New Assistant | Law Firm Marketing

The New Legal Assistant

I just finished up my first week with my new legal assistant, and I must say I can really see the benefits accumulating already. It's going to take a couple two or three weeks until she's really comfortable doing everything she has to do, but once that happens, my life is going to get much easier.

If you are starting a law firm then you know you are continuously running into "firsts." And having this legal assistant is a first for me (her name is Kelsey, by the way - I'm going to start referring to her by her name) - managing an employee. It's not that it's that difficult, I mean so long as you remember to be consistent with what you are asking and demonstrate through your own actions what you are looking for, but it's different.

One of the biggest things I've realized is how much direction is needed to get some of what I consider routine tasks done. The advantage and disadvantage of starting a law firm with just yourself is that you learn how to do everything and you don't have to teach it to anyone. Whether you mean to or not, you develop a set of processes and procedures to deal with your work, and those become ingrained into your every day work. If I could give one piece of advice to you before hiring an employee, it's to write down what the processes are in as detailed a manner as you can. Part of what I spend my day doing now is trying to create these written "standard operating procedures" so Kelsey has a quick reference when she needs it.

I am excited for the next few weeks to play out to see how I can really start using Kelsey to maximize the output of the firm. I'll be sure to keep you posted. And if you have any questions about this, let me know.

Law Firm Marketing | Finding Referral Sources

I wanted to write about law firm marketing because it's something I've been thinking about a lot. I know that everyone is running to the internet (me included) to vie for the limited space that is available, and I know people are spending a ton of money (not me) to try to get clients from the internet. But I feel like a lot is lost when you think only about the internet in your law firm marketing strategy.

When I break down where most of my business comes from - when I really break it down and don't just guess where it comes from, it really breaks down like this - 62% internet, 38% referral. That's pretty good, right. But I think in reality, you'd probably want those numbers to be flipped. And here's why. When referrals walk into my door they already know a little bit about me and they already inherently trust me - someone's put their reputation on the line to suggest they use my services. They know they are going to get a good product and typically they are ready to pay for that level of service. Those are the type of prospective clients I want walking through the door.

The difficult part of this analysis, though, is coming up with good referral sources. You all know I'm a criminal defense attorney, so my target market is always moving. But here's the thing, that type of thinking is what is holding you back. Instead of sitting back and thinking "I can't think of any potential referral sources," sit down with someone and start brainstorming. Look at your practice and where your referrals are coming from. Is there a specific segment of the community or professional services group that has access to potential clients? If yes, then you need to start cultivating those sources.

I've actually come up with a few ideas for marketing my law practice in particular. I'm not going to tell you though - you have to come up with your ideas on your own! And, by the way, coming up with the sources is only part of the problem. After that you have to figure out how to get them to refer people your way. And it's not always as easy as it sounds.

In my jurisdiction something that gets in the way of cultivating strong referral sources (easily and without any effort) is an ethical rule against providing referral fees. They simply aren't allowed. I get why the rule is there, but it makes forging these relationships harder - I can't just schedule a lunch with a potential referral source and tell them I'll pay them "x" dollars every time they refer someone to me. That's good for people asking for referrals but it's bad for my law firm marketing efforts.

What it's forced me to do is think in some ways like other business people would. How do they create relationships with beneficial partners? How do they reach out to potential referral sources and let them know they are available? How do they get referral sources to know, like, and trust them enough to send them business?

If you can answer these questions and then execute on those answers, your law firm revenues will be going through the roof. I'll let you know how my execution turns out!