Last year, I was making small talk with a Medium Firm lawyer at a fancy lawyer dinner, and I was complaining about all the phone calls.
The conversation hit an abrupt stop….
Him: Wait a second. You don’t answer your own phone calls, do you?
Me, after an awkward 5 second pause: HA! No way, of course not, are you kidding? (said, literally, while my phone was vibrating in my pocket with a new call)
One of my favorite parts of having my own firm also relates to the least fun part of it: I make every administrative decision and also pay for every decision.
When the cost of every subscription, new technology, and sponsorship comes directly out of your own pocket, you develop a critical eye when making decisions.
With every one, I always ask: Will this help me serve my clients and/or make their experience working with me better? If yes, I then ask: Is it absolutely necessary?
At my old firm, every fall, a brand new stack of the Thomson Reuters “Rules of Court” books would show up on my desk. It was great. I’m a litigator, and, back then, I’d have stretches where I went to court every day of the week. Those books are useful.
But, not absolutely necessary. Everything in those books is available on Westlaw (if you’re a subscriber). They are also totally free on the Tennessee Courts’ website or the United States Courts’ website. They were a useful luxury.
Even back then, I’d get so worked up when I’d see that cart full of the new versions being delivered to every lawyer at the firm. About half of the lawyers never went to court and most likely never touched the books. At 40 lawyers, the $600 price tag turned into real money fast.
Because the $25,000 invoice didn’t come out of any one person’s pocket, nobody ever questioned the expense. We were a big firm, and buying a set for every lawyer was just something you did.
Over time, I saw dozens of budget items that had accumulated over time, which simply became legacy institutional costs that nobody questioned.
Just like paying somebody to answer your phone.
A disclaimer: I’ve always been a “direct line” lawyer, but my clients generally learn to email me for best results. (I mean, post-COVID, who is making “surprise” calls and expecting the other person to have a substantive conversation with you on the spot?)
And, yes, my old firm had people who intercepted unanswered calls and then flipped them to my voicemail. Nowadays, I use a third-party answering service, Abby Connect, to do the same thing, but for about $300 per month. As long as the client hears back promptly, they haven’t cared at all.
There’s really no right or wrong way to run a law practice. What works for one firm might not work for somebody else.
Having said that, though, there’s a direct correlation between how expensive it is to run a law firm and how many hours lawyers are forced to bill. Everything you read about lawyer burnout and stress suggests that an oppressively heavy workload isn’t ideal.
Sure, frisbees with your law firm logo on them are fun, but, somewhere, there’s an associate attorney billing an hour to pay for that.
When I make a decision for my own firm, I also know that any added cost means added billable hours. Some costs are necessary; others simply aren’t worth the extra burden on my schedule.
Today, I’m lucky that I’m the one who gets to make that choice.
My advice for other lawyers thinking about switching firms? Consider whether your values align with the people who will be making those types of decisions. It’ll be you paying for them.
Also, law firm clients, this same warning applies to you. I mean, you’re the ones who pay for all of it.
Creditors Rights 101 