attorneys Archives

12 02, 2014

Strategies for Expanding into a New Practice Area

2019-02-21T23:25:23+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

Many areas of law practice tend to cycle up and down over time. Savvy attorneys keep enough capital reserves to get them through the predictable lean times. The business volatility in recent years has some worried lawyers seeking to build up a practice in a different area of expertise. I wrote about ways to get experience that you don’t already have, but perhaps you dabble now and then in another area. Here are some tips on building up your visibility and expertise in a practice area you aren’t known for.

1. Choose an additional practice area that complements your existing practice.

Your credibility will be higher if there is some overlap between your new practice area and what you already have a reputation for. When real estate, securities or other transactional practices wane, some transactional lawyers step over into litigation involving similar subject matter expertise. To begin making such a transition, offer to consult on cases with trial lawyers you know. Many commercial litigators take on such a wide variety of cases that they don’t have your depth of expertise or awareness of the numerous laws that may impact the case they just took on. […]

7 01, 2014

Avoiding the Commoditization of Your Law Practice

2019-02-21T23:25:24+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Avoiding the Commoditization of Your Law Practice

My article in 2007 about some of the potential ramifications of law firms going public generated quite a number of reader responses. One email asked a question that intrigued me. The reader asked how he could keep his law practice from becoming commoditized. Both small and large law firms should be asking themselves that, because the tide has already turned toward the commoditization of many legal services.

What are commodity legal services? Generally, legal services that involve routine and predictable legal issues that can be systematized into forms and processes. […]

20 12, 2013

Ready, Set, Goal!

2019-03-20T21:36:32+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Ready, Set, Goal!

“History informs us of past mistakes from which we can learn without repeating them. It also inspires us and gives confidence and hope bred of victories already won.”

~ William Hastie (1904-1976)
Civil rights attorney, law school professor and first African-American federal judge

As we wrap up one year and begin the next, it’s a good idea to engage in a “Lessons Learned” process before we make plans. By analyzing the results we obtained, we can avoid repeating our mistakes and be blessed to repeat our successes. To get real value, it needs to be a thoughtful process covering all aspects of your life. From my years of experience in helping clients through such an analysis, I have identified a few guidelines that can help you.

1. Give yourself full credit.

First, take a look at what was successful. Allow yourself all due credit for your accomplishments, breakthroughs and wins, no matter their size. Don’t just look for cases you won or big deals closed. We tend to gloss over our small victories, even when they took real effort or perseverance to achieve. We rarely let ourselves live down a shortfall, however, so give equal time to your successes. If you finally got those files taken care of, or your office organized, include that accomplishment on your list. If you gained back 5 of the 10 pounds you lost last year, acknowledge yourself for keeping off 5 pounds. […]

3 12, 2013

Why GP Solos Need to Worry About a Modern British Invasion

2019-02-21T23:25:25+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Why GP Solos Need to Worry About a Modern British Invasion

In May 2007 Slater & Gordon, an Australian personal injury firm, became the first law firm to go public. At the time, I discussed some of the implications of publicly held law firms, including the commoditization of legal services. I also gave some tips on how you can reduce the risk that your law practice will become a mere commodity.

Revolution in the U.K.

In October 2007 the United Kingdom passed the Legal Services Act (“LSA”), which authorized alternative business structures (“ABS”) with non-lawyers in professional, management or ownership roles in law firms. One of the regulatory objectives of the legislation was to promote competition in the provision of legal services. The LSA became effective in 2011, and in 2012 the Solicitors Regulation Authority approved the first four ABS firms. One of them, Co-operative Legal Services, launched a fixed fee family law service, with the intent of bringing “a refreshingly different approach to family law” with an “easily accessible and affordable” range of services. It is a division of The Co-Operative Group, a retail giant in the UK with 4800 retail outlets and 7 million members. So I guess you could say it is now the Costco of legal services. […]

19 11, 2013

Security in the Cloud: How to Protect Your Law Practice Business Data

2019-02-20T00:07:22+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Security in the Cloud: How to Protect Your Law Practice Business Data

Security in the Cloud: How to Protect Your Law Practice Business Data

Cloud this, cloud that—no doubt you’ve been inundated with the tech industry’s message that the cloud is where it’s at these days. Just under 90 percent of small businesses use cloud-based services to store, share and back up data, according to a recent survey by Rackspace Hosting, Manchester Business School and Vanson Bourne. Cloud everything has become increasingly popular with any business, especially for Law firms that can’t afford a basement full of servers or finds an IT department impractical for other reasons.

