After much searching (job and soul), I’ve pretty much decided to take the plunge and hang my own shingle.
The law part of the deal doesn’t really concern me. I’ve been practicing law for 17 years, and I know the ropes. I’ll be doing family law primarily, with some criminal defense, and whatever else walks in the door.
The business part of the deal scares the shit out of me. I’ve spent most of my career working for a non-profit, where other people took care of the non-legal side of things. I don’t know how to run a business. Accounting, marketing, setting up/furnishing an office, computer systems, backing up the computer systems, all that stuff and likely thousands of other things I haven’t even considered. I’m in a small town in the rural South, if that matters for purposes of this discussion.
Worse, because I’ve spent the last 9 months or so looking for work, I’ve run through a lot of my reserve assets, so I’ll be opening on a shoestring budget.
I’ve looked at some office space, and have feelers out for some office furniture, a copy machine, etc.
The point of this thread is to solicit advice from others that have successfully started a business, and managed to turn it into a profitable enterprise. Lawyers in particular, but anyone with generally applicable tips on start up and ongoing management of a business is welcome to participate. Any advice will be considered.
Because I ran my business out of my home I didn’t count it in my overhead at first; this wound up shorting me as I did in fact spend time and resources on just my small housecleaning business. But by then my clients’ rates were set and I could only raise them w/ new clients or find a way to use those same resources of my clients (washing machine, cleaning supplies, their vacuum).
But my business was a revolving client list; yours will not, hopefully! Reevaluate your overhead after a few months in to make sure you’re paying yourself first.
Also, if you haven’t already find a tax person you can trust to know their stuff. There are write-offs a plenty for small business owners. Have you contacted the SBA?
I don’t own my own business, but have worked in small business in the past. IME, you will want to begin with a good office manager (whom you treat like the god/ess s/he is ). In the beginning, this individual will wear more than one hat, but as you grow, will delegate responsibilities to newer hires. This person knows the ropes of the business side of things so you can concentrate on the professional side.
A good tax accountant is another must. They can think of more deductions than you could imagine.
As far as marketing, ask other pros in the same field and maybe find a consultant.
I’ll second the suggestion for a good Office Manager.
We opened our deli about 5 months ago. This is so different from what you’re doing, I doubt I could really offer much relevant advice, but want to wish you good luck and much success.
Do you know anyone fresh out of law school who desperately needs experience via internship? Have a line on any 3rd year students desperate enough to work part-time for free/a pittance? It might be mutually-beneficial for you to hire a couple interns on the cheap. Someone to keep the place clean, do some research, and make coffee in exchange for osmosing your expertise for a while.
“marketing, setting up/furnishing an office, computer systems, backing up the computer systems”
Computer systems and backing up computer systems are easy. You just need to back up your stuff on an independent drive at the end of your week. Setting up an office: Business phoneline/cell, multifunction printer-fax, fax line. Depending on how far away you are from a legal library, your current books collection and how much you have to do new legal research, you might need to get some legal books.
The capital costs of running a law office are quite low. Most of the variable costs are low too.
Marketing is the most complex and important part. If you get enough clients and you are competent at practicing law, the career is all gravy. I take it the second part isn’t a problem but rather the marketing element is.
Where did your clients come from in the past? You worked for a nonprofit but were people directed to that nonprofit from some place(s) in particular?
Do the people who have the kinds of legal problems you specialize in solving tend to frequent particular individuals/organizations/activities?
Are there organizations related to your specialty where you go volunteer/serve on the board?
Get as much of a retainer as you can. It may be the only money you ever get. Also, don’t completely exhaust the retainer before you start billing the client. If we get a $2,500 retainer, we work it down to about $750 and then try to hold that in reserve while we start billing the client. If any part of that is left at the end of the case, it gets refunded. We explain this process to the client at the initial meeting so it’s not a surprise.
If you have someone else doing your billing, don’t lose touch with your budget and account balances. Always know what’s going in and out and whether your bills match your budget. Treat your office manager like gold, but don’t give him/her your trust too soon. Keep track of your hours. You’ll miss a lot if you try to reconstruct them from the file after the fact. Know which clients are falling behind on their bills.
Join some clubs - Lions, Rotary, whatever. My old boss got a ton of business from his church. Be shameless about handing out your business cards. Be shameless about letting other attorneys know you’ve gone out on your own and are looking for work. Are you going to do personal injury (for example), or will you refer that to someone else? If you’re going to refer it out, try to send it to a friend who will reciprocate. Are you extremely knowledgeable about some nitpicky, esoteric part of your field? Make sure your lawyer friends know that.
Shop around for the best deals on Westlaw and Nexis, or see if you can get by with Casemaker.
I’m in a small law office in a small, rural, Southern town, too. So while I wish you the best of luck, I also feel your pain. Be prepared to be paid with garden vegetables, venison, house painting, and handmade bookcases.
I’m not a solo myself, but I do have friends who have hung out a shingle.
