Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners

What To Do If You Are Too Busy

Here is the SmallLaw guide for what to do if you are too busy.

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Gary J. Ross

Gary J. Ross

Last week, we took a short quiz to determine if you are too busy. (Among the questions were, “Are you too busy for Facebook?” and “Do you spend most of each day apologizing to clients for being late on various deliverables?”) You were either not busy, moderately busy, absolutely busy, or honest-to-God too busy. Today’s column is for the folks in that last category, who make the rest of the world look like slackers.

Here is the SmallLaw guide for what to do if you are too busy:

Raise your rates. If you’re working yourself to the bone, maybe you have too many clients, or your clients are calling you too often. It’s time to raise your rates.

Delegate. Take a hard look at what’s on your plate and see what can be pushed down to your associates (or Of Counsels). Maybe the agreement the client has asked for is too sophisticated for a more junior person to handle on his/her own, but is every single section of the agreement too sophisticated? Can an associate at least prepare the boilerplate in the back? Or take a stab at the reps in a general way? Maybe you gave your word to your client that you and only you would work on their matter. But if you scored a 14 on last week’s quiz it’s time to ask yourself: How strong is your word? Did you have your fingers crossed behind your back? Have your people help you out.

Outsource. Or maybe just have someone else entirely do the first draft. There are some lawyers who specifically offer research and drafting services to other lawyers. To me, dealing with clients is the best part of being a lawyer — why would anyone want to just do the grunt work? — but to each their own. Some of the contract attorney services can have someone in your office the next day, or even that very afternoon. You never know who you’re going to get: Once I was sent someone who had graduated from a top 5 law school and had had a distinguished legal career, but he had somehow found himself in New York instead of where he was admitted and he was trying to figure out his next step. He was great.

Raise those rates. Did I mention this? If you’re so in demand that you’re sleeping in your office, it’s time to raise those rates. Find out who really appreciates your services.

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Make hard choices. Something has to give. Do you need to keep your Gmail open during the day? What emergencies come to you via your personal email that requiring constant monitoring? Specials at J. Crew? Maybe they can wait until you get home. Cut out the time-sucks. Sting once said he has sex for seven hours at a time, but then a few years ago he had cut back to five hours. If Sting can do it, you can do it! Just think of what you can do with those two extra hours.

Focus on what you do best. Taking too many matters outside of your core practice area can drain your resources. I’ve learned this lesson. Sometimes it’s a current client who asks if I can help out with something that sounds simple, but is something I’ve never done before. About 75% of the time, this turns into a massive clustertruck that zaps all of my team’s time, and I can’t really present a longtime client with a bill that includes thousands and thousands of dollars for background research because I stupidly agreed to take on a matter I shouldn’t have. No one likes to see a billing entry that reads “trying to figure out what the hell was going on.” If you don’t immediately know what someone is talking about, refer it out. Trust that you have enough work in your core practice area.

Take a break. Yep, you read that right. You have too much to do, so stop. Take a deep breath, back away from the monitor, stand up from the chair, walk around the desk, open the door, and take a brisk walk around the building. Suck up those city fumes. Then go back into the office with a bit more pep in your step.

Learn a new word. The word “no.” Start using it today. Use it often.

Lastly, raise your rates.

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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 securities matters for startups, large and small businesses, private equity funds, and investors in each, and also has a number of non-profit clients. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

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