The Business Side Of Law: Alice Stephenson of Stephenson Law On 5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm
An Interview With Eric Pines
Build a team, and invest in keeping it.
Hiring is tough in any field, but in the legal industry the fight for talent is a phenomenally competitive one. Despite this, the success of your business is reliant on your ability to grow, and retain, a star-studded team.
Law school primarily prepares lawyers for the practice of law. But leading or starting a law firm requires so much more than that. It requires the entrepreneurial skills that any CEO would need to run a business; How to manage personnel, how to hire and fire, how to generate leads, how to advertise, how to manage finances, etc. On the business side of law, what does an attorney need to know to create a successful and thriving law practice? To address these questions, we are talking to successful law firm principals who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm”.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Stephenson.
Alice Stephenson is the CEO and founder of Stephenson Law, an award-winning legal services provider challenging the old-guard of the legal profession. Working tirelessly to platform the human side of law, Alice is an entrepreneur amidst an archaic industry, on a mission to reinvigorate the profession.
Through her business, Alice empowers lawyers once constrained by their industry to approach their career with creativity, ingenuity, and innovation. The ‘Boutique Law Firm of the Year 2020’ has grown from a team of 1 to nearly 40 in 5 years, and shows no signs of slowing down. Alice is determined to show the profession what a modern law firm, and human lawyer, looks like.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are? Specifically, we’d love to hear the story of how you began to lead your practice.
I had a bit of an unconventional route into law. At 18 I was pregnant, homeless and preparing to take my A-Levels. As you can imagine, it wasn’t exactly the traditional path of a lawyer. Despite this, I’m now the founder of a multi-award-winning law firm in its fifth year of existence, the proud mother of three beautiful children and a huge advocate for an untraditional approach to law.
After a number of years of juggling motherhood and a career in human resources, I eventually made my move into the legal industry. However, on entering the profession after a lot of time, energy, and financial investment, I quickly realised that I didn’t neatly fit into the mould of what a lawyer should look like. After a number of years of feeling stifled by the traditions of the industry, I decided to go it alone. It was a risk, and in many respects, it was my last attempt at making it work as a lawyer. I couldn’t find my home in the profession and so I was forced to create my own.
Fortunately for me, I wasn’t the only “misfit” in law, and the firm is now in its fifth year, with a headcount of 39 talented members of staff.
I’m a huge fan of mentorship throughout one’s career. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Who has been your biggest mentor? What was the most valuable lesson you learned from them?
I’ll be totally honest with you: I struggled to find a mentor to look up to before founding my own law firm. Law firm founders were hard to come by five years ago, and the traditions of the legal industry felt at odds with who I was, and in many respects, I had to become the change I wanted to see in the industry.
After a number of years working as a lawyer, I met my now-husband Peter. And while he’s not a lawyer, he has absolutely been my biggest supporter through the years. So, Peter!
From completing your degree to opening a practice and becoming a business owner, your path was most likely challenging. Can you share a story about one of your greatest struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?
From entering law as a single mother to founding my firm on my own, I’ve faced my fair share of challenges. Few things compare, however, to the early days when it was just me and my daughter. I had to fight twice as hard to be taken seriously in the legal industry as a woman and as a single mother, while balancing my responsibilities as the sole provider for my young daughter. Suffice to say, the early days weren’t easy.
But there are few things more motivating than the potential of providing a better life for your family. So that’s exactly what I did. The experience has left me with a lot of resilience; something that’s pretty invaluable when running a law firm.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
Over the last few years, I’ve learned that change is a guarantee. While many, understandably, hate the idea of change, the reality is that life will always churn up unexpected highs and lows, and in many respects, your response to this change is a defining feature of how things all pan out.
That’s why “embrace change” has really become a mantra of mine over the years.
It’s a lesson I first learned through dealing with an unplanned pregnancy and an uncertain future. And that lesson continued to rear its head through every up and down in my personal and professional life.
Now, the prospect of a new challenge and an uncertain future doesn’t fill me with fear: but assures me that an important adventure lies ahead.
This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?
Becoming a lawyer isn’t easy. It takes time, energy and a huge financial investment. Despite this, countless lawyers leave the industry after a few years, having realised that the profession is extremely demanding without the reward to make it worthwhile. It’s something I experienced first-hand when I entered the legal industry. I had spent years trying to get to this point, only to realise that the profession made me feel alien in my own skin.
