--- title: "Law Firm Valuation Melbourne" url: https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/industries/law-firms/ description: "Independent valuations of Melbourne law firms: fee base, work in progress, trust records, principal succession and client retention. From $1,495 + GST." updated: 2026-11-11 --- # Law firm valuations for Melbourne principals buying, selling or stepping back. For the sale of a practice, a partner or director retiring, a senior lawyer buying in, and moving the practice into a new structure. Fixed fee, set by turnover. [Talk to a valuer (15 min)](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/contact/)[All industries](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/industries/) A Melbourne law firm is valued on the profit it can keep earning once the selling principal steps back, after every lawyer, principals included, is paid a market salary. Our valuers test how much of the fee base is tied to the firm's name, practice areas and staff rather than one person, separate work in progress and debtors from goodwill, and check that a qualified principal will stay in place, because a Victorian law practice cannot run without one. ## Where the value sits in a Melbourne law practice Not all fees are equal. A suburban firm in Dandenong, Frankston or Ringwood doing steady conveyancing, wills and estate administration has a fee base that renews itself: today's will client becomes tomorrow's estate matter, and a local buyer can usually keep that flow going. A CBD boutique near William Street that lives on one partner's commercial or litigation relationships is a different asset, because that work tends to follow the partner. The valuation looks at fees by practice area and by originating lawyer over several years, how many matters come from repeat clients, and how much new work arrives through the firm's own name and website rather than a single person's contacts. Many suburban practices hold clients' original wills in safe custody. The valuer looks at whether estate work has actually come from that store in the firm's history, rather than giving value to the number of packets in the safe. Our signed reports are a fixed fee of $1,495 + GST for a small business and $2,495 + GST for a medium business, and every one is independently reviewed by a suitably qualified business valuer. A small-business report is delivered in 2 business days and a medium-business report in 3 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Business Valuations Melbourne is not a registered tax agent. Get a fixed fee[Ask the valuer first](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/contact/) ## Work in progress, debtors and trust money Three balances get confused in law firm sales. Work in progress and debtors are the firm's money, but they are not goodwill: the report values them separately and states how recoverable they are, using the firm's own write-off history. Whether they pass to the buyer, stay with the seller or are adjusted at completion is for the sale contract. Trust money is different again. It belongs to clients, so it is never part of the firm's value. What matters to a buyer is how the trust account has been run. The Legal Services Board and Commissioner says law practices with trust accounts must have their trust records examined by an external examiner each trust examination year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. A clean examination history is a quiet point in a firm's favour; reported breaches are a risk the buyer prices in. ## A principal has to stay in place A Victorian law practice needs a principal. The Legal Services Board and Commissioner says a law firm is made up of partners who hold, or are eligible to hold, a principal practising certificate, and an incorporated legal practice must have at least one authorised principal who holds an Australian practising certificate. Practices must notify the Board at least 14 days before they start and within 14 days of changes or of ending their Victorian practice. For a valuation this is a practical test, not a formality. If the selling principal is the only person who can hold that role, the buyer has to bring or hire one, and the transition plan affects how much of the fee base survives. The valuer records who will be principal after completion. The legal steps are for the parties' lawyers and the Board. ## Setting principal pay and cleaning up the accounts Principals of small firms often take the profit as drawings, so the accounts do not show what the legal work costs. The valuer sets a market salary for each principal for the fee-earning and supervising work they do, then adjusts for items a buyer would not inherit: family members on the payroll, a principal's car, one-off matters with unusually large fees, and bad years caused by a single write-off. Professional indemnity insurance, practising certificate costs and rent stay in, at their real level. The lease gets its own look, whether it is a floor in a Collins Street tower or a shopfront on a suburban strip, because rent and the remaining term affect what a buyer can afford to pay. ## When Melbourne law firms are valued - Sale of the whole practice, or of a practice area such as conveyancing or wills and estates - A partner or legal director retiring, and the others buying their share - A senior associate buying into the firm - Moving from a partnership to an incorporated legal practice, or between family entities - Two firms merging and agreeing what each side brings - Market value evidence for small business CGT concessions on exit (your accountant applies them) ## Common questions. How much is my law firm worth? + It depends on the profit left after every lawyer is paid a market salary, and on how much of the fee base would stay if you left. A firm with repeat estate and property work spread across several lawyers usually holds value better than one built on a single partner's clients. The report shows the earnings, the risks and the value, with the workings, rather than a rule of thumb. Is work in progress included when a law practice is sold? + It is valued, but separately from goodwill. The report states the work in progress and debtors, and how much of each is likely to be collected based on your own history. Whether those balances go to the buyer, stay with you or are adjusted at settlement is a term of the sale contract, which your lawyer negotiates. Does trust money affect the value of my firm? + No. Trust money belongs to clients, so it is not part of the firm's value. How the trust account has been run does matter, because a buyer takes on the firm's reputation and systems. A history of clean annual external examinations supports value, while reported breaches add risk the buyer will price in. I am a partner leaving the firm. How is my share valued? + Start with the partnership or shareholder agreement, because it may set a formula, a valuation date or a discount. Where it calls for market value, the valuer values the whole practice first and then your interest, saying whether any discount applies and why. The report states which clause of the agreement it follows. My spouse owns a law practice and we are separating. Can you value it? + Family law matters are handled by our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations (familylawvaluation.com.au). Valuing a practice for a property settlement raises the same questions as a sale, including personal goodwill and principal pay, but the report has to meet the needs of the family law process. What does a law firm valuation cost? + The fee is fixed before work starts and set by annual turnover: $1,495 + GST under $2 million, $2,495 + GST for $2 million to $3 million, $3,495 + GST for $3 million to $10 million, and a written quote above $10 million. Small reports take 2 business days and medium and large reports 3 business days, counted from when payment and all required information have been received. Related industries - [Accounting Practice Valuations in Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/industries/accounting-firms/) - [Professional Services Firm Valuations in Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/industries/professional-services/) Sources - [Setting up a law practice](https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/lawyers/practising-law/running-law-practice/setting-law-practice), Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner - [Incorporated legal practices and the Uniform Law](https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/incorporated-legal-practices-and-uniform-law), Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner - [Completing an external examination (trust records)](https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/lawyers/trust-accounts/completing-external-examination), Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner Talk to a valuer ## Tell us what you need valued. A fifteen-minute call confirms the package, the fixed fee and the delivery date, before you commit to anything. 03 8375 4177 Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm Melbourne time Send the form and we reply within one business day. No documents needed to start. Small Business Valuation $1,495 + GST For a business with annual turnover under $2 million. Signed report in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. The fee is fixed in writing before we start and never tied to the outcome. Larger business? Tell us in the form and we recommend the right package. [All fees](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/fees/) Last reviewed 11 November 2026 by Business Valuations Melbourne, Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne. --- Business Valuations Melbourne · Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 · 03 8375 4177 · https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/start/