Solo Practice University® » Solo & Small Firm Practice

‘Closing The Deal’ – The Lawyer’s Version

Rachel Rodgers — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:30:47 +0000

A-B-C.

A-Always,

B-Be,

C-Closing.

Always be closing,

always be closing.

- Alec Baldwin as Blake in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross (see a clip of this great scene here)

Focus on Closing

My first couple of months as a solo, I spent a lot of time talking to prospective clients. At that time I was offering free consultations. During these consultations I would give away the milk, which meant that very few potential clients were buying the cow. Even worse, I didn’t clearly express to my prospective clients what the cow was and why it was worth my fees to get it. I had no idea what the hell I was doing and was quite perturbed that many of these prospects weren’t becoming paying clients.

Unfortunately, how to sell is among the myriad of things that we lawyers need to know yet didn’t learn in law school. When I was just starting out, I didn’t understand how important the mantra, “always be closing” really was. After months of being disappointed at how few clients I had, I realized that closing clients needed to be my numero uno priority.

Now I have a method that keeps closing at the top of my mind at all times. You should try it:

Get a whiteboard and write down how much revenue you want to make this quarter. (Go ahead. I’ll wait). Under your goal number, write down how much you’ve made so far this quarter and subtract it from your goal number. The new total is how much you have left to make. Be sure to include the date every time you update the board – it adds a sense of urgency. Now every time you get paid, deduct the amount of revenue to date from your goal number. Here’s an example:

Goal for Q1: $20,000

Revenue to Date (2/2/12): $ 6,500

Need to Make: $ 13,500

By doing this you will have the exact number you need to make staring you in the face everyday. Its amazing how that number can keep you focused on acquiring clients so you can meet the bottom line. Remember, that

what gets measured, gets managed. – Peter Drucker

Selling Isn’t Icky

In addition to not knowing how to sell, we lawyers often feel uncomfortable selling. I’ve heard lots of lawyers and other service professionals say that selling makes them feel icky. They say, “I don’t want to force anyone to buy from me.” This position requires a re-frame. Thinking that you are forcing someone to buy from you is giving yourself too much credit. No one can force me to part with my money if I don’t I want to (except the IRS and an armed robber); likewise for your potential clients.

Instead, realize that you offer a valuable service and people need to know that your service is available and understand how it can help them. I can’t tell you how many emails and phone calls I have received from giddy prospects who are thrilled to discover my practice. If I wasn’t spending time sharing information about what I do, people I can help would never know I exist and therefore, never be able to benefit from my services. My point here is that people WANT to buy from you.

When you have a new prospect in front of you, do these three things with an eye towards either closing the sale or discovering that you and this prospect don’t belong together. (Either one is good. You don’t want to work for someone who isn’t a good fit for your practice anyway – it will only lead to headaches.)

1. Listen. Spend lots of time listening very carefully and asking open-ended questions. The more you listen to your potential client, the closer you’ll get to understanding what they truly want. When you know what they really want, you can express the reasons why your services are valuable to them. Additionally, knowing a lot about your potential client will help you to frame the conversation when it comes to discussing fees.

2. Educate. By being a good listener, you will make the potential client feel comfortable that you understand what they need. Then you can spend time educating the client about the particular legal issue their facing and how you can resolve it. Sharing a small portion of your knowledge will help the prospective client trust and believe in your expertise. It will help them understand their options and the true value that you can bring.

3. Close. Once you have spent some time listening to your clients wants and educating your client about the legal issue and the value that you bring, its time to close. Closing is pretty simple, just ask them if they would like to hire you. If they say no, you can move on. If they say yes, you can take the next steps to making them a client (collecting an intake form, sending an engagement agreement, accepting payment, etc.). If they say maybe, let them know you’ll follow up in a specific amount of time (2 days, one week, etc.). Then when you follow up, if they still don’t have a definitive answer give them a deadline by which to decide. When the deadline arrives, if they haven’t said yes, remove them from your sales process. Perpetual maybes can be an enormous time suck. Cut them off and move on.

Ideally, you should want exactly what your prospects want: the satisfaction of their desire or the resolution to their problem. – Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA

Selling is only icky if you’re selling something you don’t believe in to someone who doesn’t need it. Your true goal is to deliver your services to clients who need them. So don’t make it hard for your potential clients to buy from you. Focus on closing for your benefit and theirs.

Written by Rachel Rodgers

Celebrating 2 Years Solo: Lessons from the Trenches

Rania S Combs — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:30:53 +0000

“On the eve of launching my solo practice, I had a knot in the pit of my stomach. I’d worked for a firm right out of law school, and then did freelance work for other attorneys, but I’d never been completely on my own. I never had to be a rainmaker. I never had to run a business. I always had other attorneys in my firm to bounce ideas off of. What if I couldn’t do it?”

Nevertheless, I pressed on. I sent out a letter to family and friends telling them I was open for business and ignored the nagging voice of doubt reminding me how humiliating it would be if my efforts failed. Some of you who are on the verge of hanging your own shingle might be having the same anxieties. For you, I offer a few of the lessons I have learned in the past two years.

