How to Run a Law Firm, the 101 Version – A Blog Series

I’ve been there . . . And it’s daunting to say the least. In the early days of running my law practice, what I really wanted was for someone to tell me is:  What are all of the areas of the business that I should be touching regularly (daily/weekly/monthly) to give myself the best chance of building a successful firm?  Not surprisingly, they don’t teach that in law school. Surprisingly, that don’t teach the tactical parts of that question in business school.

Today, I’m starting the blog series that I wish I could have read 10 years ago, so that you don’t have to struggle your way through the mistakes and missteps that I made.  Yes, this series is a little self-serving, because many of the areas I will write about are services that Legal Back Office provides. That’s not the point. The point is that lawyers are typically Type A humans that seek to understand the big picture, and this will paint the big picture for you. The upshot is, you as a law firm founder or managing partner, need to know and understand each of these business systems and processes, but it is not your highest and best use to perform them yourself.  In fact, it’s likely not cost effective for you (if you’re a small to midsized firm) to hire someone to perform all of the tasks associated with some of these business functions if you want to run a profitable firm.  More to come of that in later posts.

For now, let’s talk about what this blog series will cover:

• Basic Blocking and Tackling – Operations, Finance, Practice Management, Marketing, IT, Recruiting, and Benefits. Intertwined in this, we will talk about strategic planning, because it’s true, if you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail.
• Operations – What does this mean?  Who is on your operations team?  What is an organizational chart?  How often are you meeting, and what is discussed at those meetings?  Do you have the right person in the right role?  These concepts are critical to a firm’s success, and this blog will address those questions.
• Finance – In this blog, we will dive deep into the power of regular bookkeeping and financial reporting. We will explore Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), how to identify KPIs for your firm, and then how to manage the firm to your financial reporting.  Associated with this, we will talk about Accounts Receivable and what a strong collections process can do for your cash flow. Finally, we will talk about building a budget for each year that you can use as an accountability tool.
• Practice Management – In this blog, we will talk about the technology platforms that are critical in running a modern law firm.  What does it mean if your firm is “in the cloud” and how do you get there? We will touch on how those technology platforms create efficiencies in managing the firm, and accountability amongst the operations team.  We will also address the power of building process and codifying institutional knowledge.  
• Marketing – This is business development, but today, that looks very different than it looked 20 years ago. In this blog, we will touch on the importance of your website, how to use the analytics associated with your website, what marketing means in the digital age, what google ads can (and can’t) do for your firm, how social media can be your best business development tool, and the power of building strong relationships with centers of influence. We will also touch on email marketing tools and automation that is available through customer relationship management systems (aka CRMs) and practice management software.  
• IT – In this blog, we will walk through best practices for IT, especially once you are in the cloud.  What do you really need?  How much should it cost?  What are best practices?  
• Recruiting – The philosophy is ABR . . . always be recruiting.  What does that mean in today’s day and age?  How do you find great attorneys?  What is headhunting?  Why use a recruiter?  What do recruiters charge in fees?  Spoiler alert – you need a process!  This blog will answer all those questions and talk through a recruiting process and an onboarding process.
• Benefits – This is daunting for many firms, and a time-consuming process! In this blog, we will share information about benefits administration, and answer questions about how to work with a benefits broker, how to build a process for benefits administration, and what is a PEO (professional employer organization).

Thanks for reading along on this journey with me.  As we publish these blogs, I would love your feedback, thoughts and questions!  You can reach me at sstock@legalbackoffice.com or set up a time to meet with me by clicking: https://www.legalbackoffice.com/contact.  I look forward to hearing from you!