Chuck Newton

Harmaceutical Referral Law Niche

Don't tell me that this does not involve being a lawyer. Or course it does. Third Wave lawyers understand the importance of collaboration. They understand referrals and networking. But, where bigger, more established law firms might have a deeper reservoir of cash and experience in taking on Big Pharma and their Big Law firms, there is so much more that needs to be done in terms of client solicitation, consulting with, advising and working with the clients or those injured by defective drugs. Too little attention is given to hand holding with clients and their families who have been harmed. Much comes from a lawyer who can dedicate themselves to helping a client through the process of finding specialized legal counsel and keeping them apprised of the process and progress.

Harmaceuticals are those FDA approved medications that are released for public consumption by pharmaceutical companies only to find out they were marketed for purposes not intended, or recalled because of undisclosed issues and fatalities. Some might call it defective drug law.

Some of these cases are brought as class actions. Some are brought one case at a time. It is a complicated process, and large dedicated law firms have established that can both carry the financial weight of this process, and which can fully understand the medicine and chemistry involved.

What these dedicated law firms lack, of course, are clients who have been harmed. These firms are often distant, and potential clients need explanation and understanding. They need direction. That is best served on a local level.

There are any number of firms that handle harmaceutical litigation. Many welcome and solicit referrals.

Vermont Law School Downshifts

We always talk about downshifting in terms of the practice of law. And, it is true legal education has greatly lagged behind the trends in the practice of law.

Vermont Law School, however, is demonstrating that the real world is catching up with legal education.

VLS is one of the law school struggling with reduced applications, fewer students, a weak legal market, disjointed marketing, and tuition that far outpaces what is reasonable. The law school is not associated with a larger university, and its tuition is an exorbitant $45,207.00 per year. It does not matter if VLS provides some level of scholarship funding to 60% of its entering class, to use a phrase from a prior New York Governor's debate, "the rent is too damn high"!

According to Boston.Com, as well as other sources, VLS is contemplating (1) reducing overhead to account for fewer students and to stabilize tuition; (2) employ distant, digital, and specialized learning; and, (3) change its marketing from that which is not realistic to that which is practical.

I tend to think that most law schools will be following VLS' example, and those that do not might very well be required to close.

Three Tips For Starting A Law Firm

As all of us get back from our summer distractions, this is the time of the year that thoughts of starting a new law practice come into bloom. Those in other firms planning such a leap are looking toward the new year. Those who have graduated are awaiting the bar exam to be scored and posted.

You can worry night and day about the legal structure of your new firm, your logo, how your office is arranged, research tools, how you might hire staff and the like, but the only thing that currently matters is how you will you find paying clients? You need to focus like a laser on this aspects, even if doing so means starting out with an office comprised entirely of a cell phone and a board over the sink in your bathroom.  The major objective need only be well paying clients. Most all else can wait.

Therefore, if you wish to venture out on your own, here are three priorities:

1.    Know your mission in life. In short, have you welded yourself to a practice niche? Are you enthusiastic about it? What makes your chosen niche special to the public? Can you express that excitement and benefit? First and foremost, this is how you shake up the legal marketplace and make yourself known. If you cannot become known, you will not obtain enough paying clients. Especially law graduates starting out, this allows you to sell the benefit of your niche as opposed to your lack of credentials. (Few wish to pay much of value for a new lawyer with little experience, but many will pay good value to have an identifiable problem resolved).

2.    Build strong relationships. Do you have a law license, yet? It does not matter. You must start indentifying those people, groups, associations and organizations which can refer you paying clients. You need to get active with these people, groups, associations and organizations -- NOW. For example, if you wish to represent buyers and sellers in regard to their residential real estate transactions, you might need to get involved in the various Realtor associations. Likewise, if you wish to do some type of consumer litigation, you might need to make introduction with the bankruptcy bar. You must start to make yourself known. Meet and greet. Burn the shoe leather. Kick ass and take names. No matter how crude you can make it sound, there is no substitute for it. 

3.    Keep your startup overhead outrageously low. What mainly kills a burgeoning law practice is the amount of business you must bring in before you take money home. I constantly hear new lawyers state their main concern about going out on their own is making enough money to provide for their families. That is exactly right. But, for every expense added on the office or law firm side, that is just one more dollar that must be earned before providing for family needs. You might like to fight the thought, but you can practice, at least for while, at little or no cost than what you are already spending. Take home earnings is a luxury you cannot do without.

