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Non-Origination

Ask our shareholders what makes Marshall Dennehey different and almost universally they’ll tell you it’s our lack of origination credit.

In the vast majority of law firms, the lawyer who first brings in a client is given credit, often in perpetuity, for subsequent work stemming from that client. That system leads to increased compensation for the originating attorney, but it also rewards hoarding, deters collaboration and encourages behaviors counter to the interests of clients. Lawyers may disregard venue or subject matter experience – all in an effort to retain origination credit.

Our President and CEO, G. Mark Thompson, discusses the benefits of our lack of origination credit in the below video.

At Marshall Dennehey, we focus on client-oriented performance. By not having origination credit, we can easily assign the right matter to the right lawyer in the right jurisdiction. It also allows our lawyers to focus on distinct areas of law such as rideshare litigation, employment, insurance coverage or appellate advocacy. By contrast, where compensation is based on origination, lawyers tend to juggle multiple disciplines in an effort to keep matters under their own name.

Our lack of origination is foundational to Marshall Dennehey’s culture. The increased collaboration fostered by this structure leads to a environment where teamwork, trust and long-term relationships are valued across the firm, no matter the office, department or job title of our people.

Portrait of John P. Mueller

"In my 20+ years of practice, I've worked in firms both bigger and smaller than Marshall Dennehey. This was my first experience joining a firm with a non-origination compensation structure. I quickly discovered that it fosters a high level of collaboration and a sense of teamwork that I had not experienced elsewhere. Non-origination fosters the sharing of clients and the sharing of ideas. In the end, the client is better-served, and the firm is stronger for it."

John P. Mueller

Lateral Shareholder | Mount Laurel | Joined 2024

Voices of Marshall Dennehey

Firm Highlights

Thought Leadership

Appellate Division Affirms Dismissal of Legal Malpractice Counterclaim Against Martin Law Firm

In Martin v. Loury, 2026 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1617 (App. Div. July 15, 2026), Martin Law Firm represented Kirk Loury in an employment matter Mr. Loury filed against his former employer, Concord Equity Group Advisors LLC (“Concord”). The allegations included, among other things, that Loury was not fairly compensated for his employment with Concord. After a bench trial finding in Loury’s favor, the Appellate Division remanded this matter in February 2016 for a second trial. During the second trial, Concord CEO, Lee Argush, testified to lower compensation estimate than first trial. On remand, the second trial judge awarded Mr. Loury the same damages as the first judge, finding Mr. Argush not credible. After the findings during the second trial, Martin Law Firm filed an action against Mr. Loury to recover legal fees and costs of representing Mr. Loury in a second bench trial and Mr. Loury filed a counterclaim against Martin Law Firm for legal malpractice, alleging he should have received an even higher award in the second bench trial. In this allegation, Mr. Loury, through his expert, claimed that Martin Law Firm should have recalled Mr. Loury to the stand to rebut Mr. Argush’s testimony to allege an alternative theory of damages. Mr. Loury’s expert admitted that the second judge already rejected Mr. Argush's theory and accepted Loury's damages theory. The trial court barred Mr. Loury’s expert and dismissed Loury's counterclaim with prejudice before convening the collection trial, and the jury ruled in Martin Law Firm’s favor. Mr. Loury appealed the trial court's pretrial rulings barring his liability expert from testifying in support of his legal malpractice counterclaim, denying his motion for summary judgment on that counterclaim, and denying his motion to amend his counterclaim by adding attorney Joseph A. Martin as a codefendant. In affirming the trial court’s decision, the Appellate Division held that the trial court properly excluded Loury’s expert testimony in the counterclaim against Martin Law Firm because the expert could not explain how calling Loury as a rebuttal witness would have increased damages when the second judge already rejected Mr. Argush's testimony and accepted Loury's damages theory, making the expert’s causation opinion speculative. The Appellate Division also held that the trial court properly denied Mr. Loury's summary judgment motion on his malpractice counterclaim because reasonable minds could differ on whether Mr. Martin's alleged failures would have changed the second judge's damages award, given the judge already found Mr. Argush not credible, creating genuine factual disputes precluding summary judgment. Also, the Appellate Division held that the trial court properly denied Loury's May 2023 motion to add Joseph Martin individually because the statute of limitations expired in February 2022, six years after the 2016 appellate remand when Mr. Loury incurred new legal costs, and relation back did not apply because Mr. Loury knew Mr. Martin's identity throughout and strategically chose to sue only Martin Law Firm in his 2019 counterclaim.