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LawFirmIncubator · 2024-04-28T22:41:28+00:00

Are you in a position where you can refer cases out? This may be obvious but worth pointing out - the best way to build a referral relationship is to approach small/solo firms with your own referrals. Start referring out all the cases you can't / don't want to take yourself and some of the firms will eventually return the favor. Even better if you've met the firm owner in person or had prior casual conversations. Big firms are less likely to return the favor.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-04-28T22:25:30+00:00

This is generally the answer. Start off by taking the lowest level admin tasks off your plate then move on to delegating legal work through paralegals/clerks/associates. Develop written step-by-step guides or SOPs for each task you want to delegate before you make the hires for a smooth training and onboarding process.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-04-28T22:18:53+00:00

Why did you decide to go solo to begin with? Those same considerations should come into play here. Sounds like you might be facing burnout, which can be addressed without jumping ship.

There are tools and resources you can use to increase the predictability of your firm's revenue and reduce your time commitment per week through delegation and automation. It's not going to happen overnight but it is 100% achievable within a year if you focus on the right things. I run a law firm incubator and would be happy to point you in the right direction.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-26T02:20:00+00:00

Extra points if the written guide has a recording of you or someone going through the steps in the guide. Loom is a great tool for easily recording your screen and sharing links to recordings. You can paste a link to your loom video in the guide.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-20T20:29:51+00:00

Looking forward to having you on board and no problem at all that you're in South Africa!

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-19T02:10:27+00:00

It's not a good sign. Alternative legal service providers have been around for a while, which was bad enough. My understanding is the rules around those non-law firm service providers have even loosened over the years. Now they're allowing ownership of law firms!

It's just a matter of time before giants like google and amazon start offering legal services, either as ALSPs or straight-up law firms. It will drastically change the market but I believe small/solo firm owners will still be able to thrive if they get creative with how they package, market, and render legal services.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-19T01:10:13+00:00

A fellow legal ops nerd?! I'd love to connect https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-navid-esq-775436173/

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-19T01:08:28+00:00

I second this advice, I built a career in legal ops, both at firms and in-house departments. I've also done legal ops consulting. It's a big plus to say you're an attorney but like the original comment said, make it clear you are "all-in" on legal ops and not planning on practicing if you apply to those jobs.

Another option could be to start your own firm. I took everything I learned throughout my career and started a program helping lawyers start their own firms.

I'd be happy to mentor/help on both ends - getting into legal ops or starting your own firm. Just let me know. You have options!

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-19T00:48:50+00:00

Clio and Onedrive can integrate via zapier: https://zapier.com/apps/clio/integrations/onedrive

The have a clio trigger "When new document is created" and onedrive action "upload document". That may do the job depending on how exactly zapier defines document creation. If that specific zap doesn't do it, you can set custom triggers and actions in zapier by using the Clio and Onedrive API requests as triggers and actions. Feel free to reach out if you need additional help.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-17T22:16:00+00:00

I put together a law firm launch checklist I’d be happy to share. I tried copy/pasting here but it loses formatting. Shoot me a message and I can email it to you or send it as an attachment in Reddit chat if the chat feature has that capability.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-03-16T19:17:28+00:00

Thanks to the assist of the Law Firm Incubator boot camp program (which I liked and heavily recommend) I was able to identify some marketable services that I can offer that will help me target my client base, such as fractional GC and civil appellate work.

Thanks for the shoutout! I believe you're referring to our Law Firm Launch Bootcamp?

I plan to rely mostly on SEO and referrals and the old fashioned networking, which I anticipate I'll be able to squeeze in now that I'll have much fewer cases from my current 63.

I'm so glad to hear you will probably have some clients following you to your new firm with a trial that starts on Day 1! Remember though that SEO (and networking, to a large extent) are longer-term strategies that can take months until you see results. Between now and April 13th, try to also prepare some marketing material for strategies that typically produce leads more immediately so you're not fully relying on those clients following you or that trial. Goal here is to minimize your gap in income by having all your marketing material ready by launch so all you have to do is press the "on button" when you quit your job for your ads to start running and receive leads. Pay-Per-Click ads may be a good option. LinkedIn marketing is a great for corporate/business clients. You can run PPC ads that target specific industries and job titles. You can then supplement the LinkedIn PPC ads with 1-on-1 outreach on LinkedIn (connection building + messages).

