MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

As I've written in Solo by Choice and discussed at my blog, a well drafted, ethically compliant retainer agreement is a lawyer's most important tool in guarding against grievances, setting client expectations and generally, helping to create a profitable pratice.   Without a retainer, some bars won't even let you collect your fee.  And if your agreement doesn't comply with bar rules, you may find yourself hit with a serious grievance.  Finally, a retainer is the first document that a client receives from your office - and a professional, well thought out and thorough retainer can be a selling point for your practice. 
 
Because of its importance, retainer letter is one of the first documents that you should create for your office.  You should constantly review and modify it to incorporate new ideas as you move forward.  At the same time, there are no shortcuts:  because law practices and bar rules are so divergent, it's impossible to create a standard, one size fits all retainer.  At Soloformania, I list some letters that may offer a starting point or include language that you want to put into your retainer agreement, but you'll still have to do most of the modifications yourself.

How can a retainer letter help you keep a fee?  Because the agreement (if you choose) sets out what you'll do in a case, you can readily defend your fee by simply pointing to a list of tasks in the retainer that you said might be necessary.   For family law attorneys, Michael Sherman of Law for Profit.com has a great Sample Retainer (at the end of the materials) that you can modify for your jurisdiction.  Notice that the retainer educates the client by giving a roadmap of the proceeding, establishes an expectation that the matter may potentially be protracted, makes clear the terms of payment, sets forth grounds for withdrawal and contains a sunset provision on the effectiveness of the agreement.   Yes, there's even more that you can include in a Retainer (or a supplemental Office Policies Guide) such as policies for use of email, document retention, data security, time for returning phone calls, resolving billing disputes, Client Bill of Rights or even green office practices.  But Sherman's retainer covers many bases for a family law practice.

Don't wait for your first client to walk through the door to draft a retainer agreement.  Get started now with this important building block for your law firm. 

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UPDATE:  The relatively new blog, Nextlex  notes these FREE PLI webinar resources on foreclosure law and predatory lending. 

In both my book and on this blog, I've written that pro bono training programs offer one of the cheapest and most effective ways to get up to speed on matters that you might handle in your law firm - such as probate, divorce, public benefits, bankruptcy or wage and  hour law.  Most pro bono trainings are staffed by top local experts, who are often willing to provide follow up guidance if you later need assistance on the topic.  And once you've handled one pro bono matter, you can truthfully tell clients that you have actual experience with a particular kind of case. 

So I was excited to see that the Maryland Bar is offering pro bono training
on one of today's hottest practice areas:  foreclosure.  In fact, the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals is calling on local attorneys to take on a foreclosure matter pro bono.  But once you've done that, there's no reason that you couldn't handle these cases for a fee.  I've signed up for the course, not because I have any interest in starting a foreclosure practice, but because I can do my civic duty as an attorney and learn something completely new at the same time.  If you're licensed in Maryland, I hope that you'll join me in this unique chance to do well by doing good. 

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No one will understand the loneliness and fears.  Or when it comes, the exhilaration.  One morning in the second month, you may leave for work morbid and depressed.  You realize that you're spending more time dreaming about clients than getting them.  You are sure you are headed for economic ruin.  But then, you return home thoroughly elated.  A wholly unforseen$3500 retainer has fallen - a gift from heaven -- onto your desk.  A week later you are depressed again because a similar large fee has not unexpectedly turned up.  You suddenly realize that in the past few days, you've multiplied $3500 by 52 weeks at least a dozen times...

Thus, begins I'd Rather Do It Myself: How to Set Up Your Own Law Firm, written back in 1977 by NYU professor and ethics expert Stephen Gillers back in the day when he was (gasp!) a shingle-er.  Like most solos starting out, I'd read Jay Foonberg's classic How to Start and Build A Law Practice, first published in 1976, but until I stumbled across Gillers' book through the magical power of Google, I had no idea that it existed, nor did I realize that Gillers (whose commentary on legal ethics I've read for years) was ever a practicing lawyer, let alone someone who'd penned a book on starting a practice.   

Back when I started my blog, Jay Foonberg graciously responded to this interview with MyShingle readers.  And now, continuing in that tradition, I'm pleased to offer an interview with Professor Gillers, in which he discusses his reasons for starting his own firm and writing his book, his transition from moving from his firm to academia and the advice from his book that still rings true.  You can read the interview in its entirety after the jump.

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When I sat down to write Solo By Choice, I was surprised to find little information on the issues related to leaving a law firm, from negotiating benefits to notifying clients with the exception of   Dennis Kennedy's excellent chapter in the ABA's book, Flying Solo.  Thus, I devoted a section of SBC to these issues, and used the chapter as a springboard for this new material in this article for this month's issue of The Complete Lawyer, which begins:

Most law students and lawyers know quite a bit about finding a job—how to write a compelling cover letter and an attention-grabbing resume, how to navigate tricky interview questions and how to make contacts who can help with the job search. With all the time we expend finding a job, it’s not surprising that we never focus on the flip side: leaving a job. Yet, how you leave your place of employment—whether it’s a firm, government or corporation—can have more of an effect on your career than what you actually do after you’re gone.