Founding Stephenson Law was my last attempt at making the law work for me, and so I decided to create something that platformed difference, diversity, creativity and flexibility. Today the firm is a fully-remote business that defies the norms of the legal industry to create a better environment for lawyers and clients alike.
The legal industry was crying out for innovation, and so I decided to be the one to do it.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Honestly? There are too many to mention! From building an intelligent legal chatbot to creating a legal content hub for cash-strapped founders, we’re investing a huge amount of our time and money into pushing this industry forward. Perhaps most recently, I built a “How to start a law firm” course, to save the next generation of founders from my mistakes.
I’m so passionate about empowering the next generation of law firm founders to create something truly different, so this course has been a particularly proud moment for me. It provides everything imaginable that a founder might need, so founders can get game-changing firms off the ground quicker.
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing the business of law. Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?
Stephenson Law supports clients through corporate and commercial law, employment expertise, data protection, and intellectual property, alongside more niche sectors of expertise including technology, fintech, blockchain, and financial regulation. But we’ve tried to do this in a way that’s jargon-free, accessible, and financially transparent. As a result, we’ve created a number of legal packages and subscriptions, from equipping clients with cost-effective bolt-on legal teams, to packaging end-to-end trade mark protection services. We’ve tried to ensure that clients are equipped with practical commercial advice that provides them with legal solutions, rather than legal blockers.
You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Resilience, adaptability and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Resilience has seen me through so much, and as the years have rolled by I’ve learned that if I can survive my past, I’m capable of getting through anything. That realisation has really allowed me to navigate life as a lawyer with a sense of calm and focus, with the knowledge that I just need to keep moving through it.
Adaptability is absolutely crucial in order to thrive in this profession. The law, your clients, and your profession will constantly evolve, and it’s up to you to keep the pace. By prioritising adaptability you’ll expose yourself constantly to opportunities for change, growth, and personal development. Without a willingness to evolve, you’ll quickly begin to stagnate. Embrace change, and move through this industry with the knowledge that when the learning stops, so do you.
Finally, I have my entrepreneurial mindset to thank for so many things: my unwillingness to accept the traditions of the legal industry, my belief in something better, and my readiness to embrace risk and found my own firm. As legal professionals, we’re trained in many respects to be risk-averse, but that doesn’t have to extend to every aspect of our career. An entrepreneurial spirit can allow you to think creatively, move bravely and see opportunities that otherwise would have been hidden from view.
Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?
There’s a lot of elitism in the legal industry, particularly around your educational background. In my view, it’s an injustice to the many talented legal professionals who, for circumstances outside of their control, be it financial, personal, or environmental, were unable to attend “top-tier” schools.
I scraped through my A-Levels. My undergraduate was in HR and Sociology. And by the time I embarked on my journey in law, I was a mature student and a single mother. I didn’t follow the conventional route, and neither did many of the talented lawyers who work at my firm. And while I didn’t have an easy road, I got to where I needed to be.
Certain firms certainly screen candidates for their schooling, but it’s worth asking the question, is a firm like that somewhere worth working?
When a business parks critical thinking for tradition, there’s often a litany of red flags lying in wait. From rigid hierarchies to a homogenized workforce, there’s a lot to be wary of.
Managing being a law practitioner and a business owner is a constant balancing act. How do you manage both roles?
In the early years of founding my business, I juggled legal work and the running of the firm. It was phenomenally stressful and, while I successfully juggled both, I always ran the risk of failing to do justice to both roles. After a number of years, I managed to recruit a number of key hires, which allowed me to delegate the legal work and focus solely on building the business.
It’s something I recommend to any law firm founder, if possible. Your business and your people are relying on you to function and perform at your best, so give yourself the best opportunity to do so.
Can you help articulate the entrepreneurial skills a lawyer needs to run and lead a successful law firm?
It might sound strange, but I feel that creativity is a hugely important part of being a modern law firm founder. We’re in the age where lawyers and clients are seeking more, while LegalTech and new modes of working begin to take hold. Without a sense of creativity and a willingness to innovate, it’s incredibly difficult for a law firm to mark its territory in a notoriously competitive field.
