Rodney S. Dowell, Esq., DirectorJared D. Correia, Esq., LPALaw Office Management Assistance Program31 Milk Street, Suite 815Boston, MA  02109rodney@masslomap.orgjared@masslomapwww.masslomap.orghttp://masslomap.blogspot.com

Toll Free 888-545-6627Telephone 857-383-3250Facsimile 617-482-9909

Going Small or Solo − Now What?

JOINING A FIRM V. HANGING A SHINGLE

Know thyselfSelf-starterWilling to Market YourselfSales personSecretaryMail clerkTechnologyAccountant/bookkeeper

Reconcile personal accounts? Practice of Law:

Book 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 Dock

et

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

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Your law practice advisor.

CONTACT INFORMATIONRodney S. Dowell, DirectorJared D. Correia, Esq., LPA31 Milk Street, Suite 815Boston, MA 02109857-383-3250 (local line)888-545-6627 (toll free)rodney@masslomap.orgjared@masslomap.org

www.masslomap.orghttp://masslomap.blogspot.com/ www.twitter.com/rodneydowellwww.twitter.com/jaredcorreia

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