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Have you started the final countdown to opening your practice?  Whether you have six months or 6 week weeks until take-off, you'll find Michael Smith's concise article, A Checklist for Opening A Law Office from this month's issue of the Texas Bar Journal extremely useful.   What qualifies Smith to write this piece?  Well, he started a firm  -- Siebman, Reynolds, Burg, Phillips & Smith -- back in January, so the topic is fresh in his mind.  Smith covers the obvious - such as finding an office (assuming you choose to work outside of a home office) to purchasing equipment to nitty-gritty details like getting a coffee pot or changing your contact information at the court. 

The last page of the article contains a list of some of the law practice management resources offered by the Texas Bar.  Over three years ago, I mentioned some of the terrific resources that the Texas Bar offers to new lawyers and solo and small firm practitioners, including the Ten Minute Mentor Program - a series of online videos, viewable by all lawyers, not just members of the Texas Bar.   Now, there are even more resources for solo and small firm lawyers available at Texas Bar LPM.com. 

If your bar offers valuable resources for solo and small firm lawyers, please send me a note so that I can note it here and add it to the online resource guide in the sidebar.

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Russ Bensing of the Briefcase provides this quick but thorough recap
 of the Supreme Court's thirteen criminal law related decisions of the past term, with links to each of the decision.  Bensing describes that his summary keeps with the original intention of his blog, which was to "create a resource for solo practitioners and small firm lawyers who don’t have the resources the big guys have for research."  

Great job, Russ - linking to, and summarizing 13 Supreme Court rulings is not small feat.  And for those who practice criminal law, bookmark or save this post so you can find it easily in the future.

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I'm happy to announce that on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 in conjunction with Lisa Solomon of Legal Research and Writing Pro, I'll be giving a teleseminar entitled, The Successful Solo Mindset:  Overcome Your Fears to Achieve Your Professional Goals.  Here's a course description:

Many lawyers and professionals long to hang out a shingle, but fear holds them back.  Other lawyers may face an opportunity to take their practice to the next level - perhaps to hire that first associate or take on a case outside of their comfort level - but rather than embrace these challenges, they hold back or proscrastinate about making a decision.  In this course, we'll identify some of the fears that solos and solos to be face, such as:

    --fear of failure
   --fear of asking for help
    --fear of loss of financial stability
    --fear of "what others will think"
    --fear of embarrassment

Next, we'll examine the mindset of successful solo lawyers and entrepreneurs and devise a plan to address each of the fears that prevent you from achieving success.  This program will not only offer the inspiration you need to break free from your fears, but will also provide intensely practical steps on how to  reach this goal.

Here's the logistical and sign up information:

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I hope to post more on the terrific Los Angeles County Small and Solo Law Conference where I spoke last week, in particular to share some of what I learned (yes, I don't know it all yet!) from the impressive panel of speakers at the conference.  But for now, just a quick message to let you know that I'm back and catching up on postings.  By the way, if you attended my panel at the conference on Creating Business Networks to Build Referrals, Repuation and Relationships and left a business card, you should have received a copy of my presentation.  If you haven't received the materials, please contact me at loce@his.com for a copy.  I'm still editing the audio and should have a copy ready in a few days. 

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At first blush, this letter to the editor criticizing the Duxbury school board for considering the possibility of replacing its current law firm with a one-person "cut rate" shop seems discouraging for most solos who compete with the big boys.  Among other things, the writer expresses concern about the solo's cut rates, noting that "you get what you pay for,"  questions what will happen if the solo is "sick or on vacation" and adds that the solo does not even have malpractice insurance.  The writer also notes that the current firm had a winning record.

While some lawyers, after seeing this letter, might simply give up on trying to attract clients like the school board or rant about the unfairness of the system, the more productive response is to use the letter to understand client bias against solos and figure out how to address it.  For example:

--Where as here, an existing firm already provides good value, competing on price won't work - and indeed, looks desperate.   That's not to say that the solo should intentionally increase his or her rates, but instead might offer an alternative billing structure or some type of "preventive" package to give the board more certainty and avoid litigation and associated cost spikes.

--In any proposed retainer or office policy, the solo should describe his or her system for coverage in the event of an emergency.  This might include a specifically designated back-up law firm or contract associates.  Honestly, clients don't really care so much who will step in if there's an absence or emergency, just that someone will.

--Get malpractice insurance.  This case offers good reason to do so.

If you have any other suggestions, please post them below.

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