In every lawyer’s career, there comes a point at which they think to themselves, “Maybe I should start my own firm.” Running your own law firm has a lot of appeal – you can be your own boss, build something to be proud of, and help more clients get justice in their cases.
But how do you go about starting a law firm on your own?
Below, we dive into everything you need to know to launch your own law firm, including how to decide if you should start your own firm, where to register your firm, and more.
Deciding If You Should Start Your Own Law Firm
Before you begin working on your new firm, you need to carefully evaluate and decide if launching a firm will help you achieve your personal and professional goals. As with anything, there are several pros and cons of starting a law firm.
Pros of Starting a Firm
The biggest pro of running your own law firm is control over your work and your finances.
When you run a law firm, you get to decide what sort of cases you take on and which clients you work with. You set your own working hours, and you can decide on the work setup that will suit you best. You choose your dress code, how you communicate with clients, and so on.
You also get to decide who you work with – you can hire the staff you want, including administrative assistants, paralegals, and other lawyers. You can build your own team of brilliant, like-minded legal professionals and curate a workplace culture that puts the client first and promotes excellence.
And you get to make financial decisions for your firm. You can choose what overhead expenses you want to invest in and how you want to pay your employees.
That kind of freedom and control over your career can be incredibly rewarding and exciting!
Cons of Starting a Firm
Of course, as a great hero once said, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and that goes for your law firm, too.
As a firm owner, you’re responsible for everything that happens in your firm. If there are legal errors, injuries on your premises, or just poor business decisions, those fall on your shoulders.
You’re also responsible for a lot more than just being a good lawyer. You have to manage your company’s finances (including payroll, billing, and taxes), hiring and firing, and marketing.
And perhaps most daunting of all, you’re responsible for the success or failure of your business. You don’t have the stability that you do when you’re working for someone else. If your business fails, you’ll be the one left responsible for picking up the pieces.
Write a Business Plan for your Law Firm
If you’re ready to start your own firm, the first thing you need to do is write a business plan. Your business plan will lay out the goals you want to achieve with your firm and a plan for how you’ll get there.
As you’re working on your business plan, it’s important to remember that the process is just as important as the result. Sitting down and thinking through all the details of how you’ll run your business will help you make smarter, more informed decisions.
If you’d like a full rundown of how to write a business plan for your law firm, check out our guide to the process!
Pick a Practice Area for your Law Firm
Once you have your business plan in place, it’s time to decide which practice areas you’ll focus on.
By this point, you likely will have decided which area of law you want to practice in (family law, criminal defense, personal injury, etc.). But there are dozens of practice areas within those classes, and you don’t necessarily want to take on all of them, especially when you’re first starting.
Let’s take personal injury law as an example. Vehicle accidents are among the most common personal injury cases, so it makes sense to include those in your practice. But do you also want to take on more niche areas like brain injury, nursing home abuse, or cruise ship accidents?
Deciding which practice areas you want to focus on can help you hone your marketing and SEO efforts.
Register Your Law Firm
Now that you’ve nailed down the details of your firm, it’s time to register it with the local government.
No matter where you live, you’ll need to register your business with the city and county. This will allow them to collect taxes from your firm and make sure you’re staying in compliance with all local statutes.
Depending on which state you’re practicing in, you may also need to register your business with the state for the same reason.
Get Liability Insurance
The other practical item you need to deal with before you open your firm is getting liability insurance.
No matter how good a lawyer you are, you can make mistakes, and when you’re a lawyer, those errors come with very high stakes. You could face a malpractice suit that could bankrupt your firm and, depending on your business structure, go after your personal assets.
Liability insurance protects you in the event someone files a lawsuit against your firm. It also helps to build client trust, since it lets them know that you’re a professional who can back your services if anything goes wrong.
When you’re looking for an insurer, pay attention to deductibles, coverage limits, and specific practice areas that may or may not be covered.
Design Your Law Firm’s Branding
The last thing you need to do before you open your firm to the public is to design your branding.
Your brand will become the face of your business. Done correctly, when potential clients see your logo, they’ll know who you are and what sort of values your firm is committed to.
Decide on two to three colors you want to use in your branding (including your logo, website, billboards, brochures, and so on), and pick a primary font that you’ll use in all firm materials.
From there, you may want to work with a graphic designer to create a unique, memorable logo for your firm. Having a good logo is more than worth the money you’ll invest in the design.
Set Up a Marketing Plan
Now that you have a fantastic brand, it’s time to get it out to the world.
Putting together a marketing strategy is critical for growing your brand presence and bringing in new clients. Social media is a good place to start, but it’s also a good idea to establish a content strategy.
Search engine optimized content can help to establish you as an expert in your field, as well as getting your name in front of people who may need your services.
If you’re looking for SEO expertise that can put your site on the top of Google’s rankings, LawRank is here to help. We provide legal marketing that works, and we can help you bring more clients to your new firm.
Start Collecting Referrals
You’ve laid out the organizational plan for your business, you’ve registered with the government, you have your insurance, and now you’re ready to start working on cases! Only one problem – you may not have any clients yet.
One of the best ways to get cases in the early days of your firm is by referral. Often, successful firms will encounter clients they don’t want to take on for one reason or another.
If the case is viable, these lawyers may choose to refer the client to another firm that’s better positioned to take on their case.
Reach out to established law firms in your area and let them know you’re hanging out your shingle. Ask them if they’d be willing to refer cases they don’t want or can’t take on to you.
Building a strong referral network can help you bring in new cases while you work on growing your web presence and brand recognition.
Register with Legal Directories
Another great way to bring in more cases for your new firm is to register with legal directories.
Sites like Avvo, Martindale, Justia, and Lawyers.com help clients find a lawyer who can meet their needs. They include brief bios of different lawyers, as well as ratings from their previous clients.
Register with these sites and be sure to include a good bio and your current contact information. As you begin getting cases, ask clients if they’ll leave you a review to use on these sites, as well as your Google profile. This can build trust with potential clients and convince them to give you a call.
Hire Staff
Once your firm is well-established enough to support it, you’re going to want to hire staff for your law firm. Paralegals, administrative assistants, and intake specialists can free up enormous amounts of your time so you can focus on helping your clients.
While your firm is still growing, you may consider hiring staff on a freelance basis to begin with. You can hire them on an “as-needed” basis to help pick up the extra workload during your busy seasons without having to pinch pennies for payroll during the slower seasons.
Once your firm grows enough to warrant full-time help, you may be able to hire these freelancers as salaried employees. You’ll already have a good working relationship with them, which can make the transition process easier.
And, of course, once your firm gets big enough, you may even start to look for other lawyers to bring into your practice.
Grow Your New Firm the Smart Way
Starting your own law firm can be an incredible way to take control of your career. It’s a good idea to educate yourself on the pros and cons of running your own firm before you begin – it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. But when you’re ready to take that step, start by writing a business plan, registering your firm, and getting liability insurance.
If you’re looking for ways to get your new firm on the map, LawRank is here to help. We provide legal marketing that works, including SEO, PPC, web design, and more. Contact us today and start getting honesty, transparency, and results from your marketing firm.
