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

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What kind of work do you get hired to do? Are you in a small
rural community? How much is your yearly profit from law
practice?

Thank you in advance.

On 5/15/06, JF wrote:
> 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.
>>>