What Makes A Law Firm A Business?

Someone asked me the question, “how can I determine if my law firm is a real business?” You might be thinking, well, of course, if my doors are open and I’m selling legal services, I’m a business. But there really are some very fundamental differences between a law firm that can be very professional, providing services with the expectation of payment in some manner and a real business.

In this episode, I want to talk about what I consider to be the top three business indicators that define a sustainable business. Being able to identify these attributes in your law practice will give you greater insight into whether or not your law practice really constitutes a business.

 

In this episode, I’ll discuss:

  • The top 3 indicators of having a sustainable law firm business vs. a law practice
  • How the owner mindset determines what actions are being avoided
  • The hesitation to trust and train a new team member
  • The fear of how you may be perceived if you let someone go from your team
  • The resistance to following up with a prospect until you get to close or no
  • The importance of setting the expectations and leading by example
  • What sustainability means for you and your business
  • The chaos due to everyday workload versus lack of systems
  • The lawyers’ inherent struggle to delegate to and empower their team
  • The number one reason lawyers will stall in their growth
  • The benefits of achieving consistency in revenue besides just the money
  • The importance of having a framework for and understanding of how your money is spent
  • Planning for a less than 100% payment/collection rate

 

About Allison

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is The Law Firm Mentor.  Law Firm Mentor is a Business Coaching service for solo and small law firm attorneys.  It helps lawyers to grow their revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money.  Law Firm Mentor was born out of Allison’s experience starting a law firm and scaling its revenues into a multi-million dollar business in only three years.  She shares her extensive knowledge of business, mindset coaching and entrepreneurship alongside her team in Law Firm Mentor.

Allison is also Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey.  She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Allison is a member of the New Jersey Board on Attorney Certification (NJBAC) – Matrimonial Committee, a New Jersey Supreme Court committee that determines eligibility of candidates to be certified as a recognized practitioner in the field of matrimonial law.

Allison has been named a Rising Star Attorney by the New Jersey Super Lawyers franchise continuously from 2008 – 2013, and has been named a Super Lawyer by that organization for 2014 – present. In 2016, she was featured in the Super Lawyers publication (Williams v. The Rubber Stamp), she has been named one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in New Jersey from 2017-2020 and in 2019-2020, was voted in the Top 100 Super Lawyers and Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in the State of New Jersey.

Allison is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm 581% in three years. She won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.  In 2018, Allison was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Allison won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

In 2018, Allison created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers. Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications and money management in law firms. 

She received her B.S., magna cum laude, and her M.S., summa cum laude, from Florida State University. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law.

 

To contact Allison:

Website – https://lawfirmmentor.net/

Facebook – https://facebook.com/LawFirmMentor

Instagram – https://instagram.com/Law_Firm_Mentor 

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Law_Firm_Mentor 

Email – law.firm.mentor@gmail.com