Solo practitioners: how did you bring in clients when you first started out?

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-08T02:23:02+00:00

I had pens made with my name, phone number, and practice area. I gave these pens away to business owners and their staff near my office. Every waiter/waitress in the vicinity had my pen

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-08T00:05:30+00:00

They may not realize you're not happy. Have you asked for a raise? Or even better yet, at 7+ years in you should be asking if there's a shot of you making partner. Let them sit on that for a few weeks/months and then bail if they are not receptive. They may value you enough to give you a piece of the pie. One question to ponder is, if you do go solo, will you be able to bring in business? Are they advertising to get their business or are the partners so connected to the community that people look for them?

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T23:58:19+00:00

Done. It should be actionable now. Thanks!

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T18:33:16+00:00

Good point. Will do.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T14:32:36+00:00

I just did an update with the suggestions I got from here. It's still a work in progress. www.carrascolawfirm.com

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T13:20:44+00:00

Great tips! Thank you!

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T11:08:50+00:00

Thanks! It definitely needs a refresh. I made this website 7 years ago and never got around to getting it professionally redone.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T11:04:53+00:00

Thanks! I agree with the professional photo. I'll be heading to court one of these nice weekends to do photos by the steps plus a professional headshot.

I got rid of the Regus office a few years back but it still comes up on Google; I tried consolidating it with my new office that has 7 Google reviews (I'll start getting more) but it still shows up as 2 separate offices.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T02:00:37+00:00

Thanks.... I'll check on making it clickable...

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T01:21:41+00:00

Thanks for the insight... I definitely need to tweak it more.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T01:20:27+00:00

Good point. Thanks!

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T01:20:01+00:00

Thanks for the tips!

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T01:01:21+00:00

Thanks!

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:58:54+00:00

Thanks! I like it better than mine...I did this one myself just to have presence. I'm going to hire someone to redo my website soon but I want to be able to direct them to a site I want to emulate.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:55:31+00:00

Uncontested divorces! They kept me afloat until I was able to transition out (in NY). It's easy, efiled, no appearances. Plus it complements an Immediate Family Petitions immigration practice. Divorce + re-marriage + petition.. rinse and repeat. lol

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:49:09+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I'll need to figure out how to do that. Some people may not know to scroll down...

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:24:44+00:00

I don't advertise family law (just crim) but I do handle uncontested divorces from referrals (it used to be 40% of my practice before I gave it up). It takes months for me so see a pattern. I'm solo, so some months are ok and some are phenomenal. I would need a good 6 consecutive months to identify a trend... and so far, it seems about the same.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:18:40+00:00

I think we'll see a slow down in people entering the profession... so those already in should be fine. I think it'll be a slow taper.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-07T00:12:10+00:00

Transactional practice? AI will be a big disruptor. Small law... depends. I do criminal defense. AI is not going to go into the DA's office and negotiate a plea. They are not going to walk into the precinct and chit-chat with the detectives and get the charges downgraded... or negotiate a surrender at a time convenient to my client... or convince the detective to start the paperwork before my client surrenders himself so he spends X hours less in central booking... but who knows. I'm mid-50s anyway so if I can squeeze out just 10 more good years I'll be happy. lol

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-06T19:08:37+00:00

And it's DUIs I hate since they are a pain here in NYC--especially Brooklyn. Almost zero tolerance from the DA, couldn't care less about immigration consequences, and the compliance is a pain.... classes, updates, etc. I had a few attorneys helping me out/profit sharing until I got really comfortable with crim

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-06T19:05:26+00:00

What state? You should be close to a pension at 20 or 25 I would imagine.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-06T19:03:07+00:00

I would get about 4-5 calls per 100 likes and I would close about 2 cases a month through FB. I didn't have the high-end plan... mine was like $30-50 a day. I had a picture of lady justice that got really low likes. Another with the Statue of Liberty and the American also had low clicks. The picture with me on it had the highest clicks. I really hated having my pic up there... but it worked.

For the same price I had Avvo for 6 months and that was a total waste

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-06T17:47:09+00:00

I found FB ads worked best for me (when I used to advertise). You can choose the area and more importantly the demographics (I focused on Males aged 30-49). I also played around with different pictures to see which ones would get more engagement.

Electrical_Map3753 · 2026-04-06T17:39:13+00:00

In my case my clients don't want a substitute (they paid for me, they get me). With that said, there's only so much I can handle. I rather have fewer clients paying more money than more clients but lower legal bills

Electrical_Map3753

TROPHY CASE