MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

Update - a reader tipped me off to this letter from Bruce Allen's Marketing Catalyst that seeks a spouse's buy in when a professional signs up for Allen's services.  Actually, I think one of the hardest things for a spouse to understand is that new solos need to invest much of their extra in business first before they can start taking extra money home to pay the bills.

Today at the Juggle, John J. Edwards III poses the question of "How involved should spouses be in each others' career?"  Edwards broaches the matter in the context of politics, referencing several articles on the significant role that First Dude Todd Palin has played in his wife's administration.  Yet even before Palin, in the political arena, we're all accustomed to involved spouses, with Hillary and Bill Clinton offering the best example of spouses sharing in each others' careers.

Edwards' post got me thinking about the level of involvement of partners or spouses in each others' law careers.  In my own experience with other solos I know, many of their partners or spouses are integrally involved in their firms.  Of course, where a spouse is a lawyer, he or she might provide feedback or insight on cases, or review briefs or pleadings.  But even if a partner or spouse is a layperson, they can serve as a sounding board for a jury or appellate argument - often offering more practical advice than a lawyer spouse would.  And I think in every solo's case, there's been at least one time where a partner or spouse pitched in with a crazy filing or a tight deadline.

Some lawyers I know use their spouse as a book keeper or administrator, while other spouses offer input on business development and marketing.  In fact, I recently attended a meeting where a lawyer described the marketing plan that his wife had created for him that was so effective that the other lawyers wanted to hire her.   In my own case, my spouse is a veteran computer engineer who takes care of most of my technical needs (except for blogging and HTML, where I'm now more advanced). 

Spouses and partners can also offer financial support for a firm.  As the beneficiary of my husband's health insurance plan for years, I'll be the first to admit that having health care coverage makes starting and running a firm a little bit easier.  And of course, spouses provide coverage with childcare -- this week, while I'm out on travel, it's my husband who'll be working from his local office, doing bus drop offs and pick-ups.  

But as I discussed in my book, Solo by Choice, where a partner spouse has the most impact is one the personal level:  whether they've got your back and whether they'll make the sacrifices, be it cutting back on the budget while you get the practice off the ground or understanding that you may need to work long hours starting out,  to help you get your start.   After all, at the end of the day, you can purchase health insurance, you can ask your colleagues to review your brief, you can hire a bookeeper.  But you can't buy someone who will believe in you even during those times when you don't believe in yourself.

Do you think that solos are more likely than other lawyers to have an involved spouse?  What role has your spouse or partner played in your practice?  Join the conversation in the comments below.

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Are you building your law practice from scratch?  If so, you might want to follow some of the lessons that Wilton McDonald, winner of one of  Originate magazine's Rainmaker awards shares  here.

McDonald isn't a true solo - he was hired by a small firm in Grand Cayman as senior associate for an eat-what-you kill position in the Investment Funds Department.  In January 2007, two months after McDonald joined the firm, the department's billable hours totalled 43.  But over a period of two years, McDonald built the practice to $2 million in annual billings.  He reached his goal by putting together a plan to identify his best opportunities, delivering value -- even though it meant hiring and training his own staff, and taking advantage of all connections, no matter where they might be (for instance, McDonald mined business opportunities in Poland, his wife's native country).

One of the most interesting aspects of the article to me was the way that McDonald was able to leverage his relationship with other law firms through participation in Terralex, a global network of law firms.  By working with other member firms, McDonald was able to tap clients in other countries and also offer his clients more value.  In addition, McDonald recognized that at least initially, he probably couldn't compete for business from large institutional funds, so he focused on smaller alternatives.  Even today, his portfolio is comprised largely of smaller clients, though he has secured some larger ones as well.

So how can McDonald's lessons work for you?  First, if you can't find a network that serves your needs, then consider starting your own.  For example, if you're a new solo with a family law practice, you could create a network with a bankruptcy lawyer or an estate planning lawyer so that you can offer clients full service.  Second, if you compete for business with larger firms, rather than targeting major players, identify newcomers to an industry, where you can get in on the ground floor.

