What size law firm is HR Compass right for?

HR Compass is designed for law firms with roughly 10–50 attorneys and staff — past the point where partners can manage people issues alone, but not large enough to justify a full-time HR hire.

HR Compass · Fractional HR for Law Firms

Practice law. Not HR.

Managing Partners and Practice Managers at firms with 10–50 employees lose 5–8 hours a week to people issues, termination memos, and compliance questions they were never trained for. HR Compass puts a SHRM-certified HR Director in your corner — starting at $500/month.

Book a Free 30-Min Call See Plans & Pricing

No commitment. No sales pitch. Just a real conversation about where your firm stands.

The Reality at 10–50 Attorneys

You're losing billable hours to HR.

By the time your firm hits 10+ employees, HR stops being something a managing partner can squeeze in between client work. These are the conversations we hear weekly.

"I spent four hours on a single termination last week."

Managing partners are documenting performance issues, drafting separation language, and second-guessing wage-and-hour rules — when they should be billing.

"We can't keep paralegals more than 18 months."

Without a real onboarding program, comp benchmarking, or career path, your associates and staff get poached by firms that have figured this out.

"Our handbook is from 2019. Is that bad?"

Pay transparency laws, FLSA exemption changes, and remote-work policies have all shifted. Stale policies are how a single complaint becomes a real lawsuit.

The cost of "winging it" on HR keeps climbing. One mishandled complaint, one mis-classified employee, one outdated policy — and the legal and reputational cost dwarfs whatever you'd spend on a real HR partner.

How It Works

Up and running
in two weeks.

No long onboardings, no committee meetings. Just a clear path from "we should probably get HR help" to "we have an HR Director."

Discovery Call

30 minutes on Zoom. We learn your firm size, practice areas, and the HR situations keeping you up at night.

Plan & Match

We recommend a tier (Bronze / Silver / Gold) and pair you with the SHRM-certified Director who fits your firm best.

Onboard

Your Director audits your handbook, payroll classifications, and active people issues. Quick wins, week one.

Run It

Monthly retainer hours, on-call advice, manager training, quarterly business reviews. Scale up or down anytime.

What's Included

Real HR work — done by real HR Directors.

Every retainer covers strategic guidance and execution. We don't hand you templates and disappear; we do the work alongside you.

Compliance & Policy

Handbook, classifications, audits.

Handbook refresh FLSA classifications I-9 / E-Verify State-by-state law Pay transparency

Employee Relations

The hard conversations, handled.

Performance issues Terminations Investigations Conflict resolution Documentation

Talent & Onboarding

Hire, onboard, and keep great people.

Job descriptions Interview structure Offer letters 90-day onboarding Comp benchmarking

Strategy & Leadership

A real HR voice in the room.

Manager training Compensation strategy Succession planning Quarterly reviews Executive coaching

Plans & Pricing

Pick the level of HR your firm actually needs.

Three tiers, transparent pricing, month-to-month. Move up or down as your firm grows.

Bronze Compass

Great for any firm with 10-20 attorneys & staff. You need a foundation: clean HR Compliance and someone that knows your business that you can call.

$500

/ month

What's included

3 hours dedicated HR Director time / month
Handbook review & annual refresh
Compliance check-ins (FLSA, I-9, state)
Email & phone advice as needed
HR template library access

Start with Bronze

Your Practice Administrator is tired. Give them a real HR resource.

Senior expertise, fractional cost

A full-time HR Director in Atlanta is $90–120K loaded. HR Compass delivers 20+ years of experience for a fraction.

Hours back in your week

Stop drafting termination memos at 11 PM. Your Director handles documentation, calls, and follow-up.

An outsider's perspective

In a partnership, your office manager can't tell a partner they're wrong. We can — and do. Objective HR guidance, free from firm politics and tenure dynamics.

Higher staff retention

Real onboarding, real career paths, and managers who actually know how to manage. Less turnover, less re-hiring.

Someone to call. Always.

When a partner asks "can we fire him?" at 4 PM on a Friday, you get a real answer — not a Google search.

