Re: Meanwhile, for those of you who practice law.....

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You misunderstood my post. I am not chasing the people who
already have filed. I never said I would send out a "nice
letter". I said that I am now holding myself out to the
director of my Chamber of Commerce as a business lawyer,
meaning that when new lawyers call her for a referral, she
will give my name. I will then advise the new business as to
typical start-up issues such as: forming an LLC, corporation,
or partnership agreement; reviewing and negotiating commercial
leases; assisting with commercial financing and related UCC
issues; preparation and review of business acquisition
documents when necessary; assisting with permitting; filing of
business certificates; etc. Yes, most of these businesses will
not survive, but hopefully the ones who do will remain clients.

What other name do you write posts under?

On 5/15/06, Jimmy wrote:
> JF,
>
> Exactly what kind of business do you do for new startups?
> They have already established their entity, hence the public
> filing, and they are usually broke and undercapitalized,
> hence the fact that they will go out of business, in all
> likelihood (Your words). So, what do you do? Handle the
> traffic ticket if the business owner speeds? I'm asking,
> because several years ago, I did exactly what you have
> recommended. I sent out a nice letter. Maybe 2 ot of 100
> called me, and they were looking for free advice, as usual.
>
> On 5/15/06, JF wrote:
>> For better or for worse, I continue to occasionally write
>> posts that may actually help those drowning solos actually
>> build their practices. I have been practicing real estate
>> law for a number of years, but the downturn in the real
>> estate market has forced me to expand into other areas. I
>> have had no problem obtaining new clients and new types of
>> work, and I do this by fishing where the fish are. For
>> example, in the past, I have suggested that solos hand
>> out "Have You Made a Will?" brochures to their existing
>> clients. A great way to get your client to come in for
>> some estate planning. When the new bankruptcy law went
>> into effect, many bankruptcy lawyers dropped that area of
>> practice. I spent an afternoon on the phone calling these
>> lawyers, telling them that I am practicing bankruptcy law,
>> and now a number of them have used me as their referral
>> attorney. I originally built my real estate practice by
>> opening my office next door to a large, busy real estate
>> broker office. The referrals came quickly and
>> consistently. Again, fishing where the fish are. All this
>> has been supplemented by bar lawyer referral programs.
>>
>> My newest marketing endeavor targets business entities,
>> who (in my opinion) ultimately make the best clients. I
>> had ignored business clients in the past (with the
>> exception of real estate developers) largely because I did
>> not believe there were many new businesses in my area, and
>> existing businesses typically already have counsel. Then I
>> checked the new business certificate filings in the city
>> that I practice in and found that there are many new
>> business filings every month. I have been active in the
>> local Chamber of Commerce for over a year, and I am the
>> only lawyer who gives them my time. So I simply called the
>> Chamber director, who confirmed that, yes, a good amount
>> of new business people call her for lawyer referrals, and
>> from now on she will certainly give them my name (since
>> I'm the only lawyer in town who bothers with them). I had
>> my first client within a week. Granted, many of these new
>> businesses will fail, but I will receive the start-up work
>> and retain those that succeed.
>>
>> Virtually all solos know how to practice law. The hard
>> part is obtaining clients, which seems to be the problem
>> people have here. The work is out there; you just have to
>> reach out and grab it. It's all about relationship
>> building, making yourself visible in the community, and
>> letting people know what you do.
>>