Specifically, what should be the “niche” subject matter of my law practice…that’s the question. I’ve been puzzling on this for some time with concerns that my practice might be too general and not niche enough. Plus I’ve read a couple nice posts from Chuck Newton and Martha Newman about boosting profits by going niche. And I often find myself returning to Jim Collins’ “Hedgehog Concept” from Good to Great.
Over at Top Lawyer Coach Martha’s post is, A Niche Practice Positions You as Expert in Your Field of Practice. Her 5 reasons for going niche:
1) You’re perceived as an expert; 2) You’ll make more money; 3) You’ll dominate with less competition; 4) Your marketing will get easier; and, 5) You’ll be remembered.
Chuck lists 4 Steps to Snowball Your Law Firm Profits and look at reason #2…Niche Your Practice. Here’s his definition of a “niche practice” and why:
This is a matter of taking your strongest and most profitable practice area or cases types and concentrating on those. The purpose is to increase those cases that pay you more, and take less of your time, while decreasing those cases that pay you less and consume most of your time.
Sounds great, more money and less competition. So what’s holding me back? Why is it difficult to narrow my practice towards a very specific niche?
I think my trepidation stems from 2 concerns:
A. Narrowing my practice areas will limit my potential pool of clients.
B. What if I pick the wrong niche.
Currently my practice is some 70% family law and 30% real estate transactions. I’ve been thinking of dropping my real estate practice for a while…it’s not particularly profitable and I’m not particularly passionate about the subject matter (See Jim Collins re: PASSION). But 30% of my income is still a decent chunk of change. Do I just lop it off in 1 fell swoop? How long before the niche momentum (marketing/expert/less competition) replaces that 30% or more?
Letter B may be scarier…I think a part of me hangs on to my smaller practice areas as a way of hedging my bets.
So, I’m moving towards a niche practice, likely slower than I should be. I’ve been branding our firm as the Family Law Office of Peter Olson on the Web and telephone marketing for a while. With me, the question likely shouldn’t even be between family law and real estate but rather how can I get ever more niche within the family law field.
Hard questions; touch choices…my search continues.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks for the great comments and links to some other articles on “niche practice”…there must be something in the water this week. Checkout MyShingle & Build a Solo Practice.
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Of course you could say that a practice of family law and real estate is not too large of practice area any way. I am not sure they are naturally conjoined, so you might wish to promote them differently or separately.
I think a better option would be to narrow those areas even further. Find the niche inside family law, for example.
This does not mean you cannot take other flavors of family law and real estate issues that come into your office. It only means this is how you will promote your practice, and this is where your energy will rest in building your practice.
I think this is a crucial point in answer to your question of what you do while you transition. You do not necessarily drop the practice area as much as re-concentrate your efforts elsewhere.
Then, if you pick wrong, change it. I have changed practice areas over my career. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that I like doing so.
Of course you could say that a practice of family law and real estate is not too large of practice area any way. I am not sure they are naturally conjoined, so you might wish to promote them differently or separately.
I think a better option would be to narrow those areas even further. Find the niche inside family law, for example.
This does not mean you cannot take other flavors of family law and real estate issues that come into your office. It only means this is how you will promote your practice, and this is where your energy will rest in building your practice.
I think this is a crucial point in answer to your question of what you do while you transition. You do not necessarily drop the practice area as much as re-concentrate your efforts elsewhere.
Then, if you pick wrong, change it. I have changed practice areas over my career. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that I like doing so.
Third year attorney here and struggling with this myself.
My practice is predominantly in real estate, an area where I have a natural passion and ability (plus I’m a landlord myself and am a bit of a real estate investor on the side). All the time I think that if I just focused on real estate then in the future I really could be that high charging expert in both perception and practice.
At the same time, I absolutely LOVE being the person that my friends, friends of friends, family, and acquaintances come to for garden variety legal help -> small criminal, traffic, family law, wills, etc. I never thought I’d have that feeling but I genuinely feel like I help out alot of people I know. Of course those things are unpredictable, one off, and do not pay much but just being able to be that “go to guy” in my own circle of life is very rewarding.
Are the days of the competent, solo GP really dead?
One of my mentors is a 20 year solo GP and I respect him and his practice immensely. After 20 years, he has seen and done so much. No, he can’t bill at the hourly rate of the 20 year partner in the big firm but he is always the most popular guy in the room. In every group of people, someone has a brother who just got a DUI, or sick parent who is trying to get covered by Medicare, or someone has a child custody issue, etc….and Jim can almost can help. To be able to be an attorney like that who conducts himself and his practice with integrity, well, maybe it is not the most financially prosperous position but it sure is something to be proud of in my book.
I just don’t know if guys like Jim are a dying breed and will even be around when I’m a 20 year attorney….and, of course everything is a trade off, but would I be short changing myself too much professionally if I followed his path????
GK, thanks for the note. I wish I had an easy answer for this myself. I’m not convinced there’s a right v. wrong answer on this. I surely think in the non-urban areas the general practitioner will remain live and well. One of the best books I’ve read on lawyering/advising is Clients for Life and it mentions clients wanting their lawyer to be ‘Deep Generalists’ and have real broad expertise.
How I sort of see this playing out with myself is creating a real niche public persona and marketing campaign. But, thinking about some marketing we do only to our clients/former clients highlight a broader picture. Because I don’t think I want to turn away much repeat business and with many things I do think the client wants to work with lawyer because of the relationship/trust even if a certain practice area may not be your A+.
Although I believe it very possible to practice in several areas of law and stay reasonably proficient, I tend to believe most cannot practice effectively, money-wise or competently, in a broad array of unrelated areas. When my father in law started practicing in Texas in the late 50s there were two code books. One was called Civil Law and one was called Criminal Law. Today, the volumes would file a pretty good size room.
As far a being a generalist, I think it is possible. However, I tend to think it works better when you are associated with a larger firm wherein you have lawyers with more specific interest and you are the rainmaker or sorts.
All of this said, I speak to people every day with a broad array of legal issues. I enjoy reviewing the issues with them generally. But, my task is more often than not to give them some direction to avoid the legal issue or to refer them with direction to someone who practices in that area.
For me the issue is not whether I would enjoy other practice areas. I know that I would. It is a matter of marketing and being able to cost effectively understand and handle cases. The nature of these things leads me to spend my time in one small area. If I am perceived as more of an expert in an area, it just naturally leads to more referrals. What I have found is that in this day and age most people do not go out looking for just an attorney. They are looking to solve a problem. Hence, if you are associated with solving a problem or with a solution, the easier it is to make a living doing the work and in getting referrals cost effectively.
I don’t think that family law is a niche – it is really a practice area. To me, a niche is even smaller – a unique subset of a practice area – like pot law is a subset of criminal –
http://myshingle.com/2010/06/articles/criminal-law-practice-policy/what-a-niche-law-practice-is-pot-law-and-what-it-is-not/
Given your dual interests, you might want to create a sub-niche in family law that involves divorces of families with small businesses or something like that. Don’t focus on it exclusively, but let it be a draw for your practice.