In considering how to start a law firm, you need to consider where you are going to be actually sitting and thinking when you practice law. In other words, you need to consider what kind of office space and setup you are going to have when you start a law firm.
Sounds obvious, I know. This post relates to my previous post about law firm overhead. A virtual law office arrangement equates to much lower overhead than paying for a lease or some other more traditional office arrangement.
Keeping costs to a nill is going to be key to ensuring that your practice is successful. Paying for a an expensive office lease is going to cost you money that you could be spending on other important things like a new printer/scanner/faxer. I’ve read on other blogs and in legal articles that paying for unnecessary overhead may be the biggest killer of a new law firm. I don’t know if this is true, but I do know that I don’t feel that I can afford the office rent at this point in my practice. Even if I could afford it, I don’t really want to pay for it when it isn’t necessary.
But, if you are going to start a law firm you need to have an office with office supplies in it. There is no doubt about this. For instance, I need a bunch of things surrounding me in order to be successful. I need a telephone, computer, a printer, a scanner, a copier, paper, writing utensils and various law books. That is the minimum, and I want these items to be easily accessible. I am always concerned about my time and how much I am spending doing things that slow me down or are unnecessary. When you bill by the hour, you have to be efficient. I take a lot of pride in being efficient, and my office set up should (I hope) reflect this.
Can all of these things be made available easily? Yes. Can you put them just about anywhere? Yes. Does it matter if they are in your basement or in a $1,000 a month, leased office space. No.
Now, I know that there are many advantages to having a professional office space. I hope to have one some day. I don’t want to practice out of my home or virtual office forever. But, this blog is about how to start a law firm and when starting a law firm you need to survive. The virtual office can be a great way to survive.
Chuck Newton, over at a blog I really enjoy called Third Wave Lawyer, has some great posts about offices built out of odd-ball materials like old office containers. This is not an example of a virtual office. However, they are cool and I invite you to check them out.
An example of my attempt to check out a virtual law office arrangement in Minneapolis is that I have researched on the internet and found some companies that advertise for virtual office space. The traditional arrangement goes something like this: you pay somebody a lower rate (say $200 a month) to have access to a conference room are other office space when you need it. Think: meeting with clients. The rest of the time, when you are not using the office, you are working from home. This is a virtual office as I understand it.
Virtual law offices are a great way to still have an office presence while still keeping overhead low. Starting a law firm is all about maximizing profit and making wise decisions. For many people, the virtual office is can be a very wise decision.