The legal sector definitely is in flux, and some people believe that creative ways of delivering legal services will distinguish the winners from the losers. I think there is some merit to this idea, but I think it is often used to justify questionable business decisions. (Such as not having an actual office, but instead using virtual offices (i.e., renting a conference room for a few hours per month).)
This, and similar topics are hotly debated. The ABA has its SoloSez listserv, which you might want to check out.
ATL’s very own T-Baum usually has some insights. Particularly regarding how to choose clients and how to develop referral sources.
You’ll need to learn the client accounting rules and open segregated accounts; obtain malpractice coverage; and develop your standard retainer agreement (cash up front, always).
I would vote against purchasing any books. Everything is available online now, the costs for legal books is completely out of control, and you generally have to lock in a contract as opposed to individual updates. Maybe get the local rules and some one topic books if you need them, but everything that’s not online can be found at a nearby law library. Also, you’ll have the time and cost expense of storing and shelving all of those books and pocket parts.
Don’t get caught up in the status of being a lawyer. For the first few years, drive a regular car, use regular furniture and print your own black and white letterhead on regular paper.
If its just you, you can get away with a good combo office manager/secretary/paralegal. It will cost more than a secretary, but be much less than all three, and if you find the right one, they’ll be worth their weight in gold.
Contact your local law school and hire a law clerk. We use our law clerks for much more than research - they compose pleadings, run errands to the clerk’s office and do data entry for our bankruptcies. Don’t be afraid to use them, because the experience they get at your office will probably be more helpful in a practical sense than all of their years in school. I wouldn’t use them to sweep floors and brew coffee though - you’ll get a bad reputation at the law school and with other lawyers. Even though I’ve forgotten more about the practice than they’ve learned, there is a certain level of respect afforded to clerks that I don’t get as a paralegal. I get a much bigger check though.
And, yes, referrals, referrals, referrals!
Also - local trade schools usually run a program for paralegal/legal secretary interns, and usually for free. Look into a Sawyer Business school or the like for such a program.
I left my job as a prosecutor about two years ago to form a partnership with a colleague. We do criminal defense. We currently represent about 50 clients.
Here are the rules we live by (they won’t work for everyone):
We use an answering service but don’t have a secretary/receptionist, etc. We’ve never had a client ask “where is your secretary?”
We do not meet with potential clients unless they promise to bring the retainer/flat fee, etc. with them…otherwise we would spend all day meeting with people who have no money and are just looking for free legal advice.
We don’t let people get behind on payments and we don’t work for free.
We return all phone calls within about five minutes, even at night and on the weekends. When someone is arrested and calls 10 attorneys we are the first to call back.
5)Direct mail works. So does the radio.
As a startup, it’s going to be just me in the office most of the time. The Druidess will be a quasi-office manager/secretary on a part-time basis. She works odd hours at her job, so will be available to me in the mornings, when I hope to be in court, answering phones, setting appointments, etc.
I agree with the not buying books advice. Pretty much nobody does that anymore at the solo/small firm level. Everything is online. I do still have some old law school texts that will serve mostly as office decoration. Big, impressive looking hard cover things that look like the TV prop “law books” every lawyer’s office seems to have lying around.
For actual research, I have free access to Casemaker through the bar. I’ve never used it, so I intend to check it out. I suspect I’ll end up going with either Lexis or Westlaw as my primary option. Westlaw seems to have a larger market share in this area, but I used to work for Lexis years ago, and am more familiar with their system. West also seems to have better forms available, so it will come down to which offers the best price.
In family/criminal practice, it’s very much a cash up front business model. Criminal work tends to be a flat fee, family law can be hourly with an initial retainer or a flat fee, depending on the type of case.
I’m going to have an actual office. I don’t want to deal with working out of my house with the dogs always underfoot, and I don’t really want to bring criminal clients to my home.
This just remined me of a lawyer I knew who rented out part of his office to a criminal defense attorney. Other attorneys he was renting out to weren’t thrilled with his clients. But maybe you have the opportunity to do something like that. As I recall he just let the criminal defense attorney pay his secretary and other staff on the side if he needed their services.
Is there any possibility of sharing space and office management with other lawyers? I’ve known of solos who did that (expressly without giong into partnership together).
I get to know my civil clients very well before giving them the real location of my non-mail box office. Two of them have my home phone number. I have no criminal clients.
Business cards are really cheap when printed en masse. Leave them everywhere.
It’s better Ro not have a client then have a client who isn’t paying you… It’s difficult to get out of a case once in.
Referrals from other attorneys are key.
Be careful about taking “whatever else comes in the door.”. There are a lot of nuances in many areas of law, even something that seems straight forward like a MVA. PI case. Associate with real experts on any case in an area you don’t have much experience.
That’s a good point. Fortunately, I’ve been around this area long enough that I know who the major players are in most types of cases, so I can associate (with the client’s informed consent, of course) fairly easily.
). In the beginning, this individual will wear more than one hat, but as you grow, will delegate responsibilities to newer hires. This person knows the ropes of the business side of things so you can concentrate on the professional side.