Starting a Law Firm | Marketing a Law Firm, Part 1

One of the things that you will notice when starting a law firm is that it’s stressful not knowing where your next client will come from. As you can imagine, this will last for several years because you won’t have gathered enough of a referral network to create an expectation of receiving a certain amount of clients every month through your network.

Because of this stress, one thing I am working very hard on is marketing my law firm. I’ll borrow from the How to Start a Law Firm blog, which is an excellent blog and I suggest you read it, when I say that my law firm marketing campaign is three-pronged: land, sea, and air.

The land and air portions of my marketing efforts are similar to what you will read in the other blog, but clearly the specifics will differ. Basically, the air part involves internet marketing – trying to drive my website up the search engine rankings. Since Google is increasingly the search engine of choice for many people, I concentrate on what I think Google wants to see. I’ve researched this, probably too much, but the experts call it search engine optimization, or SEO for short. I’ll go into more detail in a later post, but SEO can generally be divided into two categories: on-site and off-site. On-site is what you actually put on your website, while off-site is the behind the scenes stuff including getting quality links to your website.

The land portion of my law firm marketing efforts involves meeting people face-to-face, emailing everyone I know, and generally letting everyone I come into contact with what I am doing and that I am looking for business. I think I value this portion a little more highly than some internet marketing purists, but to each his own.

The sea portion is a little different. It’s a long term project and it involves creating the perfect client experience. From the materials I offer on my website to the initial phone call to the closing letter and beyond, I want to create an experience for my clients that surpasses their expectations. Through the perfect client experience, I hope to generate client referrals. This is a long term project and I’m still working out the kinks.

Remember, I had to learn how to start a small law firm very quickly and wasn’t able to do all the planning I ideally would have had that not been the case. So I’ve had to do the original planning while trying to get clients and grow my business. Things are looking pretty good right now but no matter what, in business and in life, you can’t get complacent. I’m always looking for ways to continue modifying my plans so that they are constantly improving.

Next up, Marketing Part 2, where I will show you the details of marketing a law firm.

Starting a Law Firm | Office Space - What I Do

One of the first things you will need to do when planning for starting a law firm will be to select what you want to do for office space. In this installment of how to start a law firm, I'm going to tell you what I do. This may not work for everyone, but I'll let you know my thought process as well.

As far as I'm concerned, there are four types of office space. Traditional office space is when you go out and find some space by yourself, lease it, and that's that. Traditional office space is too expensive for me, and I never even considered it because I didn't have any clients (and therefore no income) when I started a law firm.

Shared office space is when you get a group of people together and share the costs associated with renting space. While this is slightly more palatble financially for me, I ultimately concluded that I still couldn't afford shared office space when starting out. Also, while I looked into this option, I found that most of the space available was being subleased by some other tenant, or leased by the owner, and they seriously overpriced the space for how much I thought it was worth. Shared office space would work though if it led to referrals.

I thought about the home office. But, due to my practice areas (i.e. family law, criminal defense, DUI defense, etc.), I didn't want my clients coming to my home.

Lastly, there is virtual office space. With virtual office space, you get a dedicated and professional address, answering service, and mailbox. You can also rent out office space by the hour, if needed to meet with clients. Finally, the cost is very cheap, which is music to a new firm owner's ears.

I use the virtual office space option. For me, it works. I do most of my work out of my house, then meet with clients and receive my mail at the virtual office. The building and office is very nice, and the receptionists are great. They are eager to help me. It does get a little annoying having to go there to check for my mail, but for a small fee I could have it forwarded to my home office. So far, it hasn't hurt business either.

If you are searching for advice on how to start a small law firm, I highly recommend looking into the virtual office option for office space.

Starting a Law Firm - Getting Help

I have a confession to make. I tend to be a bit of a loner. That’s not to say that I don’t like people – I do. But I like to figure things out on my own, then enjoy the pride that comes with knowing that I did it all by myself. If you are learning how to start a law firm, that type of mentality simply doesn’t work.

Let me give you an example. A few weeks back, I posted about how important it is to have a to do list when starting a law firm. One of the items on my to do list was to contact an accountant. The sole reason I wanted to see an accountant was to line someone up for help with filing my income taxes, when the time came around next year. I didn’t realize how valuable of an asset a CPA could be.

So this week I met with my accountant, and it became quite clear early on in our conversation that I needed his advice on a lot more than just my tax return. We started off by talking about what type of business entity my firm would be. In my business plan, I determined that I would be a sole proprietorship for now, then transfer over to a limited liability company. In speaking with my accountant, I determined that an S-corporation would be best for my needs,starting right now, for several reasons (limited liability combined with increased separation from personal taxation is only one reason). My accountant further helped me determine what type of bookkeeping system I will use, and gave me a few other things to think about when dealing with my bank accounts. The best part about all of this? The initial consultation was free!

