How to Run a Law Firm
Getting out of law school, the first initial steps down this long road is to work at a prestigous law firm. Even if you are working at an entry level position it still looks good on a resume. There you should hone your skills and become the best lawyer you can be, winning cases and earning money. After doing this for several years and generating enough money to pay off college loans, get in touch with two other reliable lawyers that you have become friendly with and see if you can convince them into opening your own parctice.
To many lawyers this seems like a great idea but they are gun shy and won’t pull the trigger on a risky yet rewarding opportunity. This may take some probbing, convincing, and persuasion skills on your behalf but it is worth being in a business with relaible partners. If your are really unable to persuade your friend to go into a partnership with you, see if you can find another lawyer that you have known over the years to go into a practice with you.
Speaking from a financial point, money will be tight in the first year and you probalby will have to get loans to pay for the rent space of the office of the firm and to hire veteran lawyers with experience. However, as a lawyer you will find that the money is well spend and you will make back that money pretty quickly. Almost every provate practice generates a good sum of money and your practice will too.
Install computers and a law library into the office to help your empoyees out. Also offer a reward system for your employees who are lawyers that if they win their cases they will get rewards based on performance and years they stay with the firm. you should also hire a secretary to answer phone calls from clients and paralegals to assit your attorneys.
In today’s society, every firm has their own web page on the internet and you should too. Its really quite easy and there are so many ways of setting up your own site to attract customers. Your client base should initially come from the local area. Advertise heavily in the paper and magazines that people read in town. Also try and get to know the people in your town and city by being involved in the commuity in some way.
As you start to build up a client base, advertise your business through them by offering your clients discounts on their legal fees if they recommend you to other people. this ay your business will spread through word of mouth. Always remeber to keep business cards handy at all times.
Getting back to finances, your company should have an escrole account where the money of clients is being held as a third party account. This way the bank has certified the amount and you know your clients have the money to pay for your fees. You should kep good track of your finances of how much you take in at the firm in fees and how much money you have to spend on things like office supplies, advertisements, and employee salaries.
As for your fellow partners, you should come to an agreement on how each person will get paid. In most companies the partners each have a certain percentage of the profits that they take in and split amongst themselves. Finally, when your employees have demonstrated that they can win in court and succeed in getting clients to come to the firm, you might want to think about making them a partner. It is not uncommon for law firms to have several partners in a firm. The firm I worked at had five partners alone.
If you do decide to start your own firm I wish you the best of luck in the future adn keep these helpful tips in mind. No go out and start your own firm!
