detailed account balances and identification of technical issues to help them get communicated and resolved
- Year-end testing of higher risk and significant account balances and detailed analysis of the financial results
- Assessment of the adequacy of financial statement presentation and disclosures
At the conclusion of the audit, we can also issue a Report on the business to management outlining our observations and recommendations. These value-added comments—derived from our knowledge of law firms and key learnings from the audit—can help law firms become more efficient and competitive going forward.
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There are probably as many ways to measure a law firm’s success as there are to create it. But one factor is clear: the powerful link that exists between the quality and energy of the people who work for a firm and its performance.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ human resource services (HRS) practice places this often-overlooked success factor front and center. We believe that people play the most essential role in the creation of value and so we strive to help our clients nurture and train their employees into a sustainable source of competitive advantage. We also have the practical experience, the multidisciplinary resources—and, yes, the people—to help clients achieve that goal.
We help our law firm clients align their business strategy with their people and processes. We offer fresh perspectives and innovative services—often challenging standard approaches—to complex global and local human resource issues, such as:
- Providing innovative approaches to HR-related issues
- Creating value for your business through people
- Increasing tax deductible contributions to retirement plans
- Reducing pension costs
- Reducing prescription drug benefit costs
- Identifying creative cost saving alternatives for medical plans
- Providing a wealth management system for partners and key executives
- Providing international assignment services to law firms with overseas offices
- Developing strategic communications for new benefit policies and practices
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