Ahmer Bilal Soofi & Co

Section 1: Basic Information

Ahmer Bilal Soofi (ABS) & Co started its operations in the 1980s and is almost 40 years old. Its offices are in Islamabad and Lahore. The firm also represents clients in Multan, Karachi, and Peshawar through collaboration with lawyers, but that work is rare. Each partner specializes in a different legal field. The firm undertakes corporate, commercial, international law and litigation work. Litigation is mostly in Higher Courts but there is some work in lower courts as well. Although the firm provides representation in white-collar crime cases, criminal law does not make up a significant part of its services. Technology & IP law and Construction law are among the recent specialities of the firm and the firm is doing a significant amount of work in these areas.

Section 2: Structure of the Firm

There are 12-13 partners and 45-50 associates in the Lahore and Islamabad offices combined. Each partner has a team of associates. The associate is allowed to work with other partners if they wish to diversify their skills by working on cases in different legal areas. There is no human resources department, but the firm has an accounts department. There is a partnership track at the firm. The hierarchy among the legal team is as follows.

Junior Associate
Associate
Senior Associate
Associate Partner
Managing Partner

Section 3: Hiring Mechanism

Internship:The firm offers 3 weeks long unpaid internships on a rolling basis. The number of vacancies depends on the space available in the office. In the past, the firm has not approached anyone to hire interns rather portential interns approach them. In the future, the firm intends to approach interns through law schools and by seeking referrals. The interns mostly do research work.

Associate:Hiring for an associate is on a need basis only. The selection process consists of two interviews; first with the partner whose team the candidate is expected to join and second with the managing partner. The hiring for associates can be either by the candidate approaching the firm or the firm calling out for applications. In both cases, the hiring procedure will be the same and the associate will be hired on three-month probation. Compensation in this probation period is discretionary. Generally, if the candidate has approached the firm, they might not receive a salary in the probation period. And if the firm had selected a candidate after calling for applications, they might pay a salary to the candidate during the probation period. After completion of the probation period, depending on their performance, the candidate may be offered a permanent position at the firm or sent home with a certificate. The starting salary for a fresh graduate is 30-35,000 PKR per month which is subject to annual, performance-based review/increment. Every associate is allowed to bring cases to the firm and will be awarded a finder’s fee even whether they work on such cases or not. The percentage of the finder’s fee is decided on a case-to-case basis. The associates receive an annual bonus equal to their one-month salary. If a team performs exceptionally well on a transaction, they may receive discretionary bonuses. These bonuses can go up to 2.5% of the transaction fee. The firm also arranges dinners and trips in their teambuilding efforts.