Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Kids, Small Law Firms

Beyond Biglaw: Tell It To A 4th Grader

How would you explain the business of law to a bunch of fourth graders?

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I have some important appointments coming up. Among them is a visit to my second son’s fourth-grade class. My topic, before what I am sure from prior experience will be an engaged and inquisitive audience? The business of law. The kids are preparing for their business fair, and the teacher asked for parents who work in different industries to discuss how they manage and run their businesses.

I happen to be speaking to the class on the first anniversary of our new boutique firm. It was a year filled with a lot of lessons, especially on the “business of law” front. Five years as a partner at two Biglaw firms is not effective preparation for starting a new legal business. In Biglaw, partners get used to having functions like accounting, tech support, and other “business” issues taken care of. Which usually results in a carefully cultivated cluelessness as to how to actually operate a legal practice. There is a reason that there are services that specialize in getting small law practices off the ground.

With a fourth-grade audience, I know that I will have to stick to what is essential. But law is a complicated, regulated industry. If I was a store owner selling widgets it would be simple. I would tell the students that I try to buy the widgets for cheap and sell them for more than I bought them for. A few words about overhead, followed by some time for questions, and we would be done.

I do plan on talking about things like overhead (rent, employees, insurance) with the students. And how that overhead needs to be taken into account when deciding what and how to charge for our services. I also plan to mention how lawyers, even solo practitioners, don’t operate on their own. You need help, whether it be from an accountant, a secretary or paralegal, or even from software. One point I want to stress for the students is that offloading administrative work may come at a cost, but those costs are worthwhile if you have more time to focus on actual legal work. Or business development.

Part of me is curious to see what if anything the kids already know about the business of law. In our family, we don’t really discuss finances with our kids, much less the nuances of selecting a corporate structure for our law firm. We do try to teach our children financial responsibility, but that is a discussion for another column. For now, I am interested in asking the class something like, “How do lawyers make money?” Their answers should be interesting. For Biglaw lawyers, the answer is usually a simple one. “We were able to convince a corporate employee to pay an exorbitant amount for our hourly time, so that same corporate employee can say to management that they made a fail-safe choice when seeking help for a legal problem the company is dealing with.” Or some variation of the above.

It will be interesting to see what the kids think about fee structures, in all their variations. I think they will easily grasp the idea of flat fees, and should be able to discern why contingency arrangements can work in certain situations. When it comes to explaining hourly rates, it might be a little tougher. How to explain to them that my Biglaw hourly rate was greater than the cost of an (unlocked) iPhone? I am curious what their reaction will be to that. They will probably ask why someone would not just look for a cheaper lawyer.

I think it is also important to explain to the kids the difference between a service and product-based business. And the difference between a client and a customer. The latter is easy — you just have to provide them with a good product at a mutually-agreeable price. But clients are more than customers. I wonder if the kids will understand the concept of having a duty to place a client’s interest before one’s own, for example. Or the idea that you can’t represent certain clients because of conflicts of interest with existing clients. These concepts may prove a bit foreign to them. But reminding ourselves of them never hurts either.

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One thing I know for certain: fourth graders don’t care about work-life balance. My son wants me around when he needs me, and to do fun things together. Otherwise, he prefers to see me working than to deal with me trying to exercise in the basement while he is playing video games nearby. He understands that I take my work seriously and that it pays the bills. I even think he appreciates how important it is to like what you do for a living, and how sometimes being a professional requires sacrifice. At least I hope he learns something useful from the example I am trying to set.

Finally, I think I would be remiss if I did not talk to the kids about the importance of pro bono (in the legal context), or generally giving of your time and resources to help those less fortunate — no matter what business you are in. If there is one message that I hope they take from my appearance in their classroom, it is that no matter what you do for a living, there is always a way to do well while also doing good.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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