Building A Law Firm

Networking seems to be something we all know we should be doing but very few actually execute on. I believe this to be true because I, for a long time, fell into the category of someone that wanted to network but was kind of frozen by the nuts and bolts of how to do it well. When I started my new estate planning law firm I knew I couldn't hide anymore. So I put together a system and started implementing it. The results have been really good so far. Because I know it's such a tough hill to climb yet so powerful if executed, I thought I'd spend today's podcast episode breaking down what I believe to be the basics of law firm networking. Enjoy! Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find out first hand (and steal some of my secrets). It's called the Law Firm Confidential Podcast, and you can get access to the first 5 episodes for free by clicking right here. Who am I? I am an expert on starting a law firm and law

I love talking about the things that are top of mind with my own law firm and this one is top of mind constantly. When I talk about the starting a law firm roller coaster I mean those wild ups and downs you might experience on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis. I'm also talking about those wild swings in energy you have. Sometimes you are so jazzed to get to work you are getting up before the alarm and some days you are forcing yourself out of bed. This podcast won't help you eliminate those feelings entirely - I just don't think that is possible. But it will help you get out of the lows faster and avoid letting that voice in your head ruin your game. Here are the five ways to ride the starting a law firm roller coaster. If you want the explanation, listen to the show! Know there are ups and downs/twists and turns; Ride the highs; Get past the lows as fast as possible; Have perspective - we are not snakes; Be a pro. That's it. Pretty simple. Oh, and if you don't have time to listen, or you prefer to

Starting a law firm is tough. It is painful. It is scary. Sometimes it sucks. What makes it so tough is that there is so much out there that is unknown. You can bust your ass all day or all week or all month or all quarter and not see many if any results. Most people can't make it past this stage. If you are in this stage of starting a law firm. If you are feeling frustrated, scared, pissed off, flustered, tired, exhausted, or anything in between, this episode is for you. The key to getting through this stage is not to panic. Focus on the process, on getting your stuff done every day, and you will see results. Starting a law firm takes tenacity. It takes grit. It takes heart. It also takes a willingness to trust. Trust the process. Focus on the process. Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find out first hand (and steal some of my secrets). It's called the Law Firm Confidential Podcast, and you can get access

One of the most interesting things I see when I talk to people about their law firm success is that they have no true idea how the law firm is actually performing. They have no idea if they have law firm profit or law firm loss. They know if they have money in the bank. They know if they have money on the way, but that is about it. Today I'm going to reveal how I deal with law firm profit and loss. Enjoy! Hey everybody welcome to episode 116 of The Art of Lawyering podcast. I'm just coming straight to you from interstate 405. I just left a lunch and learn meeting with my pals Keen and John where we talked a lot about profit and loss. And I wanted to talk to you about the same subject because I think it's critically important and it's something that you should start from the beginning or implement now if you're not. Because it's gonna have a huge effect on not just on the actual money that you make but just on the way that you approach and see your business because and this maybe sort of the theme of the s

Sometimes it can seem like law firm start-up success takes forever. But how long is too long? How do you know when you should keep going? That's what we talk about today on the show... Hey everybody, welcome to episode 115 of The Art Of Lawyering podcast. I am your host, Christopher Small, I am out actually walking the dog tonight, figured I would mix up a little bit and give you some good stuff while talking them on a walk. Typically takes me a little bit but we're probably not gonna take forever here. We're doing these short bite sized episodes if you didn't know that. Interesting question, had somebody that just wanted to join The Law Firm Confidential, and she'd been, has been at it for about three weeks. She's been doing the stuff that's in the program, and she hasn't seen much success yet and she have a Facebook group and she was curious about how long it's gonna take to be successful. I have good news here and I have bad news for all of you. The good news is, success is around the corner pretty much

I put on a law firm marketing presentation the other day and thought I'd share my tips in today's podcast episode. Enjoy! Hey everybody, welcome to episode 114 of The Art Of Lawyering podcast, I'm your host, Christopher Small, and I'm excited to be here with you today. I am at this time currently on the highway driving back to the office from a presentation that I just put on. This presentation was made to a real estate agent and his team about 10 people or so. It's good times I talked about two things. For all you estate planning attorneys out there. I talked about ways that they can provide value to their clients from a business perspective and I talked about ways that they can protect themselves from personal perspective. And estate planning worked into both of those components but that's not what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about were some lessons that I have learned. This is my first presentation of this kind. I've done presentations before and I should've learned these lessons beforeha

This is a special episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast because it's a change from the way I've been doing things. Today I want to talk law firm startup personalities. What does that even mean? Listen in... Hey everybody welcome to episode 113 of The Art Of Lawyering Podcast. I'm your host as always, Christopher Small. I'm excited to be here with you today. You know, this is gonna be a different kind of an episode and the episodes are moving forward. I think we're gonna be kinda different. I think I'm done doing interviews for a while. Their simply taken up too much of my time and too much of my effort and I don't think they're really giving you what you need on the show. They're not really accomplishing my true goal with the show. So I'm gonna kinda put them on hiatus for a little bit. It doesn't mean I'm gonna stop show. In fact this may actually get another episode out of me per week. So I may go from two to three episodes per week. They're gonna be shorter, they're gonna be topical, they are going to be

