Since I had to temporarily take over the operations of a law practice due to my boss being temporarily suspended, I have really felt the stresses of operating a small business and the pressures of whether you will make payroll, or be able to pay the bills. For a lawyer, obtaining new clients is what provides the cashflow to pay your bills, your staff, and yourself. For many experienced, or should I say, more well known attorneys, it may be pretty easy to attract new clients and have them retain you. For a young attorney, who probably looks younger than I actually am, I have had a problem convincing some prospective clients to hire me because of my age/inexperience/combination. I’m not sure if it is a lack of salesmanship on my part or just the outward appearance. I have had this discussion with several other, more established attorneys in hopes of trying to curb the problem and have more prospective clients retain my firm.
Here are some of the pointers that I have been given to increase the rate of prospective clients that retain my firm (and ultimately me, a young attorney).
- Ooze Confidence. Clients can tell if you are nervous or if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Not knowing procedures and trying to provide too much information in the initial meeting was one problem early on in my practice. Once I started looking nervous like I didn’t know what I was doing, I definitely lost credibility when I told them what the fee was going to be.
- Fake it ’til you make it! This kind of goes back to the first point. You have to look like you know what you’re doing. Eventually you will have to know, but at your intial client meeting/consultation, you just need to make your clients know that you will be able to handle their case competently, effeciently and affordably.
- Do your initial consultations in your office. My office seems to be much more impressive than the conference room. My law license, undergraduate and law degrees dress the walls along with some other artwork, law books decorate the bookshelves, and there is always a stack of files on my desk. By showing that you have the credentials, and a backlog of work (i.e. the files on your desk) you give your prospective client confidence because other clients have confidence in your handling of their case.
- Don’t price yourself out of your client’s league. The flipside to this is you don’t want to undercharge either. However, when you are a young, inexperienced attorney, you simply cannot command the same amounts of fees as more experienced attorneys.
- Don’t give away too much free legal advice. I think I have some prospective clients who when they see a young attorney feel like they can “trick” me into giving them just enough free legal advice to answer all of their questions and handle their issues on their own. I have had to learn, not to be too nice, and try to fully answer all of my prospect’s questions without giving away the tricks of the trade.
- Dress the part. When I started working, my office dress code was business casual. However, when I became the rainmaker, I had to step up my dress to impress the new clients. Now, a tie is generally necessary. It makes me look older and generally a little more high class. I think clients have the impression that lawyers wear suits and have fancy offices. If they don’t see what they are expecting to see, they may just pack up and go somewhere else and talk to someone who looks and dresses more like a lawyer.
If you have any more tips on how young attorneys practicing on their own can get more clients, please comment on this blog post. Thanks in advance for your participation!