What makes a firm a "new model of legal practice"? Each of the firms listed here has created a new way to practice law that provides its lawyers with more control over their schedules and greater work/life balance. Click on each firm name to get details about how the firm is structured, why it chose its present structure, the pros and cons, client reactions, and more.

Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing (Honolulu & Kamuela, HI) An 1800-billable hours full service firm of about 50 attorneys, who can opt to work full-time and salaried, or part-time and hourly and still remain on partnership track.

Axiom Legal (New York, San Francisco, London) A virtual full-service firm that embeds its attorneys in clients' businesses, achieving a high-level of integration and business knowledge, while allowing attorneys to maintain control over their schedules.

FSB Corporate Counsel (Atlanta, GA) A 14-attorney, no minimum billable hours virtual firm, whose attorneys supplement clients' in-house needs or manage their outside counsel, while working from home or a client site.

GCA Law Partners LLP (Mountain View, CA) A 20-year old collaborative law firm model, offering a range of commercial services to clients, with no associates, no secretarial support, and no billable hours requirements.

The General Counsel, Ltd. (Minnetonka, MN) For over two decades, this small employment and general commercial law firm has filled a special niche in the legal market as outsourced, in-house counsel.

Law Office of Kirsten Scheurer Branigan (Nutley, NJ) Initially an employment law boutique, this full-service firm, which recently merged into the McDonald Law Group, was committed to work/life balance for attorneys through alternative work arrangements, including part-time, flex-time, and telecommuting.

Mathews, Shepherd, McKay & Bruneau, P.A. (Princeton, NJ) A 1600-billable hour intellectual property boutique law firm.

McDonald Law Group (Florham Park, NJ) A fast-growing "woman-owned law firm committed to the hiring, retention and advancement of women in the practice of law," that employs full-time, flexible, and reduced schedules as well as job-sharing arrangements for attorneys and staff.

Miller Law Group (San Francisco & Larkspur, CA) A management-side employment litigation firm that gives attorneys the choice of three billable hour targets: 1600, 1700 or 1800.

Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, PC (Short Hills, NJ) An all-women employment law firm with a team of experienced, committed attorneys, most of whom work part-time.

Outside GC (Boston, MA) Experienced corporate lawyers who provide part-time in-house counsel services to companies of all sizes.

Paragon Legal Group (San Francisco, CA) A firm whose veteran attorneys (most of whom are working mothers) provide "cost-effective, on-demand corporate counsel services to technology companies."

Schoeman Updike & Kaufman (New York, Chicago) A majority women-owned firm, representing large corporations and private businesses, that has eliminated billable hours and encourages attorneys to work on a flexible, reduced-hour schedule.

Law Office of Joanne Sternlieb (New York, NY) An all-female firm specializing in trusts and estates, whose five attorneys work as independent contractors from their own homes.

Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay, P.C. (Boston, MA) A boutique commercial and business litigation firm, with a significant management-side labor and employment practice, that boasts no minimum billable-hour requirements, low overhead costs, and a commitment to work/life balance.