MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

Like Chris Marston of Inside the Future of the Law Firm who raves about the benefits of fixed pricing, I'm also a fan of the flat fee or fixed price.  Chris focuses on how fixed pricing provides certainty to clients, but from my perspective, it makes my life much easier when I don't have to send out piddly monthly invoices for 2.55 hours of work. 

Chris notes that most lawyers' opposition to fixed billing comes from concerns that they'll underestimate costs and lose money on the case.  In response, Chris argues that lawyers ought to think about a budget before signing clients on and if they do that, the fixed price model should work.  And, as John Toothman, a lawyer and legal fee management consultant writes, it's  not any more difficult for lawyers to estimate fees than construction contractors:

Compared with this array of uncertainties [that contractors face], the cost of most legal projects is much easier to estimate ever hear of a will being rained out? In litigation or negotiation, where adversaries or judges can disrupt one side's plans, there are still plenty of ways to estimate the likelihood of such disruptions and to plan with their likely impact in mind. Lawyers' excuses that they have no way to predict what will happen indicate that they are either inexperienced or evasive. If all else fails, the lawyer can at least disclose how much similar cases have cost. This creates a dilemma for the law firm: Do they disclose just how expensive all those cases were or do they try to distinguish all of them as being different, thereby proving that they have no relevant experience?

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Over at What About Clients?, Dan Hull wonders whether a  how to marketing seminar on how small firms can snag big clients would catch on?  Of course, Hull knows the answer to that.  He writes: 

GCs are now smarter and bolder. Smaller firms can and do land and serve top clients. At top rates, too. It's about service, not price. No point not getting rich just because you start a new, smaller and more client-centric firm. Keep your high rate; savor your lower overhead, if you can achieve one. You deserve it. So a serious course on getting (okay, stealing) and keeping high-end clients (Fortune 500 companies and large Asian and European companies) might actually fly.

The one place where I take issue with Dan's idea is his proposed title - "Stealing and Keeping Biglaw Clients."  I don't think solos need to antagonize large firms, because there are situations where large firms may refer solos and small firms lucrative clients.

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Let me start this book review with a confession:  when I first heard that Jeremy Blachman nabbed a contract to bring his Anonymous Lawyer (AL) blog to the printed page, I didn't have high hopes.  While I read the AL Blog before Jeremy outed himself, I can't say that I was a huge fan; as an egomaniacal blogger myself, I had mixed feelings about my blogging colleagues who didn't have the nerve to back up their thoughts with their identity (though I was wrong that anonymous bloggers don't get book deals!).  And I wasn't all that impressed with the idea of an expose on biglaw.   Seemed to me that it had been done before, in books like Cameron's Stracher's mediocre Double Billing and a bunch of different short stories I'd seen in bar magazines over the years, where the protaganists realize they're wasting their life at biglaw and and decide to leave the law entirely or to seek employment in some public service oriented position like government or a legal aid group (never solo practice, but that's just my own personal gripe).

So I was hugely surprised that Blachman's novel, Anonymous Lawyer, was a far better book than I ever expected, one that in my view will endure as a classic in the law profession genre of novels, along with books like The Paper Chase (with its iconic Professor Kingsfield) and to a lesser extent, Scott Turow's One-L.  As my many blogging colleagues have pointed out, Blachman offers a scathing and hilarious inside view of partnership and taps into today's blogging zeitgeist  by using the blog and emails as narrative devices, all of which make for an enjoyable read in a format now familiar to many of us.  But what gives the novel its staying power is its commentary on the modern day law firm.  Just as existentialists like Albert Camus used their writings to probe the absurdity of the human condition during the 1930s and 1940s, Blachman's Anonymous Lawyer conveys the utter absurdity of biglaw practice.

There's not much to the plot; the book revolves around life at an anonymous biglaw firm during its summer associate program and AL's campaign to ascend to the Top Dog position at his firm.  AL's blog entries paint a picture of the absurdity of biglaw life  - the fifty dollar expense accounts for 22 year olds in law school, the lavish parties and picnics that no one really wants to attend, the stingy time off policies for holidays, the ruse of the "part time family balance programs."  AL's matter of fact and unreflective tone evokes the flat voice of Mersault, who narrates Camus' The Stranger.  But AL's not without opinions; in particular, he disdains his sad, overweight daughter (and fat people, generally) and his wife, who fritters his money on interior decoration and breast enhancement.  (as an aside, someone ought to write a book about the plight of the law firm partner's wife, addressing why so many competent women, many of them formerly attorneys themselves willingly sacrifice their careers to hitch themselves to their husband's rising star as partner at a law firm and content themselves with being "a partner's wife.")

