Guest: Rachel Allums took a nontraditional path to law practice, first working as a receptionist and paralegal before reading for the California Bar. She benefited from years of firm management experience, leveraging these skills when she launched her estate planning practice one year ago.

Topics:

What it’s like being a legal unicorn
Flipping the script by learning to be a lawyer before learning to think like a lawyer
Battling inertia to make practice management changes that benefit clients
Launching a firm during a pandemic
Scaling and managing an influx of clients
Cultivating relationships through preferred provider deals
Managing client expectations with forthright, transparent communication
Yes, print advertising still works!

The Tech Stack:

Clio Grow/Clio Manage for client intake and management
Quickbooks online for bookkeeping
HotDocs document automation from AbacusNext
Lawyaw for online legal forms

New Insights (brought to you by Nota):

Veteran practitioner Starlett Massey answers litigation associate Melanie Kalmanson’s question:
Question 1 of 4: “What made you decide to start your own firm?”

Special thanks to our sponsors, Lawclerk, Alert Communications, Abby Connect, and Clio.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Solo : The Unorthodox Path to Becoming a Lawyer