Bill Brennan, President, CVA

Bill has consulted more than 500 law firms and has over 35 years of experience in the legal profession providing consulting services in the areas of law firm valuations, partner buy-ins / buy-outs and succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, law firm crisis management, succession planning, profitability enhancement, expert witness testimony, strategic planning, financial planning and more.

He has extensive experience identifying merger candidates, negotiating deal terms and resolving business or tax issues precipitated by a merger. He has testified as an expert on the valuation of law firms and has helped law firms negotiate buy-outs with retiring partners. He also assists financially distressed law firms to restructure their operations and reduce operating expenses and has turned around several AmLaw 200 law firms that were experiencing a fiscal crisis.

Bill is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and provides business valuation services in conformance with the professional standards of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA). He has valued over 100 law firms for a variety of reasons, including partner buy-outs and for testimony at trial as an expert witness regarding the value of law firms.

He served as Director of Administration and Chief Financial Officer for two AmLaw 200 law firms for a total of nine years. He began his career at Price Waterhouse (now PWC) as an accountant and consultant specializing in financial planning and control. Bill spent over a decade as a principal with Altman Weil, Inc. specializing in law firm financial management, including M&A, implementing financial “best practices” to increase profitability, and valuation of law firms.

He has written law office management articles published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice, ALA Legal Management, Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms, Of Counsel and other publications for the legal profession.  He authored a chapter of a book entitled “An Overview of Law Firm Valuation” in the publication Valuing Professional Practices and Licenses (Aspen Publishers, 2010 – now Wolters Kluwer) discussing valuation of law firms. He has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York, National Law Journal, Law.com, Law360 and many other legal publications and blogs. Bill served on the Editorial Board for Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms. He has lectured extensively on management issues pertaining to the legal profession, including presentations for the ABA, local bar associations, various chapters of the Association of Legal Administrators and several ALA national conferences.

Bill is a former member of the Pennsylvania and American Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.  He is past Vice Chair of Finance of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association, and a Past President of the Association of Legal Administrators, Philadelphia Chapter. Bill achieved the designation of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).  He completed a program at the Harvard Business School on “Leading Professional Services Firms” and a program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on “Mergers & Acquisitions”. He is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College.