From the Tortured Solo Department: Tips for Success in Your Law Practice
For most of my 40 years as a lawyer, I have worked in solo or small firm settings. I have run my own civil litigation and trial practice with various configurations of staff, contract attorneys, and associate attorneys. Today, my busy trial practice consists of me, an associate attorney, and a paralegal/office manager. And I love it.
Running your own practice has many benefits, not the least of which is having control of all aspects of your work and career and keeping all of the profits that accrue from successful years and cases. Conversely, you also own all your failures, mistakes, and losses. It’s all on you. Needless to say, it is not for the faint of heart. But, at least for me, it has been the best way to practice and has worked out pretty well so far.
So, for all you young solo and small firm warriors out there or those dreaming of a future solo career, I offer some tips for solo success.
Hustle – Always, Every Day, All the Time!
Nobody else is generating work for you—it’s all on you! If you have a poor month, there is nobody in the office next to you having a better month to keep the train rolling down the track. And all of a sudden, you’re not taking a paycheck home or you’re bleeding off reserves. So, go, go, go, all the time! In the solo practitioner world, there’s no such thing as too much networking, too many cases, or too much work.
Keep it Simple
As a business, a law practice is not a complicated undertaking, or at least it shouldn’t be. Do the work, bill for the work, collect for the work, pay expenses, allot for taxes, and take the rest home. Checking account, trust account, savings account. It’s fairly easy, and there is simple, well-vetted, reliable software to assist and streamline most all those tasks and, more broadly, most all aspects of solo practice.
However, all this available software designed to streamline and make your solo practices more efficient can also be a trap. If you overbuy and get software designed for larger or different practices, or pile multiple layers of software on top of each other, then your lean, simple, effective practice becomes an unwieldy monster devouring the time you would otherwise spend getting and doing billable work.
Invest in vetted, reliable, effective software for the practice you have, and no more. Keep it simple. In my practice, we use Clio for case management, calendaring and timekeeping, and billing. Outlook for email. I have checking, trust, and savings accounts, and use Quicken. For legal research, Westlaw. For inter office communications, Slack. And a program called Workflowy for case and to do lists. All simple, well-vetted, reliable software programs that work as advertised and allow me to keep it simple!
Maintain Cashflow
Cashflow is the beating heart of a successful solo practice. You need to keep the cash flowing in and out of your practice, paying your employees, vendors, and landlords, and taking home your draw, all on a current and forever-ongoing basis. To effectively create and maintain the necessary cashflow requires oversight, diligence and, often, difficult choices.
Get retainers from new clients—preferably retainers which must be replenished when depleted. If a client is unwilling to pay a retainer, it is likely a client for whom paying fees will be a continuing problem. And enforce replenishing retainer requirements—if a retainer is depleted, require the client to replenish. If the client won’t or can’t, withdraw.
Whether you work with retainers or not, enforce your fee agreements. If the client does not comply with the fee agreement, and will not comply after reasonable request and warning, withdraw. Don’t become the client’s bank by helping to finance the client’s litigation. It’s the road to high and ultimately uncollectible receivables which can destroy a solo practice. It is not easy to walk away from a case and withdraw, but you can’t run a successful solo practice if your clients don’t pay for your services.
Bill fairly and promptly—Duh.
Keep close track of your receivables and slow-pays. If a client is not paying promptly or in the expected time frame, pick up the phone and call the client about payment. Frankly, if you are unwilling to make such calls to get paid, you’re probably not well-suited for solo life. Again, high accounts receivable and perpetually slow-pay clients can severely undermine the financial health of your solo practice. Stay on it, make the necessary calls, do what is necessary, and ethical to get paid and get paid promptly. If the client doesn’t pay within a reasonable time frame and after reasonable notice, get out. Don’t work for free.
Don’t cut your hourly rates to get new business. Set fair market rates for your practice and, as much as possible, stick to them. If a prospective client will not pay your rates or seeks to negotiate lower rates, don’t take the new matter. Cutting rates is a race to the bottom. There is always an attorney around the corner who will work for less money than you. There may be times when cutting your rates might be prudent; for example, to attract regular workflow from a client or, perhaps, to handle a special matter or family member client coming from a good referral source. But, as a rule, don’t join that race to the bottom. Set fair rates and stick to them.
Effectively Plan Time Off
We all need regular time off. But, in a solo practice, taking time off is always costly and can often be tricky. Plan your time off as far in advance as possible and notify your clients early and often that you will be out of the office. Schedule your upcoming work and deadlines to accommodate your time off. It has been my experience that opposing counsel and the courts will most always work to reasonably accommodate time off and vacations.
Arrange for other counsel to cover case emergencies while you are gone. Frankly, if your time off is early-scheduled and well-planned, this should not be an issue. It has never been an issue in my practice. But, regardless, as a safeguard, have somebody lined up to step in, if needed, in your absence. And, finally, and regrettably, be somewhat available to clients and counsel while on vacation. Return that unexpected email, text that client who has called, keep yourself in the game even while you’re lying on the beach in Mexico, drinking that cocktail, and getting some well-needed rest.
Provide Excellent Service
One of the selling points to prospective new clients for your solo practice or small firm is that you can and will provide better and more personal service than a larger firm. Provide that excellent service. Promptly return those calls, emails, and texts. Do what you told your client you would do and when you promised to do it. If you are unable, as much as you have tried, to fulfill a client expectation and meet a promised client deadline, communicate that to the client and reset those expectations and deadlines. If you are unable to return a client’s call in short order, text or send a brief email that you got the call and return it that evening or the next morning,
Fight Solo Isolation
Solo and small firm practice often means you are working alone a lot. That can be difficult and isolating. So, get out, build and maintain networks of professional friends, get involved in organizations, reach out to friends for lunch or drinks after work, meet your spouse, significant other, bar colleagues, or friends for lunch. Don’t get in the solitary solo rut—reach out, get out!
Finally, we all, at times, need new input and fresh perspectives on our cases and legal work. It’s easy to get siloed into your cases or legal work, and believe you have all the bases covered and all the issues identified and addressed. But, that is just not always the case. A simple chat with a colleague can identify unseen issues and add new useful insights to our work. As smart as we may think we are, we simply cannot see all issues and potential strategies, in all our matters, all the time, all by ourselves. It just doesn’t work that way. So, build networks of trusted and respected colleagues whom you can bounce ideas off of or discuss potential case strategies with. You can’t do it well by yourself, all the time. So, pick up the phone, reach out to colleagues, and rely on their input and insights.
Being a solo attorney can be both exhilarating and daunting. Your success will not only be defined by your courtroom victories and successful transactions, but how fulfilled you are by your work and your ability to make a meaningful change for your clients. As a new lawyer, you are not only building your practice, but your brand and reputation in the legal community. So, remember to do work that you are proud of, do it to the best of your ability, reach out to others when you need help, take pride in forging a path that is all your own, and, when they come, take time to enjoy your well-earned solo successes!