Points for Starting a Law Firm

A few months ago, I wrote a blog saying that my desire for a career was to work with a large firm. While I am still open to that and continue to actively pursue it, my experience as a law clerk this summer has also opened my mind to the possibility of starting my own firm at some point.

Counting the two partners, eight attorneys work at my office, Parks & Crump, LLC. My clerkship has been quite special in the exposure that I have received in how such a firm operates and makes money. I want to record here in list fashion some of the things that I have learned in what makes a firm successful. Much of this is common sense, but I think it is still worth writing down.

1) Parks & Crump has become successful by taking cases that no one else wanted. More specifically, they will take civil rights cases involving economically poor minorities. They have also endorsed a number of political causes for minorities in the community. The firm has earned a reputation as a champion for the underdog, and thus Parks & Crump is often the first firm those from a lower socioeconomic status call when they encounter legal trouble. However, the firm still does not take a case it does not think it can win.

2) A phone system that works, and competent personnel to answer the phones is key to keeping the business running.

3) Be conscious of your overhead costs. They can quickly balloon to unmanageable proportions.

4) Be careful with hiring a lot of people, especially early in the firm's existence. Good help is hard to find. And if you find good help, they will want to be paid well in order to stay with you.

5) A good office manager is just as important to your firm's success as a good attorney.

6) If you have an opportunity to develop any sales skills prior to starting your own firm, take it. So much of marketing your firm and having success in the courtroom goes back to basic selling skills.

7) Make the decisions on which cases you take based on business logic and not emotion. Avoid cases you can not win. Your good cases will most likely settle. The cases that could go either way are the ones that go to trial.

8) You have to be fearless. You can not be afraid to go to trial. Trial law is not for the faint-of-heart. Opposing firms will test you. They will try to "paper you to death" with motions in limine and motions for continuances. They will try to run up your costs of working the case. You have to be willing to say, "Bring it on!" As one of the partners told me, there is a streak of craziness that runs through all great trial lawyers, a willingness to roll the dice.

9) That being said, I think you should look to team up with another firm if it looks like a case is going to become expensive. Otherwise, you may run out of the necessary funds to try the case. The other firm will take a lot of the financial reward if you win, but they also absorb a lot of the risk if you lose, and you still establish a reputation as a lawyer who will to go to trial against the big firms.

10) Remember the client. While you must make a business decision about whether or not to take the case, once the decision is made to fight for this client you must dive into it with full gusto. Keep your client informed of what you are doing and show that you care about this outcome for them. Especially for the types of clients who come to Parks & Crump, our work on their case is one of the few rays of hope in their lives. Never forget how important they consider the work you are doing for them. Step into the role of being their champion, and do it with confidence. Give them hope. Life isn't worth living without hope.

Universal Health Care Now,

Nathan Marshburn