Region?s Largest Law Firms Are in Washington County

The largest law firms in Northwest Arkansas tend to be in Washington County, according to the latest rankings compiled by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

The Bassett Law Firm, with 15 lawyers, remains the largest legal office in the region. When the Business Journal last ranked law firms two years ago, Bassett, which has offices in Fay-etteville, led the list with 14 lawyers.

New to this year’s list is Conner & Winters, a Tulsa-based firm with eight lawyers in its Fayetteville office.

There seems to be no way to determine accurately just how many lawyers there are in the region.

The Arkansas Supreme Court, which oversees annual licensing, says statewide there are about 7,700 licensed lawyers. The court does not, however, keep track on a county-by-county basis.

Membership in the state and local bar associations is voluntary, so that’s no true indicator, either.

But the Arkansas Bar Association reports it has about 4,333 members statewide and it expects that to reach 4,500 by June. In Washington County, the ABA has 348 members while Benton County has 166 members. Pulaski County has 1,653 ABA members.

The American Bar Foundation published statistics in 1999 concerning the number of lawyers nationally. The publication, “The Lawyers Statistical Report,” uses numbers from 1995.

That source says Arkansas has 4,413 lawyers or 0.5 percent of all lawyers in the United States.

The state has one lawyer for every 556 residents, a ratio that puts it dead last among the 50 states and District of Columbia, the Foundation says. Nationally, the average is one lawyer per 303 residents.

While Arkansas ranks 33rd among the states in population, it ranks 36th among states in lawyer population, the Foundation reported.

Pre-Paid services

The Lisle Law Firm in Springdale has expanded its legal staff more than other firms that were previously ranked. The Lisle firm has grown from five lawyers in 1997 to eight. Managing partner John Lisle says he’s currently interviewing for a ninth lawyer.

Lisle’s been associated with Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. since 1986 when Pre-Paid’s founder, Harland Stonecipher, first came looking for an Arkansas firm to represent his company.

Pre-Paid, which is publicly traded, affiliates with just one law firm in each state. Among those he was interested in affiliating with was a Little Rock law firm where Lisle was then practicing.

The concept appealed to Lisle but his partners specialized in insurance defense work.

“None of us understood what it was,” Lisle recalls. But, “based on the contents of the letter, I thought it was such a good idea we shouldn’t summarily trash the letter.”

His partners agreed that Lisle, the only member of the firm with experience beyond insurance defense work, could investigate further.

Lisle and Stonecipher hit it off during their meeting, and Stonecipher eventually asked Lisle to be responsible for Pre-Paid’s work in Arkansas.

When Lisle left the Little Rock firm to establish his own practice in Springdale, Stonecipher approved.

Based in Ada, Okla., the company sells insurance of a sort to clients who want to ensure they have readily available legal services.

Pre-Paid Legal’s stock has been as high as $40 a share in the past year and as low as $20 a share. But the number of members is growing rapidly. Nearly 150,000 more people signed on as clients in 1999, bringing the company’s membership to 827,979.

Lisle says many employers are offering membership in Pre-Paid Legal Services as a payroll deduction to employees. Workers may choose membership as part of a cafeteria plan of benefits.

Among the employers who do so are National Home Centers Inc., based in Springdale. That company has about 200 employees who participate in Pre-Paid Legal Services, Lisle says.

He estimates that half the firm’s business comes from Pre-Paid clients.

As part of the Pre-Paid Legal Services network, the Lisle firm must adhere to certain standards.

One of the requirements is that the phones be manned from 8:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. daily. Four lawyers in the firm spend “virtually all day on the phone,” Lisle says. Other lawyers in the firm handle other legal business.