Our History

Womack Law Group was founded by Christopher Womack following an established career with a highly-regarded Phoenix-based law firm.  Chris started with his prior firm after graduating from law school third in his class and, after six years as an associate attorney, was unanimously voted in as a full equity partner ahead of the usual partnership track.  While at his prior firm, Chris had the benefit of establishing his practice as part of a group of exceptionally talented lawyers with first-class credentials.  His colleagues included attorneys who also graduated at the top of their class from law schools around the nation.  During that time, Chris was instrumental in developing the firm's corporate & IP practice groups.

At his prior firm, Chris served as corporate counsel to a wide variety of companies and provided representation on a broad range of legal matters.  There he developed a varied practice focused on entrepreneurial growth companies, from startups and closely-held businesses to companies with national and international operations.  He also provided representation to well-known public companies and institutions including Miller Brewing Company, Oxford University and Smith & Wesson. 

After many years as a partner with a successful practice, Chris began to explore the growing national trend of experienced attorneys leaving larger firms to establish their practices on a smaller firm platform where they can fully embrace modern technology and lean office principles.  Like many other attorneys, he found that historical law firm necessities—a large administrative staff, word processing assistance and a centrally-located paper-based law firm library—had been rendered increasingly obsolete by technology.

In 2012, Chris withdrew from his prior firm to found the Womack Law Group.  At that time, he identified a select group of his long-term clients as those whom he felt he could best serve through a new practice platform.  We are delighted to be able to say that every client asked had the confidence to continue with Chris as he transitioned to his new firm.  We view our long-term client relationships as a validation of a fundamental premise with unique application to the practice of law, namely, that legal services are ultimately provided by individual lawyers, not by firms.

Prior to founding WLG, Chris worked frequently with his spouse Lisa Womack, a founding attorney of the law firm of Pietzsch, Bonnett & Womack.  By the time of WLG's founding, Chris and Lisa already had a close working relationship borne out of complementary areas of legal expertise and representation of mutual clients.  One of the benefits in founding WLG has been the opportunity for Chris and Lisa to further develop their working relationship and, after withdrawing from her prior firm, now she devotes all of her professional time to WLG. Another benefit in founding WLG has been the flexibility to maintain a level of professionalism and client service that we believe has been eroding under the increasing economic pressures faced by larger law firms.

Services Model

Our services are guided by the following fundamental principles: 

• Providing dedicated legal representation to a select group of clients at preferred rates, taking a practical approach to legal issues, and providing sound advice as though each client's business were our own.

• Operating in a lean office environment powered by technology while avoiding unnecessary overhead as needed to provide legal services at preferred rates, but without sacrificing infrastructure and resources needed for delivery of quality legal services.

• In cases where we believe it is appropriate for a client to consider engaging more specialized counsel for a specific matter, providing candid and objective advice on representation options independent of referral incentives found at larger firms.

As part of our commitment to provide sound and practical advice, we recommend and perform legal services only where determined to be appropriate based on the specific legal needs of the company and the goals of its management.  It's a common sense approach but one that is often undermined at larger firms by an overriding focus on maximizing partnership profitability.  While diligent evaluation of legal priorities might moderate profitability in the short-term, we take the long view and believe that consistently evaluating legal needs based on what makes sense for the client is the foundation for the long-term client relationships that our practice has been built on.  

An important component of maintaining our capacity to provide responsive service is our policy of not representing every potential client who comes our way.  We have an established history of maintaining long-term client relationships and consider it a first principle not to compromise our service to existing clients by indiscriminately accepting new engagements.  Accordingly, when we accept new clients, it is by referral only after an evaluation of the client's needs and our ability to meet those needs.  Most of our client relationships have originated out of referrals from existing clients and other attorneys which we view as a sincere expression of confidence in our professional services.

Financial Model & Technology Platform

At the heart of our financial model is our commitment to operating in a lean, technology-driven environment which avoids the unnecessary overhead components and inherent administrative inefficiencies of traditional law firm practice.  By taking full advantage of modern legal technology—from electronic document systems to voice recognition software and automated digital dictation equipment—while avoiding nonessential traditional law firm expenses, we are enabled to provide our clients with quality legal representation at preferred rates.

Just as important as the financial investment, we invest the time required to optimize the use of new technology in our practice.  A principal reason traditional law firms have been slow to adopt new technology is that senior firm management tied to historical practice models balk at the investment required, in time as well as dollars, to implement a modern practice platform on a firm-wide basis.  One of many advantages derived from the efficiencies of a smaller firm is the ability to invest resources on a tailored basis taking into account individualized practice needs rather than the unavoidable tendency toward a one-size-fits-all approach found at larger firms.

A cornerstone of the economic model that allows us to provide our clients with legal services at preferred billing rates is our avoidance of unnecessary overhead.  Traditional law firm expenses avoided include nonessential personnel costs, paper-file maintenance and storage costs, and costs of legacy practice aids such as hard-copy legal reference materials which are being increasingly replaced by electronic resources that, when effectively utilized, offer greater functionality at lower cost.  Other typical law firm expenditures viewed as largely unnecessary include firm advertising and marketing expenditures.  As one example, we expend no resources seeking marketing-focused recognitions from third-party sources which are fee-based or advertising-supported whose lack of reliability has been widely documented and, for knowledgeable clients, have little value.  We believe our distinguished academic credentials obtained in a rigorously-evaluated competitive environment combined with our professional experience and established history of maintaining long-term client relationships speaks for itself.

Practice Approach

Our focus on prudent firm management and wise allocation of resources is not a goal in itself, but a means towards our ultimate objective of providing our clients quality legal services at preferred rates.  Quality legal work is time intensive.  It requires strategic thinking and a detailed-oriented focus tempered by experience and a practical approach, among other attributes.  While overlawyering remains a problem in many quarters of the profession, underlawyering has become an increasing concern for the simple reason that the billing-rate inflation at larger firms has made it economically infeasible for experienced attorneys to spend an appropriate amount of time on legal matters. At the same time, we recognize that in many cases—such as where there is less at stake, a need to move quickly or other circumstances—a less detailed approach may be called for, and we use our professional judgment to prioritize the focus and depth of our legal work based on the circumstances. 

One example of a legal need that we have been regularly asked to assist with is preparation and review of customized client contract forms.  While legal documents typically involve some inevitable complexity, we take a draftsman approach to legal writing and strive for a readability that is too often absent from attorney work product.  At his prior firm, Chris developed a reputation for thoughtful, well-drafted legal documents and colleagues would often ask to use his documents in their own practice.  The quality of Chris’ work has also been recognized by professional advisors for opposing parties including opposing legal counsel.

Representation Options

In cases where we believe it is appropriate for a client to consider engaging more specialized counsel for a specific matter, we provide candid and independent advice on representation options.  As part of our overriding commitment to professionalism, we diligently maintain the independence needed to provide objective advice regarding referral options.  In particular, we do not seek nor accept referral fees.  We are likewise not subject to the internal referral fee incentives of traditional law firms which encourage limiting referrals to other attorneys in the same firm, without consideration of whether counsel at another firm might be better suited to provide representation on a particular matter.  Our approach to maintaining independence and objectivity in making referrals allows us to advise on potential referral options without the influence of financial incentives.