For Consultant Lawyers
Strategic advisory for consultant and independent lawyers on practice positioning, systems, and sustainable solo and consulting practice design.
Advisory For Consultant & Independent Lawyers
Consultant lawyers sit in a peculiar and interesting position in solo law practice.
On paper, consultancy promises autonomy, flexibility, and freedom from traditional firm constraints.
In practice, many consultants simply swap one set of constraints for another, often with less visibility, less leverage, and the same personal risk as flying completely solo.
Most solicitor consultants realise fairly quickly:
You are responsible for bringing in the work
You are responsible for doing the work
And you are responsible for getting paid for the work
Without a deliberate strategy, a consulting practice quickly becomes reactive — busy, but constrained in reach, control, and long-term potential.
At Ippolito Advisory, we work with consultant and independent lawyers who want to treat their practice as what it actually is -
a business operating inside someone else’s infrastructure.
Our focus is helping consultant lawyers optimise, strengthen, and future-proof their existing practices not by chasing growth for its own sake, but by improving control, clarity, and sustainability.
Who This Work Is For
We advise:
Consultant lawyers within small, mid-size, and large firms
Independent practitioners operating under consultancy or fee-share models
Solicitors deliberately transitioning into consultancy roles
Solicitors deliberately transitioning out of consultancy and into fully solo practice
This work is for lawyers with an existing or emerging practice who want to stop operating on instinct alone and start making structural, strategic decisions.
Common Issues Consultant Lawyers Face
The problems we see are consistent and they are structural, not personal.
They commonly include:
Weak or inefficient systems
Dependence on firm processes that do not scale or suit long-term goals
Limited control over pricing, positioning, and client selection
Time-for-money ceilings
Capacity constraints
Inconsistent workflow and cashflow
Over-reliance on a small number of referral sources
Uncertainty about long-term sustainability and practice value
Ongoing tension between autonomy and firm expectations
Unclear thinking about how AI will reshape consulting and fee-share models
What Our Advisory Work Focuses On
Our work is practical, strategic, and commercially grounded.
It typically focuses on:
Clarifying the commercial and strategic structure of your consulting practice
Improving workflow, systems, and visibility
Strengthening positioning and niche
Reducing dependence on pure time based billing
Using AI sensibly as a second brain and thinking partner
This is not “scale at all costs”.
And it is not “we guarantee to double your fees in 90 days” nonsense.
The aim is to review your existing practice and help you regain control, clarity, and sustainability so your practice works for you, not the other way around.
Solicitors Transitioning Into Consultancy
We also advise solicitors considering or moving into consultant or independent roles within firms.
This work focuses on:
Understanding the realities of consultancy arrangements
Practice structure, positioning, and commercial leverage
Long-term viability and exit optionality
So consultancy is entered deliberately not by default.
From Consultancy Back To Solo
We also work with solicitors who are exiting consultancy arrangements and returning to fully independent solo practice.
This transition is often more complex than expected.
Systems, pricing, positioning, client ownership, workflow, risk, and cashflow all need to be rethought not simply lifted and shifted.
Our advisory work focuses on structuring the move deliberately, protecting continuity of work where possible, and avoiding the common mistakes that turn a clean exit into an expensive reset.
How Engagements Begin
Most engagements begin with a complimentary 15-minute consultation by phone or Zoom.
This is a straightforward conversation to understand your situation and assess whether there is a genuine mutual fit.
If appropriate, this is followed by a structured strategy session (typically 60–90 minutes) to identify:
The real constraints in your current model
The structural issues holding your practice back
The decisions that actually matter next
Where it makes sense, this may lead to ongoing advisory support or periodic strategic reviews.
We do not offer generic programs.
We say no when it’s not the right fit.
And we do not sugar-coat our advice.