My Shingle » Finding Your Passion

Back of the Napkin Business Plan for Starting a Law Firm

Carolyn Elefant — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:24:03 +0000

Starting a law firm can be daunting. Checklists and Mind Maps and planning resources outline the tasks involved, but the minutia can overwhelm. For some, the planning process gives rise to analysis-paralysis, as the quest for a perfect launch delays launching at all. And for those who come to solo practice as a last resort, putting to paper income projections (a big fat zero) merely heightens feelings of hopelessness.

Believe it or not, the details of starting a practice – where you’ll locate and the corporate form you’ll adopt and even where you’ll find clients – don’t matter, at least at the outset. What’s most important is (1) your vision of what you want to accomplish and why you even want to practice law, and (2) identifying a few tangible baby steps to start you on your way, and jolt you out of either malaise or the endless cycle of tail-chasing, start-up activity.

To help you focus on what matters, I’ve created the MyShingle.com “Back of the Napkin Business Plan.” The plan distills these tasks into a half-sheet of paper and offers up a couple of inspiring quotes to keep you motivated. Print it out and take to the beach or on a quiet hike – or scribble up your own back of the napkin, using these somewhat more sophisticated tools courtesy of this terrific website, TheBackoftheNapkin.com. Because once you settle on why practicing law matters and what you you want to create, the rest of details will fall into place, more easily than you ever could imagine.

MyShingle.com Back of the Napkin Law Firm Business Plan

Passion Is Always in Fashion

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:14:21 +0000

In a couple of hours, I’m heading out to Seattle for the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference as well as some other meetings with colleagues and online friends. I’ll be away for the week and fairly busy, so I won’t be posting. Plus, while I’m away, there’ll be some back-end work taking place at my site for a re-launch that is coming very, very soon.

So, let me leave you with these thoughts while I’m gone. At last year’s GMRE conference, I gave a five opening minute talk wherein, among other things, I confessed my passion for everything regulatory – from understanding how regulation works and more importantly, helping companies navigate them seamlessly. Best marketing I ever did. Throughout the entire conference, people approached me like kindred spirits, confessing that they, like me, were regulatory geeks. Even better, I’ve since gotten two significant pieces of business from that talk alone — first time that’s ever happened to me after a speaking engagement.

For this week while I’m away, promise me one thing. Put down that marketing plan, forget about SEO and stop writing those stilted blog posts wrapped around key words. Try, hard as it is, to set aside worries about money and how you’ll pay your student loans or your kids’ college tuition. Instead, put on a smile (force it if you must!), remember what it feels like to dance a jig and share your exuberance for the law and your devotion to justice with everyone around you. Then, see what kind of reaction you get, and what kinds of results turn up.

I’m guessing wearing your exuberance on your sleeve will generate some positive feedback, and perhaps even a few leads on clients or referrals. Because even in a 21st Century world, passion is something that never goes out of fashion.

I’ll see you back here next week!

In Praise of the Long Journey

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:01:27 +0000

In an age where we envy quick success – the dotcom that grows from garage to gargantuan in eighteen months, the blogger who gets a book deal after three months – artist in turn lead to break-out success. Five years later at 94, Herrera is savoring the financial remuneration and notoriety from a lifetime of painting.

As the New York Times explains, money and the fame, though appreciated, never drove Herrera’s career. Instead, Herrera painted, quite simply, because her passion left her no choice. As Herrera explained:

I do it [painting] because I have to do it; it’s a compulsion that also gives me pleasure…I never in my life had any idea of money and I thought fame was a very vulgar thing. So I just worked and waited. And at the end of my life, I’m getting a lot of recognition, to my amazement and my pleasure, actually.

Quick success is great, no doubt about it. But even better is having the kind of passion for our work that compels us to persevere, to just show up. As one of Herrera’s colleagues said to her, the bus always comes for those who wait. In the meantime, enjoy the scenery.

I’ll be off on vacation until next week, when I’ll return with some posts on ethics issues and of course, my trends predictions for 2010. I’ll see you then.

An Ebook on What Matters

Carolyn Elefant — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:08:36 +0000

One of my favorite "ideas" people (for want of better classification) is Seth Godin. Godin has an eye for trends. No other blogger spots them as far in advance or articulates them quite as well. This week, Godin is offering a freebie: an ebook entitled What Matters Now. The book is comprised of contributions from "seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year."

I enjoyed the book though the quality is uneven. Some of the contributions – all of which are a page or less – are a bit flimsy. Others (Hugh McLeod’s or Elizabeth Gilbert’s come to mind) resonate.

Also, this is one of the most attractive e-books I’ve ever seen. Even if you get nothing from the content, consider the style as a model for an e-book that you might write.

The book is free and you don’t even have to register with an annoying autoresponder to retrieve it. Just download it directly at Godin’s site. Maybe you’ll find inspiration for the coming year.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize: Advice for Solos & All Lawyers from Marc Randazza

Carolyn Elefant — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:23:29 +0000

So how does a real estate associate who barely found a job at a small local firm become one of the nation’s pre-eminent First Amendment lawyers with his own practice, representing clients like Above the Law or the guy who went head to head with talk radio superstar Glenn Beck in a battle over a domain name? By "keeping his eye on the prize," as Legal Satyricon Marc Randazza explains in his interview with Bitter Lawyer which I learned of via Scott Greenfield’s bag of holiday goodies.

