Although it probably technically has been a little longer, I'm establishing my actual law firm opening date for purposes of annual celebrations as June 1, 2009. That was the first day I moved into my office and I'm the boss, so I can pick whatever day I want!
A lot has been going on here recently, so I thought I'd take a second to reflect. I'm sure you like to hear all about where to get great malpractice insurance, whether or not to have office space, and everything like that. But when it boils down to it, one thing matters - am I making enough money to eat?
And the short answer in these first ten days is no, I'm not. But that was to be expected, since very few people know my place is open for business (although my friends and family all know, and I've been broadcasting it loud and clear on my Facebook page). I am still doing coverage work for the firm I rent space from, which is offsetting the bills a little, but I'm still waiting for the phone to start ringing consistently and get some leads.
I do have a client. It is a guy whose property is being taken through eminent domain, and it is a good case. The guy found me from searching on google, which is just what I want. I haven't been getting a lot of hits or phone calls yet, but I'm moving up the search engines fast and am getting some feelers here and there.
For additional money, as I think I've explained before, I have applied for the criminal appointment panel, representing people who can't afford an attorney. That should tide me over until the phone starts ringing consistently (and I may stay on - they could use my help).
Now to the things I need to work on. I think number one is having the guts to hand out my business card anywhere and everywhere. I've never had to do that before, and it's kind of an unsettling experience. I don't want to come off as the surly attorney, but I also want to let people know what I do. I think I'm just going to have to stop being worried and start putting my card out there for the taking.
UPDATE - 10/7/09: I've changed my philosophy regarding the paragraph above. Handing out to your business cards to anyone and everyone is not the way to go. Instead it's important to focus on forming strategic partnerships with people, making a connection and finding out how I can help them out (which, in turn, will help me out).
And really, for things I need to work on at this point, that's about it. My work ethic has been pretty much great throughout. It helps that everything I am doing is actually having a bit of a tangible benefit type of feel to it (for example, I can see my site moving up in the google ranks, I can hear the phone ringing). Hopefully that keeps up.
Okay, that's it for now. In case you were curious, some of the things I've been doing is scouting out a good printer, signing up to take credit cards, developing a daily, weekly, and monthly marketing plan with tangible goals and real tasks to complete (as opposed to the arbitrary "get more clients" goal), and writing articles, articles, articles.
Good luck opening your firm. You can start your own law firm! And, if anyone needs a Seattle DUI attorney, look me up.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Starting a Law Firm | Office Space
I've already talked about office space for your law firm somewhere here before. If there is a link, that means I found it. But in any event, at some point in your journey, like mine, you have decide what kind of office arrangement you want to have for your new law firm. And the decision you make is going to depend greatly on both practical and personal factors. The practical from the standpoint of where you want to work every day, where you want to meet clients, and what your clients will expect from you. And personal in the sense that some people want to have that downtown feel while others would rather enjoy the lifestyle that can be enjoyed with a home office.
For me, the decision was very difficult. I've been working from home for about the last six months building my "google link juice," among other things, and found that working from home isn't too distracting, as long as you've got some space you can devote to a pseudo-office. For me, we had a bedroom we stuck a desk, office chair, and lounge chair in, and it worked pretty good. Over time I've found that I can motivate myself to work and not end up in front of the television all day, which is a good sign going forward, since personal motivation is very important for success here.
In the end, however, because I am a Seattle criminal lawyer and Seattle DUI attorney, I decided that a home office wouldn't suit my practice best (and my wife agreed!). The next thing I thought about was what would be best for a new law firm, both from a strictly financial, and a work space point of view. I decided to start looking for office space downtown, near the courthouse, and with a firm that had offices for lease, which provides a little bit of camaraderie and a sounding board when I have questions. And I just like the idea of going into an office everyday. It feels cool.
And the space I ended up taking ended up paying financial dividends immediately too. The firm is primarily a criminal defense firm, and they just had a couple of people leave, leaving them very shorthanded. I worked out a deal with them where I perform the majority of their coverage work (when someone is double booked) at $50/hour. Last week, before I even moved into the office I logged 10 hours of conflict work, nearly paying my entire month's rent! Be on the lookout for creative office arrangements like this, where you can get the space you want at the price you want and maybe even get a little bit of work out of it!
Just to refresh, I've already talked about several items for starting a law firm, including:
Also, I know there are a lot of you here reading this blog. What do you think about what I'm saying? Am I missing anything? What have your experiences been like? What else would you like to know about?
For me, the decision was very difficult. I've been working from home for about the last six months building my "google link juice," among other things, and found that working from home isn't too distracting, as long as you've got some space you can devote to a pseudo-office. For me, we had a bedroom we stuck a desk, office chair, and lounge chair in, and it worked pretty good. Over time I've found that I can motivate myself to work and not end up in front of the television all day, which is a good sign going forward, since personal motivation is very important for success here.
In the end, however, because I am a Seattle criminal lawyer and Seattle DUI attorney, I decided that a home office wouldn't suit my practice best (and my wife agreed!). The next thing I thought about was what would be best for a new law firm, both from a strictly financial, and a work space point of view. I decided to start looking for office space downtown, near the courthouse, and with a firm that had offices for lease, which provides a little bit of camaraderie and a sounding board when I have questions. And I just like the idea of going into an office everyday. It feels cool.
And the space I ended up taking ended up paying financial dividends immediately too. The firm is primarily a criminal defense firm, and they just had a couple of people leave, leaving them very shorthanded. I worked out a deal with them where I perform the majority of their coverage work (when someone is double booked) at $50/hour. Last week, before I even moved into the office I logged 10 hours of conflict work, nearly paying my entire month's rent! Be on the lookout for creative office arrangements like this, where you can get the space you want at the price you want and maybe even get a little bit of work out of it!
Just to refresh, I've already talked about several items for starting a law firm, including:
legal malpractice insurance;
online legal research; and
business licenses.
Also, I know there are a lot of you here reading this blog. What do you think about what I'm saying? Am I missing anything? What have your experiences been like? What else would you like to know about?
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