The sad truth is that most lawyers fail because they concentrate their limited time, attention and resources on process over obtaining clients. Do not make this mistake.

SmartDeco For Your Home Office

Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects.  It allows for the the production of some interesting products that can fill a need.  One interesting product that raised money through Kickstarter is SmartDeco furniture.

SmartDeco is an affordable, designed and professionally engineered set of furniture that is made from 100% recyclable product called Enviroboard, that folds together in minutes without the use of tools.  It comes in a flat-pack and each piece is available for about $65 or less each.  Although the white version costs a little more.

I get questions all of the time from new lawyers who (1) have very little room in an apartment or some place for large furniture, and (2) cannot spend a lot of money. This seems to fit their needs.

The truth of the matter is that in this day and age, with all of our wireless connectivity, you do not need a dedicated office. However, we often need a sort of landing pad. We need a place to hook up computers, phone and the like, and generally keep the implements of our work. You can place this is a corner of a room or in a closet without it overcoming or making your space look gaudy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Cannot Spend Your Way To Prosperity

Sure there is the old saying that you have to spend money to make money, but in the area of starting a solo law practice that statement is a canard. It is at least deceptive.

One problem is that law firms are not manufacturing companies. They do not borrow money in order to meet a sales goal, so as to make money. They tend to spend money not on advantages but on disadvantages. Money is spent on things that are neither necessary to produce anything nor make money. The money is spent to buy popularity, such as a new computer, or a bigger, fancier office, or something else of little consequence to the act of actually making a living.

Law firms, and especially small law firms, do not adhere to the "Bean Theory", where financing is understood as a commodity in terms of beans -- something that is bought, sold or traded. You look at the cash spent as a bunch of beans. You trade those beans in such a way that you get more beans than those with which you started. The money spent is limited to that which enhances your income. Nothing much purchased by a solo or small law practice actually enhances income.

So, for example, you just have to buy the best, prettiest, new Apple computer in order to make yourself feel good in the practice of law. The computer costs 2,000 beans. Then you have interest over three years to pay off the debt that costs another 1,000 beans. The Apple computer depreciates in value.  It does not go up.  So, in three years you have spent 3,000 beans and you have a asset worth maybe 200 beans.

Another example might be the urge to rent a nice office in which to work. Now, you already have space at your home or somewhere else. You are virtual in that you have a laptop and a cell phone. But, you convince yourself that having some office space is a good "investment". (Investment is a term we like to use to the spend money on things that do not offer any real return, and to justify what we want to do regardless of any loss). The space costs 1,000 beans a month.  The lease is for one year. For 12,000 beans at the end of the year you have an asset worth 0 beans.  On top of that, the space cost you more beans in terms of utilities, internet hook up, commuting, and in maintaining that image that is important to you -- but not really anybody else.

The point is that small practices rarely have an opportunity to spend money to make money. So, the saying does not work in this regard. Small practices generally spend money to spend money, and that, in the long run, is usually the doom of most practices.

The one difference might be advertising or marketing. But, my point all along is that advertising is expensive. It generally represents spending money with the hope of making money so you can spend money. It often represents a vicious cycle.

Referral-based marketing, on the other hand, requires a constant and deliberative effort, but it does not have to cost that much money. Further, it continues to reap money for the practice long into the future.

Square Reader

The question I get often from those contemplating a more virtual law practice is how to collect money from clients. I have never really considered this much of a problem. So, my typical answer has been to use something like paypal. But, then I get this push back that although the lawyer want to work from home, they still need to initially meet clients at a different locations, such as office suites, conference rooms, courthouses, coffee shops, libraries and the like. Although paypal might be made to work, it does not flow naturally with what needs to be done. Clients pay fees in all sorts of way, but increasingly it is with a debit or credit card. A point of sale system is both too bulky and expensive to use in this way.

In my practice I really do not have this problem, but I understand the issue with those who want to replicate what I do, but for a more consumer-based or retail-type law practice. To these lawyers the solution just might be Square. 

It works with a smart phone or tablet. It is a combination app and plastic plugin that allows you to swipe debit and credit cards without the bulkiness and expense of some kind of point of sale system.  It also does not require the lawyer to introduce clients to an online gadgets so they can arrange a payment through paypal in a way that might make the client feel insecure. Square can help the lawyer accept payments off-site with a great deal of ease.

Below is a practical video that shows you how it works.