The Originate article is fairly extensive and contains plenty of good ideas that have been proven to work.  So take a look and see if any will work for you.

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I'll be attending the upcoming ABA National Solo and Small Firm Conference in Santa Fe next week, October 2-4, moderating a panel on blogging.  So if there are any specific questions that you'd like me to explore, drop me a comment, or come to the panel -- it's not too late to sign up.  I'm looking forward to reconnecting with or meeting my buddies from Solosez and some of my readers.  And I hope to give a signed copy of my book, Solo by Choice to  Jay Foonberg who is speaking October 4.  I'll also be auctioning at least one copy of my own book as a prize.

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Some of us start law firms because we want to, others because we have no alternatives.  I was again reminded of this dichotomy by a pair of inspiring stories, here and here, about two successful shinglers, now in the twilight of their careers, who each started law firms at different times and under different circumstances, but ultimately because they were determined to practice law their way. 

Chester County, PA lawyer  William Lamb began his career in the 1960s at venerated biglaw firm, Dechert LLP, but dreamed of practicing in Chester where he grew up.  The firm's chair tried to convince Lamb to stay, telling him that "you could be sitting where I am in 30 years," but that didn't persuade Lamb.  He left to take a job as an assistant district attorney and eventually founded LambMcErlane, which has since grown to 29 lawyers.   And while Lamb may not earn the stratospheric salary he might have gotten were he still at Dechert, firm partners earn $600,000 annually, so he's hardly in the poorhouse.  Plus, he's held influential positions in government and been at the forefront of his practice, rather than one of many shareholders as would have been his fate if he'd stayed at Dechert.

By contrast, Catherine Murdock Dewey, who turns 100 this year, didn't have the same options as William Lamb.  She and two female law school "chums" opened a firm in 1933 because no one else would hire them.   With referrals from family and the Legal Aid organization nearby, they built a practice in a male-dominated profession.   Dewey no longer practices, but you can tell from the interview, that the law was something that engaged and excited her.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how we start our firms, whether they're born of great ambition or sheer desperation.  It's the finish that counts, and every day, it's we who choose how we get there -- just like William Lamb and Catherine Murdock Dewey.
 

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UPDATE 9/24/08 - I have already received a number of wonderful responses to this inquiry, and I'm not accepting any more. If you have already sent me an email, I will be in touch within the next few days.

The Online Guide to Solo Practice has been a flagship feature of MyShingle, ever since I launched this blog almost six years ago.  Though it's been updated a couple of times over the years, in the process of completing Solo by Choice and my recent workload, the Guide has fallen into a state of disrepair.  In addition, for a couple of years, I also wrote a Bar Review, which rated each state bar's offerings for solos.

In the past, I've hired people to update these materials and while they've done a good job, this time, I'd like to propose a barter with lawyers who might be interested in starting a practice, or who have done so recently.  Here's the deal.  I'll provide a copy of Solo by Choice plus two hours of expert consulting/mentoring on anything from starting a practice to social networking, role playing cold calls or fee setting or even reviewing your retainer letter or a pleading (though bear in mind that I will only be able to offer general pointers if I don't practice in that jurisdiction).  In exchange, you'll update the guide or help track down resources for the Bar Review (I'll divide the work among at least 2-3 people) and enter the information directly onto my blog.  You don't need to know how to blog, but you should be willing to learn some basics and have enough basic tech skills to understand how to do it.  Knowlege of HTML is an added plus, but by no means required.  The work can be done evenings and weekends if you're currently employed.  The trade is ideal if you're thinking of, or just started a practice, because you'll be hunting down information that will help you anyway.

So if you're interested in this, shoot me an email at elefant@myshingle.com and tell me a little about yourself.  I'm hoping to start some folks on this project in another week or two and have most of the work completed by mid-October, so let me know if those parameters will work for you.