For me, where Anonymous Lawyer shines isn't in the day to day description of the rat race of law firm life or the nasty cracks that AL makes about his partners and the ingratiating summer associates.  The book moved me most at those rare times when AL lets down his guard with himself-- in the pleasurable moments he shares catching snakes with his son, or during his realization at his high school class reunion that no one's ever heard of his firm or impressed by where he works.  For it's there we see that AL hasn't completely lost his soul, just repressed it almost irretrievably in the trappings of a fancy lifestyle and a pile of timesheets - and therein lies the tragedy.

As Camus writes in the Myth of Sisyphus:

The workman of today works everyday in his life at the same tasks, and his fate is no less absurd.  But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.

Substitute "biglaw attorney" for workman and you encapsulate the dynamic of the modern day law firm and the anonymous lawyers who inhabit that world. 

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This short piece, The not so lonely lawyer (WV Record 7/20/06) offers a couple of quick thoughts on solo practice.  Some of the views are positive; for instance, the article takes the time to dispell the myth that solo practice is a greater risk than staying at biglaw:

However, for law firm marketing guru Mark Merenda, remaining with a mega-firm is the risky decision. "As an employee, you can be fired at any time for almost any reason," Merenda began. "In your own practice, one or two clients might fire you, but they're not all going to fire you at once. "There is actually greater security in having your own practice."

At the same time, it's obvious that the author hasn't been reading MyShingle or noticed the changes that have evolved in the profession over the past few years.  The article notes:

Small firms are often characterized as "minor league law." Often, solo practitioners have to work harder than lawyers in larger firms to make sure that their firm image matches those in the "majors."

Honestly, I think much of that has changed.  Sure, there's "bet the company" litigation where corporations want a bigname firm (not just for the name, but to handle the size of the litigation), but many other companies are choosing smaller firms with more personalized service and lower costs.  The change is evolving slowly of course, and perhaps, but it's a real phenomenon just the same.

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This article, Starting Over in the Big Pond (Richmond Business Journal, 6/28/06) reports on "the joys and tribulations of starting a small law firm" as told by former biglaw attorneys Greg Holland and Steven Setliff.  The pair describe some of the differences between biglaw practice and starting your own firm, from having to make decisions like whether to have a coffee pot and what kind of insurance to purchase to whether you lose clout when your own name, rather than that of a top tier law firm appears on your pleadings.  Still, Holland and Setcliff, who combined have forty years of practice experience between them, can't stop smiling about the possibilities that solo practice will bring.

They may have left a big firm practice, but as I see it, Holland and Setcliff are finally hitting the big time by starting their own firm.

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From brainy Professor Bainbridge's blog, of all places, I learned about the coolest, most expertly executed marketing idea I've seen in a while:  a You Tube video by California criminal attorney Allison Margolin.  Why does the video work?  Several reasons.  First, the video gives Ms. Margolin's potential clients an opportunity to see what's she's like - at the office and also in front of the court house.  Second, Ms. Margolin discusses her philosophical objections to criminalizing drugs, particularly for therapeutic uses.  So clients can see that Margolin believes in what they're doing and isn't just interested in defending clients charged with drug crimes for the money or because of the constitutional issues potentially raised.   Third, even though Margolin is young, putting her at a disadvantage against more seasoned practitioners, she's got something many of them don't:  an Ivy league education and a Harvard Law degree, which she displays prominently in the video and apparently, in her other marketing materials.  As I've often said, anyone from any school can succeed as a solo, but if you've got a unique credential like a law degree from a top school, why not flaunt it?   

Is anyone out there getting ready to pull out the video camera yet?

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If like me, you sometimes feel a little down that you haven't yet hit your breakout career stride or left your mark on the law, then check out this article, What Kind of Genius Are You?, David Galenson, Wired (7/06) (hat tip to Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity).  As Herz summarizes, Galenson describes two types of geniuses:

The first type he calls conceptual innovators. These people "make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines. They do their breakthrough work when they are young." On the other end of the creative genius continuum are experimental innovators who, "like Auguste Rodin, Mark Twain, and Alfred Hitchcock proceed by a lifetime of trial and error and thus do their important work much later in their careers."

I know that solo practice has lots of late bloomers, lawyers who never found a niche at biglaw or other permanent employment or lawyers for whom biglaw simply wasn't big enough to accomodate big ideas on how law ought to be practiced.  And after spending years wasting away, they now blossom at solo practice.  For you lawyers who think it's too late to make something of your career, remember the geniuses who took a long time to figure out their way - and remember that solo practice is always an option where you can bloom, no matter how late in the season.

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Whenever I meet lawyers without business cards, I wonder about their professionalism.  Well, yesterday I joined that club when I came out to Oregon to speak at a conference full of prospects and I discovered that I forgot my business cards.  How embarrassing...what to do?  It was a short trip, so not enough time to have anyone ship them to me, even if I had someone to ask.  I asked people for their cards, but that's not the same, because they won't have mine.  And suprisingly, lots of people don't bring business cards.  I have the conference list and I guess this means that I have alot of business cards to send...