Manager training, included

Most associate complaints are management complaints. Bi-annual training that turns senior associates into real managers.

Our managing partner was losing nearly a full day each week to HR. HR Compass gave us a real HR expert on call — without the overhead of a full-time hire.

Managing Partner Personal Injury Firm · Atlanta, GA
HR Compass Silver Member

attorneys & staff

$5M+

in firm revenue

The situation

The managing partner was handling all HR on top of a full client load — fielding staff complaints, managing associate reviews, and navigating a termination with no HR guidance and no documentation.

Result: Chose Silver Compass. Freed the managing partner to focus on clients while gaining a dedicated HR advisor on call 6 hours per month — at a fraction of what a full-time hire would cost.

What to Expect

What your firm looks like
90 days from now.

Most clients feel the difference in the first two weeks. Here's what the first three months could actually look like.

Day 30

Foundation is set.

Your handbook is reviewed — stale policies flagged and fixed
Employee classifications audited (no more FLSA guesswork)
Active people issues have a plan — not just a worry
You know exactly who to call when something comes up

Day 60

Team is steadier.

Partners are back to billing, not drafting termination memos
First manager training session complete
Onboarding process documented — new hires land better
Comp benchmarking underway — you know if you're competitive

Day 90

HR is just handled.

First quarterly business review — you know where you stand
Staff complaints are documented and handled — not ignored
No more 11 PM Google searches on wage-and-hour rules
Your firm is defensible — policies, docs, and processes that hold up

Questions & Answers

Everything you
want to know.

If you don't see your question here, we would love to do a 30-minute call. We're happy to talk through whether HR Compass is the right fit before you commit.

What exactly is HR Compass, and how does it work?

HR Compass is our fractional HR service — think of it as having a seasoned HR Director on your team without the full-time salary. Each month, your dedicated SHRM-certified HR Director (with 20+ years of experience) handles real HR work for your firm: advising on compliance, managing employee issues, building policies, and executing on whatever your practice needs. You choose a plan based on how many hours of support make sense, and we get to work.

How is HR Compass different from hiring a full-time HR employee?

A full-time HR Manager in Atlanta typically costs $70,000–$100,000 per year in salary alone — before benefits, taxes, and turnover risk. HR Compass starts at a fraction of that and gives you access to a more experienced professional than most small firms could afford to hire outright. You only pay for the hours you actually need, and you can scale up or down as your firm grows.

What size law firm is HR Compass the right fit for?

HR Compass is designed for firms with roughly 10–50 attorneys and staff. You're past the point where partners can manage people issues alone, but you don't have enough going on to justify a full-time HR hire yet. If you've been winging HR — or relying on Google searches and gut instinct to handle compliance and employee issues — HR Compass is built for you.

What's included beyond the monthly hours?

Quite a bit, actually. Every HR Compass client also gets bi-annual manager training, access to quarterly roundtables with other business owners, employee onboarding courses, and a library of professionally crafted HR templates. These extras are baked in — not added fees.

What if I need more help than my plan includes in a given month?

Life happens — a termination, a harassment complaint, a surprise audit. If you need more hours than your plan covers in any given month, we'll talk through options. You can upgrade your plan, add hours as needed, or in some cases handle it through our Interim HR service. We'll never leave you stranded in the middle of an issue.

How quickly can we get started?

Usually within a week or two. We'll start with a conversation to understand your current HR situation, then match you with the right HR Director and get onboarded. Most clients are up and running — with real support — faster than they expected.

Let's Talk

READY TO GET YOUR FIRM'S HR HANDLED?

Tell us a bit about your firm and where things stand today. We'll help you figure out which plan makes sense and what your next step should be. No pressure — just a real conversation.

(404) 259-6449

Your Name

Work Email

Firm Size (attorneys + staff)

I'm interested in

Bronze Compass — $500/mo (up to ~20 staff) Silver Compass — $900/mo (20–35 staff) Gold Compass — $1,400+/mo (35–50+ staff) Not sure yet — help me choose

What's your firm's biggest HR challenge right now?

No commitment required. We'll follow up within one business day.