As a business owner you spend most of your time working IN your practice, seeing clients. When and how do you shift to working ON your practice? (Marketing, upgrading systems, growing your practice, etc.) How much time do you spend on the business elements?
I’m perhaps unusual here, in that the heart of my role is spent working on the business. That’s not to say that I’m not involved in client acquisition or relationship building, but it’s achieved differently. I’m heavily involved in the strategy, marketing, and growth of the business, and as a firm that’s parked the partnership model, we’ve had to get creative with how we bring in work.
Rather than wining and dining would-be clients, we leverage technology, creative communications, and modern sales to grow the firm, and I take the lead on that for the business. It’s allowed us to stand apart from the crowd while allowing the heads of our legal departments to take true ownership of their space. I’ll never be a specialist in financial regulation law, but our talented Head of Finreg is and should be given the opportunity to truly own that space for the firm. As the founder and CEO of the firm, I focus on my specialty: growing a challenger business within the legal space.
The firm is designed to empower individuals to work to their strengths and it’s seen us grow into a multi-million-pound firm in just five years.
Can you share some specific, non intuitive insights from your personal experience about how a leader of a law firm should:
- Managing personnel:
As a law firm, your people are your business. I’m not just talking legal expertise here, but attitude, work ethic, professional insight… the impact of your people is so far-reaching it’s hard to quantify. It can be incredibly difficult to build a team that not only helps drive your business forward but also shares your vision for its future. But when you find those people, it’s so important to nurture them.
Do you want to build a business that goes the distance? You’ll need to build a business worth sticking around for.
As the old adage goes, look after your people, and they’ll look after your business.
- Hiring and firing:
Hiring and firing is perhaps one of the most emotionally turbulent parts of running a business. While hiring someone new into the team promises a lot of excitement, it can also feel like a huge loss when it doesn’t work out. While you have a business to run, your hires and potential fires are also doing their best to build their professional career. That’s why it’s key to balance commercial needs with an empathetic approach.
The reality of running a business will require you to have tough conversations and to make even tougher decisions. Take the time to consider not only the needs of your business but also the needs of your people. There may be times when a great hire on paper causes great rifts within the business, and it’s down to you to protect the business and the people you’ve worked so hard to develop.
- Generate leads:
Despite being in the digital age, a lot of law firms don’t fully leverage the opportunity at hand. Often the responsibility for lead generation falls to the partners, the marketers, and the sales teams. But lead generation is often just the result of strong relationship building and can become the remit of every member of the business. I’m a big believer in the power of a personal brand and the importance of investing into one in the digital age. With tools like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter at our disposal, it’s a huge opportunity missed to not connect with scores of people in the digital realm. I really believe the future of lead generation will walk hand-in-hand with building a sincere personal brand online.
- Advertise:
As lawyers, we’re expected to be sombre and stern, prioritizing professionalism at all costs. From three-piece suits to leather suitcases, there’s a clear image in your mind when you think of a lawyer: which is exactly why you should disrupt it. For many lawyers the thought of descending to TikTok is career-suicide. Many believe that building a creative brand online is at the detriment of their credibility, and fear that platforms like Instagram and TikTok will lose the business clients.
In my experience, it’s been quite the opposite. I’ve gone viral on TikTok, I’ve shared my most personal thoughts on Instagram, and I’ve sparked mass debate on LinkedIn. The result? Clients have come to Stephenson Law for its relatability, its willingness to speak hard truths and its human-first approach
- Manage finances:
Getting to grips with P&L, balance sheets and cash flow has been one of the steepest learning curves for me. As a lawyer we’re not trained in these areas, and whilst you absolutely should get the support of a competent accountant, as a business owner you have be able to understand everything that is going on.
Whilst it’s tempting to bury your head in the sand, the only way your business is going to survive is if you’re in control of its finances. Managing cash is the number one priority, but you also need to ensure you have a viable pricing strategy and profitable business model.
Ok, thank you. Here is the main question of our interview about the business side of law. What are your 5 Things An Attorney Needs To Know In Order To Create A Successful And Thriving Law Practice.
When I founded Stephenson Law I was fumbling in the dark. As a result, the early years were more trial and error, than success. And I often look back on those years and wonder just how far I’d be today if I’d known the what, why, and how of building a law firm.