So here's my question for you:  what would you do if you forgot your business cards?

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Recently, Allison Shields posted here on the benefits that lawyers can gain from hospitality, which is what excellent client service is all about.  But this article Thou Shalt Not... by Steven Lubet  (American Lawyer, 7/2006) got me to thinking that hospitality and just plain courtesy have other benefits as well:  they can spare you from a lawsuit or ethics complaint.

At first blush, Lubet's article, about a lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations by a disgruntled client spurned by a law school clinic seems to hold little advice for private lawyers running a practice.  Here's what happened.  The North Dakota law school runs a state funded legal clinic that handles civil rights matters.  In 2003, the clinic challenged a public display of the Ten Commandments.  In 2003 the legal clinic's Civil Rights Project represented five members of the Red River Freethinkers in a challenge to the placement of a Ten Commandments monument standing outside the city hall in Fargo, North Dakota. When Martin Wishnatsky, an anti-abortion activist learned about the litigation, he wrote a letter to the editor,  criticizing the litigation as attacking the faith of millions and an inappropriate use of state funds. 

To get back at the clinic, in 2005, Wishnatsky wrote to Professor Rover, seeking help in developing a lawsuit against "Grand Forks County and other relevant parties for having a statue of the Greek goddess Themis on top of the Grand Forks County Courthouse." Themis is the well-known figure of a blindfolded, toga-clad woman holding the scales of justice. Wishnatsky explained: "as a Christian, I find such representations of pagan religious figures in public places very disturbing," and indeed, "I feel like a second-class citizen when subject to such governmental displays." He requested the clinic's assistance "on the same basis as that granted to the [plaintiffs] to bring suit against the city of Fargo over the Ten Commandments monument."

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY from MYSHINGLE! 

Ah, Indepedence Day, a solo's favorite holiday.  After all, think of the parallels.  Just as England and King George taxed the colonists without allowing them a say in government and stifled individual speech and religion, so too, law firms dominate young lawyers, sapping their creativity and amassig huge profits on their labor until, like the colonists, they just can't take it anymore.

Here's what Thomas Jefferson had to say about the Declaration of Independence:

It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

That's what we solos should do: commemorate and celebrate the day we started our firm.  How many of you take the time to celebrate your firm's anniversary, to think back on what you've accomplished over the year and take the time to appreciate what you've created?  Why not start now?

Happy July 4, fellow Shinglers and to others, may this be the year that you set yourself free!

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There are a number of blogs like Dan Hull's What About Clients? and In Search of Perfect Client Service  that provide excellent advice on how to serve clients.  At the same time, for some lawyers, particularly new solos, serving clients isn't as much of a problem as figuring out how to avoid falling into what I have termed "the paradox of client service," the fact that we serve clients, but they are not our masters.  In the early years of my practice, I felt this tension between feeling like I'm a slave to my client while trying to stay in charge.  Originally, I chalked it up to a my personality, but now I wonder whether many new lawyers are predisposed to becoming slaves to clients because that's the role we play in law school (performing on command to the Socratic method) and at firms.  Anyway, here are my thoughts below:

Perhaps the most difficult transition from working for others to working for yourself involves figuring out how to deal with the �??paradox of the client.�?�   At a job, clear rules of hierarchy apply: you take your marching orders from your boss or superior, be it a senior partner at a firm or a deputy general counsel at a government agency or corporation.  As for dealing with clients, they�??re just another task on your to-do list, along with researching memos or keeping time sheets or taking CLE courses (continuing legal education).

Starting your own firm upsets this orderly chain of command.  In solo practice, dealing with clients is no longer someone else�??s responsibility. Clients comprise the heart of your business, your firm�??s raison d�??etre. Your livelihood depends upon your ability to serve your clients, because without them, you won�??t have a law firm.   At the same time, serving clients does not make them your boss.  The partner at the law firm could force you to work round the clock or to raise a specious argument in a brief against your better judgment, but clients do not control the way you run your practice.  As we discuss, clients have important rights that you must respect as part of your service to them, but those rights do not include things like keeping you at their beck and call round the clock or ordering you to discount your services or forcing you to take a position that violates ethics rules.

That is the paradox of the client:  you serve clients, but they are not your master.  If you don�??t serve well, you may lose your clients, but if you subordinate your judgment and business practices to your clients�?? demands, (e.g, working for discounted rates or taking unethical positions), you may also find yourself the subject of a bar complaint or out of business.   All lawyers struggle with the paradox of the clients.  But the paradox poses a particularly difficult problem for new solos:  emerging from the cocoon of the �??boss-employee�?� relationship, many new or young solos are more preconditioned to fall into a subordinate role with clients...

What are your thoughts?  Is this a problem for new solos (as I wrote here, becoming a slave to a client can happen even when more experienced lawyers let friendship cloud their judgment) - and if so, what can we do, in law school and in law firm training to address it?

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