Law firms can grow in a variety of methods. Law firms can increase caseloads, employees, or efficiency. The best strategies encompass all three. Join this online seminar and learn how to increase growth in all of these specific areas.
This webinar covers:
- Best practices for marketing a law firm to a tailored audience
- Strategies for adding employees on a per-needed basis
- Solutions and tools that increase law firm efficiency & productivity
3. •You’re losing business because you can’t keep up with demand
•You need/want to focus on certain aspects of your business rather
than struggling to juggle everything
Law Firm Growth Plans
How to know when to hire your first employee
by Charlene Jimenez in Business Entrepreneur -
February 21, 2012
5. Law Firm Growth Plans
Adding Employees
•Paralegals median pay was $46,680 per year.
•Legal secretaries median pay was $42,460 per year.
•Beginning associate median pay was $61,245 per year.
Billings – [Total Compensation +
Direct and Indirect Expenses] = Net Profit.
Photo by Cornerstone Signature on Flickr
6. Law Firm Growth Plans
‘Yes -
Permanent
Change
2009
Response
2013
Response
Change in % Magnitude
Increase
More
Commoditized
Work
42.4% 95.6% +53.2 2.3x
More Contract
Lawyers
28.3% 74.6% +46.3 2.6x
Outsourcing
Legal Work
11.5% 46.4% +34.9 4.0x
18. BURTON LAW, LLC
“I have been trying to
find someone that
good my entire
career!”
Attorney caller
Impress
19. JEFF PARKER LAW FIRM
“I cannot count the number of
times I have sat in court, waiting
for a case to start, and I’ve been
able to satisfy a client’s desire to
have an immediate response
regarding some simple question.
I have turned what would have
been wasted time sitting in a
courtroom into productive, and
billable, time.”
Jeff
Photo courtesy of Flicker/Creative Commons user Shane Teee
Be Mobile
20. DIGITAL WORKFLOW CLE
It’s not like the typical reception
service that some people are
used to. These people are high-
touch, really high quality. I can’t
say enough about how good they
are. They are trained to be
receptionists the way that the
Navy trains the SEALs.
Ernie
Peace of Mind
Photo courtesy of Flicker/Creative Commons user Ron Cogswell
21. THE GLOVER LAW FIRM
“[It’s] an awesome solution
for solo practitioners who
don’t need or want the
overhead of a full-time
employee, and for small firms
that don’t need or want to pay
for someone to spend all day
sitting at the front desk (or
that don’t have a front desk).”
Sam
Save
22. JODI ANN DONATO, ESQ., LLC
“I can honestly say it was THE
BEST business decision I have
made in the last 10 years. Ruby
has helped me capture new
business that I would have
otherwise missed out on because
I could no longer ‘do it all’
myself.”
Jodi
Grow
This is GoToWebinar, the product we are using for this webinar, you will notice that there is a Questions box on the bottom right of your panel where you can enter in questions as we go through the webinar. I will go back and answer them at the end. You can raise your hand which looks like a hand icon with an up arrow underneath. If you are having technical difficulties, meaning you cannot see my mouse moving around the screen or you can’t hear me, please click on this and then type into the questions panel exactly the problem you are having so we can address it as quickly as possible. Remember, we will be addresses questions sent at the end of this presentation. So please don’t feel bad if your question isn’t answered immediately. There are three questions that everyone asks during these presentations. I’ll try to address them here. First, this presentation will be about one hour in length. Second, we will be sending you copies of the slides and proof of CLE accreditation for the states that already approved this talk for CLE. These will arrive in your email either later today or tomorrow. Lastly, we will be providing a recording of this presentation to every attendee through email. Don’t feel like you have to copy everything down. We’ll send it to you. There will also be a blog post with every website and tool discussed today linked on goClio.com to help you find everything we talked about.
Altman Weil 2013 Flash Survey – done since 2009. Do you believe growth (in terms of lawyer headcount) is a requirement for your law firm’s continued success? Yes Important for litigation...need enough size to handle larger cases. We do a lot of insurance driven work. Our rates are basically locked, so in order to have more profitability we need more bodies. Our plans for growth are less than in our pre-recession strategic plan, but we still maintain an effort to grow strategically to provide opportunities for associates and younger partners. A no- growth policy would dramatically limit the opportunities for these people and there would be little reason for them to stay with the firm. The growth is likely to be in staff attorneys rather than associates and more contract partners and fewer equity and non-equity partners. Laterals with business, talented working lawyers in key areas and staff attorneys to perform more mundane tasks. Growth in terms of new/changing talent; not growth in net numbers. Replace retiring talent. Not big growth -- Slow, organic growth. Not Sure Increased headcount per se is not a requirement. On the one hand, the firm must add talented individuals and spread out geographically (which increases headcount). On the other hand, individuals who represent excess capacity and are not raising their performance levels must move on. The net result might be the same number of lawyers. We are focused on profitable growth. We do not believe in growth for growth's sake and do not have a target size that we feel we need to attain in order to succeed. "Growth for the sake of growth" has been discredited as a paradigm; smart, synergistic growth still makes sense, but comes at a more measured pace.
Sterling Mckinley is the President and Founder of Law Marketing Pros, a full service Internet Marketing firm. His company helps lawyers get more clients using Internet Marketing; which includes Website Design, SEO, PPC, Video & Mobile Marketing. With over 11 years of experience Sterling has been passionate about helping companies & lawyers grow their business. He has spoken at MSBA Solo & Small Firm Conference on” 60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes” & regularly speaks at the Small Business Resource Center. He also is a contributor for Small Firm Innovation, a blog for lawyers. He hold a Bachelor of Science in Communications & Public Relations from Morgan State University. He’s passionate about helping others realize and develop their potential and teaching entrepreneurs how to develop and maintain a profitable business. Sterling is active in my community as a mentor in the Big Brother Big Sister program and teach basic computer classes.
Diana Stepleton is the General Manager of Ruby Receptionists, a leading live virtual receptionist service making great first impressions for law firms nationwide. She oversees the Sales Department and overall day-to-day operations, making sure conditions are perfect for Ruby’s top-notch service. Before joining Ruby, she spent nearly a decade on the equipment side of AT&T/Lucent and co-owned a successful market research company for many years. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration.
Lisa Solomon is a freelance lawyer in Ardsley, New York. Through Lisa Solomon, Esq. Legal Research & Writing, she assists attorneys nationwide with all of their legal research and writing needs, including appeals and dispositive motions. Through Legal Research & Writing Pro, she teaches other attorneys how to start and run successful practices as freelance lawyers.
Lisa Solomon is a freelance lawyer in Ardsley, New York. Through Lisa Solomon, Esq. Legal Research & Writing, she assists attorneys nationwide with all of their legal research and writing needs, including appeals and dispositive motions. Through Legal Research & Writing Pro, she teaches other attorneys how to start and run successful practices as freelance lawyers.