Rome wasn’t built in a day

In the months before I launched my website, I purchased what I thought was a really good domain name: www.texaswillsandtrustslaw.com. Having decided to start a completely web-based practice, I understood the importance of having prospective clients find my website. I figured people who were looking for estate planning attorneys may use key words such as Texas Wills and Trusts to search for them. That should elevate the ranking of my site. Or so I hoped.

Delusional as it may have been, a part of me really expected being found online to be as simple as choosing a domain name. So a few days after my website became public, I ran a Google search for “Texas Wills and Trusts.” Surely, I’d be able to find my website using that phrase. I was wrong. Much to my dismay, my website was not on page 1 or even 10 for that matter. I gave up after page 26. Prospective clients would have given up long before that.

Discouraged, I called my brother. How would clients find me when my website was buried on the Internet? “Rania,” my brother said,

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nothing worth having ever was either.”

The truth is that building a practice, whether web-based or brick-and-mortar, takes a lot of time and hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight. There are no shortcuts. For me, the more I blogged and connected with other bloggers, the more traffic showed up on my website. The more articles I wrote and the more personality I injected into those articles, the longer prospective clients spent on my website.

It took time, but clients started knocking on my virtual door.

Business is often slow the first few months. Don’t get discouraged.

Virtual doesn’t have to be impersonal

Technology has influenced every aspect of our lives, including the way we communicate. Because so many of us are comfortable keeping in touch electronically, it’s easy to assume that people are content with less personal contact.

That was my assumption when I started my web-based law practice two years ago. So for the first couple of months, I didn’t engage in much offline communication with my clients. I figured that since I was operating a web-based practice and clients contacted me through my virtual law office, communicating electronically was expected.

That was a mistake.

Exchanging messages online is great for productivity, but is not very conducive to building a real relationship with clients. In order to do that, I needed to move communications offline as well.

Nowadays, the first thing I do when a new client contacts me is schedule an introductory phone call. The call serves a couple of purposes. First, it allows me to learn about his or her needs and determine whether those needs can be met in an online environment. And most importantly, it allows me to make a personal connection that I couldn’t make if I simply responded with an online note.

By taking the communication offline, I have been able to build real relationships with my clients, even though I have never met most of them in person. As a result, even after I’ve closed a case, I’ll hear back from them about major life events, such as the birth of a new child or grandchild, and also from the friends and family members they refer.

Don’t sell yourself short

During the first few months I was in solo practice, a couple engaged me to do their estate planning. After investing some time talking with these clients and discussing my fees, they said someone they knew referred another attorney who would prepare their estate planning documents for less. They wanted to work with me, but asked me to match the other attorney’s rate.

Their request took me by surprise, but I really wanted the work. So I agreed to reduce my rate. Rather than feeling happy that they had chosen me, however, the experience left me feeling resentful and frustrated for compromising on what I knew was a very reasonable fee quote.

“If someone hires you because of price, they’ll fire you because of price.”

Over the past two years, I’ve come to realize that there are always going to be attorneys who may offer their services at a lower rate. And if the lowest price is the most important factor for the client, they’ll likely be much happier choosing that option. But I think clients recognize that the lowest fee does not necessarily equate to the best value. It’s up to us to differentiate the value in our services.

Since going solo, I have been pleased with the amount of positive feedback I have received regarding the value of my services. In fact, a couple of months ago, a client sent me a check in excess of our agreed fee because she believed the value of the services she received exceeded the fee I quoted.

New solos are under a lot of financial pressure, so they’re often reluctant to turn away a paying client, no matter what the compromise. Try to resist the temptation. Do a lot of research. Understand the value of the services you provide. Before beginning any work on a client’s behalf, provide a fair quote based on his or her unique circumstances. But don’t sell yourself short.

Be open to constructive criticism

I spent months designing my website. It took me months because I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew nothing about WordPress or blogging. I didn’t know a widget from a plugin. But I didn’t have the budget to hire someone to do it for me. So I labored away until I finally had what I thought was a visually attractive website.

However, several months after I made my website public, I met an attorney who asked an interesting question: “If I were a prospective client and clicked on your website, would I immediately know how you can help me?” Tentatively, I answered, “I think so.”

So this attorney took the time to pull up my website after he got to his office and then called me after he’d seen it. I’ll spare you his point-by-point critique (it was very long), but the bottom line was that my website was not effective. While it looked nice, it was neither client-focused nor easy to navigate. To attract clients, it needed to be both. I was crushed.

Although the criticism was discouraging, I took it to heart. I made several of the changes he recommended and reaped the reward. Soon, the bounce rate on my website decreased and the time prospective clients spent on my site increased. With that came more clients.

It’s much easier to tell people what they want to hear. It takes a lot of courage and time to be bluntly honest and to back up that honesty with practical advice. But what a difference it can make! There are several colleagues and professionals around the country who I know will tell me the truth, no matter how discouraging it may initially be. I appreciate them. If someone is willing to offer that kind of feedback, don’t be offended. Accept it graciously.

You don’t have to do it alone!

And that brings me to my last lesson: You don’t have to do it on your own. There are plenty of attorneys willing to help if you just ask.

