Starting a Law Firm | Malpractice Insurance

We've recently been discussing things like online legal research for your law firm and necessary law firm businesses licenses, and I thought I might as well move on to malpractice insurance for your law firm. And believe it or not, it does not have to break the bank (assuming, of course, that you don't have a slew of bar complaints following you around).

My search for legal malpractice insurance began, honestly, because I needed it for eligibility for my King County's assigned counsel (indigent counsel) panel. They require a certain level of insurance to be on the panel. No insurance, no panel.

As I start most of my other law firm business searches, I looked to my fellow attorneys in the area for guidance. Most kept coming back to one name - Main Street Financial (I think). They work exclusively with smaller firms and have very competitive rates.

After talking with those people, I consulted my bar association recommendations (really just a list) and sent out emails asking for quotes. Because I practice criminal defense and eminent domain, I don't present a very big threat from an exposure standpoint, so I wasn't worried about having to pay ridiculous premiums (I also have a spotless record, which doesn't hurt). My premium ended up being $719 for the year, payable in installments. I didn't think that was all bad. Plus I have some serious coverage now in case I get in trouble.

Bottom line, when you are starting a law firm and doing your research for legal malpractice insurance, talk to your fellow local attorneys, do some web research, and reach out to several insurers. Then pick the one that is best for you. (I know this doesn't cover at all what type of coverage you should get, because, honestly, I have no idea. My decisions were based on the indigent counsel requirements.)

While I have your eyes, I did want to mention something else, completely off topic. I flew to Omaha this weekend for a wedding and picked up a book called "The E-Myth Revealed" that you must read if you are starting a law firm. A primary reason I started my firm was not only to work for myself and help people out who really need it, but to make a good living for my family. I define making a good living for my family as not only making money, but making myself available to them. Before reading the book I knew that meant streamlining and refining my law firm into a set of systems that can be learned and followed by those in my firm. What I didn't know before reading this book was how to create and implement such a system.

This book discusses and analyzes the major roadblocks to creating and sustaining a successful business (this is a business book, not a law firm book). If you are serious about creating something successful, something you can eventually manage, something you can teach others to do, and maybe even sell (gasp!), I would highly recommend this book.

And one other tangent. I don't want to brag, and I almost feel bad mentioning it because I haven't talked about it on my other blog about law firm website and online marketing, but I launched my website this week, and with the groundwork I've put in over the last few months I am already number one for my main targeted keyword and on page 8 of the second (the second has about 1.4 million pages dedicated to it already, so being in the top 90 after one week is a good start). On top of that, I've already received calls from people who have visited my website. Some of the groundwork is already up over at the other blog. You can definitely get started now making your law firm successful, even if you see yourself months away from opening.

God--and Emotion in Your Writing--Is in the Details

Striving to get more voice, more emotion in your writing? One of my favorite nonfiction writers, Rick Bass, shares an important clue on how to do this. It goes back to the old saying, God is in the details.

"All of the smallest elements," Bass writes, "the direction of a breeze one day, a single sentence that a friend might speak to you, a raven flying across the meadow and circling back again--lay claim to you, eventually, with a cumulative power."

We're all after creating that kind of cumulative power in our writing. It's like the moment of seeing a completely developed perennial garden in full bloom--the sight of all those flowers, shapes, and scents in the summer light can take your breath. How do we get this in our writing--this synergy, this emotional effect? I think the clue is in the details, as Rick Bass suggests.

How Much Detail Is Needed?

In my writing classes, we labor over this: how to bring in the small details, not get bored with our own writing in the process, add just enough and not too much.

Most writers add too little. I think it might be born from our sped-up lives. We move so fast, it's literally hard to stop and smell the roses. But we need to, in our writing, because the reader will want this emotional punch, this moment of truth, to come through. And if the writer doesn't experience it, the reader won't either.

I'm not talking about painstaking details. One writer thought I meant this when I talked about putting in more details: "I put my hand on the doorknob, turned it slowly, pulled the door toward me, stepped over the threshold." No, it's fine just to write, "I walked into the room." But whenever you want emotional punch, effect, a moment of truth, you need to linger in detail.