 

 

 

Side Jobs And Other Work

The issue of allowing an attorney or paralegal take side jobs or other legal work not associated with your law firm can be a little thorny. Although this can create ethical issues, such as conflicts which could disqualify your firm, I will leave that argument for another day. I would like to focus on the practical aspects of the process for a moment.

Back in the day when I ran a traditional, brick and mortar, law firm, in which lawyers and paralegals were employees, I allowed this practice. I would not allow it now, based upon my experience, with the possible exception of a lawyer feeling the need to help out a family member or pro bono work, gratis. I would not allow a paralegal to do it at all because in this situation they are directly involving me. The lawyer is getting paid for his time by the firm, and the firm is not getting compensated. It is a bad business decision to allow this to happen.  The firm's work often suffered, and then the other attorneys and staff feel put out when there was a reward to the attorney for the extra work in which the other lawyers and staff were not allowed to share.  That is, after all, the entire purpose of a traditional law firm. All for one and one for all. It is not all for one until some big personal injury case or real estate closing comes along. If the work is important enough to command the resources of the law firm, then the case or project needs to belong to the law firm. It is that simple.

However, this issue comes up in terms of my non-traditional practice of law, and I support such work divisions with some caveats.

In the non-traditional world, or virtual law firm environment, it is called collaboration in which attorneys and paralegals collaborate on a specific piece of work or litigation. Sometimes they are regularly associated, but they are not a law firm. All for one and one for all only comes together in terms of a particular case, litigation, representation or a piece of legal work. It also ends there -- by mutual agreement.

I have collaborated in the legal work I have done with a great deal of success and also with some degree of regret as well. I can say that in terms of any regret, the relationship does not have to continue passed the matter at hand, where the situation is a lot more sticky in a traditional law office environment.

Collaboration works in this environment better because everyone is bootstrapping. There is a lot that a virtual or solo lawyer can do by himself, but sometimes everyone needs a little external help.

At its best, collaboration works extraordinarily well when everyone is dedicated to the transaction at hand, and they see it as their ability to support themselves. In this age of tech, we no longer need to be together in a building or a formal relationship to work in unison to solve a problem for someone or some company or some organization in some capacity.

At its worse, someone in the relationship can feel put out and resentful.

On the referring side of the collaboration, this happens when the other attorney or paralegal involved is more dedicated to their other work and not your project. This does not always manifest itself in untimely work, but it does often manifest itself in non-quality work. It can also result in a lack of appreciation that the referring lawyer was the one that developed the business and is expending resources to monitor it, collect the fees and distribute the money.

On the referred side, it is often a matter of money. Not only when or if money will flow from the arrangement, but in what percentage or amount compared with the division of work both anticipated and actually completed.

For both the referring side and the referred side, this is often a matter of perception of each. Do both sides agree to a premium for the one obtaining the project in the first place? Is there a feeling by one that he or she is doing the most work for the least compensation? Is there a feeling that the other is really more focused on their other work? Is there a concern about the quality of the work product produced?

The issues involved and the feelings felt are often more a matter of nuance.

The key I have found is for mutual transparency. These things need to be discussed upfront. The process and settlement of the case needs to be open to everyone. The general schedule and amount of work dedicated to the case by everyone needs to be disclosed. Otherwise, people can be left feeling violated.

So, although I recommend collaboration, it needs to be approached right.

Finding A Law Job

I know this blog centers a lot on the solo practice of law, or on lawyers going out on their own. But, the truth of the matter is that a good many lawyers and law students want to find paying jobs -- at least initially. (Oh, the motivation of student loans).

In this regard, there are a few simple but overlooked things to keep in mind if you really hope to find a law job and to get hired at a reasonable salary.

1.    Review your resume. I mean really review it. I am the world's worst about typos and misspellings. I get in a hurry. I feel like I need to move on to other things. But, with a resume it really counts. You need to review your resume repeatedly. You need to get everyone you can encourage to do so to review it. Frankly, I do not know anybody that got hired based upon their resume, but I know people who have been denied jobs based upon their sloppy resume. Andrew Jackson once said "It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word", but I am not sure Andrew Jackson never had to rely on his resume to get a job.

2.    Interviews are hard to get, so show up on time. I am not talking about oversleeping. I am talking about miscalculating how long it will take to fight traffic to get to the interview location ... to find the location ... to find parking ... to get through security ... to remind the clueless receptionist why you are there. It is better to be early than late. Especially for lawyers who are required to be prompt in making court appearances and the like, it is a real turn off for an applicant to be even a little late. The rule in law is to hurry up and wait. In court it is okay to wait on the judge, but the judge is not going to wait on you. The same is true for the dreaded job interview.