The general public’s perception of lawyers may often be negative, but the attorneys I’ve encountered in the past two years have been incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. Before I started my practice, I talked to as many lawyers as possible about what it would take to build and grow a law firm. And I still do. There is so much more I can learn and improve upon, and I’m grateful for those who take the time to help.

So go ahead. Take the first step. Call a respected attorney in your area of practice and ask for help on an issue that has you stumped. Make connections with attorneys whose marketing acumen you admire or whose blogs you enjoy. Call a colleague in another jurisdiction with whom you’d like to collaborate.

Most likely, they’ll be flattered you called and happy to offer you advice. I know I always am. Every time someone calls me, I remember all the attorneys who have mentored and encouraged me in the past two years, and I’m happy to pay it forward. I hope that those I help will one day do the same for others.

Looking ahead

I’ve learned so much in the past two years, both personally and professionally. In some ways, it seems like I’ve been in solo practice for much longer. In other ways, I feel like I’m just getting started. I have accomplished things I never thought I could, and I can honestly say I’ve never worked harder. But the process of building my firm has been an incredibly rewarding experience.

As you start your own solo journey, I hope it will be the same for you.

Written by Rania S Combs

Did a Groupon Really Work for a Solo Lawyer?

Debra Bruce — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:30:11 +0000

Last year St. Louis attorney Craig S. Redler garnered a lot more attention than he really wanted when he offered a discount coupon for a will and power of attorney through daily deal promoter Groupon. Groupon sends its members targeted advertising of daily virtual vouchers entitling the purchasers to products and services from local businesses at deep discounts through group purchasing. If a large enough group commits to purchase the coupon, the deal is on. Thus, the name Groupon. The company was founded in 2008 and its business took off so rapidly that it now has hundreds of copycat competitors. Some of the other big players in the daily deal market include Living Social, Google Offers and Amazon with its Gold Box Deals and Woot.

A Virtual Ethics Exam

Groupon grabbed headlines when it went public in 2011. Its CEO was interviewed on 60 Minutes even as I was writing this post. What focused the legal blog spotlight on Redler, however, was the question of whether advertising through Groupon could constitute fee splitting in violation of Rule 5.4(a) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and most state ethics rules. These daily deal sites make their money by taking a cut of the proceeds from the sale of the discount voucher (which voucher is later redeemed for goods or services), rather than charge the participating business a fee up front.

Redler duly sought clearance from the Missouri Bar Association before proceeding with the Groupon deal. Since then, South Carolina and North Carolina have announced ethics committee opinions authorizing daily deal voucher programs for legal services, with certain caveats. Stephanie Kimbro did a nice job of summarizing those caveats in her Virtual Law Practice blog. The WhichDraft.com blog helpfully includes the South Carolina ethics rules in its commentary on the issue. Amber Hollister, the deputy general counsel for the Oregon State Bar discussed the question in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin with regard to ethics rules in Oregon.

Is It Worth It?

What most solo lawyers want to know before trying to decipher their state’s ethics rules on this rather complicated issue is, “Does it work? Is it worth it?” I asked Craig Redler whether, from the vantage point of one year later, he would do it all again. “Probably not,” he admitted, but not because of the clients. And not because of Groupon. He just wouldn’t want to experience all the brouhaha from the legal community again. Besides the flurry of activity from new clients, Redler’s office was inundated with about 150 phone calls and emails from lawyers wanting to know how it worked. On top of that, some of the online commentary was not very charitable towards him. (Lawyers, please don’t contact him as a result of this post. He doesn’t have time for responding.)

I wondered whether Redler could even break even financially by offering a will and power of attorney for only $99 in the Groupon deal. He ususally charges $750 for his will package. I asked whether he did it as a loss leader, and whether it ultimately paid off. “I didn’t even think in terms of ‘loss leader’ when I decided to do a Groupon deal,” he confessed. “I love Groupons and wanted to be part of it. I use them personally.”

So did Redler lose money on the deal? Or did he just gin out a no frills “Mom and Pop will” as efficiently as he could? “I sent each client an extensive questionnaire. I did a quality job for each client and gave them hours of my time. It’s impossible for me to do a plan in less than 3.5 to 4 hours,” affirms Redler. Most of his Groupon clients determined that they needed a more complex plan, some including trusts or other instruments . Avoiding a bait and switch program and keeping it ethical, Redler gave a full $750 credit to the clients who upgraded. Redler says he still made money on the Groupon experiment. It just wasn’t as profitable as his other work.

Clients As Good As Any

Some businesses have found that daily deal vouchers bring in the wrong kind of clients: the type who just want dirt cheap deals and won’t be repeat customers at full price, or folks with attitude. Redler, however, said “The people who came in were as good as any I work with.” Many of them said they had intended to get their wills drawn up for months or years, and the Groupon spurred them to finally take action.

If you’re just getting a new law practice going and you have unfilled hours on your hands, you might not have much to lose by doing a daily deals voucher program. Even $99 is more than $0. For a seasoned lawyer, however, there needs to be more pay off. The sudden throng of new clients puts pressure on the ability to service existing full pay clients, and could harm long term business relationships, if not handled well.

Fortunately for Redler, time has confirmed the wisdom of his experiment. In the past year some of the discount clients have engaged him again for additional legal services at full fee. Some of them have referred new clients to him. Even though he didn’t actually lose money, the “loss leader” did lead to additional business for Redler.

