Small Law Firms

Get Business Without Getting Disbarred

Small law firms face many obstacles. Try to avoid them.

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Officially the above wasn’t the title of the 14th annual small law firm symposium of the New York City Bar Association, but it gets to the point faster. Every year, the bar association invites small law firms and solo practitioners to an event to discuss the unique challenges facing small practitioners in the country’s biggest city — though many of the lessons apply anywhere you go in America.

Everyone knows that smalls and solos face the daunting task of fitting a full-time job as a lawyer and a full-time job as a small business owner into one 24-hour day. It’s enough to break any attorney, and that’s before you realize that the financial crisis forced an inordinate number of attorneys directly from law school to shingle without the seasoning the profession used to afford. That’s why local bar associations are so essential.

Here are some key takeaways:

* Make the city a client — The Law Department has a bevy of attorneys under its roof, but that’s still not enough for all the legal work the metropolis faces. The city routinely hires outside counsel to conduct all manner of work from pre-hearing examinations, to med mal matters, to admiralty work. It’s probably not all that likely that Lincoln, Nebraska is offering admiralty work, but who knows?

* Sign up for targeted programs — If a firm is 51 percent owned, controlled and operated by women and minority group members, it can apply for certification from the city that increases the odds of getting city business. While the panelists spoke about New York’s program, some other jurisdictions offer something similar.

* Don’t forget low-end tech solutions — Jeff Storey of New York Law Journal notes that one of the first rules of Small Law Club is “you do not talk about a client’s personal or confidential data in Small Law Club”:

Attorneys interested in the “nuts and bolts” of starting a law firm listened as Matthew Foreman, a solo attorney, described the equipment they’d need.

It probably came as no surprise that they’d have to acquire a computer and the right software to run it.

But his next suggestion might have seemed more unusual to some. Purchase a shredder, he said.

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* The best ethical defense is transparency — According to disciplinary referee James Shed, quoted in the New York Law Journal article, most disciplinary complaints boil down to a breakdown in communication. Engagement letters that leave the client blindsided, long lulls in activity that feel like neglect, and a general failure to manage expectations are all disputes that are often solved by an ounce of prevention.

* Don’t be afraid to hire an attorney if you end up in a disciplinary matter —

However, the disciplinary department does not hold it against a lawyer if he or she hires an attorney for more serious issues.

“Get counsel if you can’t handle it,” said Shed.

But retain “someone who practices before us, not your cousin Vinny,” said Jorge Dopico, the chief counsel of the disciplinary department.

Smalls and solos are already overworked. It might even be how they ended up in this boat. So why add their own matter to the plate?

Try hiring Jerry Callo instead — I hear that guy’s great.

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Small Law Firms Gather to Get Advice of Their Own [New York Law Journal]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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