how to start a successful law firm in under 30 days
TRANSCRIPT
How to Start a Successful
Small Law Firm In under 30 days
with John Corcoran, Esq.
My Mission: Help you to earn more income by building sincere, honest relationships with people
who matter by giving first…
What’s your mission? Who are you passionate about
serving?
I’m going to walk you through how I did it…
What it took to go from miserably unhappy lawyer working for a law firm I didn’t like
To founding my own small law firm that brought in over $500,000 in
under 3 years
That I can run from my laptop anywhere
with an Internet connection
After I had never built a business before and had no clue how to
land clients
Only a few years out of law school
Not having the “experience” to be a successful
attorney…
With over $127,000 in law school debt
On today’s training I’m going to walk you through
how you can do this as well … and do it in the next 30 days
No matter what area of law you practice,
where in the world you practice, and even if
you’ve never landed a client before…
Even if you don’t know what practice area to focus on, or if you are struggling
to increase your revenues
1. Shocking statistics from the Legal Profession 2. My Story 3. Examples of Other Small Firm Lawyers Making 6
Figures a Year 4. How to Make $10,000 in your 1st Month 5. 5 Steps to Launch a Successful Small Law Firm in
30 days 6. Explain my course to help you launch your own
small law firm 7. Q&A at the end
Agenda
First I want to share some
information on the state of the legal
profession
Warning: it’s a little bleak
A Johns Hopkins study found
lawyers have the highest rate of
depression of any profession
Lawyers are 2X as likely to struggle with alcohol abuse as general population
Lawyers are 3 to 6 times more likely to kill
themselves than people in other
professions
But here’s the good news…
Lawyers who work for themselves or in small firms are
MUCH happier than lawyers working in large firms
Only half of attorneys who join large law firms out of law school are likely to be practicing law in 10 years 85% of the attorneys who join small law firms are likely to still be practicing in 10 years
New software companies and startups have revolutionized the legal profession
Don’t start a new profession… START WORKING FOR YOURSELF.
It’s easier than ever to start your own law firm quickly
More good news: Approximately 70% of the
lawyers in private practice in the U.S. are in firms of 10 or fewer
lawyers
Nearly 50% of U.S. lawyers in private practice are sole
practitioners. - ABA
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS with the right people is the #1 thing you can do to be successful in business – yes, even running a law firm business.
I paid my dues, working for other law firms, learning how
to be a lawyer.
I was working my butt off,
60+ hour weeks
I was miserable.
I didn’t see my family. I hated it. I was
constantly complaining.
I had no control over the work I did or the clients I was working
with.
I desperately wanted to work for myself, to run my own firm.
I wanted to choose my own clients and run my
firm my way.
Then my friend Riley asked me a question…
“Are you going to be unhappy the rest of your life or are you
going to take a chance?”
So I decided to take a leap –
to start my own firm.
I opened my doors and was afraid I
would have nothing to do.
My first month, I made over 3X what I made at my previous
firm.
In under 3 years,
I made over $500,000.
I had the freedom I always wanted to run the firm how I wanted, wherever I wanted.
Small law firms and sole
practitioners are going to continue to do well in the 21st century for a
number of reasons.
Technology has made it much easier to do work
previously only large law firms could handle.
You can run a law firm from a laptop in
a coffee shop.
During the economic downturn of 2008-2009, large law firms laid off
thousands of lawyers.
The Enterprise Legal Management
Trends Report noted that more work is shifting from large law firms
to smaller law firms (2013)
This is why it’s the PERFECT
time for you to make the “LEAP” and start your own law firm.
How to Make $10,000 in your First
Month
$10,000 $250 = 40 hours/month
10 HOURS per week
That’s just
1-2 CLIENTS per week
That’s just
The 5-Step Process for creating a Successful Small Law Firm
In 30 days
Step 1
Set Your Launch Date
Step 1: Set your launch date - Work backwards from launch date to set “done by” dates
(i.e. Jan 1st start date) - Pick last date working at old firm (add 1-2 week buffer
before starting new firm) - Pick “14-day notice” date - Select date to inform everyone of new contact info (i.e. 7
days prior to last date at old firm) - Select deadlines for new office, new malpractice
insurance, new phone number, new website, new email address, office supplies, discussions with clients, discussions with referral partners
Step 2
Create Action Plan
Step 2: Create Action Plan - Choose new Office Space - Select Malpractice insurance carrier - Identify Research & billing software - Form new entity - Set up new bank account - Create new LSA - Set up new website - Select dates to inform old clients, referral partners,
other attorneys, friends, etc.
Step 3
Choose Your Tools of the Trade
Step 3: Your Tools
- Cell phone, email, fax line (optional) - Set up website/blog - Modify social media profiles: LinkedIn,
Avvo - Create Yelp profile, Google profile - Press release / notify publications
Step 4
Your Clients
Step 4: Your Clients - Before & after transition, set up lunches or
coffee with past clients, key referral partners
- Call your best clients - Create email list of all current and past
clients, referral partners - (Optional): create educational live webinar
or teleseminar after launch for past clients
Step 5
Time to Launch!
Step 5: Time to Launch! - Your new office is set up - You have research tools in place - New email address & website working - Malpractice insurance is active - Clients and referral partners are informed - By the time you start, everything is in place
I want to ask you an
important question…
Are you going to be unhappy the rest of your life or are you going
to take a chance?
Who are you passionate about serving?
How would you feel?
What would it be like
if you could serve that client over and over
again and make a 6-figure income doing it?
Once you identify your ideal clients & begin serving them (removing the headaches of practicing law), you will start earning the
income you deserve.
How to Launch and Grow Your own Thriving Small Law Firm