So the question is, how does a solo lawyer or small law practice with a limited budget, unwilling or unable to spend a lot of money on television, compete with law firms advertising on TV?  The answer is surprisingly simple.  Since competition is everywhere, not just on TV, you always need to compete and that means you just need to stand out and differentiate yourself from the competition.  Fortunately, that’s very easy.  Tell the public know that you have something different to offer. 

As a solo lawyer or small law office, you can offer "personal service", one of the most important issues to a potential client.  Make sure that you actually give personal service and not just offer it.  That means promptly returning clients' telephone calls within the same day that you receive a message and taking the time to speak to your clients without rushing them off the phone.  Do not shunt calls off to a paralegal or secretary.  Clients want to talk to their lawyer, not your paralegal.  Forget that you're a lawyer and pretend that you run a business.  Your primary job is customer relations and you run a business providing legal services.  You need to take all steps necessary to make your clients' life easy.  Where other lawyers may have clients do some of the work, you should do it all.  For instance, in a personal injury practice, instead of asking your client to get a police report, your office should get the police report.  Instead of having your client fill out a no-fault application, your office should fill it out.

The next question is, how do you advertise your fabulous services to the public without spending money?

Step number 1.  Create a Wallet Billboard™, not a business card.  When I started my law practice, I realized that I would have to compete with the big law firms.  I decided to make a business card that looked different than everyone else's business card.  My business card listed five lines of services I offered including my name, telephone number, and address.  It was like a little billboard, rather than a business card.  I call it a Wallet Billboard™.  One of the five lines on my card said, "tough negotiator",  and the last line said "I provide personal service".  My cards were printed on paper rather than plastic.  If you want to spend more money, you can print your Wallet Billboard™ on plastic telephone cards which allow the user to make an emergency call.  The card can be limited to one short call or to entice the user to keep the card, you can limit the user to one 3 minute telephone call every month.  While writing this, I realized that I probably should sell these cards to lawyers who would like to use them, so very soon, I'll provide a link so you can see what the Wallet Billboard™ looks like and an order form.

Step number 2.  Now that you have your cards, how do you get clients?  The answer again is surprisingly simple.  You give your cards to everyone you see during the day or night.  During the period of time that you're awake, you meet lots of people.  For instance, in the morning you may buy a cup of coffee.  The waitress and the cashier should each get one of your cards.  Think about everyone you meet during the day, for instance, taxi drivers, the salesperson at every store you go to, the cashier at every store you go to from supermarkets to clothing stores, bank employees, etc.  How do you give these cards to people you don't know?  That's easier to say and also easier to do after the first time.  It was a little difficult for me at first, however I finally got up the guts to give my Wallet Billboard™ to a perfect stranger.  It was a cashier at a computer store.  It was my turn to check out, and as I was paying the cashier, I handed her my card and blurted it out.  I said, "Hi, I'm a personal injury lawyer and I thought I would give you my card in case you might need it one day".  After that, I found it wasn't so difficult and I gave out lots of cards to lots of people, everywhere, everyday.  Some people threw them out right in front of me, some people said thank you and put it on the cash register or in their wallet, and a few people said "Oh great, I just had an accident and I need a lawyer".  I signed up every one of those people and I even received a few phone calls over the years from people who had kept my cards.  This one form of inexpensive lawyer advertising built up a very busy law practice with over 130 clients for a solo personal injury lawyer.

Step number 3.  How does a solo lawyer handle all your new clients?  A) I used personal injury case management software from SAGA which is very sophisticated and can save many hours of work on a case.  When I started my practice, not only was I a solo lawyer, but I had no one to answer the telephone.  SAGA did the work of several people and allowed me to handle smaller cases which I would not have been able to do if I had to spend more than a couple of hours on them.  You can read my review of SAGA here.  Tip:  If you already have cases and are not using personal injury case management software, after installation of the software start using it by entering new cases only.  Then when you have time, start entering your previous cases one at a time.  B) I frequently had scheduling conflicts with court appearances and EBT's, so I frequently used per diem lawyers.  For the really good cases, I used friends of mine who were charging me a little more than per diem lawyers, however, I was assured that the EBT or court appearance was being handled properly.

Nov 23, 2004