The point is that starting a law firm by yourself, and expecting to figure everything out on your own is nearly impossible, unless you’ve done it before. Grow your network of people that you can turn to for help, even if it is just a simple question.

Starting a Law Firm - Implementing Office Procedures

One of the things you will want to think about when starting a law firm is how you will run your office. The goal is twofold - efficiency and consistency. You want to be as efficient as possible, meaning you don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about handling administrative tasks, or doing them for that matter. You also want to be consistent with your office procedures.

This is one aspect in how to start a law firm that I have had trouble with. I think there are several reasons for this. The first is that I have no business background, or any training in running an office. I have the Maryland family attorney and Virginia DUI attorney stuff down. In other words, I can practice law but the other stuff is taking some serious work.

The other reason is that I am doing some of this planning while also marketing my new law firm and doing work for my clients. This is one of the disadvantages of starting a law firm before having everything 100% planned. Right now, I probably spend 75% of my time marketing and 10% of my time doing work for clients, which leaves a lot less time for administrative and planning matters.

So as part of my law firm to do list, I have several office systems that I want to plan and implement. For example, I want a system for new or potential clients - from logging their first call or email to intake sheets to opening the file. I also want office procedures for a filing system, telephone calls, accounting, billing, and case management. I'm sure there are others, but that's what I can think of right now.

The good news is I have some resources to help out with my office procedure. You don't need to invent the wheel here, but you do need to implement a system that you are comfortable with, that works best for you.

Starting a Law Firm - Getting Things Done, Part 2

In yesterday's edition of Starting a Law Firm, I posted about the importance of maintaining to do lists as a reminder to get things done. But I realized that it is difficult to really grasp the to do list concept without some examples.

So today I will let everyone know what my current to do list entails. In this post, I'm only listing the A priority items, and in the next post, I will list my B and C priority items. This is just an example of a list, and you should create yours in a way that makes you more productive. Keep in mind also that I keep multiple lists, for all aspects of my professional and personal life, and this is only the list for the "business" side of my law firm. I also keep one for the "lawyer" side, which contains work to be done for clients (obviously, I can't disclose that list on the public blogosphere). Believe it or not, I also keep a list for my personal life. Why do I do this? Because it helps me get things done. I also read somewhere that a very common characteristic of successful entrepreneurs is the obsession with making lists.

If you haven't opened your doors yet, and are reading about How to Start a Law Firm, then you will only have the business side to do list. So without further ado, my A priorities for today:

1. Contact CPA (I have a name, but will not use it here) for appointment.
2. Sign up for [bar association] lawyer referral service.
3. Add content to family law page of website.
4. Post to Starting a Law Firm blog.
5. Write criminal law article for website.
6. Go to bank and deposit checks.
7. Order office supplies.
8. Contact two attorneys for lunch networking meetings.

This was my A priority list at the beginning of the day, and will keep me plenty busy. After this post, I will have checked off the first 4 items. Also, in re-writing my list, I noticed that I broke one of my own rules - to be specific. Some of my items are not nearly specific enough, which is something I will need to work on. The easiest way to do this is to come up with a broad goal or something you want to get accomplished, then create more specific set of items that need to get done in order to accomplish the broad goal.

After getting through my A priority items, I will move on to the B priority items. Actually, the B priority items compose the majority of my list, and I usually bump a few of these up to A priority items each day.

Starting a Law Firm - Getting Things Done

One of the things that is imperative when starting a law firm is to consistently get the things done that you need to get done. At some point, the excitement of being your own boss and making your own decisions will wear off, and the reality of needing to get clients and earn income, while running a business, will set in. For this installment of how to start a law firm, I want to talk about the "to do list."

You may already have a detailed business plan or you may be a fly by the seat of the pants type person. But at some point, you need to sit down and lay out the things that you have to get done. For that, I am a firm believer in the to do list. Each evening, I write a list for the next day of things I would like to accomplish. I prioritize each item with an A, B, or C, and make sure I get the top priority items finished. If some of the lower priority items don't get finished, I roll them over to the next day's to do list. It is also important to check off the things that you get done, so you know you are accomplishing things.

The key for the to do list is to be specific. Don't just write that you need to research accountants, or work on your marketing. Include tangible goals, with action words. For example, "call John Doe, CPA," or "invite three attorneys to lunch," or "post to how to start a small law firm blog."

Above all, just keep doing things. Don't get discouraged. Keep moving forward with your plan. Keep checking items off your to do list. Eventually, when you get your first client, or unlock your own office for the first time, it will all be worth it.

Starting a Law Firm - When to Start?

When you look at the bottom of each post in Starting a Law Firm, you will notice that it is written by HTSALF. Clearly this is a pen name, but what does it mean? Pretty simple really - How to Start a Law Firm. Look, as a Maryland DUI attorney, or Virginia criminal attorney, I don't need to be original. We don't reinvent the wheel. But the real question is: "why use a pen name in the first place?" It's because I want this blog to stay anonymous, at least for now.