Externally Felt Senses--Keys to Effective Detail in Writing

My tried-and-true way: adding senses. I can almost hear my writing classes groan. That again? Well, yes. It's vital. How many senses are used in the paragraph above, from Rick Bass? I count three. Touch (the breeze), sound (the friend's voice), and sight (the raven). It brings home the emotion, doesn't it?

This week's exercise: Pick a random page of your writing-in-progress. Make sure it's random, not your best or worst page. Count the number of times you use the senses on that page. Where do you use them--when there's need for emotional impact? When you want a message to come across? Then brainstorm a list of sense details you could add to that page.

I realize, for some of you, this will be boring, feel like too much detail. Usually if you have that reaction, you need more of it. It's been way too long since you slowed down enough to even notice the roses, much less smell them.

Make sense? Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your experiences if you try this exercise.

How to Start a Law Firm | Online Legal Research Providers

In what I think is the second installment of my race to catch all of you up with what I've been doing (I discussed law firm business licenses a couple of days ago), I'm here to talk today about online legal research providers - in particular, my journey to deciding on what to do for my legal research needs.

When I started out figuring out what I was going to do with legal research, I bandied about the thought of trying to use some of the free online resources that are available out there. I can really only think of justia, I think, right now, but I know there are others out there. And, actually, let me back up for one moment and give you an overview of my experiences with online research.

First, I went to law school 2002-2005. Believe it or not, I think that was about the time the true online legal research explosion was beginning to really take hold. In our legal research and writing class, for the first semester we actually had to go to the library and sift through the case books to do our legal research! I'm not sure if they do that today or not, but what a waste of a semester. And what did they say "what are you going to do if you can't find it online?" Trust me, if I can't find it online, something so major has happened that it doesn't matter.

I think when I was in law school Lexis won the battle to be our teacher of legal research. So I kind of "grew up" with them. And after getting to experience what they have to offer (and Westlaw too), I don't know how you could ever want to go to the bookshelves to do legal research. After law school I went back and forth from westlaw to lexis, depending upon my job. I thought they were both fine. They both are intuitive in their own respects, and it takes a little time to become familiar with both services.

So, back to present day. I tried the free stuff and I couldn't get past the lack of shepardizing the cases. Often the best cases I find are those that show up in the shepardizing research screen. And it is a little nerve racking not knowing if the great case you just found is or isn't currently good law. So, paid legal research was the way for me.

I contacted both lexis and westlaw and figured I'd go with the cheaper option. Lexis called me the same day and had a proposal to me by the next. And the guy called me every day for a week to discuss a proposed plan and see if what he was offering was what I was looking for (and he knew I wouldn't be buying for about a month because I wasn't doing anything until I got my bar results). Westlaw got back to me about 10 days later and then followed up a week after that.

Even though Lexis was a bit pricier (it is going to cost me $125/month for Washington, 9th circuit, and supreme court vs. $100/month from westlaw for the same thing) I was impressed with the service lexis was providing before I even signed up, so I went with them. As a new small business owner, I thought long and hard about the attention I received when two people are competing for my business, I want the service to work and I want to be able to get help if I can't figure it out. Lexis does that for me. So, even though it was not the last legal research tool I used, I'm back with them.

So, when starting a law firm, make sure you get everything you need, and nothing less. Recognize that price isn't everything for the services that you'll be purchasing (it isn't everything with your services is it? I know I'm not the cheapest attorney in town). Look for the hidden value that may exist.

How to Start a Law Firm | Business Licenses

One of the first things I did after I received my bar results to start my law firm was get my business licenses. Why? A couple of reasons. First, in my state, you need them to work, to open a bank account, and for anyone to take you seriously. Second, they are a good first step in the process, because they are easy to fill out, easy to get, fairly cheap, and they make you feel like you accomplished something.

The first license I filled out technically isn't a license, but it was necessary to get everything else going. It was my LLC filing. In Washington, you can do everything online, taking only about 30 minutes, max, and it costs $200.00. You get next day confirmation of the establishment of your LLC (and your name) and away you can go.