The Key: Caring & Quality Service

After viewing how Redler handled the questions of potential clients on the Groupon site, and after exploring his client philosophy in conversation, I think I know why Redler had a good experience with his Groupon clients. He offered the kind of service (will preparation) that responsible people seek. He treated his new clients with respect and concern for their welfare. He gave them all the service of a full-paying client. It sounds to me like he took care of his clients, and they returned the favor.

Before you race off to try a daily deal discount voucher program for your law practice, stay tuned for my next blog post. It contains my thoughts on what kind of legal work might be suited for a discount voucher deal, and what to watch out for. If you have already tried something like this or know an attorney who has, please share the results in the comments below.

Written by Debra Bruce

Best Advice I Received as a Lawyer: Don’t Forget to Take the Time to Think

Rush Nigut — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:36 +0000

We are very fortunate to be bringing on board a new member to our family of columnists, Rush Nigut. Rush is a recognized authority in the area of business law who also happens to really have a handle on the importance of utilizing technology in practice. From his unique perspective as a business lawyer, he is going to be writing a monthly column called ‘Business Law and Tech’. Of course, he’ll add his experiences as a long time practitioner to showcase implementation and how technology, when used properly, improves the overall effectiveness of your practice and benefits your clients, too.

Best Advice I Received as a Lawyer: Don’t Forget to Take the Time to Think.

I was fortunate as a young lawyer to work with a terrific mentor when I started in the practice of law who taught me the importance of regular “think” sessions. He owns a small three-lawyer firm in Des Moines, yet represents a stable of clients that would make most in BIG LAW envious. Many of these clients weren’t big clients when he started representing them. But by studying and truly analyzing his clients’ issues, he was able to position himself and more importantly his clients for opportunities. Most lawyers I know hope for the big client or case. Instead, he has the uncanny ability to often turn the small client into a big client.

The result is a career that I joke Walter Mitty couldn’t have dreamed up. Some of his highlights include winning multi-million dollar verdicts, representing international corporations, chairing six different presidential campaigns in Iowa, owning a championship professional basketball team and even watching his horse run in the Kentucky Derby. If asked about the keys to his success, he could easily say he was blessed with a gift for public speaking, loves his work or perhaps has been lucky. But I’ve always felt he had a much more profound reason for his success. He takes the time to think.

Lawyers, particularly solo lawyers, have a lot on their mind. Solo lawyers must develop a client base, somehow get the work done and then run the business too. With these demands, it’s hard not to have a myopic viewpoint and focus only on the task that lies directly ahead.

But it’s critical to take time to think. It isn’t a waste of time. In our fast-paced professional practices where moving from client to client is the norm, our thoughts can easily become scattered and unfocused. Focused, uninterrupted time spent thinking can help lawyers immeasurably. Think about the practice of law and how it’s changing. And definitely don’t forget about where your clients’ industries are headed and how you can best position your clients to take advantage of opportunities.

So schedule time each day or week to think about and focus on the future. Start with setting aside an hour or two each week. Keep notes of your ideas and in my experience it works best to use the same journal or notebook to record your thoughts. During each week, make notes of things that come to your mind as well as the challenges and problems you run into.

One of the best things to remember is that just because something has been done a particular way, or because no one else does it that way, doesn’t mean you can’t do it your way. Be innovative and resourceful. Think of ways to come up with better, more productive solutions, both for your law practice and your clients. If you do, I have a feeling you’ll find your practice rewarding, not just from a monetary perspective, but also a personal perspective. It’s the best advice I ever received in the practice of law and it’s made a big difference for me.

Written by Rush Nigut

Audio: New Solo Attorney FAQs with Jared Correia

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:30:22 +0000

New Solo FAQs with Jared Correia

Often times new solos are afraid to publicly ask the important questions about starting a solo practice because they are concerned others will mock them for not knowing what is often considered basic. Jared Correia hears these questions all day long, often times two and three times in the same day. We thought it would be very beneficial to have a discussion with Jared so he could answer these newbie questions (which, quite frankly, more seasoned lawyers could benefit from, as well!) in a podcast which can be bookmarked, saved and listened to as often as you like. If you are a new lawyer in Massachusetts or a paying member of the Massachusetts bar, be sure to connect with Jared. LOMAP’s services are free for those who qualify.

The audio is about 53 minutes. Listen or download directly below.
New Solo FAQs with Jared Correia

Jared D. Correia, Esq., is Law Practice Management Advisor at MassLOMAP (Massachusetts Law Office Management Practice). Prior to joining LOMAP, he was the Publications Attorney for the Massachusetts Bar Association (“MBA”). He was the first Publications Attorney for the MBA, and established the continuing legal education publication protocols and standards. In addition to overseeing the MBA’s CLE Publications, he also managed the MBA’s version of Casemaker, an online legal research product provided free of charge to MBA members. Prior to joining the MBA, Mr. Correia was a private practice attorney, working in the areas of general practice and disability law, in small firms on the Southcoast, North of Boston and just outside of Boston. Mr. Correia’s general practice encompassed a diverse range of legal subjects, including the handling of administrative hearings, personal injury law, family law, tax law and property law matters. Mr. Correia is active in raising funds for cancer research and has founded a charitable organization to benefit autistic children. He is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and Saint Anselm College, where he was a captain of the Saint Anselm College Debate Team that finished second nationally in 2000.