In any event, the title of this post asks the question of when to start your small law firm, and the answer can be divided into two separate pieces. The first is when to start planning for starting your law firm and the second is when to actually open your law firm.

Once you have made the decision to start a law firm, you should start planning immediately. Opening a business takes a lot of researching, plaanning, and implementing. You want to be as ready as possible whenever you open your days. How much time do you need to plan? It really depends on the person. But I would leave several months at a bare minimum.

No matter when you open your law firm, you will feel as though you didn't do enough preparation. One thing that I did, which may be helpful, is provide a "soft" opening in order to get your feet wet. The reason I did it was because I had to open on very short notice, and it helped with some of my planning. But I think a soft opening can also be a good idea if you have plenty of time to plan and simply want to make the transition a little easier. Also, you won't be pressured with a specific opening date, which helps because you already will have enough pressure to succeed.

Starting a Law Firm - Where to Start?

So I’ve decided to start a law firm. Congratulations! Now what? That is where I was not too long ago. Actually, just after I decided to start a law firm, I ended up putting my plans on hold for about a month. But my desire to take control of my life outweighed any other motivators, and I got back on the wagon. Now I am a little over a month into starting a law firm, and I still feel like I have so much to do.

But where did I start? Honestly, the first thing I did was buy a new phone – an HTC Droid Incredible. I knew that if I made some investment, albeit a relatively small one after the rebates, there was no turning back. For the first time in a long time, I was excited about my work, even if it was false optimism.

So where should I have started? Right here. Well not right here, but definitely on the internet researching how to start a law firm. So that is what I did, immediately after making my first purchase. There is a lot of information out there for attorneys out there to find. I knew that starting a law firm was going to take a lot of planning. So I started with Foonberg’s How to Start & Build a Law Practice, continued researching online through the ABA and my local bar associations, read as many blogs as possible. All the while, I made a running to do list based on all the information I took in. Included on my to do list was creating a business plan and creating a marketing plan. Those two items, as well as my current to do list, are complete topics for future posts. For now, just know that the to do list is long, but starts with the idea and research.

What about my new phone? My thinking in purchasing probably the best phone in Verizon’s arsenal was that I wanted to project success from the outset. Well, it hasn’t even arrived yet. My understanding is that Verizon, through HTC, through Samsung, is having trouble keeping up with demand because the screen used on the Incredible is in short supply. I guess it serves me right for doing things backwards.

Starting a Law Firm - Why Should I Start a Law Firm?

If you are thinking about starting a law firm and, more specifically, how to start a law firm, you probably have at least some semblance of a plan on how to achieve that goal. This means you've wanted to start a law firm for some time.

I started thinking about it before I even went to law school. When I was in undergrad, I clerked for a small litigation firm in my hometown. The owner of the firm was my friend's father (since retired), and he showed me everything. I went with him to court, worked on client files, helped with discovery, etc. On some days, when there wasn't much to do, I walked across the street to the courthouse to just watch what was going on. One time, on a Friday, we took off early and went to a baseball game. He was in complete control. From that point on, I wanted to own a firm. I wanted control of my career and my life.

As I moved on to law school, my classmates seemed to be very concerned with clerking for large law firms and getting jobs with those firms after graduation. However, I had my eye on the prize - starting my own small law firm. You see, partnership in a big law firm is very different than partnership in a small law firm. I've been in practice for approximately five years, starting out as a Virginia trial attorney. I've only worked in smaller shops and I can tell you with confidence that I have far more substantive and hands on experience than nearly all of my lawyer friends who are associates at larger firms. While they may eventually make partner, it will be an entirely different experience than mine. Not better or worse, just different. But that is a post for another day.

Starting a law firm requires a lot of hard work. That's worth repeating. It requires a lot of hard work. But it also provides everything that I want for my family and for me - flexibility, wealth, and balance. Finally, I am a go-getter personality who loves to take big challenges and meet them head on. So I am challenging myself to earn more as an owner than I was earning at my last job within eighteen months. More importantly, I want to make more time for my family (not an easy task when starting a law firm). I'm excited for this chapter of my career.

Welcome to Starting a Law Firm

Welcome to Starting a Law Firm.

Since the beginning of my foray into the law, or at least since I first walked into my first law school class as a 1L, I've wanted to own my own law firm. At first, it was because I wanted to make a lot of money and attain the status associated with having my own law firm. But now, more than ever, I'm realizing that the way to take charge of my legal career is not to remain a law firm associate, but rather to start a law firm and bring in my own business. I'm excited for that challenge, and think I will do a great job. Plus, knowing that I am in control is empowering.

So join me on my journey from associate to law firm owner!