There’s a big difference between simply “being” a lawyer and building a law practice. Even for solo-practitioners who have been in business for years it can be difficult to know the difference. Below are six signs that you’re building a law practice and not just caught in the cycle of providing legal services.

1. You have a dominance plan.  Some attorneys go with the flow by providing services to people and organizations as issues arise. However, attorneys who are serious about building a law practice have developed a plan to dominate a particular industry. They find out who needs their services and they create a plan to be the person that the target market thinks of first when they need legal services for certain issues.
2. You aim to be known.  Staying too busy to attend conferences and become a thought leader could cause you to miss the boat when it comes to building your practice.  Attorneys who are successful at building their legal practice, set aside time to write, speak, and stay at the center of their audience by engaging them with important information. If you want to be known as a leading attorney in your field, you must take the time to become the go-to person for information—be active on social media, do interviews for news publications, and conduct workshops at conferences. I make sure to take interview opportunities when they are presented and share my expertise as best as I can even if it’s personal or for Smokeball.
3. You problem solve. Good attorneys provide stellar legal services to their target industry, but great attorneys with thriving practices provide problem solving.  If you’re building a powerful legal practice you are also identifying common legal problems in your target industry and developing solutions that take into account your clients’ unique situations.
4. You have a business plan.  Even the most skilled attorneys can get shy around numbers. However, any attorney who wants to build a successful legal practice will make it priority to run the numbers.  Is your target market a viable one? Can they provide the income you need to thrive? How many hours do you need to bill to cover your baseline expenses and make a profit?  Is your market big enough to allow you to grow?  These are the type of questions you will need to answer if you want to do more than simply provide legal services to your niche.
5. You know when to say “no.” Not every opportunity is really what is seems to be. The attorneys who have the most success building their legal practices understand that some “opportunities” are better left alone. If you want your law firm to thrive you must be able to recognize when a client is more trouble than they are worth or when they simply will cost you more than you could ever gain.  Understanding your fee structure and the finances of your target market is the key to understanding when you will need to decline clients.
6. You can delegate.  No attorney can build a truly successful and self-sustaining law firm on their own.  At some point you will need to delegate some of the work to others. You must be willing and able to hand off non-billable tasks to a secretary or even train another attorney to work with you on complex or time-consuming cases.

Running a successful law firm requires you to become more than just a legal service provider, you must also become a business person.

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Jane Oxley is President of Smokeball, a productivity and case management software provider that increases efficiency and profitability for solo attorneys and small law firms. Jane’s worked in the legal field for her entire career, spending over 20 years engaged with small law firms. She has a strong affinity with small law firms and the crucial role they play in the communities they serve and is passionate about helping them work towards more productive and less stressful practices.