How to Start a Law Firm | The Revenue Doubler System

Starting a law firm is not just about practicing law. For me, it is more than helping people who have been charged with crimes. It is more than keeping prosecutors and cops honest. It is a business. I am here to make money. I am here to provide for my family.



The problem is, though, that law school (and college if you are a psychology major like I am) doesn't teach you how to run a business. It doesn't teach you the basics like accounting, marketing, management and the like, and it also doesn't teach you about how to think like a business person.



If you have no idea what I'm talking about, think about how your mind works now that you've been through law school. You analyze problems differently. The world looks different to you. You were taught a new way to gather, process, and analyze information.



You need to teach yourself to do these same things when learning how to start a law firm. You need to think about things like maximizing revenue, your ideal client, appealing to that ideal client, monitoring return on investment, customer experience, and setting up systems so you aren't reinventing the wheel every day.



And although you can do it on your own, there are people out there that can help you. One of the people I've discovered that has helped me tremendously is RJon Robins. He was a law practice management guru for the Florida bar association until he decided to venture out on his own. And he's developed a program call the revenue doubler system that has helped me tremendously with the law practice management and marketing side of things.



Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I'm not being paid by RJon for any of this. I just use his services and think you all could benefit tremendously from them. His system is full of audio, video, and print resources, and he does a biweekly phone call on a wide range of topics and makes himself available for questions. It has helped me tremendously in building the systems I need to have a successful business and learn how to think like a businessman as well as a Seattle DUI attorney.



So, as you embark on 2010, keep in mind that it's okay to reach out for help. It's important to understand that you are going to have to alter your mindset to become both attorney and business person.



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How to Start a Law Firm | Specialty Practice or General Practice?

So, you've decided to start a law firm. Great. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or newly out of law school a very important decision that needs to be made before you start out on your own is if you want to have a specialty law practice or niche law firm, or if you want to be a general practice law firm, handling a little of everything.

If you have some experience in a particular area this may be a fairly easy decision. Depending on the work available (and never, ever let the fact that you are a small firm keep you from exploring a particular practice area) and your feelings toward the practice area you may just want to keep on doing what you are doing.

For example, I am leaving a government job doing eminent domain law, real estate transactions and advising, and some general day to day advising. I love the work that I do, so I am going to pursue these three areas as my primary practice area. I may do something else from time to time for friends or something, but I will not be taking a call in case if it does not fit within my practice area.

Update - 10/7/09: I have decided to do something else, since the market, and people losing their property to the government, didn't need me (or I couldn't find them). So, now you are reading a blog from a Seattle DUI defense lawyer.

There are benefits and drawbacks to each decision. As you've just heard, I will be turning potential clients away at my new law firm if they do not need the criminal defense and DUI defense services I am offering. This is definitely a drawback.

On the other hand, however, it can also be a benefit with the potential to make some easy money. As you get out into the world, you will meet other attorney's that practice in other areas. So long as you trust them to do a good job, and your local ethical rules allow it, it is beneficial to both of you to form attorney referral relationship.

A benefit of specializing is that it is much easier to become known in the community as an expert. Experts almost always make more money in the long run. As you work in a particular area your name will become more well known, and assuming you do a good job, people will start to come to you for specific work. Being recognized as someone who knows what they are doing commands more money, plain and simple. For example, in a couple of years I should be able to build myself up as one of the better DUI defense attorneys in Seattle, maximizing my appealability to people with those specific problems.

Whatever you decide to do, the great thing is, when starting a law firm, if the path you've chosen isn't working, you can just change it. If you start out as a general practitioner and end up finding an area of the law that you love, just start focusing on that. If you start your law firm as a specialist and decide you don't like it, just start taking other clients.

I think in the end your new law firm will thrive and get more clients by specializing in something. But it can come naturally. You'd be surprised at the opportunities that will walk in your door. You just have to have the foresight to take advantage of them!

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Opening a Law Firm | New To Do List

In the past few weeks a lot has happened, slowing my posting here. First, I am officially an eminent domain trial lawyer! I finished up my case in Kansas and ended up with a great result. Second, I am preparing for my move to Seattle, Washington, which will take place in exactly three weeks! And although my Seattle criminal law practice won't be able to open until May, there is a lot I can do now to get ready.

So, without further delay, here is what is next on my list of things to do for starting a law firm. And by the way, I know I have shifted away from the specific to the more general lately, so the plan is to give you the to do list today, and as I cross things off the list explain what I did and how I did it so when you go out to do it you can save time and money. Sound good? Let's get started.