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Everyday across the nation, hundreds of solos talk to their clients -- breaking bad news, explaining how the law works or offering suggestions on how to handle a divorce or fight a trumped up criminal charges or save their home from foreclosure. Nothing precedent-setting or earthshattering, nothing as sexy or high profile as, for example, working on the goverment rescue of the mortgage industry.  But incredibly important nonetheless, as a passage from now deceased Professor Randy Pausch's book The Last Lecture recently reminded me.

As you probably already know from this blog post or elsewhere, Randy_Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, delivered a moving last lecture on how to achieve your childhood dreams.  In his book, Pausch describes the moment that his doctor told Pausch and his wife that his cancer had returned and was fatal:

I felt incredibly impressed -- awed really -  the way Dr. Wolff was giving the news [of the fatal diagnosis] to Jai [Pauch's wife]. I though to myself: Look at how he's doing this.  He's obviously done this so many times before, and he's still good at it.  He's carefully rehearsed, and yet everything is still so heartfelt and spontaneous.  I took note of how the doctor rocked back in his chair and closed his eyes before answering a question, almost as if that was helping him think harder.  I watched the doctor's body posture, the way he sat next to Jai.  I found myself almost detached from it all, thinking:  "He isn't putting his arm around her shoulder.  I understand why.  That would be too presumptuous.  But he's leaning in, his hand on her knee.  Boy, he's good at this.

There was nothing Pausch's doctor could do to alter the inevitable outcome -- no treatment to recommend, no heroic surgery to suggest.  But what mattered just as much to Pausch at that moment wasn't what the doctor could or couldn't do, but how he delivered that news to Pausch's wife.

Pausch's insight reminds us that what we do as lawyers matters, whether we think it does or not.    The way we treat our clients, the tone in which we communicate with them, and the respect that we give to their problems which may be mundane to us but are hugely important to them -- all of this makes a difference.  Most the problems that we solos see day to day won't be resolved through creation of an important precedent that's imprinted in some court reporter.  But every day, we leave our imprint on the human heart, in a way that counts so much more than we could ever realize.

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I've waited far longer than I ever intended to review The Lawyer's Guide To Collaboration by familiar lawyer-bloggers Tom Mighell and Dennis Kennedy.  It's not that I haven't had time to read the book - in fact, I devoured it the moment it arrived and reference it frequently for various projects in my practice.  No, I've delayed in part because I was hoping that the $89.95 cover price would go down (and it has, on Amazon) because that kind of price tag makes even a book as wonderful as this one a tough sell.  And I also stalled because I was hoping that the passage of time would take the edge off of my crazy enthusiasm for this terrific book.  But since that hasn't happened, I'll just go ahead and rave:  The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies is a book that opens huge possibilities for solo and small firm lawyers and will change the way you market and run your law firm.

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[modified 9/12/08,6:30 am]

Like some of my lawyer buddies on Twitter, I've noticed that I've had an increase in followers ever since JD Supra  published this list of lawyers on Twitter.  While I'm flattered to have you all as new friends, don't expect my tweets to give all that much insight on what I'm (or anyone else on Twitter, for that matter) really like because as I like to say, on Twitter, the sun always shines.

Of all the social networking tools, solo lawyers remain most divided about Twitter.  Some, like my pals Susan Cartier Liebel or Grant Griffiths or Kevin O'Keefe are raving fans, others like Chuck Newton or Rick Georges regard it as a time sink.   Texas Appellate Law blogger Todd Smith seems ambivalent about the value of "live-tweeting" but willing to keep at it.  As for me, well, I'm on the fence.

Why haven't I fully embraced Twitter?  Well, first, don't get me wrong - I do see lots of value in Twitter, most specifically as an informational tool as Grant Griffiths points out in this post.  In some ways, Twitter is like a giant, human RSS feed, except that links to interesting posts are generated not by a computerized syndication but are handpicked by the folks whom you choose to follow.  And the informality makes it easy to send a quick message to someone to test the waters on whether you'd like to get to know them better.