In case you thought that a glamorous First Amendment practice is limited to academics or lawyers with a certain pedigree, think again. What’s most inspiring about Marc Randazza is that he didn’t let his circumstances divert his passion from the First Amendment but instead, used his passion to change his circumstances. Consider, for example, his experience at a real estate firm:

The people were great, and they taught me a lot about practicing law ethically. I loved working there. But the work did not inspire me. At end of day, I would find myself working on law review projects and things for free because I was interested in them.

[To make the transition from real estate to First Amendment], I never took my eyes off the prize. When a copyright issue came up, I grabbed the case. When a defamation issue came up (which they often did with homeowners boards), I jumped on those. I made sure to find a way to dovetail what I had to do with what I wanted to do.

Thereafter, Randazza tried to set up a meeting with a highly regarded First Amendment lawyer Larry Walters well known for representing clients in the pornography industry. When he learned that the lawyer was away at a conference, Randazza figured out which one and "basically stalked him." They hit it off at the conference, and eventually Walters hired Randazza to work at his firm. After five years, Randazza left to work as in-house counsel for Corbin Fisher, a gay porn company that allows Randazza the flexibility to "have a solo practice on the side (mostly pro bono work) where I can take cases that appeal to me."

Randazza’s philosophy applies to any solo or lawyer. If you’re toiling at work that you can’t stand and a desire to do something else burns within you, keep your eye on the prize and you will find a way.

Second Chance Solo

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:33 +0000

What would you do if you were exonerated after spending twelve years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit? Would you spend the rest of your days justifiably bitter, complaining about the injustice of a legal system that could convict an innocent man? Or would you feel gratitude towards those lawyers who helped to vindicate you and decide to become one yourself.

Wisconsin attorney Christopher Ochoa chose the second option, as described here in this inspiring story. Though Ochoa initially considered working as a prosecutor (to prevent baseless cases like his from ever going to trial), following graduation, he struck out on his own as a solo. Before long, Ochoa found that his practice had blossomed into a "full blown criminal law practice."

Starting a law firm gave Christopher Ochoa a second chance to reclaim his life. If solo practice can help a guy who spent twelve years in prison build a productive and satisfying life out of total ruin, then maybe, it could do the same for you.

The Path Not Intended

Carolyn Elefant — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:13:05 +0000

One thing that you probably don’t know about me is that when it comes to driving, I’m hopelessly and completely directionally impaired. On foot or bike, I can navigate easily virtually anywhere under the sun, but somehow, finding my way to a new location while driving at high speeds and trying to avoid an accident utterly confounds me. These days, Mapquest and GPS make navigating a little bit easier, but even so, they’re not fool proof as I learned last week. While driving from the TF Green Airport to Roger Williams Law School in Bristol Road Island, I encountered road construction that distracted me from my designated exit. Since I was in a hurry, I had no choice but to continue on and put my faith entirely in the GPS.

But as I berated myself from my carelessness, I noticed that the road where I’d landed wasn’t all that bad. In fact, with its panoramic views of bright blue water and blazing autumn leaves and classic New England architecture, this winding road turned out far more relaxing and scenic than the one I’d left. Ultimately, the road flowed almost seamlessly to the law school campus, and I arrived just a few minutes later than I’d originally anticipated.

Since my return, I realized how much our careers in the law resemble my trip. Like me with my maps and GPS, we can plot and plan and chart a course to success. For some, that plan entails moving seamlessly from top tier law school to biglaw, while for others, it may involve opening a practice the day the bar results arrive in the mail. Yet bumps in the road – a layoff, inability to find clients in a coveted practice area, or doubts about our talent – throw us of course and leave us searching for a new plan. Instead of panicking and desperately trying to stick to the script, why not take a few steps down a new road? Perhaps that means taking a CLE on a practice area that you never before considered or accepting a referral in a matter that sounds intriguing but that you’ve never handled before. Perhaps it even means exploring opportunities like starting a firm (if you’ve just been downsized) or taking a look at joining up with other lawyers at a firm, if you’ve been exclusively solo. Because at the end of the day you’ll find that no matter what path you take, you’ll discover you’ve arrived, and that you’ve enjoyed the journey more than you ever imagined.

For more on this theme, you can read one of my favorite pieces, The Accidental Practice, about how "The most wild and amazing successes of a solo’s career often come by sheer accident."

Building an Innovative Law Firm: A How To With An Innovative Power Point

Carolyn Elefant — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 04:46:14 +0000

I haven’t been checking in to Matt Homann’s Non-Billable Hour site recently, which is a shame, because I nearly missed this amazing presentation on Building An Innovative Law Firm. Matt makes the presentation available using Slideshare, a very cool tool that I recommended back here back in February that allows you to embed a Power Point presentation at your website or blog.