I’ve been running my own law firm full time for about a month now, and I want to be sure I’m documenting the journey, both for my own interest, and for others who may want to take a similar step in the future.

It was a huge leap going off on my own with a family of six, including four daughters, so I knew I needed to get systems set up to be successful.

I’ll discard any flowery prose and just provide a blow-by-blow account, hopefully providing some insight into the mechanics of how work has been so far.

Client Acquisition

Early on, I knew I would live or die by networking & relationships. In that vein, and prior to launch, I expanded my LinkedIn network, intentionally working legal angles when I could. I didn’t sell myself or my services, but I posted consistently about law & business (and preferably about both at once). I tried to connect with as many people as possible.

Second, I made a list of about 50-70 people I knew I needed to text or DM directly with more of an FYI that I was launching. In some cases, I asked them if they knew of anyone I should talk to directly. This, somewhat surprisingly, has led to quite a bit of work & likely will continue.

Third, and probably most importantly, I grew my Twitter (X) profile significantly from December through March (all organically). I posted hyper-niche content and grew with a community of young-ish business owners. I’m currently at about about 4,500 followers. I spent (and still spend) a lot of time in DMs & gladly take on work. It’s gotten to the point where 3-10x per day people are inquiring about legal work. I’ve developed some incredible relationships on Twitter, and I expect it will continue to grow as a lead gen tool for me.

My approach from the beginning has been to solve client problems first. If you do that, you’ll never be without work. So that’s how I’ve approached every interaction from Day 1,and so far it’s worked well.

I’ve done no ads or promotions on Google, Facebook, Twitter, or otherwise. I’ve not had a professional website or logo built. No cool slogans, photoshoots or other promotions. Just good old fashioned networking & solid content.

And the biggest secret has just been providing good work for people who (1) come back for more, and (2) tell others they know. I’ve also developed a strong network of CPAs and other professionals who consistently refer business clients my direction. CPAs have been probably my best referral source so far.

So far, most of my time has been split probably 40% on one-off matters (i.e., a quick contract or business formation), and 60% on more long-term client matters and projects.

Tools

As clients started coming in, I knew I needed a way to organize clients, matters, and bill efficiently. I tested out a few legal CRMs and settled on Clio. Clio offers everything you would need, and I quickly integrated pretty much my entire workflow into it. It’s ideal for quickly forming matters, separating them out into clients, organizing documents, and billing. It also has Google drive & email integration. I also like using the stopwatch/time feature to track my time on client matters. Everything has been really intuitive & easy to use.

I still use Docusign for electronic signatures and the G-suite of products for email, and much document organization. I am in the process of procuring an effective redlining software, though I’ve found that it’s not required for much of the work I’m doing. As I inevitably find myself in more M&A work, I’m sure it will be more needed.

I also use ChatGPT (paid version) as a quasi legal-assistant to help in some aspects of legal research (especially framing issues & pointing me in the right direction), and in some parts of contract review. I’ve found that it’s not very good at drafting large portions of contracts, but it’s helpful in introducing you to some areas you might not be considering.

I have a bevy of contract templates I’ve built up over the past 10 years that have been helpful in drafting many of the agreements I’ve done so far.

Billing

I decided on my billable rate relatively early, which I felt was a fair rate for my experience, type of work, and geographic location.

To date, I have not had one solitary complaint about bills or my rate. In fact, some clients have asked me why I don’t raise it (I’m not kidding). Many of my clients live on the coasts & in bigger cities, so they are used to paying $600+/hr for even basic legal work. It’s something I’ll continue to think through.

I also haven’t had any trouble with clients paying bills (yet). Most have happily paid them the same day they are sent out. Clio also makes this really easy.

A Typical Day & Managing Time

It’s challenging both practicing law AND running a business, and I think I’ve found this to be the hardest part so far. Every hour spent “running the business” is an hour I’m not billing, and therefore, an hour I’m not making money for my family.

In this first month or so, I’ve found that a productive day of billing for me is 3-5 hours. Most weeks so far I’ve billed in between 15-25 hours. If you’ve worked in big law, that might seem kind of low, but it’s really good when you’re also responsible for running your business & bringing in every single client. No partners are giving me work! But also, every hour I bill is coming to me.

Most days I have 3-4 meetings (usually with potential or current clients), bill 3-5 hours, and then do maybe 1-2 hours of business growth or admin work. I have to be really efficient to fit everything in.

I am bringing on part time administrative support later this month, which will be a big help. She will likely help with client intake, running the CRM, billing, and potentially even advertising. It will be a process to figure out how to best use her. I also have a law student at the Univ of Cincinnati College of Law who is helping with legal research and some contracts. It’s definitely a team effort!

I am in the process of potentially bringing on a full time associate, but it would have to be the right fit. Lawyers don’t come cheap, but I think as the firm grows I will definitely need consistent help.

I plan to be aggressive with growth and expansion, with goals to move to a team of 3-5 attorneys within the next several years.

Kinds of Work

What types of legal work have I done so far? Really, a mix of everything:

• M&A (seller side)
• Series A financing
• Real estate & commercial leases
• General contract/agreement drafting/review
• Employment (employer and employee side)
• Lots of tax guidance
• Entity formation, operating agreements, etc
• Lots of general LLC work (adding partners, governance, vesting etc)
• Trademark disputes
• Trademark filings
• Healthcare work
• SBA loan disputes

And more!

Location

I am still primarily a virtual law firm. I rarely meet clients in person (mostly do phone calls or Google meet). I recently signed up for a coworking space, so I have a dedicated place outside the home to work. It has been a God send, and I’ve already met some incredible clients/future clients there. If I do eventually bring on more team members locally, I’ll have to break down and lease some “real” office space. My current coworking space is only $250/month, contributing to the incredibly low overhead for the firm.

Flexibility

The best part of running my own business so far has been the flexibility it affords! If I need to schedule an appointment, I can do it any day & any time in the middle of the week. Often, you can walk right in and places are empty.

It’s also led to more flexible and creative uses of family time. If Rach (my wife) and I want to go grab breakfast in the morning, or lunch in the afternoon, nothing is stopping me. Rach and the girls have been incredibly supportive of the new venture, and we’re really excited about what the future holds.

Finally, here are my biggest takeaways so far:

– Getting clients has been easier than expected, and probably one of the least stressful parts of the journey so far
– Not working on a team has been harder than expected. I’ve missed the daily interaction with people. Hopefully that will change over time!
– Growing my own business (as opposed to working on someone else’s) has been really rewarding. It’s the strangest, most exciting feeling.
– It’s terrifying and invigorating knowing that if I don’t have clients, and don’t bill, I won’t make any money. It’s a “eat what you kill” mentality every single day.
– The long-term goal hasn’t changed. I’d love to build the firm to a point where I am managing & overseeing it (as opposed to doing all the legal work).

I still have a lot to learn & a lot of ways I can grow as an attorney and business owner. Looking forward to it all!

Thanks for reading about my journey!