Some of you may be asking why the LLC for an individual? Isn't it kind of overkill? Right now, yes it is. But it does a couple of things that were important to me. First, the immediate thought of people that hear the name of my law firm (which is not my name) is that I am not a one man show. I think, no matter how proud you are to be a solo, that there is some truth to the thinking that people have a slightly skewed view of solo practitioners, at least until you can get them in the door. A good name gives me a little bit of credibility right off the bat, at least I feel like that (and if you don't, that's okay too!). Second, it allows me to grow, when the time is right, without a lot of pain, and with protection.

Once the LLC was established, I did step two - got a federal employment identification number. This is a really easy process, is free, and is important for when you have to pay the man at tax time. I'd highly recommend getting one when you open your law firm. I filled out the form in less than twenty minutes and immediately had confirmation and an FEIN.

License number three was a Washington Master Business License. Washington is one of those great states that doesn't have an income tax. While this is great for some, for others, like a small law firm owner, it means they get taxed to make up the difference. The Business License gives you a Washington form of the FEIN so they can track you down and make you pay taxes at tax time. While this is easy to fill out electronically, it has taken me a few days to actually get the certificate I need (banks require verification of a WMBL to open an account too). I should be getting that any day. Cost - $15.

The final license I had to get was a Seattle business license - like I said, no income taxes, so they get you coming and going (although I honestly don't know if I'll have to pay any city tax - I'm sure they will let me know). This application process was a little more involved because it must be completed and faxed in. I don't know if you necessarily need this to own a law firm in Seattle, but (and this is my only slight tangent for this post) the one thing I've learned and decided about my practice is that it is going to be done right, above the table, at all times. As the owner of a law firm you have even more responsibility as an attorney because you represent the best and brightest out there. It takes a lot of guts, ambition, and perseverance to open a successful law practice, and if you do it the wrong way it is magnified across the entire community. That's all the preaching I have in me for today.

Those are all the licenses I think I need to open up. So I'm all set with that. If you are curious about what you need, check out the Secretary of State's website (business formation), the Department of Licensing's website (if you have one), and your local city government cite. And if you can't find anything pick up the phone and call someone. Believe it or not, some person's job is to answer these exact questions. Let's put them to work!

Up next, on how to start a law firm, online legal research.

Starting a Law Firm | What I've Been Up to Lately

It's been almost a month since I put any content up here, and I bet all of you are just salivating to get some more information. Well, you are lucky, because I've got a lot to share.

I kind of went quiet there the last couple of weeks for several reasons. First, I was doing a lot of work on internet marketing for my law firm. The key to getting clients is to let them know you are out there. The key to letting them know you are out there is putting yourself in places where they can find you. And putting yourself in places where they can find you, unless you have a ton of money at your disposal, take a lot of elbow grease. I promise to talk more about that here later, and in much more depth at my law firm website marketing blog, which you can find by clicking the link.

Second, I finally got my bar results back. And, although I'm sure those of you that knew this date was approaching were nervous because I didn't write for so long, I passed. Once I passed, that opened up the floodgates of things to do to start my law firm and get up and running (which, I am pleased to admit, I am open today - though no one is ringing my phone yet!). These things are all of the things that you know about, and things I'm going to write about, including:

Business licenses for your law firm

Legal research providers

Malpractice insurance

Office space

Phone and fax

Intake procedures

Law firm marketing

Law firm management (creating processes to reduce work and provide a consistent experience for all clients)

Law Firm Website construction/optimization

Fee agreements

Welcome letter

Pre-meeting letter

Information related to practice areas

Google maps listing/business directories (for free)

Accepting credit cards

Google applications for email and calendar management (I'm a Google junkie if you couldn't tell)

Facebook for your firm

Business cards

Bank accounts

As you can see, I've been very busy in the last few weeks opening my criminal defense firm, with most of the time spent on web site development and content development. As I write about each of the above listed things I'll link to that post so you if you ever want to come back here and go down the list you can (and I plan on writing about one of these topics every day until they are done).

