Reboot Your Law Practice

The show often discusses the importance of networking and following up with potential clients and referral partners. The hosts remind listeners, however, that not everything you do will work and almost none of it will work right away. You never know which of your efforts will bear fruit and, in some cases, it may take some time before it generates any business. That's why it's important to have a balanced approach to building your business. Different things will come to fruition at different times and some things won't ever produce results. That's also why it's important to keep a good flow of communication and contact with your best sources of business to keep your practice on the top of their mind. The hosts discuss the importance of balancing your time between doing the work and getting the work to allow you plant as many seeds as you can and hopefully reap a harvest.

Regardless of how you feel about the results of the 2016 Presidential election, we can learn a lot about marketing our small or solo firms from this election. When President-elect Trump launched his campaign, there were 17 other GOP candidates. He distinguished himself and rose to the top by first analyzing "Who are my voters." Just like we talk about lawyers trying to reboot – your first step is analyzing "Who are my clients?" "Where will my business come from?" Focusing and targeting your message is clear and no one did that better than Donald Trump. The other factor is being true to yourself – be authentic. If you were to ask his voters to list three adjectives about Trump the word "authentic" would be one of them on all their lists. If you would ask Clinton voters – as much as they like her – that word would not top the list. Finally, he gave voters concrete promises of what he would deliver that resonated with his target voter. That equates with our mantra of offering value to your prospective clients. While many pundits will be analyzing this election for years to come, lawyers looking to develop or reboot their practices would do well to learn the lessons of the 2016 electoral season

Scott and Oscar were asked to present about podcasting at this year's Above the Law's Academy For Private Practice. The hosts talk about their presentation and also discuss their takeaway from the conference. ATL presented many highly-informed and qualified speakers who talked about the place for lawyers in the gig economy; what legal tech works best for small and solo practitioners; and the rapidly changing face of legal practice in the new millennium. All lawyers need to assess their practices and see how it has been and can be affected in the new legal landscape. The host talk about specific things they learned and appreciated from the conference and how listeners can apply some if these tools to their business.

The hosts talk about Scott's decision to stop focusing on Special Education Law, one area of his growing practice that he felt tended to "muddle the message" of the rest of his practice. It was not an easy decision as Special Ed Law was an integral part of Scott's Reboot plan. Nevertheless, as the hosts point out, you should look at the overall picture and message you are sending to potential clients. Also, it's hard to give up something you have committed to but sometimes it's necessary to make sure you continue to grow and develop. Part of Rebooting is making the hard choices about what works and doesn't work for your practice.

As the popular book "The E-Myth" teaches us, you must be the craftsman, manager and the entrepreneur and none of those positions can be neglected. However, you must also be careful that paying too much attention to one role can be very impactful on the practice overall. The problem most often arises when the things you put into place force you to put more time into the craftsman phase of your legal practice. You have to consider what can be out-sourced or delegated to others. Delegation of course requires you to then shift time to the manager side of the practice. The other answer is to find ways to organize your time carefully and realizing that your growing practice may have to encroach on what you had previously scheduled as "free time." Legal technology can be helpful in finding this balance as there are numerous programs for practice management that can save you time and money. You have to always be mindful and vigilant of how these three parts of your practice are being handled to make sure that your law practice is operating properly.

In advance of their presentation at the Above the Law Academy for Private Practice event in Philadelphia on October 28, 2016, the hosts discuss some elements of podcasting and how they use it to help their professional growth. They provide some pointers for listeners thinking about launching their own podcasts including doing some research on what's out there, lining up a few guests, and thinking several shows ahead. Having a podcast is a good way to add value to your website or blog, put yourself out there as a thought leader on a subject area and have content available for prospective clients to find and listen to and get to know who you are.

Scott and Oscar remind listeners of how things can go viral very quickly on Social Media. They recount examples of how lawyers have gotten in trouble or mocked over social media posts and social media campaigns. Be mindful of who are your friends on platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and remember that they will see what you are posting. The hosts also discuss how taking certain stands on issues of law could come back to haunt and could hurt your ability to get clients in that area. The caution extends to how lawyers present themselves when they get a high-profile or media-worthy cases. You can't be too careful – what you say and how you look will be floating in cyberspace for a long time and may be the first thing people see about you when they do a search for you or for a lawyer in general.

While there are many positives about having a solo practice there is one glaring negative. There is no other person that understands or cares about your practice the way you do. The hosts discuss why they think it is imperative for solos to seek out other like minded solos and to build a support system of other attorneys who you can rely on to help you with feedback.

We hear from lots of lawyers and law students asking us about what are the first things you have to do to start a practice. Many think its picking out office space, designing business cards, and choosing letterhead. While those steps need to be taken eventually, Scott and Oscar say that Step One is to have a vision plan about what kind of law you want to practice, where is the work going to come from? Remember that you will likely not have a lot of income in the first three to six months, so what is your budget for that time period and how are you going to cover it? Step Two is to educate yourself about the area of law you want to practice and the marketplace for it. Meet other lawyers who do that kind of work; ask if you can shadow them; join Bar association sub-committees on the topic to make connections and just try and grasp what you can about that particular subject area. Step Three is to make sure you are committed to being organized and ready to handle the work that comes in. The hardest part of a solo or small practice is finding the right balance of spending time getting the work and spending time doing the work. In the beginning especially, the hours and demands are harsh and the money might be lean. You have to make sure you are in a position to get through that initial phase and do great legal work for the clients as well.

Oscar and Scott begin this weeks podcast discussing the importance of referral partners being aware of and in agreement with how the referral fee is going to be handled. They then discuss treating that source as more than just an outlet for cases. They advise you to think of any referral relationship you have and take the opportunity to take this person out to lunch and discuss your relationship.