So much so, that I founded my “How To Start A Law Firm” course, with the intent of saving the next generation of law firm founders from the mistakes I made. As you can appreciate it’s hard to condense the success of a law firm into five key points, but let me try…
1) Define your purpose and core values.
Before you start your entrepreneurial journey, in the words of Simon Sinek, start with why (I’d recommend reading the book). If you’re not clear from the outset about why you’re doing this and what really matters to you, you’re unlikely to succeed.
I had a very clear purpose in mind from the start — i wanted to challenge the status quo in the legal profession. That purpose has been the one constant over the last five years, and I always revisit it during challenging times. It has enabled me to find like-minded people to help achieve my goals, and makes my business unique within a crowded industry.
2) Put down the fax machines: invest in technology.
The legal industry has had a long love affair with ancient tech, but it’s time to move on. We’re not only in the digital age, but we’re also watching the rise of LegalTech, and it’s key as a founder to embrace the opportunity with both hands.
Creating a tech-first law firm should be a no-brainer for those looking to build a thriving law practice, particularly when trying to carve out a space as a challenger law firm. By implementing tech innovations throughout your business, you not only make your own job easier but also the lives of your lawyers and clients too. Whether it’s automating lengthy admin, dramatically improving the storage of data, or saving clients from infuriating paperwork, by levering technology you ensure your services are competitive both in quality and in delivery.
3) Don’t shy away from marketing.
I’m a big believer in the power of marketing to achieve great things, but it’s not something all lawyers are comfortable with. We’re so used to brochures, pamphlets and branded pens, we often miss the full opportunity available to us in the world of modern marketing. Here lies an opportunity not just to get your business out there, but also for you to flex your creative muscles. Today, a lot of would-be customers are jaded by the corporate marketing of days gone by and are seeking something new, fresh, and innovative. Marketing is your opportunity to get your business out there in a way that sets it apart from the crowd while leaving a lasting memory.
Remember, there are few things worse in business than fading into the crowd. Be bold.
4) Build a team, and invest in keeping it.
Hiring is tough in any field, but in the legal industry the fight for talent is a phenomenally competitive one. Despite this, the success of your business is reliant on your ability to grow, and retain, a star-studded team.
It’s important, however, to enter the hiring process with your eyes wide open: there are going to be speedbumps. Whether it’s dud CVs or short-lived hires, building a team is tough. But when you finally get it right, it has the ability to propel your business forward in a way few other things will.
For that reason, it’s crucial to consider retention as part of your hiring strategy. Take the time to truly consider the needs of your business, and the needs of your team, and put the effort into creating something that’s sustainable. While hiring is tough, it can be even tougher replacing a team member that has become part of the furniture. Whether that’s flexible employee benefits, a swanky office, or something a little more bespoke, connect with your team to fully understand what’s needed to keep this ship moving.
5) Embrace innovation.
This is perhaps the most important aspect of building a thriving law practice in the modern age. The legal industry has become renowned for its antiquated tech, its conservative ideals, and its agonisingly slow processes. As a competitor business, it’s down to you to challenge those norms and to offer a solution.
Adopting an innovative mindset extends beyond the day-to-day of your business, however, and allows you to think in a way that’s agile. As your business grows, you’ll need to grow with it, and you’ll quickly realise that the demands of your business will require you to constantly evolve.
Innovation requires creativity, but it also requires a willingness to take risks. It’s a key side-step from everything we’ve been taught as risk-averse lawyers, but the reality is, that entrepreneurial growth relies on a willingness to explore new territory.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
People perform at their best when given the room to fully be themselves. This extends to the personal and professional world and impacts how we behave, how we progress, and what we feel we deserve (and don’t deserve!) in life.
In my firm, I’ve worked really hard to create a space where people feel empowered to bring their full selves to work, and the results speak for themselves. Ideas flow freely, individuals speak up and people take great pride in who they are and what they do. I’ve often spoken about bringing the “human” into law, and it’s something I feel should be extended across the full spectrum of the working world.
Create spaces where people are empowered to be their full selves, and I fully believe that the world would be a better place.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I’m pretty active online and can be found on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. I also have my own website, where I share insights on life as a founder, alongside information on my courses. Finally, if you’d like to find out a bit more about Stephenson Law, you can head to our website.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
