Richard Claywell is the Owner of J. Richard Claywell, CPA. He has been in business since 1985, and he has a wide depth of experience and knowledge to share. He sits down with host Tom Dufton to share some tips on how to run a successful solo practice. 

Takeaways 

• Don’t be afraid to consult experts. It’s ok to not know everything, and sometimes you might need advice from an expert to help you out.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-claywell-0467767/

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Allison Williams is the Business Coach for Solo Law Firm Owners at Law Firm Mentor, LLC. She’s seen firsthand what working too many hours can do a person, and she wants to get the word out about it. She joins host Tom Dufton to talk about how to avoid burnout and gives her tips on how to run a successful law firm. 

Takeaways 

• Systematize everything. The more organized you are, the easier your work life will be as everything's in its proper place. 

Quote of the show

13:24 “We tell people, do a rinse and repeat on your mindset. Let's figure out what is working. And let's figure out what's not working. Leave the things that are not working. You have to be more aggressively in pursuit of what you are seeking, but when you do that, the right person sees the right message in the right time for them.”

Links

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/law_firm_mentor

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Russell Farbiarz is a Partner at Antanavage Farbiarz PLLC. Being yourself in a law practice can be a positive experience, and it can help your clients connect with you on a better level. Russell sees this and encourages everyone not just “think like a lawyer” as he was taught in law school. He joins host Tom Dufton to share some of his other tips on how to successfully run a law practice. 

Takeaways 

• Running a law firm is like running a business. You can’t practice what you love if you aren’t able to pay the rent. 

Quote of the show

3:08 “Law school is all about teaching and learning a particular way of thinking. And that would be, you know, a very analytical thought process. But if they took some of the time that they spent in law school, teaching us how to use citations and use what's called the blue book, and took some of that time and actually taught us,  how do you talk to clients?  How do you create a business plan?  How do you manage a staff?  How do you market?  Those would all be helpful tools as well, and probably more practical than blue book citation.”

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-e-farbiarz-esq-a131274/

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Nequosha Anderson is the Founder and Managing Attorney at Anderson Law Firm PLLC. She is also the co-host of the Professional Use Only Podcast. She sees the importance of time and how precious it is, and she has some great advice on how attorneys can use their time wisely and how outsourcing can help with that. She joins host Tom Dufton to share that and more information for how to successfully run a solo law practice.

Takeaways 

• Hire help as soon as possible. This allows you more time to focus on the things that you know and do the best, while having someone else focus on a different task.

Quote of the show:

2:00 “Hiring help early allows you to buy back your time. That's the most important resource that you will ever have. If you can buy back time, it affords you the opportunity to do other things that you wouldn't necessarily be able to do if your deliverables are keeping you in the line of production.”

Links

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esquire44/?hl=en

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Chelsea Williams is the Founder/Financial Guru at Core Solutions Group, Inc. She sees that while law school is helpful, it doesn’t do everything to necessarily prepare you for running your own solo practice. She sits down with host Kory Underdown to talk about the importance of financial literacy when it comes to running your business.

Takeaways 

• Law school is a great place to start but it won’t always teach you the things you need to know about running a law firm because that requires you to be an entrepreneur. 

Quote of the show: 

12:15 “What matters is establishing the habit, the habitual action of when you receive you set aside to invest, because there is nothing more powerful that will get you to wealth than compounding interest. And that is what an investment is,it's leveraging compounding interest.”

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-m-williams-%F0%9F%92%B5%E2%9A%96%E2%8F%B1-8303b45a/

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Katy Mickelson is a Divorce and Family Law Attorney at Beermann LLP. She sees the importance of even the little parts of being a lawyer and the difference it can make in the relationship between a lawyer and their clients. She sits down with host Kory Underdown to share her tips on how to run a successful solo practice. 

Takeaways 

• Getting clients has a lot to do with who you are as a person. It’s important to be your true authentic self. 

Quote of the show:

5:12 “There's a process of building that trust with the client. I think what comes from that is being responsive, being honest, and telling clients what they might not want to hear. Because I think that that commands more respect than being a yes person.”

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-homburger-mickelson-580b793/

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Steve Fretzin is the President of FRETZIN, INC. He’s also the host of the BE THAT LAWYER podcast and the author of “Sales-Free Selling:The Death of Sales and the Rise of a New Methodology”. He sits down with host Kory Underdown to talk about how solo entrepreneurial attorneys can better run their business.

Takeaways 

• In law school, they don’t teach you the importance of getting your own clients. When you have your own clients, there is control and freedom in when you do the business.

Quote of the show

1:36 “Individuals that are going through law school to become lawyers, they really should be considering who's in their classes. Who's sitting to their left and their right and developing those relationships because in 5, 10, 15 years, the lawyers that you're dealing with and engaging with every day in a classroom setting could be the GC general counsel of a big corporation, or could be a lawyer that could refer you business or whatever. It's not just about practicing the law. It's now there's the business of law side of it that needs to come to the forefront of it.”

Links

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevefretzin

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Molly McGrath is the Founder of Hiring and Empowering Solutions. She knows how important it is to build a healthy work environment and make sure that employees feel welcomed and enjoy their job. She sits down with host Kory Underdown to talk about important tips for running a successful solo law firm. 

Takeaways 

• Attorneys need to understand that their success depends fully on the people they hire. If you hire employees who aren’t hard workers or are bad at their jobs, you won’t be in business long. 

Quote of the show:

0:32 “I can't tell you how many attorneys still believe in this mindset that employees should be grateful to have a job. They should be honored to work at this law firm. Their goal is to just come in and do great work, keep their mouth shut and keep their head down and collect their paycheck. Those days are over. If you want to be a successful law firm owner in 2022 and beyond, my greatest piece of advice for you is to really look at how you view your employees and what type of culture you are creating for them.”

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-hallmcgrath/

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

• It’s important to set up and optimize your company's Google Business Profile. It’s something we use everyday without even knowing we use it. 

Quote of the show: 

7:23 “I refer to it as your welcome mat. You want to welcome people and show off what you've got and make things look good. You want to be welcoming to them. You want to have reviews and you want to have questions answered. Random people on the internet can go to your Google business listing and ask questions. So you want to answer those questions and you can still answer the question, point them in the right direction. It's just so important.” 

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leannegallant/?originalSubdomain=ca

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto

Stephanie Everett is the CEO of Lawyerist and the author of the book, “The Small Firm Road Map.” After law school, Stephanie joined a big firm and always thought she was going to spend her career and retire there. But she ended up launching her own firm when she realized that she could focus on her area of expertise better. Stephanie joins host Kory Underdown to share tips on how to successfully run a solo attorney business, such as setting realistic goals that you can accomplish in a reasonable amount of time. 

Takeaways

• In order to run a successful law firm, you need to realize you are running a business. You need to understand the needs and desires of your business in order to succeed.

Quote of the show: 

14:45 “We start setting really lofty goals and we're really excited about them. And then three weeks in, whatever breaks loose, and we never get to them. And then those goals kind of get left behind. So we were really ambitious. Instead just start small. If you just make small, simple changes, but you do it consistently each and every week or each month you get 1% better. Over time, you will be heads and shoulders above everybody else because most firms are stagnant or declining.”

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephaeverett?lang=en

Ways to Tune in:

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/923f06e0-f8e6-4cb3-9472-5b4f460c496b/solo-de-facto