Connect with Jared on Twitter . You can also follow LOMAP on Facebook, visit the website or read the blog.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Step 1 – Get Clients.

Rachel Rodgers — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:30:30 +0000

I was having a conversation with a fellow Gen Y lawyer about whether or not she should go solo. Together we brainstormed how she could go about using her unique experiences to create her own solo practice. We talked about what kind of law she could practice, what kind of clients she could serve and what kind of marketing she could do. We even talked about some of the technology she could use. At the end of the conversation, she asked,

“So what do I do now?”

I guess we never got around to discussing the actual steps of setting up an operating law office. And I planned to write a whole long article about the operational steps I took to set up my practice. But . . . I got stuck on step one. Its the most important thing and, therefore, the first thing you should do after you decide to go solo: Get Clients.

Really? Getting clients is the very first step?

Yep, sorry to disappoint but that is step one (unless you count passing the bar – but that’s a given). I know its way more fun to design a logo and purchase fancy letterhead and business cards but you won’t be needing any of that stuff if you don’t get some clients. Lucky for me, I read an article by Lee Rosen before I went solo. Lee’s advice was to try to actually practice law as a solo before setting up all the law office bells and whistles. He recommended contacting friends, family and colleagues and letting them know that you are open for business and ask them to refer clients to you. Then get a few clients (or even just a client). Then do the work. Then decide if solo practice is really for you.

I highly recommend this method. Especially because I have seen quite a few lawyers spend the time and money to set up a practice with all of the bells and whistles, only to abandon it a few months later when they are offered a job or some other realization or circumstance takes them away from solo practice. Why spend the time and money building up a practice that you may quickly decide to close? Plus, it doesn’t help your reputation to have run a very short-lived practice. Why not test the waters under the radar first? Then once you are sure its right for you, announce your new bells and whistles-laden practice with all the fanfare you want.

And . . . how exactly does one acquire said clients?

When I tell my peers who are thinking about going solo to send a simple email or letter to the folks they know announcing that they are open for business, they all nod in agreement. But they never do it. Its the advice that no one takes.

Maybe you don’t want to do it because its uncomfortable to announce this new thing your doing and you’re a bit uneasy about it. You don’t want tell all of the people you know because it may not work out and then everyone you know will know you failed. Well that’s precisely why it works! When people who already know you and like you learn that you are taking a risk starting your own practice and need their help to succeed – they will want to help you. In fact, I bet many of them will go out of their way to help you find your first client.

Maybe the reason you won’t do it is because you feel like you’re not a real lawyer unless you have an office with bookcases filled with leather-bound books, a secretary to answer your phone and business cards printed on linen paper. You may see yourself this way but your friends and family don’t. Most people probably thought of you as a lawyer the moment you started law school. (Remember that BBQ the summer after 1L year when your uncle asked you for a legal analysis of the property line dispute he was having with his neighbor? Or maybe that was just me). Maybe other lawyers will put you down and make you feel like you’re not a real lawyer. But don’t listen to them. And if you want to hear from a fellow attorney that you are the real deal, just ask me.

If you have some other way to quickly get your first few clients that does not require spending money, by all means have at it. If not, then you need to send the announcement today. Its the fastest way to get your first few clients – so you can try your hand at this whole soloing thing.

I wish you many new and excellent clients in this new year!

Written by Rachel Rodgers

Don’t Let Pro Bono Work Put You Out of Business

Susan Cartier Liebel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:30:45 +0000

There is a lot of discussion about lawyers and their obligation to perform pro bono legal services. Pro bono publico (translation: “for the public good”) is a very admirable way to give back to society in the form of free or very inexpensive legal aid to those who otherwise could not afford legal services. Sometimes, depending upon the nature of the case, there can still be a financial award if you win for your client.

This column, however, is not about the morality of whether or not each and every lawyer has an obligation to give back to society in the form of free or inexpensive legal services. It is about business decisions. If the newly minted solo is inclined to do pro bono work, how does it fit into his or her business plan?

Pro bono work usually translates into, “I’m not getting paid … by choice.” It should be done as a calculated business decision. You only have so many hours in the day to represent your clients. When you make a calculated decision to donate a certain number of hours of your time, whether in an effort to attract more business and/or to satisfy some inner moral compunction, while not taking food off your table, that’s called “marketing” and/or “soul food.”

When you let a client take your time because you are incapable of charging them or steal your time because you are incapable of collecting your fee and there’s no hope of referred clients, all while struggling to pay your rent, that’s called “stupid,” or, “I’m not getting paid … but not by choice.”

You must learn the difference between pro bono work and bad business. One will help you prosper financially and emotionally. The other will put you under.

While you are starting out, pro bono work needs to be very thoughtful in terms of your business plan because if you are a bleeding heart you will help a few, go out of business, and not be able to help a lot more in the future.

