Your Law Firm - Lee Rosen of Rosen Institute

I hate renting cars. The rates aren't always what I've been told, they pressure me to buy insurance, they add-on fees for tolls, they want me to rent a GPS, and I have to sign their lengthy contract in eleven places. After all that they run a huge deposit on my credit card and then I get to worry about what will happen if I scrape the car up on dumpster while trying to park behind a restaurant. I can't help but think it's much like the way clients feel when they decide to hire a lawyer. They jump through hoops to get an appointment which sometimes doesn't happen for a week or more. They tell their story only to be confronted by a long-winded explanation of the process, the work that needs to be done, the stages and phases of the case, and then they get hit with a multi-page, legalese-filled, fee agreement which they don't really understand.

We get stressed about money so we buy ads, SEO, and leads when we have no data-driven basis to do so. We have no evidence that what we’re buying will work, nor are we even certain that we need more business. We hire staff members or associates when we feel busy, even if we lack numbers demonstrating that we’re doing profitable work or that we’re really as busy as we think we are. We fire staff because we’re convinced they’re unproductive and lazy when we spot them killing time on Instagram, but we lack simple records to see how they’re performing financially, so we react when they push our buttons. Over and over we’re hit by emotions and we believe they mean something. Unfortunately, an emotional response is nearly always half-baked, short-sighted, and inconsistent with the vision we’ve created of the business we’re building.

She’s sharp. She’s motivated. She’s excited. She’s exactly the kind of employee you’d been hoping to find. But she needs to know what kind of advancement she can expect at your practice. You may not have the 'bigger and better' to offer -- that’s the state of affairs in most small law firms. In large part, small firms stay small. That’s a feature, not a bug for many of us. If you don't offer the candidate a chance for advancement then don't expect your offer to be accepted. You need a solid answer to this tough question.

When the economy turns against you, it's very difficult to fight the larger forces at work. We're swimming against the tide. We're fighting nature. A rising tide lifts all boats. A falling tide sinks many ships. Of course, you don't need my permission. But, I wanted to give it to you. Sometimes having someone, anyone really, tell you that it's okay makes it easier. In times like this, we get a free pass to quit. Everyone understands. No one thinks less of you.

You’re taking nothing other than a laptop, a cell phone, and a legal education and turning it into money. It’s incredibly difficult to turn nothing into something. You’ve got to see it in your mind, believe it’s real, and then convince others to see it as well. It’s great until you think about it, and then it’s overwhelming.

The theory behind a partnership seems sound - that bringing in a partner shares the risk, creates synergy, and doubles the odds of success. The reality is that many law firm partners spend all their energy fighting for a bigger share of a pathetic little pie. Instead of synergy, they get misery when the relationship unravels and the partnership fails. The business relationship has failed, and more often than not, the personal relationship has soured as well.

The law firm’s equivalent of a hair on the appetizer or a fly in the soup is a slow response to the initial contact. The potential client calls, emails, texts, or uses your chatbot only to get no answer for what feels like too long. Maybe it’s not too long in your mind (perhaps they thought the butter was warm enough?). But, it’s too long for the prospective client.

Getting your team, no matter how small, into alignment to achieve goals is essential. The law firm you've created in your mind's eye will only come to fruition is you bring your team into alignment. Everyone needs to know what you're trying to buld and why it matters. Communication is how you make that happen. Without effective communication, everyone heads in a different direction. Things get done, but they’re often not the things that need doing.

Some of us leave a good job because we’re tired of being told what to do. Some of us start our own practice straight out of law school after three years of being bossed around by our professors. We each come to the point of starting our law firms from different places and for different reasons, but freedom is always a component.

Law firm associates have a nasty tendency to pack up their toys and go start their own law firms. Keeping them in our employ, doing the work which needs doing, is difficult. The grass is often greener elsewhere. They’re tempted by other offers or, quite often, the option of opening their own practices. The reality of today’s marketplace and economic environment is that your associate, practicing on his own, in a low overhead situation, has a decent chance of making more money than you in your larger firm. The resourceful, aggressive, nimble solo practitioner is often the most profitable lawyer in the marketplace.