Biglaw, Small Law Firms

Biglaw Didn’t Teach Me How To Handle Initial Consultations

How can you keep potential clients from running to another firm after you've given them free advice in an initial consultation?

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In my first column, I mentioned that I’m a ways away from being in a position to advise other solos on how to succeed. Just because in some of the subsequent columns I may have adopted a pedagogical tone here and there doesn’t mean anything’s changed. That fact really walloped me in the head this past week, when no fewer than seven people (!) took advantage of a free — or almost free — initial consultation, and then, after I had advised them on what should be done (foolishly thinking they would hire me to do it), decided to either use someone cheaper or try to do it themselves.

Of course, ideally, you never want to give any legal advice for free. Ideally, you get paid for all of your consultations, initial or otherwise.

Ideally, Katy Perry would be my girlfriend, Elon Musk would be a client, my marathon PR would be 5 minutes faster, I would leave work at 6 p.m. every day, and my office would have a view of the Statue of Liberty instead of a brick wall. Knowing what is ideal doesn’t always help.

So maybe for some of us, the ideal world isn’t here just yet. Back here on earth, when you’re starting out, people are going to be kicking your tires, and they’re going to expect a free consultation. This is tricky for us corporate folks. The grass always looks greener, but I have to believe initial consultations are less risky for litigators than corporate lawyers. A litigator can tell someone what his/her strategy would be in a case, and there’s no real danger the client will then go to a cheaper attorney and say, “implement this strategy.” (At least I wouldn’t think so.)

For my startups practice, two huge questions for people in my potential client pool are “Should I be a C-corp or an LLC?” and “Where do I incorporate/organize?” After a few minutes of talking to someone, 99% of the time I’ll know the best answer, based on the education and experience I gleaned via $150K of student loans, years of Biglaw partners running me ragged, and then the last few years of representing startups. (Whereas someone else might very well say “everyone should be a Delaware C-corp,” and leave it at that.)  It’s really asking too much to answer these questions in any kind of free or reduced-rate consultation.

The ability to say to someone, “Yep, I know what you should do and after you pay me I’ll tell you,” is a skill. It’s hard not to go ahead and blurt it out. I remember watching the U.S. Open one year and Dick Enberg was telling viewers to log onto nbcsports.com to hear what John McEnroe thought about Boris Becker retiring. McEnroe was standing beside him and said, “I can tell you what I think right now.” It’s kind of like that.

When you’re an associate in Biglaw, you don’t have to worry about initial consultations. Unless you’re one of those associates who have managed to acquire some unique expertise, you’re probably not giving one-on-one initial consultations to any actual, real-life potential clients. Partners have to do it, sure. I guess. The only time I can remember being asked to speak with a potential client — when the company had insisted on talking to the person who would actually be doing the work — the partner gave me no guidance beyond telling me if we didn’t land the client my “ass is grass.” (Just kidding.)

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Biglaw may not have taught me how to handle initial consultations, but SmallLaw has taught me there’s nothing I can’t eventually figure out. Billing. Time sucks to avoid. Outsourcing. Marketing. All those things were learned through trial and error. (Not that I’ve actually mastered any.) For some reason I’m confident that after a few more errors, I’ll figure this one out too.

Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and compliance matters for investment funds, small businesses, and non-profits, occasionally dabbling in litigation. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

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