There are pretty much two times in your career cycle when pro bono work is a win/win situation for you and the client. When you are first starting out, the likelihood of you billing 40 to 50 hours per week is small. You will be in a learning curve. During this learning curve you will have some time to take on a case others won’t because the client can’t pay. It can be a tremendous learning experience, a basis for referrals in the future and provide a lot of exposure to colleagues and the courts.

And most importantly, it’s not taking away from you earning money to support your business. It beats sitting around waiting for the telephone to ring.

The second time in your career cycle when pro bono work is a win/win situation is when you are well-seasoned, you’re financially comfortable and you genuinely feel the need to work on a case for a client without counting the nickels. The desire to help is great, the injustice of a situation strikes a chord or the substantive legal issues compel you. And because of your experience, what might have taken you thirty hours years ago now takes ten hours.

One very successful attorney who does a lot of pro bono work now that she can afford to once told me “there are a lot of barking dogs out there. You can’t feed them all.” This was very wise advice for a new attorney. There is no shortage of people who will look to take your time for free.

However, you are not in the business of extending credit or giving away your services. Unless someone is paying your student loan, mortgage and car payment, you are under no moral obligation to give away valuable time you can be using to network, educate and represent paying clients. There are only so many hours in a day. And, yes, even as a new attorney your time is valuable.

You must grow your business first, keep yourself afloat and meet your obligations to yourself and your family. You will know if and when the time is right to take on pro bono work. At that time you will calculate how many hours per year you can donate to those in need. Remember, your goal is to create a thriving business that will provide for your future. Only then will you be able to help others who might not otherwise have access to quality legal services.

What has been your experience doing pro bono work?

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

How to Dabble in Delegating

Rachel Rodgers — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:19:29 +0000

During my college years, I spent a month living in Nigeria. My Nigerian host family consisted of a mom, dad, four daughters, one son and one son-in-law. That is a whole heck of a lot of people to share tasks with. For example, meals were a coordinated ballet and everyone played a role. Two of the daughters were tasked with going to the market to buy the meat, the son’s job was to escort his sisters to the market and help carry the packages. The eldest daughters would prepare most of the meal and mom would coordinate all of the these players and tasks. Dad was the provider. And son-in-law would bake desserts.

In my little family of three there are far too many tasks that need to be done and not enough people to do them (of course, one of us is only six weeks old so she doesn’t have too many chores yet). The same is true for my practice, there are far too many tasks for little ‘ol me. Especially since that six week old I mentioned, takes up a lot of my time.

Enter Delegation (or The Fear of Delegation)

If regular folks realize the need to farm out bits and pieces of their random household chores, why don’t more solos (especially new and young solos) realize their need to delegate business tasks? The reason is we’re scared. Sure, we’re scared of not having complete control and scared that they’ll do it wrong. But most of all we’re scared we can’t afford it and scared to increase our overhead.

Unfortunately, we usually need to start delegating just before we are financially comfortable doing so.

Thanks to the rise of virtual assistants and virtual paralegals, there are easy ways to start dabbling in delegation without taking the risk of hiring a full-time employee.

Dabbling in Delegation

Just before hitting the one year mark, I realized that I could not keep working like I was without making myself miserable. Plus, I had a baby on the way, and knew things would have to change once my daughter was born. (Did I mention, that said daughter arrived over 2 weeks early leaving many of my maternity leave plans not quite set just yet?). In addition, there are just some things I don’t like doing or that I’m not very good at. Sure, I can enter all of my business transactions into QuickBooks but do I want to? Hell no!

Of course, I also wasn’t making as much money as I had hoped I would before starting to hire people. There was a number in my head that I was supposed to reach before having the luxury of an assistant or paralegal. Due to my need to sleep and the fact that I have a finite amount of productive working hours in me each day, I knew I wasn’t going to make it to that number.

Burn out is very real. We’ve all heard horror stories of lawyers winding up in the ER or worse, due to the health complications that occur when you are stressed out and overworked. More likely though, being overworked will sap the joy out of running your practice and you’ll stop having the energy or desire to keep doing it. I didn’t want that to be me.

So here is how I started to dabble in delegating:

1. Get a referral! I had no idea what exactly I needed to delegate or who I needed to delegate to. So I asked my mastermind group for referrals. I got a list of highly recommended virtual assistants that friends of mine worked with and loved. I set up a consultation with each of them.

2. Choose one time consuming task to outsource. During the first consultation, I told the VA about my practice and asked what types of things I could potentially outsource. She gave me great ideas and helped me realize that there were quite a few administrative tasks that I took a really long time to do because they just weren’t my strengths or because I was learning as I went. One of which was management and set up of my mailing list. It took me a long time to set up and it was pretty poorly executed. So I decided that moving my mailing list over to an email marketing service and setting up well-designed newsletter templates would be the first task.

3. Purchase a super small block of time for the first task. I purchased a 5 hour block of time for a few hundred dollars with no strings attached. We both understood that she would handle the first set of tasks and then we would decide whether we were a good fit. If we did enjoy working together, we would work out terms for going forward. Don’t be afraid to ask for terms that will fit your business. If you only want to purchase a few hours per month for the first month or two, just ask.