Last week I broke up with my law firm. There were no tears. There were no hard feelings. There were no long goodbyes. It was simply "this isn't working for me," and "this isn't working for me either," and we went our separate ways. Here's the thing though: I'm not sure many of you would have the guts to do that. Are you willing to make the hard choices? Are you willing to admit to yourself that everything isn't going perfectly? Are you willing to do the hard thing that needs to be done to make sure you are as successful as possible and your firm is as successful as possible. Law firm break ups aren't fun, but sometimes they are necessary. Why Law Firm Break Ups Happen If you want the full story you should listen to the podcast. Here's the reader's digest version. First, there were too many cooks in the kitchen. With so much input nothing was getting done. Second, change is hard for everyone. For some it is paralyzing. When it paralyzes nothing gets done. Third, different people have different visi

Today's guest has a story like none other before. Yes she is a lawyer, or should I say, was a lawyer, just like us. She graduated in 2009, took a big law corporate job, and started grinding away. Except, that she wasn’t like us. She had other plans. She refused to lead a life controlled by other’s expectations. One year after starting her legal career, all of her 100K plus student loan was paid off. And in August, 2015, at just 33 years old, she retired from the practice of law to chase her dreams and travel the world. Resources Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence thepowerofthrift.com Book Rec: The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find out first hand (and steal some of my secrets). It

This episode is all about the learning curve that we are all on. Have you ever started learning anything from scratch? Of course you have!! Here's a hint - law. When you started law you progressed through a specific series of steps that I talk about today in the podcast. 1. Techniques 2. Habits 3. Rituals If you want to know more, you've got to listen to the show!! Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find out first hand (and steal some of my secrets). It's called the Law Firm Confidential Podcast, and you can get access to the first 5 episodes for free by clicking right here. Who am I? I am an expert on starting a law firm and law firm marketing. I've started two successful law firms (you can check out my current law firm here) and love sharing what I've learned so you can do it too.

Today's guest is a partner and trial lawyer at MoloLamken in New York City whose practice focuses on business litigation and intellectual property disputes. But he is so much more than that. He is a form big law attorney who 6 years ago broke away with some colleagues to start a boutique litigation practice. We talked a lot about networking, marketing, and having the guts to go out on your own and chase your dreams. We talked a lot about breaking into competitive markets and creating contacts with people that can send you business. We talked about the four networking categories you must focus in: Lunches/coffee; Joining organizations; Speaking; and Writing articles and distributing them. Successful law firm networking isn't about passing out business cards. It's about creating relationships. Listen to the show to learn how. Show Resources Book rec: The Lawyer's Field Guide to Effective Business Development Ben Quarmby Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to c

I've been doing a little reflecting this week about what I've learned so far in this journey of starting an estate planning law firm (or essentially starting one). If you didn't know, I'm now officially a Bellevue estate planning attorney (yes, it's a shameless plug), and I'm working my ass off to get this thing off the ground. Over the past several weeks I've already learned a lot about the business, and now I want to share it with you (as always, if you want to get the inside scoop you actually have to listen to the podcast). 1. In some ways starting a law firm from scratch is easier than starting something that's already been established. The firm I'm "starting" is already several years old. I equate some of the stuff I'm trying to do to be the equivalent of trying to turn an aircraft carrier. 2. In some ways starting from something that's already been established is easier than starting a law firm from scratch. With the struggle also comes some good. Certain foundational elements are already in pla

Today's guest is a lawyer, though that’s not exactly where his focus is today. He is an international professional speaker and considered one of the leading authorities on networking and relations capital. He is the author of The Attention Switch, a book on networking, and is the founder of The Power Networking Academy. But that’s not it. He is also the founder of EyeRon Group, the leading global expansion company. He is Itzik Amiel! How to Start a Law Firm with Authentic Networking We all know we should be networking but we don't always know what that means. Today, I exposed some of those unknowns and I hope I was able to clear the fog on what networking should be and how you should approach it to have fun and get results. When you are thinking about how to start a law firm networking has to be on your mind. It is one of the fastest ways to get clients and one of the best ways to create a steady flow of clients into your valium online overnight firm over the long haul. But executing a networking stra

I think it's about time for another Q&A episode. Here are the questions. As always, if you want the answers, you've got to listen to the show! ------------------------------------- At what law firm income, does it become practical to hire an additional paralegal or attorney? - Matthew ------------------------------------- what are you currently using your VA's for? Are they full time, part time or per project? are you afraid you don't have enough work for them? - Adam ------------------------------------- I am graduating in May and taking the bar exam in july. I live in Sacramento, CA. My question is: what is a good field/speciality to get into? My plan is to hang my shingle after passing the bar. - Elliot ------------------------------------- What kind of law should a 3L / new lawyer should go into in these times, particularly in NYC? Besides estate planning of course. Tax? PI? Criminal? I'll be graduating in a couple of years and would like to decide soon. - Ankit ----------------------------