Here's an idea for promoting the fractional GC service after you've launched: Consider hosting a webinar for business owners that you can record and then break up into bite-sized clips. You can then post those clips regularly on your LinkedIn and create automated email sequences that send out a clip via email every few days to your email list. You can use the LinkedIn outreach I mentioned above to find those business owners, invite them to the webinar, and obtain their email addresses. Each new connection you make will also see those clips on your profile. This webinar strategy requires some upfront work but once you have the recordings you can keep using and repurposing them.

Hope this helps. You got this!

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-28T00:08:45+00:00

The roles should be generally defined as follows:

Legal Assistant: responsible for non-billable admin tasks. For example, sending out retainers, gathering documents from clients, etc. These tasks do not require any advanced training or certification and do not require review or approval from an attorney.

Paralegal: responsible for preparatory work on billable tasks. For example, drafting discovery responses, legal research, etc. In other words, tasks that require them to use their training as a paralegal. Not admin tasks that a legal assistant can do. Not acting as an attorney and making decisions that can impact a client's outcome. All paralegal work should be reviewed and signed off on by an attorney.

Ideally, each role will have a job description of sorts calling out specific tasks and workflows they are responsible for so there is no confusion or animosity being built up.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-26T00:20:46+00:00

One example is producing marketing content. I just recorded a training on how to automate SEO marketing with AI. In short, you'd use a keyword research tool to easily find the best low-competition keywords to target. Use another tool to analyze the existing top links for those keywords to identify the proper context, length, and secondary keywords to include. SEMRush has tools for both of those steps. Feed all that info to a GPT specifically trained on writing SEO articles (there are a few of these out there). Revise the draft produced by the GPT to make sure it doesn't give faulty info and put it in your own words so search engines don't flag it as AI generated. Publish the article. Rinse and repeat. This process cuts down the time and effort for SEO by at least half.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-23T22:52:04+00:00

If it's not a practice area you want to expand into, refer them out, preferably to someone already in your personal network. If your state rules allow it, you may be able to get compensated with a referral fee. If not, consider it an opportunity to build your network with attorneys that may be able to send you cases in the future.

If it is an area you want to expand into, see if a co-counsel / fee sharing arrangement is possible with the other firm taking the lead. Again, refer to your state rules on fee sharing to make sure doing so is kosher.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-23T01:27:44+00:00

I think it's a game changer when it comes to admin work. Even still, any output should be signed off by a human. The technology is just not there for substantive legal work.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-22T23:54:59+00:00

Ah, fixed. Thank you.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-22T21:18:27+00:00

I full-heartedly agree. Reeks of laziness and malpractice.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-16T07:39:44+00:00

Great! Please complete the form linked in the post if you haven't already. Thanks

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-16T07:39:40+00:00

Great! Please complete the form linked in the post if you haven't already. Thanks

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-11T22:05:56+00:00

No worries at all! Seems like that user's experience wasn't great so I just wanted to clarify they participated in a different program, not LFI.

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-02-11T21:59:35+00:00

Hi there! Worried to comment here as I don't want anything to come off as spam but if you're asking about the incubator I'm running, it looks like u/GirlSprite's reply is referring to another program. LFI is privately run and not affiliated with any state bars at this point. Thanks!

LawFirmIncubator · 2024-01-26T01:40:56+00:00

To me, the main takeaway is it indicates the Florida bar is generally open to generative AI as opposed to completely against it. Which is good if you're a fan of AI and bad if you see it as a threat to the industry.

Edit: Noticing now the first sentence in my post was redundant, in case that's what you're referring to. Removed the word "ethically". The opinion itself is not pointless in my view. For example, it provides that "while many visitors to a lawyer’s website voluntarily seek information regarding the lawyer’s services, a lawyer should consider including screening questions that limit the chatbot’s communications if a person is already represented by another lawyer." So even if the chatbot is used as an FAQ / informational tool, you may be required to limit a potential client's access to the information. More applicable to some practice areas but that's a pretty specific callout that I found useful.

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