4 Things You Do Every Day In Your Law Firm

A few years ago I got a chance to visit the La Brea Tar Pits just outside of Los Angeles, California.

If you’re not familiar with the La Brea Tar Pits, basically what has happened is that natural asphalt- or tar- has seeped up through the ground over tens of thousands of years and created these tar pits that were basically a trap for any poor animal who got too close and fell in.

I found it to be a perfect metaphor for so many lawyers who are stuck in the “trap” of running their law firms by the seat of their pants, sinking farther and farther down, year after year.

Check out a video of my visit here.

Keep in mind this video is almost 6 years old. As we have proven time and time again here at How to Manage a Small Law Firm, A LOT can change in 6 years.

For example, in the video we talk about the “4 Stages of Growth”, but our membership has grown so much and includes such high-revenue law firms that we now have 6 Stages of Growth.

But what the video does talk about that I really wanted to share with you are the 4 activities that you do every day in your law firm that you likely aren’t even aware of.

Every time you do something in or pertaining to your law firm, it will fit into one of these categories. The category you fit into the most likely determines what kind of life you are providing for yourself and your family.

Category 1- Any action that actively drives your law firm forwards towards your financial, personal, professional goals.

Anytime you are building marketing systems, delegating tasks to someone else, or analyzing financials and making strategic decisions based on those analytics, you are actively taking action to drive your law firm towards your goals.

As you might imagine, this category is the most conducive to growth and increased revenue. This is the sweet spot; you want to be here as much as you can.

The second category is similar, but with one key difference:

Category 2- Any action you take that PREPARES you to take action that actively drives your law firm forward.

While the first category is where you want to be the most, this category is also very important.

When you are doing something that prepares you to take action that actively drives your law firm forward, you are planning for success. This may include any time you are doing things like updating key internal/external policies, analyzing your financials and planning/preparing for cash crunches, or training someone on your staff with made-up work so they can learn without messing something up and freaking you out.

This is important, because before you can take action to drive your law firm forward you have to properly PREPARE to take that action.

The third category of activities is where many lawyers get stuck, and most of them have no idea how to escape it.

Category 3- Any action that contributes to your law firm just treading water.

Many lawyers end up here just trading dollars for hours, being a “lawyer” and not getting anywhere. If you run your law firm without a business plan, this is probably, unfortunately, the best you can hope for.

If you’ve been stuck around the same revenue for the last few years and just feel like no matter what you do you’re just spinning your wheels and working harder for no more money, then you probably spend most of your time in this category.

This is also an important category because there are only two ways to go from here… you can either get fed up with treading water and prepare to take action to move your law firm and your life forward, or you can unfortunately go the other way:

Category 4- Any action that actively holds you BACK from achieving your goals.

This is the category you are in when you start to find yourself hanging out with people who don’t believe in themselves.

When you hear lawyers bitching about the economy or the job market or any other bullshit they feed themselves for why they are failing in their business, you are witnessing category 4 behavior.

These are the lawyers who don’t have a successful law firm, but they have a great story as to WHY they don’t have a successful law firm.

This is where you are when you are taking cases and matters you KNOW you shouldn’t take, because you are desperate for the cash flow.

Anytime you perform a menial task instead of delegating, you are actively holding yourself and your firm back from your goals.

These are the lawyers you see “stuck in the tar”, sinking further and further year after year.

Click here to watch the video.

So which category of activities would you say dominated your 2019?

If you’re running your law firm without a business plan, then I would venture a guess that you are mostly a category 3. I wouldn’t put you in category 4 quite yet because you are engaged with us and reading our blog, which shows that you have the intention of eventually leaving the excuses behind and embracing what is really possible in your law firm.

But if you still haven’t signed up for our Law Firm Business Plan Bootcamp yet, why not?

Is it because of the price? We are offering a 100% Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee, so you can be confident you are investing in your business wisely.

Think you don’t have time? The Law Firm Business Plan Bootcamp is just a 4-week crash course- think about it, that’s one month…

One month to go from having no process or financial controls, to having a written business plan that lays out all 7 Main Parts of your law firm so that they are all working together efficiently and in harmony.

2019 is almost over, but if you act now you can step into 2020 with a clear vision for growth and a written business plan to execute it.

It’s time to stop treading water.

You started your law firm because you had standards.

Standards for what was acceptable for your life.

Standards for what was acceptable for your spouse’s life.

Standards for what was acceptable for your kids’ lives.

Standards that thus far have not been met, because you don’t have a business plan.

Click here to sign up for the Law Firm Business Plan Bootcamp today, and start doing things in your business that drive it forwards towards success and a lifestyle that is acceptable for you and your family.