4. Set up a collaboration system. That sounds more complicated than it is. I just set up a free Basecamp account and gave my VA access, however you can choose any secure collaboration service you like. This service made it really easy to set up to-do lists with deadlines, share documents and passwords and send each other messages.

5. Set clear expectations and provide honest feedback. Be sure to provide your VA with a deadline and clear instructions and expectations. I learned from my Nigerian host family that everyone is happier and things run smoothly when each person understands their role. The relationship only helps your business if everybody is clear on what the expectations are. After the first set of tasks is complete, schedule a quick call with your VA to determine how it went. Be clear on what went well and what could be better. Keep in mind that there is a learning curve in the first set of tasks because no one knows your business like you do.

6. Jump for joy! Then rinse and repeat. When you have been hustling hard for many moons, having someone knock out a task for you AND do it well (or better than you would have) will put a big cheesy grin on your face. You will be addicted and you will (eventually) hire someone else. After a few months of working with my stupendously awesome VA, a fellow lawyer referred a virtual paralegal to me. The first project she worked on was done quickly and efficiently and took a whole lotta work off my plate.

Just Do It!

Bottom line: I knew my practice could only grow so much if I didn’t start delegating. Having help is slowly but surely increasing my quality of life and growing my practice. I’ve experienced growth that is directly related to the tasks my team helped me with. Plus, like I learned from my Nigerian host family, working with others brings a sense of community and makes work so much more enjoyable.

Written by Rachel Rodgers

What Do You Do When….

Susan Cartier Liebel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:30:24 +0000

Back in August the northeast was hit with hurricane Irene which destroyed the Connecticut coastline in many areas, homes and businesses went without electric for up to a week. In response I posted When Disaster Strikes: The Client Communications Plan.

At the end of October the northeast was hit with a freak pre-Halloween snow storm which wreaked havoc in the tri-state area, thousands of trees broken or completed toppled and numerous towns without electric for up to 11 days courtesy of a poorly thought out response plan by Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating.

Oklahoma got rocked by an unprecedented earthquake. Alaska has been hit by an epic storm. All this before we’ve even celebrated Thanksgiving. If we go by the dearth of hickory nuts on the ground this fall and the countless squirrels scrambling for food chances are this winter is going to be one for the record books. The fact is we are experiencing climate changes which are becoming increasingly disruptive to our personal and professional lives. For a solo, especially, these types of disruptions require extra work to keep business running smoothly as many work from their homes.

However, there are other types of disruptions in life that can upend a solo practice simply because we are human. It has nothing to do with work ethic or not being extremely efficient. It has to do with the psychology of actually being disrupted and how we respond to the disruption.

In the course of working with our faculty, columnists, and students over these years I’ve seen many a lawyer’s life being disrupted. The disruptions include:

unexpected death of a parent
birth of a child
complications from the birth of a child
prolonged unanticipated family emergencies
caring for an elderly parent
physical injury
health complications
physical exhaustion
cancer
divorce
depression

While you might say that whether you work as a solo or in a practice with others these are human conditions that impact us all, the difference is this: when you work for another there are built in benefits and protections, many of these protections are laws employers must not violate and if they do, there is recourse. These protections guarantee you the time off without impacting your pay or holding your job for when you return. They also include coverage for your clients so your clients don’t suffer.

We all know going in that as a solo we are going to wear multiple hats, be stressed out juggling multiple balls in the air and will (hopefully) ultimately conclude the benefits of entrepreneurship outweigh the challenges. But theory is different then reality. How are you going to respond when you are actually impacted by a major physical or emotional life disruption, one that also takes its toll on the time you have to devote to your solo practice impacting client attraction, and retention, growth, cash flow, reputation? Read the comments on the blog post about what to do when natural disasters strike. Then ask yourself what plan do you have in place for the unexpected ( or expected) disruption in your life that can’t be as logically and easily planned for or fixed like the restoration of internet service?

I’d love for you to share some of your experiences and maybe we can create a list which will help all solos. I plan to do a follow up post with some thoughts and ideas and would like to incorporate your comments.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

The Misunderstood Virtual Law Office

Susan Cartier Liebel — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:30:47 +0000

In case you missed it there has been a very lively discussion between two faculty members, Jay Fleischman and Richard Granat, on their respective professional blogs. (For purposes of clarity I am going to use the phrase ‘online offices’ in lieu of Virtual Law Office). Jay threw down the gauntlet and Richard quickly accepted the challenge. Jay asked the question, ‘Is the Virtual Law Model Coming Up Short?‘

The ABA Elawyering Task Force tells us that, “[t]o be successful in the coming era, lawyers will need to know how to practice over the Web, manage client relationships in cyberspace, and ethically offer “unbundled” services.”

Bulls–t.

Richard ,who co-chairs the ABA ELawyering Task Force with Marc Lauritsen, wrote a powerful rejoinder.

Solos and small law firms, with existing methods of delivering legal services, are pricing themselves out of the middle class marketplace. This is the real reason that LegalZoom is rumored to be generating more than 100 million in revenues this year. LegalZoom and other non-lawyer providers continue to increase their market share at the expense of solos and small law firms. The assertion that lawyers don’t need the people as clients that purchase forms from non-lawyer providers is a misrepresentation of what is really happening in the solo and small law firm marketplace. The clients that are turning away from law firms are clients that law firms need and who they previously served in an earlier, pre-Internet era.