3.    Dress your best. Law firms are getting more casual, but unless you know how the firm dresses that day, make sure you wear a suit or some equivalent.

4.    Know about the firm and what they do. I cannot emphasis this enough. Believe it or not, most law firms do not want to hire another attorney, and especially one they have to mentor. They are looking for a specific type of attorney, such as a real estate lawyer, family lawyer, bankruptcy lawyer or the like. Maybe you have not actually practiced law yet, but you need to express a proper interest. I know of one law graduate that interviewed for a job at a bankruptcy law firm, and when asked what he sees himself doing in 5 years answered "employment law". That did not go over well with the law firm that does not practice and does not want to practice employment law.

5.    Ask questions, please. Most of us have thought that the job interviews we have participated in are silly. Okay, but in truth they are silly because they tend to be monologues on the part of the interviewer. Questions show an interest in the firm and an appreciation for what it does. It clarifies for you what the pay might be, the benefits, insurance and the like. It gives you a feel for the metal of the law firm for which you want to work.

6.    Talk to everyone about the fact you are looking for a law job, and especially a law job in a certain practice area. Most law jobs are NOT posted. Let me repeat this. MOST LAW JOBS ARE NOT POSTED ANYWHERE! The overwhelming majority are NOT even advertised except through word of mouth among friends and colleagues. Some represent an inkling on the part of the firm it needs someone else if the right someone shows up. You find these opportunities through networking and asking around. Think of it this way. The posted jobs make up maybe 10% or 15% of the law jobs that may be available. Yet, because they are posted, these firms are absolutely inundated with resumes and requests for interviews. What do you believe are your chances with these firm?

7.    Follow up! Follow up!  Follow up! I cannot say this more. We all know to send a follow up email or thank you note, but firms put things like this off to complete real work. They get confused. They are distracted. Confused and distracted firms put off making decisions. Those they offer jobs to often accept and then back out. Get these people on a list and stay in touch with them regularly. If nothing else, they can be a valuable resource on who else might be looking for a new lawyer.

How About A $1,800 Law Office? (VIDEO)

You know me. I think the amount of space that lawyers need to do their work is exaggerated. It is more ego than necessity, and it leads to a cluttered and complicated life. But, a quiet dedicated work space is good. If you do not have room in your home, then try building a space in back or close to your home. It might be a little industrial shabby chic, but throw in some windows and some planting and you are good to go.

In Berkeley, California Karl Wanaselja, along with his business partner and wife Cate Leger, created their home-office using an old refrigerated shipping container that cost just $1,800. They cut their 40' long refrigerated unit in half and placed it in a T shape in their backyard. Because it was a refrigerated container, they did not need to add any insulation. Using a reciprocating saw, the couple cut huge windows into the aluminum/stainless steel structure.

You can see for yourself.

Solo Means Solo: A Third Wave Practice Does Best With No Financing

I think sometimes that law school graduates are so use to debt that they insist they need the extension of even more debt to start a practice. To me, however, solo means solo. Just like you do not need law partners, staff, a law job, a law firm, you do not need financing, with the obligation to pay back interest and principal out of imaginary future earnings. Going solo means solo. Just you, your family and your friends.

The charts below apply to all businesses, but they offer a couple of interesting things. The first chart shows you that 47% of all businesses, which would include law firms, have no financing sources. The second chart shows that businesses that rely just on friends and family have the highest success rate.

There are two points to the no financing option. First, the access to unearned money leads most lawyers starting out to do stupid things. I say stupid when the real term might be something like impractical, senseless, arbitrary, unimportant, foolish or frivolous. In short, like the unaccountability of spending with a credit card, it is too easy to make bad or instantaneous decisions that have long term repercussions. Borrowed money is most often spent in ways that does not secure a return.

Second, the solo practice of law in this day and age only really requires a laptop or notebook computer and a cell phone. Everything else is optional. Everything else is discretionary.

Third, and just as importantly, the success of any law firm in terms of cash flow is the referrals of paying clients. That requires a good degree of marketing. Where there are numerous ways to market, this is where initial attention needs to center when starting a new practice. Money somehow affords a false sense of luxury that distracts from this goal. In this day and age marketing does not take a good deal of money. It does takes a good deal of energy, planning, diligence and tenacity.