California Lawyers Association Opening and Managing a Law Office: Go Solo, Win Clients, and Be Your Own Boss

Being a solo or small firm business owner isn't easy on your own, so take the guesswork out of it. The Solo & Small Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association (CLA) set out to create a guide for navigating what may be the most exciting phase of your legal career—being your own boss. This is the owner’s manual to opening and managing a solo or small firm from the best of the best. 48 authors stepped up to share their deep expertise. Each author was asked, “What do you wish you had known when you started out?” These solo practitioner experts have identified the most important things to consider when opening and managing your solo and small firm. In these 800+ pages, you’ll discover whether going solo/small firm is for you, how to get started and set yourself apart from the competition, funding & financing methods, hiring & personnel best practices, all about offices & mobile lawyering, technology matters, and pitching/winning/grading your clients. Get answers to your questions: How do you leave your old firm? Choose a name for your law practice? What can social media, blogging, and podcasting do for your small firm? What are the best ways to network, find a mentor, and build a business support network? How do you stay healthy, balanced, and productive amid stress and tough times? And much more. Contributors include law firm founders, partners, CEOs, entrepreneurs, law school faculty, award winners, bar association presidents, board members, hosts of popular legal podcasts, and published authors, including: Nora Riva Bergman, author of 50 Lessons for Lawyers and 50 Lessons for Women Lawyers Adam Camras, CEO of LAWgical which owns Legal Talk Network and CourtFiling.net Laurence Colletti, Executive Producer at Legal Talk Network and host of Legal Talk Today Brian Cuban, author of The Addicted Lawyer and younger brother of entrepreneur Mark Cuban Stephanie Everett, President of Lawyerist Jerry Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer for Madwire®, Marketing360®, and Top Rated Local® Marshall Lichty, host of JDHD: A Podcast for Lawyers with ADHD Jason Marsh, Founder of digital marketing agency, MARSH8 Denice Menard, Media Coach Marcus Niro, Brand Manager of CourtFiling.net Allen Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of law innovation agency ONE400 Mike Whelan, Jr., author of Lawyer Forward Beth K. Whittenbury, author of How To Self Publish Your Book In Ten Easy Steps Megan Zavieh, host of Lawyers Gone Ethical Podcast And the following incredible authors who share their deep subject matter expertise in this book: Amanda Allen, Somita Basu, Joshua Bonnici, James D. Crosby, Nicole D’Ambrogi, Cynthia Elkins, Roberta Burnette Elliott, Jeremy M. Evans, Justin D. Farmer, Andrew Fleischman, Eric Ganci, Erin Gerstenzang, Sabrina L. Green, Star Hughes-Gorup, Jamahl C. Kersey, Robert M. Klein, Kimberly Lee, David M. Majchrzak, Dominic V. Marino, Steven M. Mayer, Patricia L. McCabe, Assly Sayyar, Johanna Schiavoni, Angelica Sciencio, Nikki Semanchik, Susan Share, Jayme Simpson, Phillip Stackhouse, Renee N. G. Stackhouse, Cynthia Lee Stratton, M. Sue Talia, J. Christopher Toews , Gayani Weerasinghe, and Deborah A. Wolfe