Trimble: To be a better lawyer, think and practice like a solo

At a very early stage in my legal career, my mentor, Robert Wagner, took me aside and told me that if I wanted to be the best lawyer I could be, I needed to “think like a solo.” He made the point to me that solo and small law firms are small businesses in which the owners may have to shovel snow, sweep the front sidewalk or run the vacuum cleaner. They unlock the doors in the morning and turn on the lights, and then they turn off the lights and lock the door at the end of the day. They may have to take out the trash and refill the paper in the copy machine. They have to put out a product, send and collect billings, hire and supervise people, market, sell and develop new business and more. Solo lawyers have no one but themselves to make sure that they can earn enough to keep the doors of the law firm open and make enough money to live. Wagner’s analogy was that owning a business was like wearing a weighted backpack 24/7 that you can never really remove and set aside.

Through the years as my own firm has grown, I have realized that it would often be easier to let others conduct the “business” of law so that I could put my head down and practice law. However, my mentor’s lesson has always prompted me to believe that if I wanted to be the best lawyer I could be, I needed to practice and think like a solo. I have always felt that law firms of all sizes will prosper more if individual lawyers view themselves as a business unit within the larger enterprise.

Within the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to attend the Solo & Small Firm Conference hosted by the Indiana State Bar Association at the French Lick Resort. Over the last 20 years or so, this conference has become a staple for solo and small firm lawyers, and it now draws more than 300 lawyers for two to three days of CLE, networking and business resources. I learned almost immediately that dozens of the attendees had been coming year after year, and that they viewed the event like a family reunion or homecoming. The enthusiasm and camaraderie was amazing.

In my conversations with attendees at the seminar, I learned many things about solo and small law firm practice that lawyers in larger firms may not understand. Among the challenges facing solo and small law firms are some or all of the following:

• Competition: Not only are small firms competing with one another and larger firms, but they are competing with pro se litigants who think that they can rely on the internet to teach them to write their own wills, draft their own agreements, file their own divorces and bankruptcies and other civil claims that are the bread and butter of small law firms.

• Technology: As the legal profession and the court systems have gone paperless, firms of all sizes have been confronted with a dizzying array of technological programs for calendaring, billing, communicating and managing files. Clients of all sizes are demanding more technology from their lawyers, but for solo and small firms, the costs of technology can be staggering.

• Overhead and cost control: Aside from technology, solo and small firm lawyers have had to decide whether to maintain offices outside the home and have had to weigh the costs of paralegals, support staff, accounting and marketing.

• Administrative time: Many solos complain that they are spending an inordinate amount of time on administrative tasks that take them away from practicing law. Administrative time has always been an issue, but the increasing demands of running a business in recent times has made it overwhelming. (More on this in my next column.)

• Marketing and business development: For most solo lawyers, it is not enough to hang out a shingle in a busy location. They must spend time finding cost-effective ways to market their practices and seek a steady flow of new business.

• Professional development: To be competitive, all lawyers must stay current in their substantive practice areas, and new methods of competition and technology require education and training. But who has the time?

• Succession planning and retirement: Many solo and small firm lawyers have not cultivated or planned for successors, and they lack the knowledge to plan and pull off retirement, so they keep working.

• Work-life balance: The strain of practicing law and administering a business can become a 24/7 life, and that contributes to burnout, substance abuse and deteriorating health.

What I learned in French Lick is that solo and small firm lawyers are tackling these issues. They realize that engagement in bar association activities helps immensely with many of the burdens of solo practice. I saw and overheard many groups of lawyers who were trading stories and swapping ideas with one another. There was no “woe is me” attitude on display. There was an entrepreneurial spirit that pervaded the conference that reinforced the admiration I have always had for lawyers who had the courage to practice on their own.

Despite the demands of trying to “think like a solo,” I urge lawyers in firms of all sizes to take an active interest in the business of operating a law firm. Law is not just about billing hours. I truly believe that the very best among us are the very best because they understand that success in the profession of law also requires us to engage in the business of law. If you view yourself as an individual business enterprise within a larger enterprise, everyone around you will do better and so will you. Trust me.

#WillYouBeThere?•

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John Trimble (@indytrims) is a senior partner at the Indianapolis firm of Lewis Wagner LLP. He is a self-described bar association “junkie” who admits he spends an inordinate amount of time on law practice management, judicial independence and legal profession issues. Opinions expressed are those of the author.