As a lawyer with one foot planted in the trendy legal tech world and the other in the traditional work-a-day solo and small practitioner world, I’ve noticed a remarkable cognitive dissonance: in spite of all the talk of how AI-powered robots will soon replace lawyers, turns out that the solo and small law firms that are really killing it with $500k+ practices are providing traditional legal services in the most traditional of ways.
We’re all familiar with the success of Legal Zoom, but over the past decade we’ve seen other technology advancements that were supposed to replace traditional lawyers: the virtual law firm (where clients connect with lawyers and exchange documents through private portal and Skype), an online platform to help consumers DIY their bankruptcy cases, a tech-powered collaborative divorce process service, a traffic ticket service, and a $99/hour lawyer. Each time one of these companies launches, it’s heralded as the beginning of the end of lawyers.
And yet — there are still thousands of solo and small law firms generating high 6- and 7-figure revenues in business each year. What’s more, the majority of solos and smalls hitting those numbers are generally not those offering innovative, tech-empowered services, but instead, those doing the unsexy practice areas that solos and smalls have always handled: divorce, bankruptcy, trusts & estates, traffic ticket defense, immigration, DWI/DUI and personal injury.
Take a look at the majority of law firms on Law Firm 500 — an award that honors solo and small law firms with high-velocity growth: the vast majority handle those standard matters. What’s more, if you look at the firm websites, most tout “great results,” “personal attention,” “experience you can count on,” and “compassionate” or “caring” representation to clients. Few boast of convenient client portals, or low cost, DIY packages.
That’s not to say that these high-profit law firms don’t rely on technology. The firms that I know in this sweet-spot rely heavily on cloud-based practice management software and document automation, low-cost legal research tools like Fastcase or Google Scholar and blogging, online video, and pay-per-click and Facebook ads for marketing. But the difference is that technology isn’t the lede; instead, it’s part and parcel of the well-oiled machine that enables these firms to intake and serve hundreds of clients annually and rake in the profits.
What does all of this mean? First and most obviously, as much as many folks would like to get rid of lawyers, they’re not going away anytime soon. True, Legal Zoom and other DIY legal service companies are multi-million dollar enterprises — but there’s only a handful of them where, by contrast, there are thousands of high 6- and 7-figure solo and small law firms. Second, the companies that will always be a dependable bet in the legal tech space are, first and foremost, those that fuel the 7-figure solo and small firm marketing machine (as evidenced by the acquisition of Avvo by an Internet marketing business), followed by cloud-based practice management, document automation, or automated client intake tools that enables those firms to do the work more efficiently. Third, while innovation and disruption are headline-grabbing (and truth be told, will always have my heart), if you want to make a lot of money as a lawyer, the path is pretty straightforward: focus on a practice area that many people may need help and find clients.
Carolyn Elefant has been blogging about solo and small firm practice at MyShingle.comsince 2002 and operated her firm, the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. She’s also authored a bunch of books on topics like starting a law practice, social media, and 21st century lawyer representation agreements (affiliate links). If you’re really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email at [email protected]or follow her on Twitter at @carolynelefant.