At this exact moment I am debating whether or not to let you know who I am. It isn't so much that I care if you all know who I am - I think this information probably carries more weight if it is coming from someone you know - but I wouldn't necessarily want a client googleing me and stumbling upon this sight, if for no other reason than a lot of what I'll be talking about moving forward will be my successes and failures from a business generation standpoint.

Although we all know whenever we enter into a situation to buy services we are going to be sold on some level, I think it makes it a lot harder if people think you have actually taken time and prepared to sell them on your services, even if you are in the business to make sure they get help (which I am). I think I've just convinced myself to keep my identity quiet for a little while longer. Although when my website is done, I'll show it to you on my legal marketing blog.

I think this is probably enough for now. Just remember that once you get started is when all the work actually begins. So get out there, plug away, and good luck starting your own law firm.

Building Just Enough Fire in Your Story to Attract a Reader

A writer in my Loft Literary Center book-writing class was working on her memoir. She asked a really good question during the weekend workshop. "How do I keep enough personal fire or passion in my story, since it's about me? Yet not be too big a presence? If I'm there too much, interpreting and being the narrator too obviously, my reader can't connect with the story herself. It becomes a three-way conversation--not ideal."

This writer is smart. She wants to understand a very basic book-writing challenge. How do we add just enough of our own passion to ignite the story for a reader--but not hang around warming our hands on the blaze?

Have you ever read a story that had too much narrator presence? Beginning book writers often feel they must interpret for a reader--tell why something happened, give too much background, rather than let the story tell itself. It's indeed like buiding a good campfire. You get it going. It lights up the dark. The reader approaches, tentatively at first. If your fire is blazing and inviting, maybe they'll linger.

Don't stand there talking the reader's head off, telling them about what wood you used and why it's so hard to build good campfires in this particular spot. Just let them enjoy the warmth. Let them inch closer. Otherwise, you're overwriting.

Are You Overwriting?

Your job, as the author, is to feed the fire, not worry it to ashes. You let a fire blaze on its own, after it has enough oxygen, kindling, dry wood. If you keep poking it every few seconds, the blaze will probably die out. Publishers, agents, editors--and readers!--look for stories that stand alone, fiery and bright, burning without any interpretation from the author. And it's not easy to keep a fire burning. Keep your passion for your story alive but take out your desire for interpretation.

This is called "overwriting," this is when you decide the dialogue isn't enough alone--you have to tell the meaning behind it. Some examples I've read of overwriting and author interpretation (beginning students' writing--used with permission):

The trashcan smelled really bad, like a million rotted apples.
Jason's hands shook and fear raced his throat. He felt scared.
I longed to be outside, smell the trees and feel the spring air. Nature always gave me strength. I loved the great outdoors.

Can you pick out the places where the author is standing too close to the fire, talking to the reader instead of just letting the reader enjoy the story that's being woven?

Here are how these sentences could look, without the overwriting:

The trashcan smelled like a million rotted apples. (We know rotted apples smell bad--why interpret?)
Jason's hands shook and fear raced his throat. (These are already signs of being scared--why add it?)

I longed to be outside, smell the trees and feel the spring air. (We'll read further to find out why--and the action itself will demonstrate that nature gives the narrator strength. The "love of the great outdoors" is implied--no need to restate.)

This week, as an exercise to hone your fire-building skills, read two pages of your recent work. Look for any place where you restated the obvious, added more background or feeling or information just in case the reader didn't get it. Strike through those sentences and read the paragraphs without. See if you don't feel a stronger blaze.

Marrying Two Things That Don't Go Together--A Book-Writing Exercise

When I was in the deepest struggle with my novel, Qualities of Light, I took a one-day workshop from author Alison McGhee. Alison has won awards for her fiction and my favorite of her novels is called Shadow Baby. I was truly stuck in the shadows of my story, not knowing where to go next. I thought she could help.

