How to Launch a Successful Solo Law Practice in 2024
If it sounds like AI wrote that title, it’s because it did. I’ve been percolating on this idea to blog about my experience as a lawyer and business owner in part because I genuinely love it, and in part because I think you might love it, too. For blogging, like entrepreneurship, there’s really nothing to do but to do it. So I did some googling last week about how to write a successful blog and found this cool resource that provided comprehensive AI prompts for content generation. Not full articles, but “SEO-friendly” outlines with keywords that you fill in with your own writing.
Was this the magic solution to effortless and friction-free writing? Read on to find out.
One theme you will see here is that I love leveraging technology to make work more efficient. It is one of the reasons I am able to run a super-lean, profitable business with no employees. I’m always happy to try a new tool for a new purpose, and I’m not in the camp with those who believe AI will take our jobs or take over the world or whatever.
So I plugged the prompts into the AI machine and asked it to outline an article for me on “solo law practice startup.”
Here’s what it said in introduction:
“Did you know that approximately 25% of lawyers in the United States are solo practitioners? Starting a solo law practice isn't just a career choice—it's an entrepreneurial journey that demands strategic planning and unwavering determination! Launching your own legal business offers unprecedented freedom, but it also comes with unique challenges that require careful navigation.”
Okay, gag, but whatever, I can edit the intro. What about the rest? What are the six things AI thinks you need to know to launch a successful solo law practice in 2024? Perhaps those would be useful. Let’s see.
AI thinks I should write about the following to help you get your firm off the ground:
1. Understanding the Legal Landscape for Solo Practitioners
Current market trends for solo law practices, opportunities and challenges in different legal specialties, importance of identifying your niche market, and regulatory considerations for new solo attorneys.
2. Essential Business Planning for Your Law Practice
Developing a comprehensive business plan, legal structure options (LLC, PC, sole proprietorship), initial capital requirements and funding strategies, and financial projections and break-even analysis.
3. Technology and Tools for Efficient Practice Management
Must-have practice management software, cybersecurity essentials for law firms, communication and client management tools, and productivity and billing technologies.
4. Marketing and Client Acquisition Strategies
Building a professional online presence, developing a targeted marketing strategy, networking and referral generation techniques, and content marketing for lawyers.
5. Legal and Ethical Considerations
Malpractice insurance requirements, compliance with state bar regulations, trust accounting and financial management, and professional ethics and client confidentiality.
6. Financial Management for Solo Attorneys
Pricing strategies for legal services, tax planning and accounting, managing cash flow, and building financial resilience
This list actually is quite useful. If you want to start your own solo law firm, read it and then make the very deliberate choice to ignore (almost) all of it. Some of these things may be valid considerations at some point, but almost none of this is actually required to get your firm started.
This is a flawless illustration of the trap that so many would-be entrepreneurs fall into. It actually does not need to be complicated. You don’t need a “comprehensive business plan,” you don’t need a “targeted marketing strategy,” and you don’t need the “must-have practice management software.”*
You need three things to launch a solo law firm in 2024:
Malpractice insurance.
Clients
Your lawyer brain and willingness to figure it out as you go.
The first is self-explanatory. Get insurance. Do not try to save money by waiting to get insurance. Ask a friend, check with your bar association, or google it. Find a way to get malpractice insurance before you start.
The second is simple, but can feel difficult, and I promise to write a lot more about it in future posts. For now, the best thing you can do is strive to keep it simple. Here’s my formula for getting clients:
Tell someone you are a lawyer and explain how you help people. Repeat until your phone won’t stop ringing.
Your goal at the beginning should be to meet as many people as possible, tell them you’re a lawyer, and have a clear statement of the value you provide your clients. Don’t try to make this perfect. Refine it through practice. Have dinner with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, post about it on your personal social media, join a networking group. Whatever it takes, just start.
One helpful thing to keep in mind is that the person you are talking to is not your prospective client. If you think of them that way, you’ll come off as a creepy car salesman. Trust me. If you just focus on letting them know the value you provide, without thinking of them as a client (read: potential revenue source for your new business), every person they know becomes a potential client.
A very high percentage of my clients are referred to me by someone who knows me personally (friends, current and former clients, colleagues, etc.). A very small percentage of my clients are people who knew me before they became a client. And an even smaller percentage found me on Google. Intentionally developing your network (without being creepy), is by far the most effective way to grow your business.
Finally, you need to trust yourself to figure it out as you go along. Trust that as your business grows and needs become apparent, you will figure it out. You may need an IOLTA account, but unless you’re collecting advance fee deposits, you don’t need it right away. Organizing your business as an LLC might make sense at some point, but it’s probably fine to start as a sole proprietorship. There are lots of great tools for practice management, bookkeeping, and client communication, but until you’ve got some volume, you won’t really know what you need. Spreadsheets and email will probably suffice for now.
And, for the love of all that is good and holy, you do not need a Comprehensive Business Plan. Having written a bunch of business plans for various reasons in the past, I can tell you that any “planning” you do before you’ve actually started will be utterly useless.
The most important thing that you need to know to launch a successful solo law practice in 2024 is that no amount of planning or preparation or research will do it. You just need to start.
*I am an immense Clio fangirl. I love, love, LOVE it for my practice, and will write in more detail about all the wonderful things it does for me. But I didn’t start using it until after I had a solid handful of clients with new business coming in semi-regularly.
**A bit of a disclaimer: I’m a lawyer and I write about the practice of law. Nothing herein is intended to be legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by consumption of this content. I assume if you’re here, you’re probably a lawyer, too, so it’s on you to figure out what legal requirements you’ll need to comply with if this blog inspires you into action. If you need a lawyer, and think I might be the lawyer for you, please click the “Law Firm” link at the top of the blog and get in touch with me there.
