When Ray Stevens’ so-titled hit was playing in 1968, offering its biting commentary on the plight of the business person, you never thought it applied to you. Well, to be more accurate, most of you had not yet been born, but I remember it well. Anyhow, when you were immersed in your law school curriculum, motivated perhaps by a love of the law, or a desire to do good, or to be a professional without having to take organic chemistry, you may never have pictured yourself worrying about budgeting, marketing, branding (unless you planned to represent ranchers), or networking.
But now you find yourself in a solo or small firm practice, and you discover that mere legal excellence, work ethic, and good intentions do not bring in the clients or pay the bills, at least not to the extent you would like. With or without reluctance, you must face the fact that the lawyer who runs a present-day practice is running a business. What’s a person to do?
Funny you should ask. The same LOMAP-LCL partnership that brought the recent “Getting Things Done” group series to interested solo and small firm practitioners is now gearing up to present, Your Law Firm is Your Business: Managing Your Solo Practice. Like the previous series, this one will consist of 6 sessions meeting every other Friday at lunch time (12:30 pm to 2:00 pm), starting (beware) on March 15. For more information, click here.
Jeff Fortgang, PhD
