Leaping into sustainable success after law firm’s launch

In Parts I & II, published in the May 8 and May 22, 2024 editions of the Indiana Lawyer, author Jenifer Brown explored the critical first steps in the law firm entrepreneurship journey: the decision to leave the comforts of your current law firm and 10 steps for launching your own.

Part III: Leaping into Sustainable Success

After the initial adrenalin-fueled phase of launching your own firm, take some time to revisit some of your initial assumptions about your practice, your contributions, and your needs. Depending on how things are going, you may need to double back on some of the topics covered in Part I on Leaving and Part II on Launching. Consider whether you were clear enough about your “why” for leaving and launching, take another look at your pre-launch business plan, your staff, your vendors, and evaluate the proportion of time spent working in the business (client work) and on the business (everything else). If your new firm is not where you expected it to be, time is now for an honest assessment. The strategy of waiting for things to get better works as well in startups as it does in relationships. As in, not at all. Early course corrections are easier and smaller than if you wait.

An assessment is not a referendum on your quality as an attorney, your aptitude as an entrepreneur, or your value as a human. Rather, it is more likely a reflection on your Leaving and Launching phases. Were there areas you shortcut? Hard questions you punted? Assumptions now faulty in retrospect? Use these results to make needed adjustments. Don’t just take your own perspective and impressions into account; this is an opportunity to engage your network and/or hire a consultant to assist in the evaluation. Look for colleagues and mentors who are particularly adept at considering external headwinds and other market conditions.

As the balance and rhythm of demands between practicing law and entrepreneurship continue to stabilize, consider the following strategic list of topics on a regular basis to help ensure your new firm’s continued success:

1. Mission and Values. Use your why to help develop and further refine your new firm’s mission and values. There are endless books, online resources, and talented consultants available to assist in this area. This remains a top of the list item to establish and maintain your place in the market with respect to both clients and talent.
2. Staffing. As the firm grows, so may your staffing needs. Many entrepreneurs (and especially lawyers) wait too long to bring on much needed staff. It’s a delicate balance between waiting too long and hiring too quickly, however. Having your own firm allows you to address your practice-specific needs through unique and innovative staffing solutions. You’re no longer bound by the traditional roles of lawyer, paralegal, and legal assistant and free to lean into your specific needs in the short and long term. Retaining an HR consultant can help with everything from evaluating those staffing needs (to meet client demands and/or to help work on the business of the firm) to advising and drafting policies consistent with your culture and assisting if/when a difficult employee issue arises (and it will). With additional staff, additional needs will emerge and ignoring or delaying needs and requests from your team is ill-advised. While certainly no substitute for a positive and supportive culture and clear performance expectations, don’t underestimate the value of flexible work schedules, ergonomical workstations, and good snacks.
3. Vendors. Consider that the vendors that got you started may not be the vendors to get you where you need and want to go. It’s good business practice to reassess your vendor relationships to ensure your startup vendors continue to deliver what you need today and can grow with you. Your vendors can be a powerful part of your network with opportunities for cross referrals and honestly, it’s nice being the client sometimes.
4. Networking. If you left a large law firm, you may need to broaden and expand your legal and professional network. This will be important for cross-referrals, identifying talent and new vendors, and remaining competitive overall. While it may take a little more effort to find them, there are countless solos and small firms delivering sophisticated legal services. Local and practice-specific bar associations are an obvious way to re-engage and expand your network.
5. Succession Planning. It’s strange to think about winding down at the start of your new venture but having some preliminary understanding of a succession plan will make for more confident decision making along the way related to space, staffing, and various firm investments. Again, outside CFOs, consultants, and bar associations are available to provide law firm and even practice-specific options for succession planning.

Conclusion

This series began with a contrast between restaurant startups, with extensive fixed costs and perishable inventory, and law firm startups, without those same restraints. Once the recipes are perfected and repeatable, a new restaurant’s success or failure hinges on the staff and the front of house needs and experiences. In a law firm, it’s not all that much different. If you’re thinking about starting your own firm, you probably know how to be a good lawyer delivering consistent work product and repeatable client experiences. Keeping staff motivated, being clear on objectives, mission, purpose, and rolling with the entrepreneurship punches calls on other skills and tools. It’s important to consider and be realistic about the distinct skillsets required in practicing law, forming a startup, and sustaining it into the future.

Starting your own law firm may or may not be the right choice for you but staying with your existing firm is also a choice. Afterall, “If you choose not to decide / You still have made a choice.”[1] Why not make it an active choice and still use the exercise above to reinvigorate your love of the law and decision to stay? Our clients and our communities deserve a legal industry fully committed to this work in whatever form it takes.

Jenifer Brown is co-founder of Brown Glier Law, LLC in Indianapolis. After practicing in BigLaw for 22 years, Jenifer and her partner, Christl Glier, co-founded their firm focusing exclusively on business immigration. While they’ve cleaned up their fair share of both figurative and literal messes over the last three years of startup life, they’ve also found more joy in their work than they previously thought possible.

[1] Peart, Neil. “Freewill.” Rush, 1980, www.rush.com.