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To state the obvious, being a lawyer is stressful; being a solo practitioner 10 x more so because, even if you have administrative help, you are responsible for everything in order to become successful. And so, you need to find a way to not only have a great career, but a great life as well.
This is why I suggest, and truly believe, that you must have goals in 5 different areas of life….
A few weeks ago, I had one of those days. You know, a day where things just don’t seem to make much sense. The day started out with a training session on ransomware. Unfortunately, as such programs are apt to do, it made me start to think that selling everything I have, disconnecting from the wired world, and moving to some remote island where I could live out my life selling tapas on the beach might be a really good idea. I suspect more than a few of you might have responded similarly.
Anyway, what got me going was learning about one of the new business models hackers have come up with. In short, after a computer or network is breached and the data encrypted, hackers are starting to offer their victims two choices instead of the normal one, which was to pay the ransom amount in order to obtain the decryption key and get their files back. Now the victim can either pay the ransom or they can help spread the ransomware by sharing a malicious link with two people they know. If those two unsuspecting folks become infected and pay the ransom within seven days, then the initial victim would receive the decryption key and be able to recover their files for free. Now isn’t this a heartwarming development.
While becoming a practice area specialist can result in bringing in legal matters, it is becoming harder and harder to obtain clients just because you practice law in a specific area. This is because the amount of competition out there is tremendous. For example, according to the ABA website, there are more than 25,000 members of the Labor and Employment Law Section (and remember, not every attorney in the United States is a member of the ABA, so the number of attorneys practicing labor and employment law is almost definitely considerably higher). Competition for clients can be ferocious.
Over the past five years, I have written about how to cope with many issues facing rezooming attorneys. This year I hope to inspire you by sharing the rezooming success stories of people just like you who have re-started their legal career. They decided to shift back to practicing law from a different career or a hiatus. These stories will inspire you while providing a suggested road map to success.
In 1927 when my grandfather began practicing law, this was a viable method of marketing and rainmaking. There were only 131,000 attorneys in the United States. If you averaged this out, there were only 2,620 lawyers in each state (yes, I know that some states and cities had more attorneys than others, I’m making a point here). You could literally hang a sign outside and people would hire you.
Now, 90 years later, in 2017, this method of marketing and business development is just not going to work. According to the ABA there are more than 1.3 million attorneys in the country and unless you find a way to let people know what you do, they will never hire you.
The “Legal Practice Management Software Toolkit” is filled with resources to help you make the most out of your law firm software. Manage, grow and scale your business like never before.
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If you want to hit the ground running in 2017, take some time to sketch out what you want to accomplish this year. And I don’t mean doodling some numbers on a legal pad on your lunch hour. Take a day or two off and work on that plan. Do it sooner rather than later. Like, this weekend. Figure out what you want to accomplish. Here’s how I’m tackling it.
As a veteran of nearly 39 years of real law practice (by “real” I mean a broad general practice serving the general public, small businesses, families, and individuals in a myriad of contract, trial, and appellate matters), I know the importance of cash flow.
In my quest for financial security and success, I have perused every bar journal article, attended numerous practice management CLE’s, and varied my approach to billing and collections to see what worked. Find out what I learned.
We wish everyone a happy holiday, whatever you celebrate and wherever you celebrate, as long as you take some time to relax, be with those you care about most or just curl up with a good book and a favorite beverage. We will see you in 2017 with more great blog content, awesome professional courses […]
In certain cases, you may have a client who is struggling financially while waiting for that hoped for recovery in the matter you are handling for them. You want to help them in some way, but can you?
Why Going Solo as a Young Attorney Could Be the Best Decision Ever with Susan Cartier Liebel from Solo Practice University®.
On this episode of New Solo from the Legal Talk Network, Adriana Linares interviews Susan Cartier Liebel from Solo Practice University® about how to stay motivated throughout the process of starting a solo law practice.
Motivation in life is very important. I share seminal moments which have shaped me as a human being and helped me become who I am today.
On this podcast from Lawpreneur Radio, Miranda McCroskey interviews Susan Cartier Liebel from Solo Practice University® about perceptions of fear, failure and other issues facing solos.
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