To Do List for Starting a Law Firm

1. Create and Get up and Running my law firm website.

This includes securing a domain name, purchasing website creation software, preliminarily setting up the site so it has some content, and putting together a draft of the pages I want and content I want on the site. If you didn't know, if you don't have a law firm website you're a dinosaur. Everything begins and ends here.

2. Office Set-Up and Pricing.

This includes: finding the exact laptop I want for the law practice; determining the exact price for the laptop; figuring out how to set up the laptop so I can use it as a dual screen with my desktop; finding and pricing the laptop dock I want; finding and pricing the exact printer and scanner I want; and figuring out how to get all of this financed.

3. Finalize the Law Firm Business Plan.

This speaks for itself. I have already sent the business plan out to a couple of people for review (Alison are you going to get back to me?!! :) ), but I'd like to more specifically outline my marketing plan so I can have a list of action items and a true legal marketing plan to hit the ground running.

4. Continue Increasing the Search Engine Optimization for My Blogs.

Search engine optimization is the practice of taking specific steps to increase the likelihood of your law firm website ranking high in the search engines for specific keywords. For example, when people search Seattle DUI attorney, I'd like both my blog and my firm website to be on the first page of Google. Getting that result is not necessarily hard, but it does take a little elbow grease - including posting on the sites as often as possible. Don't worry, I'll explain in much more detail later.

5. Post to My Legal Blogs Every Other Day.

This is for three reasons. First, see #4. Search engine optimization requires good content. Second, this is the easiest and one of the most effective ways to establish yourself as an expert in your field (DUI defense and criminal defense, for example). And third, posting requires you to delve deeper into your subject matter, both for content and analysis, actually increasing your expertise.

6. Draft Outline of Firm Brochure.

This one speaks for itself, but I will say that one of the primary differences my firm will have from many traditional law firms is no fear of aggressive, targeted marketing. Law is a profession, but if people don't know about you you will never be able to help them.

7. Create Law Firm Logo.

This one also speaks for itself. But I will say having a sharp law firm logo can't help but make your law firm at least appear to be more successful.

8. Draft Client Intake Sheet for Eminent Domain and Small Business Clients.

In addition to the usual background information this is a good way to get other useful information that you can use to build a successful practice and increase the likelihood of a successful relationship with the customer.

9. Create the Small Business Monthly Fee Schedule with Levels of Service.

Part of my law firm business philosophy is eliminating the billable hour. I will have more posts on this to come, but when really analyzed hourly billing diminishes the practice of law to a commodity, promotes inefficient processes and strategies, limits your earning potential as a lawyer, and doesn't always promote client goals, particularly when giving advice to clients (although my answer to the question may take only 5 minutes, it is based on years of experience - would you rather be paid for the 5 minutes or the experience behind it?).

So I plan on creating a fee structure eliminating the billable hour and instead focusing on customer service and satisfaction through an agreed to flat fee based on the value provided to the client.

10. Create a Firm Process for Resolving Client Matters and Handling Client Matters

Part of the craziness of an attorney's life is sometimes the unstructuredness of it. I want to implement firm policies and procedures to eliminate the feeling of helplessness with my schedule and create a consistent customer experience no matter who the customer may be dealing with at the firm.

11. Finalize a Specific Marketing Plan.

Again with the marketing. Opening a successful law firm requires locating and finding clients when you start with none. With this action item I intend to establish my marketing plan on a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis. I already know it will include email updates, newsletters, direct mail, postcards, targeted print advertising, publishing articles, and public speaking. Now I just need to specifically define how and when I'll do each of those.

12. Create a "Prospect Kit."

Again, this all goes back to demonstrating to customers and potential customers of your new law firm not only that you are experienced and can handle their problems but that you care about them. This prospect kit will probably include a practice area guide, testimonials, a biography, a sheet on value pricing versus hourly billing, a published article relating to the prospect's business, and a personalized cover letter. You must remember the practice of law is highly competitive. If you want clients you have to go get them.

As you can see, the list if fairly exhaustive. I have a lot to do in the coming weeks and months (and this isn't even close to all of it). Starting a law firm is not easy! Many of these items will probably take the longest because many involve content creation - no easy task. Although it will be tough and monotonous at times, this is the reason I am doing this - to control my own destiny!

I plan on updating here frequently on my progress, including step by step details of exactly what I've been doing. Feel free to comment and provide suggestions, and I hope this helps you answer the question of how to start a law firm.

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