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

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JF,

I'm really having a tough time finding business to replace my
consumer bankruptcy clients. I usually did 2-3 Chapter 7 per month,
and now they are simply gone. I have tried to do LLC formation and
traffic tickets, but I can't seem to draw any clients willing to pay
anything above cut rate. I may try running some DUI ads soon, maybe
that will bring in some new business. I'd love to find some
business clients, but I am not sure I have the resources to serve
them.

On 5/15/06, JF wrote:
> I am in a city, not a rural area. For the past five years, I have
> mostly represented real estate developers, sellers, buyers, and
> lenders (in Massachusetts, only attorneys can conduct closings,
> not the title companies directly). As I stated in my posts, lately
> the real estate market has been slow, so I have supplemented with
> wills, estates, trusts, bankruptcies, and now business law. I will
> not state my income, but on average a real estate closing,
> including title insurance commission, brings me about $1500.00
> (mostly sales, not many refis), and I typically do double figures
> in monthly volume, even in slow times. So I do o.k., although
> overhead is high.
>
>
>
> On 5/15/06, Ronald wrote:
>> 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.
>>>>>