Practice Management

As I have said in the past, F.E.A.R. is an acrostic which stands for FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.

But, to most lawyers, if it appears real, then it is real, and if it is real in this sense they will not act against the false evidence.

Could you imagine being in the building trade and having an unrealistic fear of nails.  You would have a very hard time making a living framing up houses.

How about in the cooking trade and having a fear of fire.  You can probably only serve so much gazpacho.

If you were a surgeon and had a fear of blood, that would not be good, I would not think.

Yet, a good many lawyers and law firms have a fear of marketing.  Oh, they might call it something else, and they might deny this is true, but we know from their actions that this is true.

The problem is that in law you are not selling law as much as you are selling solutions.  Although lawyers need to associate themselves with the solution, the solution is the key.  The promotion of self might become synonymous with the solution, but not if you do not actively and consistently marketing your service.

(Notice that I did not say "services".  To market a laundry list of services is selling of a lawyer or law and not a solution.  Nobody wants to buy a lawyer.  And, nobody wants to buy law.  They want to solve a solution.  But, I digress).

The days are long gone when you could just hang your shingle on a building and clients would start wandering in.  I have said repeatedly you can invent a better mouse trap, but nobody will beat a path to your door if they do not know about it.  That process of knowing about it, and you, and the solution that you offer, is marketing.  Yet, most lawyers just will not do so.  Even attorneys that start their own practice will either not do so, or will make only a half-hearted effort at it, and bemoan why they are not doing well enough.

They set up a blog, and they do not blog.  They go to a group organization occasionally.  They do a mail out and then do not think of it again until there is no business.  They back out of speaking requests.  They land in a room, but do not talk to much of anybody.  They never hand out a business card.  They do not have an elevator speech in the event they are asked what they do.  They do not mingle before or after court.  They do not call anybody unless someone calls them first.

Too many law grads tend to think that going to work for somebody or some firm after law school gets them away from all of these tasks.  Well, I am here to tell you that it does not.  Alternatively, they think that someone at the firm paying them money will take them by the hand and gentle walk them through the process.  Right.  The senior partner might put his foot at your back, shove you into the crowded room and tell you to go find some business.

Paycheck or no, all lawyers work on a contingency.  If you do not make money for the firm, if you do not eventually bring business into the firm, you will not be with the firm.  If you are going to do it for them, you might as well do it for yourself.  Lawyer's eat what they kill.  It does not matter if it is Big Law or Little Law or work at home law.  It is the sad fact most do not wish to except because it interferes with the picture they have of their elitist selves as "professionals".  This image leads them to believe that they are not above getting their hands dirty.

I have always found this strange.  Somehow through law school and in our early practice we have led lawyers to believe that it is somehow unethical to market yourself.  It is looked upon as "unprofessional". This is despite the fact that other professionals, such as insurance agents, stock brokers, financial advisers, Realtors, and many others do it and do it well while maintaining a quality practice.  In this day and age, at least while starting out, if your position is that it is "unprofessional" to market, you are saying that you "do not want to make a living being a lawyer".

Maybe I have just been around a long time.  But, even when the bar-tenders were restricting the practice, Big Law and others were marketing.  (Maybe they were not advertising, but they were marketing).  Maybe it was just being a good citizen, such as being a lectern at Mass.  My father-in-law ran for Mayor of his home town and served in that position through 5 elections and 10 years.  Sure it was public service, but it was also getting his name out.  It was an excuse to meet lots of people and to be in a position to offer lots of advice.

The trade of marketing is as old as dirt.  You gravitate toward the groups, organizations and people that can send you business.  If you do not know the type of law you want to practice, it is hard to pinpoint who these groups, organizations and people, should be, and it is difficult to market properly.

The reasons expressed, I guess, are many as to why lawyers will not market.  I have heard them all.  There is the unprofessional argument, that I just mentioned.  I do not like groups.  It is predatory.  I do not know where to start.  It makes me feel uncomfortable.  But, mainly it is the fear of the unknown. The fear of what will people think of me.  I do not like a particular person much that attends that group.  What if someone asks me something I do not know.  I do not want to feel obligated.  It is hard meeting people for the first time.  What do I say?  How do I act?  What do I wear?

(Here is a tip - BE YOURSELF).

There are those that try to get past these fears by strictly advertising.  I have to admit that I was guilty of this when I was younger.  (And, I was very good at it at the same time).  Advertising pushes a message out there in a way in which you do not have to face the fear of meeting others who might ask you something, or contest some point, or not care for you.  Advertising is a subset of marketing, and if used correctly (which is usually not the case with lawyers), it can certainly be beneficial.  But, it is not a substitute for a marketing plan if you are a Third Waver.  It is also very expensive if done right.  And, if done right, it will place you in a different category of lawyer -- one that has a mill type practice.  (I am not knocking that because I ran such a practice for years and years, but I only note that it is different).  Lots of staff, lots of equipment, lots of attorneys, and lots of advertising bills.  Lots of overhead.  The need to pull in many more cases than you yourself can handle effectively.

Direct social contact and follow up is not easy for some people.  And, for others, it is just easier to spend a ton of money on yellow pages, inserts, billboards, targeted direct mail, and TV and radio advertisements.  There is no real substitute for growing a practice in a way that you are referred already qualified clients, for solutions that you can provide, in a way that builds personal relationships and keeps your overhead low.  I find it enjoyable.

In this I would like to tell those lawyers who just cannot seem to get motivated to do what is necessary in this regard - GET OVER IT!  You do not need to be intrusive or a genius, or know everything.  You do not need to be obtuse or be an evangelist to do this marketing.  You do not need to fear meeting people.  It is not a matter of confronting people as much as it is putting yourself in a position of sharing information and thoughts when asked.  It is, as they say in East Texas, "Doin' the Lord's work".

Unless you have a rich parent that does not mind carrying you now and then, you are not going to get where you need to be in a Third Wave practice if you do not get over this fear, get out and be yourself, and meet and greet the people, places, groups and organizations that you need to.  You need to follow up with these people.  And, you need to do it all in a constant and consistent basis.  You need to be there when these people, groups and organizations need you.