Operating MSO
Everything else runs from there.
FirmOps is the MSO. Website, SEO, ads, portal, onboarding, and ops run from the brain. You keep the firm. Client calls stay with people.
What they take
This is not a best-of list. Finch Legal is not Finch MSO. A case mill is not a back-office affiliation. FirmOps is an operating MSO. Managed Firm Brain is the wedge, not a boxed product.
Finch MSO
The firm pays an affiliation fee to park admin infrastructure with them.
The law firm entity and professional control stay with the attorneys, on their public model.
Honest fit. Owners who want liquidity and a shared back office, and are willing to move infrastructure onto that affiliation.
Superpractice
The split is the model. Ads lead the conversation.
The firm still has a practice. Growth is tied to their service company and media motion.
Honest fit. Owners who want an ads-led operating partner and are comfortable sharing the service company.
Torticity / Reach
This is a case-mill motion: volume work leaves the firm.
The firm can stay on letterhead while casework moves into their mill.
Honest fit. Owners who want to hand files off rather than run more of the file themselves.
Finch Legal
Intake, records, and demands are the job. That is a pre-lit vendor lane, not an affiliation.
The firm keeps the relationship and the later case, if that is the deal.
Honest fit. Some firms should hire them. If pre-lit is the bottleneck and you want a vendor on that lane, that is a real hire.
FirmOps
A flat MSA. Not an affiliation fee. Not a 70/30. Not a case take. After the brain, the same MSA can cover marketing, SEO, websites, portal, onboarding, and intake ops.
The firm keeps the CMS, the files, the letterhead, and professional control. Phones stay human. We do not start by affiliating the law-firm entity.
Honest fit. Owners who want an operating MSO that starts on systems they already own, then can take more of the suite without a second vendor conversation.
Decision matrix
| Question | Affiliation MSO | Vendor or mill | Operating MSO |
|---|---|---|---|
| What leaves the firm? | Admin infrastructure, vendors, and often the operating cadence. | A lane of work (pre-lit) or the cases themselves. | Nothing structural at the start. A brain sits on Clio, Filevine, mail, and files. The firm keeps CMS, files, and letterhead. |
| What do you pay for? | Affiliation economics plus a long-term services agreement. | A scoped service, or a share if the model is ads or case take. | A flat MSA. Ops and brain first. Marketing, SEO, websites, portal, onboarding, and intake ops can join that same MSA later. |
| Where does staff work? | On the affiliation stack as integration proceeds. | In the vendor portal or on the files they pull. | In Claude Cowork or ChatGPT, with the brain reaching the file. Phones stay human. |
| Who owns the next job? | The affiliation sequence (marketing and intake first, then deeper back office). | The vendor scope. Expansion is another SOW or more files. | The firm. One approved job, then the next, on the same brain and the same MSA. |
What FirmOps does
FirmOps is an operating MSO. We build a purpose-built firm brain across the systems the firm already runs, then operate it. Read first. One job. Humans approve before anything is sent, filed, or published. Staff can live in Claude Cowork or ChatGPT with the file in front of them.
The commercial shape is one flat MSA. Managed Firm Brain is the wedge, not a boxed SKU. After the brain is in, the same MSA can cover marketing, SEO, websites, portal, onboarding, and intake ops. Those lanes are available. They are not equal hero products on this page, and they are not a second brand the owner has to learn.
Start with Managed Firm BrainNot a fit
Public proof
Jon Mahler founded Conduit Law. He is not an attorney. The numbers we will cite are the ones already public from that shop: case launch 2.5 hours to 10 minutes, 1,000+ cases processed, 47 steps to 1 click. Phones stay with people. We do not pitch other firms from this page.
Next reading
The wedge: a purpose-built brain on your stack, then run for you. Not a boxed SKU.
The blog index for named MSO and lit-tech notes. This page is the owner decision URL, not a second copy of that post.
Definition: built in partnership, then operated. Lowercase firm brain is the deliverable.
The only public proof. Case launch 2.5h to 10m. 1,000+ cases. 47 steps to 1 click.
Next step
The demo is 30 minutes. We map that job and say whether a firm brain is the right first hire, or whether you actually want Finch-style affiliation, a mill, a 70/30, or a pre-lit-only vendor.