Solo In Chicago…Grow Your Practice!

That’s the subject written about here at Law.com. The above or some question regarding your “book of business” is a question you must be able to answer for several reasons.

Not to be blasphemous since right now I’m a passionate sole practitioner but the reality is that there’s a great chance that one day I won’t be and really shouldn’t be. There are many directions that this ship may head in…continue to build a great legal services business (which would require us to add additional attorneys), merge with another firm, or possibly take my book of business to another firm. And for the second two of those three alternatives direct knowledge of income/book of business/billables is critical.

I’ve had job interviews over the last couple years myself and this question is very relevant and always asked and indeed it’s probably your biggest selling point as a potential job candidate…unlike Jane Doe who has been an Associate at law firm X, you’ve built your practice up to $200k (or whatever) in billables over the last three years and thus the potential new firm is getting not only a competent attorney but also someone who brings immediate new income to the firm.

We try not to be too partisan here at SIC, but there’s one thing we’re surely in favor of and that’s sports! So if Obama’s win gives Chicago 2016 a nudge I can’t complain. More people and time on the international stage is bound to help us Chicago, entrepreneurs/lawyers, right? And I know one lawyer who’s got $20k in attorney fees in a house down there near the proposed Olympic Village that could use a little marketing nudge.

Two wonderfully enlightening posts recently on the above from two of my favorite blogs: MyShingle and Chuck Newton. Carolyn deals with the nitty gritty of using “virtual” offices (like Regus) for client meetings while Chuck provides an expansive tome that deals with where to meet and much more.

As for my $.02, over the last year-and-a-half I’ve officed in a way that sounds very similar to Carolyn Elefant. Myself and my legal assistant both work from home on a typical day and when the need for a client meeting comes up 90% of the time we’ll use a “day” office from Regus for an hour or two. I agree with the five points Carolyn makes in her posting and would say generally this set-up works well. The offices I’m now using for meetings are nearly identical to the ones I used to use when I had a full-time lease with a Regus-like place. I haven’t found a client yet who doesn’t appreciate the potential convenience offered by a Regus-type place where there are some 20 meeting locations in the Chicago area compared to me having my own, single office location where my potential client must come.