You’ve had your initial consultation. You’ve counseled your new client on the services they need, and they are ready to sign the engagement letter. But then you ask for their retainer, and they look at you like you’ve got three heads.
“You want HOW MUCH?!?!”
What do you do now?
I’ve been practicing law now for over ten years. I started out working at Big Law, and that wasn’t for me. And then I started a firm with a partner, and that didn’t work out either. Then I went solo, and that’s where I’ve spent the majority of my career. From working out of my home by myself to a brick-and-mortar office with two employees, for more than six years, it’s been Just Me, Esq.
Until now, that is. Are you ready to take on a partner…again?
It seems like a yes or no question, but there may be as many answers to that question as there are law firms. If you do charge for the consultation, you may have to deal with a client who expects the consultation for free. But if you don’t charge for a consultation, aren’t you giving away the milk and hoping they’ll buy the cow?
The year is more than half way through. That’s 26+ weeks of your time spent on your solo practice. But what have you accomplished?
Our legal community in Orlando has just started to rally. We are helping with translation services for victims’ families that don’t speak English. We are helping with immigration services for victims’ families that don’t reside in the U.S. We are volunteering pro bono hours in family law and probate (and if anyone should need it, in business law too). More than that, I’ve seen so many of my legal colleagues make personal donations, give blood, go to vigils, and give their time to support the first responders, the victims and their families. We are doing what we can, what we know how to do.
Our profession has a long tradition of mentoring young attorneys. After several years of practice, you shift from mentee to mentor rather naturally. I believe in paying it forward, and I’ve been blessed to mentor some great young lawyers. And I continue to do because….
All of you that are just about to graduate, and all of you who are just starting to practice, I want to tell you something: it gets better.
Interested in teaching? There is nothing you can do to help the young lawyers coming up behind you that will help them more than teaching them what you know. Scroll to the bottom of the post by Suzanne Meehle to learn how you might very well be able to teach young lawyers what you know.
Have you ever heard the advice, “Never eat lunch alone?” That’s what they teach sales people who need to schmooze clients and referral sources in order to get new business. It’s not bad advice, but it is woefully incomplete.
It is not enough to simply go to lunch with people you like and call it networking. It’s not enough to show up at chamber of commerce meetings, bar association luncheons, and networking happy hours. In the world of networking, the “work” piece is the important part. This is how I get clients.
Chaos is a product of our working lives. We make it. We control the initial conditions and we therefore control the ultimate outcomes. Is your law practice chaotic?