But there's also an odd voyeuristic quality to Twitter.  Some like Rick Georges worry that that participating in Twitter means reading endless threads about people eating a peanut butter sandwich or going out for a run -  but to my mind, those are the posts that make Twitter most enjoyable because they reveal the day-to-day, behind the curtain view of what a person is really like.   However, many of those whom I read are ever so conscious of that everyone else reading - and as a result, they're much selective about what they reveal.

So in my universe on Twitter, everyone "just closed a big deal" or "had a great day" or "revels in the generosity of the universe."  People rarely "had huge argument w/husband" or "lost a fab prospect" or "burned dinner again" or "went crazy looking at clothing all over floor." (that's been my day today but you won't see it in my Tweets).  Instead, you'll find a happy buzzing hive, brimming with boasts and accomplishments and strategically leaked information that conveys the impression we want people to see.   Before I send a tweet, I often wonder,  do 200 people really need to know how wonderfully my day is going or how many successes I'm racking up?  Or am I just just  putting that information out there to make people think that I'm great?

Don't get me wrong --  there's one side of me that doesn't  mind the sunny, smiley side of Twitter.   After all, don't we all strive to present ourselves in the best possible light when we meet other people?  I'd certainly rather hang around with, or be one of a group of positive, proactive people than surround myself with naysayers, or worse, become one.

I suppose what bothers me is when Twitter is glorified as some kind of amazing, magical tool for building relationships and getting inside someone's head, when in reality, it's just another way to filter for information to create a persona that's appealing but not necessarily an accurate depiction of our true selves.

Does that mean you shouldn't use Twitter?  Not at all.  In fact, I hope that my post piques your interest enough that you'll use it even more.  Experiment with Twitter and keep an open mind because you may find that it works for you.  And for what it's worth,  I'll certainly keep hanging around, getting my daily dose of handpicked links to interesting posts, and revelling in an escape to a frenetically paced, super charged world, where the sun always shines, and the men and women  are productive, accomplished, fascinating, cheery and above all,  above average.

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A few months back, I had the opportunity to interview Ari Kaplan, author of a terrific new book, The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career  Through Creative  Networking nd Business Development.   Though the book is relatively short, it's incredibly dense - reading it literally made my head spin, because there are dozens of ideas for networking and building relationships and reputation in every chapter.  Though Kaplan has personally tested many of these techniques, he didn't come up with all of them.  Instead, he interviewed over 100 people, from large firm attorneys to marketers to solos to glean the material for the book.

During the interview, I asked Kaplan to identify what he considers the top three networking ideas for solos, which are: (1) getting published and leveraging articles to meet people; (2) participating in charitable endeavors and (3) assembling panels.  And don't worry - if you don't think that you have time to write articles, Kaplan also shares some great practical tips for coming up with ideas and actually writing a piece. 

If you're currently developing a business or marketing plan or looking to amp up the one you have, pick up a copy of Kaplan's book.   I guarantee you'll find at least a few ideas that you can put into practice right now. 

And for the interview, click here:

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As much as I love blogging about the nitty gritty aspects of solo practice -- the how-tos, the marketing, overcoming your fears and all that good stuff, I'm just as interested in the role that solos play in the broader context of our profession and what other lawyers can learn from us and vice versa.  So that's why my article in this month's issue of The Complete Lawyer is one of my favorite pieces that I've written in a while.  Below are the opening paragraphs, with the link to the full article at the end:

If you’ve just read this [blog post's] title, you’re probably racking your brain trying to figure out what the heck a lowly solo practitioner like me can teach you about succeeding as a law firm associate.

You probably think that solos simply churn out form documents for simpleton clients who need help with run-of-the-mill problems like estate planning, divorce or landlord tenant matters, while law firm associates grapple with earth-shattering matters, sophisticated business clients and demanding law firm partners. And for goodness sakes, you’re billed out at an hourly rate that matches or exceeds what most solos charge. So what secrets of success can you possibly learn from us?

