Starting a Law Firm | Choosing Clients Carefully

When starting a law firm, you need to choose your clients carefully.  I realize that this is much easier to say than to do, but I can not emphasis enough how important client selection is.

In my 3+ years of working as an associate for a small general practice firm, I took on a lot of different kind of cases.  Probably too many different kinds of cases.  Regrettably, nobody ever told me to be careful about the kinds of clients and cases I took on.  I wish somebody would have because, for me, it could have been the difference between being a happy lawyer and being a miserable lawyer.

Clearly, if you start a law firm, telling yourself that you will only accept clients and cases you want to work on is a bit academic.  After all, you have to eat.  I also realize that I’m not always going to like all of my clients and they probably won’t all like me.  That is just a given.  But, being careful about client selection can make your lawyer life so much better.  My general rule of thumb is this:   don’t take on a dog just because it pays.

I wanted to write this article in my starting a law firm blog after reading a really interesting and well written article in my Indiana Bar Association magazine:  Res Gestae.  (I’d link to the publication online, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t have an online presence.)  The article is by a regular columnist, Donald R. Lundberg, and is entitled “Choosing clients wisely: a key to fulfillment in the practice of law.”  It’s in the April 2011 issue.

The article brought up some great points that I want to briefly summarize here.  The author advises that every time a new or old client brings your law firm a new matter, you should consider a number of things, including:

  1. Your Competence to handle the matter
  2. Past lawyer history on the case (are you the second or third or fourth lawyer on the case?)
  3. The client’s emotional connection to the case (are they too close and not able to distance themselves from it?)
  4. The problem dump (is the client wanting to dump their problems on you so that it is now your problem and not theirs?)
  5. The micromanager (this one should be self-explanatory)
  6. The needy client (also known as the constant caller)
  7. The non-payor and/or the slow-payor (in my experience, this one usually encompasses all of the above).
  8. Conflicts of interest (this one is obvious, but I point it out to say that it is also a good way to explain to the client why you won’t take their case)

That is the list.  I think it is a pretty good one.  There are probably other items to add, but I think you get the point.  Being a lawyer can be tough.  When you make yourself miserable by working on cases you don’t like, or for clients you can’t stand, your job starts to feel like a noose.  I’ve been there.  It’s not fun and I’ve thought about quitting the practice because of it.

If you are going to start and build a law firm you are going to need clients.  You are also going to work on some cases at the beginning that you probably won’t take later.  That is ok.  But, if I can recommend anything, it is to enjoy your job as much as you can.  Choosing your clients and cases wisely is the way to start your law firm the right way.