For the most part, I’m in Richard’s camp on this one. Lawyers growing their practices today and into the future will very much need this technological tool – an online office – as part of their practice or, in some cases, functioning completely on line in order to compete. What Jay does say and which I agree is the online office, as defined by the ABA ELawyering Task Force in the above quote, is just another method of working with clients. It does not displace human interaction. Anyone who tries to build a law practice model which relies exclusively on putting up a website billboard and marketing through social media in the hopes of attracting clients but never ‘connecting’ with them, is most likely going to fail. (Connecting does not necessarily mean ‘in the flesh’ but connecting as in talking via other technological tools such as SKYPE).

What was also discounted heavily by Jay (although he does suggest otherwise in the comments) is that there is a significant and ever- growing population of potential clients that is very comfortable doing their business on line. Being a lawyer who desires connection with clients and then projecting upon clients that they must want to have a significant in-person relationship with you may go against a growing body of evidence highlighted by Richard Granat.

It’s true that many clients are not interested in working with their lawyers online, but we think that as a connected generation comes of age and they have legal problems that they will prefer to deal with their lawyers online and prefer to text rather than even talk on the telephone, much less meet with their attorney face-to-face, unless it is unavoidable. For facts to support this assertion, see books like New Rules of Engagement: Understanding on How to Connect With Generation Y. and the work of Christine Hassler. In a study conducted last year by YouGov, a UK-based research and opinion firm, on consumer preferences for legal services, one of the conclusions was that:

“34% of respondents said they would be more likely to choose a law firm that offered the convenience of online access to legal documents over one that had no online capability; 22% disagreed and 37% neither agreed nor disagreed.”

Younger males were the most likely to choose a law firm with online services and access: 44% of 25-to-39 year-old males (and 40% of such women), along with 40% of 16-to-24 year-old males, would choose a law firm offering online access to documents over another law firm.”

There is obviously a generational shift happening. As a younger generation matures to the age where they have legal problems, their desire to deal with lawyers online becomes a requirement, not a preference.

But you don’t even need these statistics. Just look at yourself. What is your number one method of communication? How much do you (dis)like voice mails and having to get back to a client on the phone? How much are your kids actually ‘talking’ to you or their peers yet their communication with peers and even yourself has actually increased due to texting? How much socializing do you do on the web versus in person? When you want a document isn’t it easier to request it be scanned and sent as a .pdf? Of course, this is a sad commentary on social interaction in this country but that doesn’t change the facts.

What also got confused in the post and the comments is the assumption that an online law office equals unbundled legal services. As I noted in a comment on Jay’s post, an online office does not mean the lawyer is or must offer unbundled legal services. A desire to offer unbundled legal services does not mean one must have an online office. An online office does not mean there is no human interaction. And having a brick and mortar law office does not mean a client will automatically have meaningful human interaction with lawyers.

What struck me most of all, and it should you, is that if there is this type of misunderstanding about what an online office is and what unbundled legal services are amongst lawyers who are fairly progressive, how confusing must it be to clients? Clients remain torn between their idea of how lawyers interact with clients and at what cost and what they perceive as the only alternative to this idea - the LegalZooms of the world. The gap between these two perceptions is vast and this is where the majority of your clients will fall – wanting and needing a lawyer but believing they are unable to afford one who will work with them the way they need and want to work. Potential clients need to know they can have the benefit of a lawyer who will work with them in the way they can afford and need to due to time constraints or other issues which preclude them from constant physical interaction unless absolutely required. Otherwise, they go pro se or shop on price or try the LegalZooms and their ilk, hope for the best and…. systematically put you out of business.

(I must add one caveat. It’s my opinion that those who practice in areas which do generate a lot of forms feel threatened by this model as the average consumer has not been successfully educated they need experienced lawyers to walk them through the land mines. They are on the defensive. Other practice areas will never have to worry about forms or lack of human interaction such as criminal. It is a high touch practice area. So in many ways criminal lawyers have no dog in this fight. But the rest need to stay on their toes)

This is the biggest opportunity in the history of the legal profession to educate potential clients that there are alternatives to going pro se or utilizing the growing legion of LegalZoom-type companies. It is incumbent upon lawyers to disabuse clients of the idea they can’t afford to hire a lawyer. It is critical to educate clients they can afford a lawyer and why they can. It is critical to educate clients that you understand what they want and what they can afford and the answer is not to go pro se or to use forms companies. They must see that there are significant benefits that can flow to them as a result of you utilizing this platform for their convenience but not sacrificing the expertise that you can offer in the highly personalized way you wish.

Having an online office as a component of your practice or using it for your entire practice does not mean loss of human interaction if that is how you want to build your practice. If you want to incorporate unbundled legal services to catch that crowd caught between what they believe a law office is and the DIY services you MUST educate them on the benefits. Those who start now will be the leaders in their practice area and in the communities they serve because they will stand out for having addressed the growing need of clients today.

But before you can educate them on the benefits, you need to be clear about what an online office practice actually is. If you’d like to learn you can do so with Stephanie Kimbro and Richard Granat right here at Solo Practice University®.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel