All too often, I hear lawyers saying the “timing is not right” to open their firm. Well, I’ve got news for you: the timing is never perfect. If you wait too long, you may miss the most exceptional opportunity ever: to invest in yourself at a young age.
You know those life insurance sales dudes that want you to start stockpiling cash into whole life policies in your 20s? Sure, it’s a little painful at first, but after a few years, you will be so happy you did it. It’s the same exact concept when it’s a solo practice. You have an investment under your absolute control, right now, that can make you 200,000% on your money. Yes, you!
I started my own solo practice in 2009, just a few years out of law school. In just a few short years, I was able to scale it into a firm that nets eight figures annually.
I didn’t come from money. I had massive student loans. But why not? What do you have to lose? You can always go back and work for someone else if it fails. The risk vs. reward is not even close when you compare the two.
Now, don’t get me wrong. During the first 18 months, I was eating Ramen noodles with canned tuna while living in a studio apartment. But trust me, it was definitely all worth it. It was actually really fun and exciting during those times!
While I could talk for hours, I want to provide a few simple solutions for those who are afraid to go solo. Let’s call them “Bob’s Five Cs”. I would think of something better, but there is a new bottle of whiskey staring right at me that I can get to after I finish this!
Case Acquisition
I hear this one a lot.
“Where will I get cases?”
“What if clients think I don’t have enough experience?”
Look, the only lawyer I knew growing up was on TV. Many are the same way. Whether in person or on social media, people should know that you are a lawyer, and that they can call you for anything.
Here’s a few suggestions for how to get cases:
Law School Mates
Get a list of everyone you graduated with. Get their email and follow them on social media. Let them know you are on your own, or about to be, and are taking referrals, as well as paying referral fees (if allowed by your State Bar). Not all of them will be practicing your area of law, and they better be thinking of you first!
Social Media
It is 2020, and we all know it works. My wife, Christine Bullock, runs her companies due to the power of social media. Many of your referral sources and future clients are there. They are waiting to find that lawyer who can be their general counsel and help them. Get on all the major platforms. Create your own brand. Engage with your followers. Let them know what you do. And, please, be yourself! People are sick of old stuffy lawyers. If you want to see an example, go to my page @planetfunbob or my firm’s @thesimonlawgroup on Instagram, and you will know what I mean. I get dozens of cases a week from this alone.
Bar Organizations
Join the local ones that can act as your sounding board and help continue your education. Reach out to me, and I will let you know about the best in your area. It’s a great way to learn, but also pick up cases.
Listservs
Join as many listservs as possible. Be active. You will start being known as the hungry lawyer, or the lawyer who is always interacting and helping people. You will get cases. Remember, people want to work with people they like!
SEO & Online Strategy
SEO is an animal unto itself. If you do not understand this space, learn. If you don’t have time to learn, be ready to pay for it.
Medical Professionals
Become friends with doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, etc. Identify people who are in the business of seeing your future clients. They can help you get loads of clients. Why should they call the billboard lawyer, when their medical provider knows a highly ethical and skilled lawyer – you!
Co-Counseling
People are often afraid of being competent enough to work on the cases that they get. But, guess what, you can co-counsel with more experienced lawyers, share in the fee, and learn how the sausage is made! Oftentimes, they will front the costs!
This is how I started out. I referred my cases to specialists I looked up to, associated them in, and gave them 50% of the fee. My clients were getting bigger and better results. I learned how to work the cases and how to try them. After a couple of years of applying this model, I took what I learned and started getting massive jury verdicts.
Now, I have become that person who is getting cases from other lawyers, mentoring them, paying the costs, etc. I am a strong believer that everyone should be outsourcing as much as possible to other lawyers who are specialists. However, I always remain the general counsel for the client. If you could not tell by my article, my writing skills suck. So, I have outsourced my motion writing since pretty much jumpstreet.
Co-Working Spaces
There are so many solutions out there where you can keep your overhead extremely low. Get a virtual office, or, if they are in your area, look into Justice HQ. Do not waste money on a fixed office. Be a virtual lawyer who has access to space if/when you need it.
Justice HQ, for example, comes with media for its members (speaking engagements and such), a well-known community of lawyers, and access to all their high-end office spaces. You can find ones like this where it is just not office space. It needs to offer you far more than that.
Community
You need to be in the mix. Law needs to be your life. All my best friends are lawyers. We love talking about it. We scale our practices, try cases, obtain expert deposition, find creative ways to settle cases, etc. You need to continually be around like-minded lawyers who will help you grow personally and financially.
So, when you join these bar organizations or co-working spaces, make sure they give you access to this type of community. If you know the right people, you get that call for a case way outside your wheelhouse. You know who to partner with and how to monetize that asset!
Case
This is a big one. Don’t be a jerk! Take the time to care about what you do and the people you talk to. Be willing to help them for free. I have helped so many people for free, even when not making money back in the day, because it was the right thing to do and not worth much of my time. Those same people remember, and I have gotten my biggest cases from that simple act of kindness.
We can talk about efficient solutions another time. This short article is just to give you some solutions to ease your fears about going solo. You have to always keep working, always thinking about your next case acquisition, and pushing forward. Why put money into the stock market or real estate when the best return on your investment is the person reading this article?
