JDs Rising

By Blake Iverson

There are a million licensed attorneys in the naked city and many of them are unemployed. The current market glut means that the only option for a lot of folks is to hang up their own shingle. Since I have managed not to starve in the two years since I started my firm, I get asked for advice on how to do it. Here are a few tips:

Find cheap space. One of the few good things about the economy is that there is an abundance of vacant office space for lease. Haunt Craigslist for a few days or just stroll around areas where you’d like to work. When you make contact with a landlord, don’t be afraid to play hardball. They need you as badly as you need them. Ask them to include signage, infrastructure improvements and parking in your rent. And never pay the advertised rate. If you show yourself to be savvy, your landlord might just become your best source of referrals.

Use your cell phone. One of the services you can offer your clients is that you’ll answer your phone day or night. This can be a major inconvenience, but if it yields a few more billable hours per month, it’s worth it. Plus, it’s a bill you’re already paying and adding minutes to your plan will likely be less expensive than getting a business line. Just remember to make sure your voice mail sounds at least somewhat professional.

Get to know the law library. We all got spoiled with free Lexis and Westlaw access in law school, but when you get to the real world those services want real money. The law library at the Hennepin County Government Center gives you one free hour of access per day. Plus they have thousands of… what are those things called? Oh yeah, books.

Buy a coffeemaker for the office. It’s polite to offer your clients a cup of coffee at the start of a meeting. They’ll appreciate it even if they don’t drink the stuff. More important, however, is that you can keep going all day without blowing out your budget. You can buy a decent coffee maker, a grinder and a pound of beans every week and still spend a ton less than you would visiting the Caribou twice a day.

More to come …