Practice Management

Some of my frat boy type friends in the past have like to refer to me and others as losers over the little things that go entertainingly wrong.  My typical response is that that I am not a loser.  I have tried.  I have worked at it.  That makes me a failure, and that is a lot different.

The truth of the matter with big failures or small failures is that these failures come with goodies.  It is part of the process that you have to go through to understand how to achieve and succeed.  So, it can be painful or embarrassing, but failure gives you perspective to do something different.  This is the reason that many business gurus teach "Fail early, fail fast, fail cheap".

For me it was the rapid growth of a large consumer bankruptcy firm.  I learned that it was a matrix that did not work well in comparison to what was doable from a low overhead practice where you get to eat what you kill, and grow fat and sassy in the process.

It is tough to have the dream of climbing the mountain, to endure the steep trek over challenging conditions, only to reach what seems like to top over a number of year, to find out it was not what it seemed.  Do not be afraid to admit it to yourself and radically change your direction.

The problem with empire building in the practice of law is that growth of the traditional sort eats cash -- lots and lots of cash.  It also eats your time and peace of mind over many years.  You are proud of the growth, but you are starved of earnings beyond the cost of growth.  And, even when it does plane out, you typically end up with a law business that you cannot sell for a profit.  There is no reasonable exit strategy other than to give the firm over to associates.

That is fine, but if there is no exit strategy then you might as well save your time, your peace of mind and make and save money that is yours to keep.

The goodies from failure come in several of forms.  First, if I had not taken the big firm trek then I would have never realized that my change of course was possible.  Second, I probably would never have discovered or even thought that my practice niche was possible.  Third, over the years that I pursued the big firm theme I got to meet a lot of people from whom I could watch and learn (even if they did not know it), and on whose good graces and referrals I could rely on for my later venture.

As for learning from others, I think it is now possible to study what others are doing without taking the wrong plunge.  If I had been more observant of the overlooked attorneys instead of glaring into the reflective curtain wall of the towers that housed the big law firms down the street, I might have noticed the fallacy of growth for growth sakes earlier.  But, should you start off and later find that is wrong, or find that you are failing to meet your real goals, then know there are goodies to take a way from the misadventure and move on.  You cannot be afraid of failure.  You cannot be afraid of figuring out something else new and more enjoyable in the practice of law.  You also cannot be afraid of radically changing course.