Today's guest is from across the pond. He is founder and solicitor at Truth Legal, a law firm that covering several practice areas, including personal injury, employment disputes, and general civil litigation. We connected on twitter, and when I learned he was interested in talking about starting and building his law firm I knew I had to have him on the show. I'm going to keep the text minimal for this show. The resources are below. For the meat, you've got to listen to the show! Starting a Law Firm Overseas Resources Purple Cow truthlegal.com The Tim Ferris Show | Podcast- truthlegal.com assaultedatwork.co.uk alchemylaw.co.uk Letters to a Young Contrarian twitter - andrewgray74 Andrew on LinkedIn Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find out first hand (and steal some of my secrets). It's called the Law Firm Confidential Podcast, and you can get access to the first 5 episodes for free by clicking right he

Before I get going I want to say, emphatically, that you can still get business with law firm SEO. What is law firm SEO? Great question. This is the act of some potential client looking for something on google (say Kirkland estate planning attorney) and your site showing up at the top of the results. The person searching clicks on your site, and the rest is history. What I'm saying is, the old school thoughts behind SEO are dead. 5 Reasons Law Firm SEO is Dead As usual, I'll give you the reasons. If you want to know more, listen to the podcast! First, you can't game the system like you used to be able to. Second, Google doesn't like SEO. Third, people don't like it. They use other channels. Fourth, it's too long of a game and happens naturally. Fifth, there are too many other easy ways to reach potential clients. Don't agree? Leave a comment below and tell me why. Cheers, Christopher Small P.S. - curious about what I do on a daily basis to create and build my successful law firm? Now you can find

This episode of The Art of Lawyering Podcast is truly like no other. And it was simply a moment of serendipity for Randy Floyd, my guest today. He emailed me a few days ago to tell me he was starting a law firm and was thinking about doing some of the same stuff I'd been doing. He wanted to chat a little bit about law firm marketing and other stuff. I, as usual, was excited to do that. But there was one small problem. I didn't have a podcast guest this week. I figured, "why not kill two birds with one stone and record the coaching session?" I ran it by Randy and he was interested. The starting a law firm coaching session episode was born. Starting a Law Firm Challenges What's great about business in general is that you can only have so many problems. Your problem is usually not unique. It has been experienced and conquered by people before you. Some of the things we discussed in this conversation relay around the three foundations of any business: People; Process; Product. Get those three figured

The topic for this episode is borne of a discussion in my Law Firm Confidential Platinum group. One of the members is going into a new practice area and was concerned about how to set prices. After much back and forth I think she finally began to feel comfortable picking a starting point, but it made me think there are probably a lot of people out there having this same problem. Five Law Firm Pricing Strategies to Crush It An important thing to remember here is that we aren't trying to suck every last drop of money out of our clients. Far from it. What we are trying to do is get paid for the value of our service to our clients. More value requires more money. The goal if for your clients to pay you a ton of money for your help, get your help, and then go out and rave to their friends and family about how awesome your service was. But enough of that. Let's get down to the five law firm pricing strategies: Don't be afraid to guess; Don't be the cheapest; Provide options; Test; and Believe it. As alw

Today's guest is a little different than most. He is not a small law firm owner. He is a shareholder in Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, a Salt Lake City law firm of nearly 70 lawyers. Though he is outside of the fold when it comes to his law firm size, he hits the bullseye when it comes to a passion for law firm marketing, in particular using the internet to spread the word about his services. Today's guest has two podcasts, one about his practice area, the ERISA Litigation Podcast, and one about legal marketing, Legal Marketing Launch. It's the one and only Bentley Tolk! Is a Law Firm Podcast Worth it? I think most people by now have heard about podcast and think a law firm podcast might be a benefit to their law firm. But many people are just unsure of how to use a podcast properly. On today's show we talk about just that. Bentley goes into depth about the benefits and struggles he's had with his law firm podcast, and we deep dive on what to do if you want to get started. Resources Legal Marketing Launch ER

We made it to episode 100! I'm not doing anything special for this, because I think I'm the only one that cares about this milestone. All I ask is that you leave a comment below and tell me how the show has helped you. Today's topic is one I am near and dear to. It is the reason I started this website, this podcast, and everything else associated with The Art of Lawyering. To start a law firm fast you only need a few basic foundational elements. I'm going to give you those today. 5 Ways to Start a Law Firm Fast Here are the ways: Network your butt off; Create a strong web presence; Create a strong sales funnel; Focus on what matters; and Get help. As always, if you want to know what each of these really means, you need to listen to the episode. Also, if you want to know what "fast" means, you've got to listen in (and listen almost all the way to the end because I forgot to talk about it at the beginning). Show Resources How to Start a Law Firm in 30 Days Law Firm Confidential Podcast Enjoy! Chee