Say hello to HELO.

A group of Nashville attorneys have formed what they call The HELO Group, which is an acronym for “High Experience and Low Overhead.”

The HELO Group is a network of veteran lawyers who have associated to offer what they call "high quality, reasonably priced legal services." The group is composed initially of 10 Nashville lawyers in five firms and spearheaded by Wynne James. The other participants in the network are the firms of Aaron Sanders PLLC, Clark Business and Health Law, McKenzie Laird PLLC, and Webb Sanders PLLC.

They state that HELO — check out its website here — is not a law firm or a partnership, but rather a group of experienced lawyers who share the belief that lawyers can successfully offer their services not only on the basis of quality, but also on efficiency and price.

To qualify to be a part of the network, attorneys need eight or more years of practice experience and work without the assistance of relatively inexperienced young associates, whose hourly rates drive up costs.

HELO’s members model of delivering legal services will allow for greater use of fixed fees or other alternative fee arrangements, billing methods that are increasingly being requested by clients.

“We understand the needs of companies and others for sophisticated business legal services, including the requirements of sufficient mass and experience in large engagements,” said James, who was with Waller until about 18 months ago. “Nearly all of our lawyers have spent time in larger law firms and have substantial experience in complicated legal matters. We will offer a cost effective, high service quality alternative to large and medium sized law firms in complex business engagements.”

Like James, a number of HELO’s members left big area firms or other organizations in recent years. Tara Aaron and Richard Sanders left Stites & Harbison and Waller, respectively, in the summer of 2011. Heath Clark launched his own firm after leaving Iasis Healthcare’s legal team. Meanwhile, Donald McKenzie and Rob Laird joined forces in early 2010 after each striking out on their own before that and Valerie Webb and Leslie Sanders teamed up after both working at Bass Berry & Sims.