Alison gave us a writing exercise that changed the way I look at story-making. She wrote two lists on the blackboard. One list had five people--a six-year old boy, a seventy-five-year old woman, a teenager, etc. The other list had objects--a birdcage, a water glass, a jackknife. We were to pick one item from each list and write a scene using them both.

I picked the six-year-old boy, since one of my main characters fit that age, and the jackknife. I stared at my writing notebook, hoping for magic.

I don't know much about jackknives. I know they are precious to boys, especially if they belong to someone revered. I decided I would have my character steal the jackknife that belonged to his father, a war-era relic very precious to the older man, and the jackknife would be subsequently lost. When I began writing I didn't know all this, but I trust freewriting, automatic writing, stream of consciousness, for developing scenes.

The writing time was much too short. I was literally silenced by the scene that emerged. Sammy, the six-year-old, steals the jackknife on the morning of his birthday. Molly, his older sister, is badgered into taking Sam for a dawn boat ride, even though her father has forbidden use of the ancient motorboat. Sam, leaning over the side to watch ducks, drops the knife in the lake and falls in after it, hitting his head on the boat. That accident became the "triggering event" for my story. And because the trigger happened on the lake, I could then imagine the next twist: Molly falling in love with her water-skiing best friend, even as her brother lies in a coma in the hospital. The story became her story--what she does as her family blames her and copes with their loss, whether she can accept the amazement of love in the midst of her guilt over her brother. All because of a simple writing exercise.

Qualities of Light is now being typeset and the cover designed. It's going to be published by Spinsters Ink/Bella Books in August, the same month as much of the story on Cloud Lake takes place.

I have to write Alison a thank-you note sometime, send her a copy when the novel is printed. I love her writing exercises, and I think you will too.

To try it: make yourself two lists, one of people and one of items. Marry two things that don't go together. Shake them up, see what happens. Set a timer for 20 minutes for this writing session. It's bound to be a productive one.

Your Ideal Reader--Advice from Kurt Vonnegut

My ideal reader is a confused teenage girl; she feels like an outcast because her best friend just moved to Montana and nobody understands her at school or at home.

My ideal reader is crazy about fixing old cars. He's got three in his backyard, if you could call it a backyard.

My ideal reader is forty-two, a discouraged mother and homemaker who is looking for the spark in her life that disappeared too many years ago.

My ideal reader manages an art gallery; she's fascinated with Renaissance art. She wants a new system for managing exhibits.

My ideal reader is gay, single, and loves helping others. He volunteers at hospice and soup kitchens. He really wants to learn how to balance his life, though. It's too crazy...so he thinks my book will help him.

Readers wait for your story, like a group of beautiful still life objects in an artist's studio. They wait for your attention, your interest in their particular shape and size and need. When you start thinking about them, your art changes. In a good way.

As I write this, my class of twenty-seven book writers at the Loft Literary Center is exploring this question. They are busy researching this aspect of book-writing, one they may not have ever thought about. As they ask about their readers, the answers will shape their book journey--how the chapters are structured, what is added or omitted, what benefit (take-away) they present. Why would anyone read this book? Who is this "anyone" anyway?

Write to Please One Person
Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” When I heard this writing advice as a beginning writer, I couldn’t imagine what it meant. He’s a funny guy, but I didn’t see what was funny in this. Now that I’m an experienced book author, Vonnegut’s advice makes all the sense in the world.

Many professional writers talk about this idea. Some visualize their ideal reader—maybe modeling her or him after someone they know. As they work on their book idea, they imagine asking that reader, What would you need here—more time to digest the idea or more information? More character or more plot? It’s not so far-fetched to begin this kind of dialogue. It’s, again, another guidance system to keep your book on track as it develops. You can also watch your reader’s profile change, as you discover more about what you really want to write.

Vonnegut also said (both of these quotes are from his book, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1999), “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.”

This is another reason to consider a reader from the get-go. It’s unreasonable and a bit self-absorbed to think that a total stranger would take time to read your book, even if it’s fascinating to you, without being invested in its story.

This week, think about your reader. Who will read your book, who will get the most from it? Spend ten minutes describing your ideal reader--what you know about him or her, what you'd like to know.