Going Small or Solo
− Now What?
Rodney S. Dowell, Esq., Director
Jared D. Correia, Esq., LPA
Law Office Management Assistance Program
31 Milk Street, Suite 815
Boston, MA 02109
[email protected]
jared@masslomap
www.masslomap.org
http://masslomap.blogspot.com
Toll Free
Telephone
Facsimile
888-545-6627
857-383-3250
617-482-9909
JOINING A FIRM V. HANGING A SHINGLE

Know thyself
Self-starter
Willing
to Market Yourself
Sales person
Secretary
Mail clerk
Technology
Accountant/bookkeeper
Reconcile
Practice
of Law:
Book

personal accounts?
learning v. practice (is an art not a science)
market reality – what happens if no jobs
Find
a
mentor and learn to do it all
STEP 1: How to start.

Passion and Reality (51,000 active lawyers)
 Business
Plan and budget (cash flow is king)
 How long till you earn money (i.e. can you put food on the table now)
 Marketing
Plan
 Technology Plan
 Management of the solo and small firm practice

Ultimate Question - Return on investment
Referral Based Marketing (50% - 100% cases)

Fee sharing w/attorneys (not non-attorneys)
 If
share fees – put it writing and pay fee
 Client

sign-off
Keys to getting more referrals
 Respond
to client
 Keep referring attorney informed
 Thank you note, gifts, and personal delivery of fee
 Referrals beget referrals
 Specialty/expertise
Office space and space sharing;

Home office – Not for every practice or every
individual
 Pros:
 Low
cost
 Short commute
 Cons:
 Clients
are at house
 Not networking
 Hard to separate personal and business
Office space and space sharing;

Office sharing – benefits and ethics concerns:

Pros:

Lowers cost





On rent
Shared cost of equipment
Shared cost of internet access and research
Built in referral sources and mentors
Cons:
Usually have little control of space
 Personality conflicts
 CLIENT CONFIDENTIALITY IS ALWAYS AT RISK



MUST USE CAUTION
Partnership by estoppel/malpractice claims due to other attorneys
errors – it happens
What hardware do you need?

HARDWARE
 Computer
(pc v. Mac)
2
monitors
 Home office: MFM laser– fax, scan, copy, print
 Shared office:
 own
fax, or efax,
 be careful at copier,
 desktop scanner
 hard-drive
back up /encrypted
 Flash drive with encryption
What software do you need?

SOFTWARE



Windows/Linux/Mac OS
INTEGRATED CLIENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: Can I say “JUST DO
IT” – T&B, docket/calendar
Office Suites:






Windows Office
WordPerfect X4
OpenOffice(free)
PDF – Adobe/Nuance, or free and low cost alternatives (CutePDF,
PDFforge)
Accounting software: TABS111, PCLaw, Quicken, QuickBooks, Microsoft
Accounting Express
Time and Billing: Excel?, QB, Accounting Express, RTGBills, Billing
Software for Attorneys (BSA), Tussman, Chaos Legal Billing, TurboLaw
Data Security Requirements

Federal
 2003
Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act
 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of
1999

State
 MGL

93H, Security Breaches (May 1, 2009)
Keys
 Hardware
and software encryption
What can you use to encrypt?





PGP Corp (Pretty Good Privacy): www.pgp.com
McAfee Data Protection:
http://dataprotection.mcfee.com
TrueCrypt, Free Open-Source Disk Encryption
Software: www.truecrypt.org – no formal support
(are you a tech geek?)
Windows OS – Built in – kind of
Encrypted hard-drive or USB thumb drive
Backups and disaster planning

NO EXCUSES
 DAILY
– tapes, flash drive, cd/dvd (something)
 Weekly – rotate 2/3 hard-drives – take off-site
 Weekly – on-line backup (Carbonite, Mozy, Connected
Backup for PC)
 Encrypted



on your computer, you retain encryption key
Keep files off the floor – water
damage/fire/smoke
List of critical contacts of site
Insurance
.
Most Useful Mass. Web-Sites

Massachusetts Court Rules and Dockets
Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court Docket
 Massachusetts Court Rules
 Massachusetts Trial Court dockets
 Massachusetts District Court Forms


Massachusetts Agencies
Department of Industrial Accidents (Workers
Compensation)
 Secretary of State

Corporate Division
 Registry of Deeds

Your law practice advisor.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Rodney S. Dowell, Director
Jared D. Correia, Esq., LPA
31 Milk Street, Suite 815
Boston, MA 02109
857-383-3250 (local line)
888-545-6627 (toll free)
[email protected]
[email protected]
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