Top 4 Things I’ve Learned As A Solo Attorney

By: James Jones Jr., Esq., Guest Contributor

Starting and building a solo practice is not easy. It has its ups and downs. It is very challenging, but can also be very rewarding. I started my solo practice in 2013 and here are the top 4 things that I’ve learned on this solo practice journey.

1. Do What Works In Reality. I knew very little about starting and running a law firm. I took a law practice management class in law school, but that was about it. In my spare time, I read business books and met with so-called business mentors and experts. After a while, I began to realize that what I was being told by these well-meaning “experts” and what I read in some of the books contradicted reality. In reality, a business plan was not essential to starting a law firm. Office furniture in a nice office, a great website, and slick business cards were great to have, but were not essential. A line of credit or business loan was not essential.

My very first client didn’t meet me in an office, didn’t sit in my office furniture, didn’t see my business card, and didn’t see my firm’s website. Instead, we spoke on the phone several times, I drafted the Fee Agreement from my laptop, and I met him in person in a McDonald’s parking lot. We spoke about his fears, his desired outcome for his case, my proposed litigation strategy, and then he paid me cash. If I had followed the advice of some of those business books and business “experts” (who were employees in a business, not business owners), then I would still be perfecting my business plan so that I can get a line of credit from a lender that somehow was going to invest in a law firm that didn’t have clients. I would have purchased office furniture and entered a long-term lease agreement for an office full of polished law books and wall plaques, but no clients.

I learned that reality trumps theory and that the best advice comes from those who have done what you are doing, and hopefully are still doing it. It doesn’t mean that the advice is wrong, it just means that you have to listen to your gut and do what works in reality.

2. Sell. Sell. Sell. When I started my solo practice in 2013, I had zero clients, had just gotten married, and had just gotten fired from a high-paying job. Everyone I called about a job politely said “we’re not hiring” (some were in fact hiring, but just weren’t hiring me). Most didn’t even return my call or respond to my desperation email begging for a job. One day I called up a friend who agreed to meet me at a bar. I complained about my problems to him. At some point during my pity party, he said to me, “well you’ve gotta get clients and you can’t do that sitting here. You know a lot of people. Go talk to them.”

That statement forever changed my life and my direction. That same day, I started reaching out to everyone I knew and told them that I had started my own law firm. And I did it over, and over, and over again. Every day, 24/7/365. And it worked. Within a week of starting my firm, I had my first client. He was a referral from a realtor who went to college with my wife. He signed my Fee Agreement and paid in cash in a McDonald’s parking lot that was close to his job.

I had my next two clients within a month of opening up my firm. One of those two clients retained me while I was waiting outside the judge’s chambers for a hearing on behalf of my first client. I met the other client at a friend’s birthday party. And the clients kept coming simply because I continued to tell and remind everyone that I wanted their business and kept asking for their business. I never had to call or email anyone else about a job again.

I learned that selling is the most important aspect of business. Without clients, you don’t have a law firm. We follow up 10–20 times with potential clients. We ask current clients for referrals. If we win an important motion, we immediately send the Judge’s Order to the client and let them know that their business is greatly appreciated. We meet regularly with current clients. We strike while the iron is hot and cold. In other words, we sell, sell, sell.

3. Go the extra second and third mile. Clients can be fickle. You schedule an appointment a week in advance to see them on Thursday in your office. Thursday comes and they are a no-show. Sometimes they call to cancel. Other times they simply don’t show up. The reality is that clients have thousands of things pulling them in different directions at any given time. So I learned to adjust by making sure that any appointments I made were convenient to the client. I’ve met clients at gas stations, parking lots, their homes, on their jobs, and the list goes on. I did whatever it took to win the client’s business by going further than the extra mile. I went the extra second and third mile and earned the client’s trust, respect, and most importantly, their business.

4. Don’t try to hit a homerun and miss the ball. There were many, many times when I stared at my firm’s bank account and wondered how on earth I was going to cover overhead and other office expenses and also draw enough to take care of personal expenses. Out of desperation, I would try to hit a homerun with a new client by asking them to pay a lot of money up front to ensure that I had a long-term client but to also ensure that my firm’s expenses would be covered. But the client was new and didn’t know me. Why should they trust me with that much of their hard-earned money at once?

Instead of trying to hit a homerun, I learned to simply focus on making contact with the ball and getting on base first. I would ask for less up front, arrange payment plans with clients, etc. The client was happy because they didn’t feel like they were gambling their money away, and I was happy because I had a steady stream of revenue. By making these adjustments, I was able to eventually score with new clients after getting on base with them. The homerun clients became an added bonus.

I wanted to share these experiences for those who are thinking about going solo, who have recently gone solo, or who have been solo for a while, but may be going through a rough patch. Tough times don’t last; tough solo attorneys do. I wish you the best of luck with your law practice and would love to hear about your experiences.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views and opinions of Court Buddy.

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