But how secure is the cloud? Security levels vary from one provider to the next, but one thing most decision-makers may not know is how much control they do have over their own cloud security. […]

5 11, 2013

Unexpected Resource for Client Effectiveness Tips

2019-02-21T23:25:26+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Unexpected Resource for Client Effectiveness Tips

I seem to know a lot of attorneys with special needs children. One of them described to me how he manages himself and his special needs child in situations that might increase her stress. As he described his process, it reminded me of how effective lawyers steer their clients through the twists and turns of the legal process.

In this time of economic turmoil and uncertain futures, today all lawyers have stressed out clients to deal with. See if this parent’s process for a special needs child might help you be more effective in managing both yourself, and those you advise, in stressful situations. […]

8 10, 2013

Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

2019-02-21T23:25:26+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

Suzanne Meehle wrote a nice post called With a Little Help from My Friends about the value to a lawyer of network development, whether inside or outside your organization. A network of co-workers, friends and acquaintances can help you build your law practice and be the best lawyer you can be. Here are some things a good network can do for you:

1. Refer business to you;
2. Answer legal questions outside your area of expertise;
3. Act as a sounding board as you puzzle out a tough legal issue;
4. Share tips and methods for effectively running your law practice;
5. Save you from reinventing the wheel by sharing a starting form for a document you need to draft;
6. Take care of your good clients on matters you don’t usually handle;
7. Cover for you when a vacation or emergency takes you away from the office;
8. Make recommendations about vendors, software or technology they have found reliable; and
9. Introduce you to speaking, writing or leadership opportunities that will get your name out there. […]

29 08, 2013

How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 4

2019-03-20T21:43:51+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 4

The 4 part series, How Do I Decide where to Locate My Law Office, winds up today. We’ve pursued the different types of law office arrangements and have been looking at the relative geographics. I hope that these articles help move you forward in the decision process.

Small Town or Big City

With emerging technologies, lawyers do have a lot more flexibility in office placement. If you have a good internet connection and adequate broadband capacity, you might be able to practice almost as easily in the suburbs or in a small town as in a big city. Here are a few reasons you might choose to practice in a small town.

Usually the number of attorneys per capita will be significantly lower there, and the cost of living is lower, too. Lawyers I know in smaller towns describe a collegiality in the legal community that, sadly, seems to have largely vanished from the bigger cities. Many also report that experienced lawyers and judges took them under their wing to mentor them as they got started. With most law schools failing so miserably at actually teaching lawyers how to practice law, the opportunity to develop such relationships can be a significant benefit to someone setting up a practice straight out of school.

On the other hand, sometimes less populated communities can be rather closed to strangers. It may be important to have some family connections or a well-established sponsor there to open doors for you. […]

28 08, 2013

How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 3

2019-03-20T21:45:11+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 3

Today’s post, Part 3 of Debra L. Bruce’s 4 Part series on deciding where to locate your law practice, takes a look at the demographics of your peers/competition.

Attorney Demographics

Give some thought to where your competition is located, too. The SBDC (Small Business Development Center) can usually tell you how many other lawyers are located within a certain range of your proposed office.Does your state bar association have demographic information about lawyers in your state? You can probably guess that you will find more lawyers near a law school or a seat of government, but what are the practice area distributions?

The State Bar of Texas, where I’m licensed, publishes reports on demographic and economic trends for attorneys in the state. You can see the number of attorneys per capita in various counties, the median income of attorneys in different practice areas and regions of the state, and the median hourly rates there. A lot of other information is available. When combined with census data and other information that you can obtain on the internet or from the SBDC, you may be able to identify a trending growth region in your state that has not yet been completely inundated by lawyers in your preferred practice concentration. That can give you a chance to grab a foothold in advance of the tide. […]

27 08, 2013

How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 2

2019-03-20T21:46:45+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 2

This is Part 2 of a 4 part series, How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? We’ve looked at types of offices and practice areas in previous posts; now it’s time for you to do some detective work to determine where your potential clients are.

Client Demographic Data

Sometimes it isn’t obvious where to find your target clients. You can get some assistance from your government in locating them, however. Small Business Development Centers funded by your tax dollars provide free counseling to small businesses, including a law practice. The SBDC provides services relating to financial and business planning, marketing, and feasibility studies, among other matters. The SBDC will do marketing and demographic research for you based on the parameters you establish, for free. By way of example, the SBDC can help a wills, trusts and estates lawyer identify an office building close to the neighborhoods that have the highest number of married couples with small children and an annual family income in excess of $150,000. […]

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