Plenty. But before we get started, you’ll have to dispel your negative impression of solo practitioners. First, though you may not realize it,  many solos handle complicated, traditionally “biglaw matters” such as tax, corporate transactional work, regulatory and complex litigation. Even solos with consumer-oriented specialties like criminal law, consumer credit, bankruptcy or family law regularly encounter constitutional issues or dissect tricky federal and state statutes. And while solos may charge less than a biglaw associate, because of lean staffing and low overhead, they also pocket a larger percentage (as much as 80%) of that $300/hr billable than you do.

Solos also oversee office administration, manage employees or virtual staff, and constantly market their practices. Once you begin to view solos not as loser-lawyers who couldn’t cut it in biglaw practice but as a blend of independent lawyer, team manager and entrepreneur, you’ll appreciate how solos’ secrets of success can help you succeed as well.

Continue reading here - and let me know in the comments below if there's anything else that lawyers can learn from us solos.

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Last week, I posted about a recently released ABA Opinion 08-451 on the ethics of outsourcing.  At the time of the post, I didn't have the opinion and griped that the ABA would issue a decision of such potential consequence and fail to make it publicly available.  In the absence of the decision, I relied on a news summary which suggested that mark-ups on contract lawyer fees might not be permissible in some circumstances.

The opinion has since been made available.  You can access both the actual ABA decision as well legal research and writing expert Lisa Solomon's extensive analysis at her Legal Research and Writing Pro blog.   On the issue of mark-ups, Lisa explains that lawyers may include a surcharge on contract lawyers' fees, so long as the overall fee is reasonable and the costs are billed as legal fees, rather than disbursements (i.e., expenses).  Where contract lawyer fees are billed as disbursements, the hiring firm is generally prohibited from marking up the cost, except to recover associated expenses, such as supervisory costs and a pro rata share of overhead, such as office space.   The opinion adds that where contract lawyers provide work offsite, it is unlikely that any overhead costs would be incurred.

Lisa applauds the ABA's decision, and now that I've been able to actually read it (yes, ABA and bar commissions, some of us actually read your opinions!), I agree that the opinion helps rather than hurts solo and small firm lawyers.   Not only does the opinion unambiguously permit lawyers to mark up contract lawyer fees, but by making a distinction between disbursements and legal fees, the decision addresses one of my original concerns:  the substantial mark up of $30/hr contract lawyers who sometimes perform tasks that aren't (in my view) properly classified as legal work.  As I read the ABA decision, these costs would not enjoy the benefit of the mark-up unless the firm's retainer agreement permits it to add a surcharse to disbursements.  At the same time, by allowing lawyers to earn profit from contract lawyers performing real legal work, the ABA decision gives lawyers incentive to outsource, which frequently results in clients receiving better quality work at a lower cost.  

By the way, if you are interested in building a contract lawyering practice, Lisa's Legal Research and Writing Pro site (and related products and coaching service) is the best, and indeed only place to start.

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Here are a couple of items of interest for practicing and aspiring solos.  First, California lawyer and  The Practice Blog author, Jon Stein is accepting new members  to a newly created Solo Lawyer Marketing List Serve.  So how do I know that this is a list worth joining?  Well, I've been a member of  a smaller (well, if you can call 200 small!) marketing list that Jon's been running for more than a year, and it's produced a steady stream of marketing ideas as well as direct feedback from folks like Mark Britton of Avvo.com and input from marketing luminaries like Ben Glass.  Jon's promising that his new list will offer all that and more.  Best of all, it's absolutely free.

Here's the protocol for joining:

Post message:     sololawyermarketing@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:     sololawyermarketing-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe:     sololawyermarketing-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner:     sololawyermarketing-owner@yahoogroups.com

If you're interested in other aspects of solo practice besides marketing, you may want to consider Maryland-based Sonya Smith Valentine's Solo Boot Camp, a practical, nuts-and-bolts seminar on starting a law practice.  Sonya is a veteran speaker of Maryland State Bar Association events and she has a killer cache of forms which she includes in the cost of the bootcamp.  The next scheduled course is September 20 -- visit this link for information on availability and future courses.

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