By Elizabeth Pekin, Esq., Momentum Funding Founder & President

For 11 years I traveled across the country visiting law firms of all sizes and attending legal conventions on a state and national level. I have spent many hours in both sole practitioners’ offices and in large personal injury and workers’ compensation law firms. In addition, I am close personal friends with many well known personal injury attorneys in the country. I am constantly bombarded with the same questions and have been intrigued and interested in these topics for over a decade. ”What sets apart the successful attorney or law firm from a struggling attorney or law practice?” “What is the secret?” “Why do some law firms become household names and others dissolve quickly?” “What is the secret to success for personal injury lawyers?”

The answer is that it has nothing to do with where the attorneys went to law school, whether they have tried or successfully settled thousands of cases, whether they were moot court presidents, or highly respected legal authorities or published authors. The characteristic that sets the success stories apart is that the most prominent attorneys with the largest and most profitable practices know how to run their law offices as businesses.

Most of these lawyers did not go to the most prestigious law firms, were not the top of their class in law school, and did not score the highest on the Bar Exam. The attorneys who have the best law firms are all dynamic business men and women. They have inherent “sales” personalities and know-how to run their firms as businesses. They are creative, highly motivated and driven to succeed. They worked their way through law schools, and struggled financially at times. Many came from modest lower or middle class families.

An attorney with business skills will become a “rainmaker” by following these “Top 5 Tips for Running Your Law Firm Like A Business”:

1. Hire good lawyers to attend court hearings. In order to run your firm as a business it is imperative that you are PRESENT in the firm.

2. Have complete control over every aspect of your law firm. The best firms have the owners micromanaging all of the legal assistants responsibilities. They run a “tight ship”. Many have cameras watching over the staff to make sure that everyone is doing their jobs. I have watched firms fail because the attorneys have given up too much control to office employees. I have seen multiple examples of, “When the cats away the mouse will play!”

3. Hire someone you can trust. Your assistant should be someone you train to manage your office and the clients.

4. Make work fun. While having complete control over their offices, successful attorneys are also generous to their employees and keep their morale high by taking them out for fun dinners, helping them meet goals, and bringing in lunches.

5. Find high-level vendors to facilitate successful marketing campaigns. Many attorneys have in-house marketing executives or hire high-level consultants who run analytics to insure that the ads are targeting the right people and working.

Please see “Run Your Law Firm Like A Business: Part Two” for additional business tips for lawyers.

If you have any questions about client funding, law firm loans, medical funding, small business lending, or law firm marketing and sales call Momentum Funding Founder & President Elizabeth Pekin, Esq. at 1-855-855-FUND (3863).

She and the team at Momentum Funding can assist you with all of your needs and can help YOU run your law firm like a business.