The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

When most lawyers think about niche practice, their notion is that of a practice limited to one, or a few, practice areas.   And, that’s one of the chief reasons that attorneys approach the notion of a niche practice with s ome combination of trepidation and dread.  Because selling out on one or a few practice areas brings with it risk.   It could work out famously -- or, not so much -- which would necessitate a shift in the entire practice to resolve.  Of course, that’s not the only way to get niched.   If you work in a community with comparatively few lawyers -- not necessarily a ‘rural’ practice. just a practice operating as the sole, or one of a few providers in, a local community -- you can effectively create a niche as ‘the local attorney’.  Now, the nature of that locality  is almost entirely dependent on whether you can generate enough clients from it to support a practice.  Even so, the options are perhaps wider than...

Last time, in this space, we addressed the fact that attorneys can exercise ‘the nuclear option’ on any case referral, at any time: they can keep it for themselves.  That’s why it’s so valuable to also network for referrals from non-attorney professionals, who  have to  find a lawyer to deliver referrals to.   But, if you’re comfortable networking with other attorneys, but not non-attorneys, these strategies should help:   -Just as you should find lawyers with complementary practices areas to refer cases to, and to be referred cases from, you should find non-lawyer professionals with complementary business models to refer business to and to get business from.  So, if you focus on motor vehicle accidents, it helps to know someone who runs a body shop.   -Endeavor to make presentations in your local community that will draw potential clients and potential referral sources.  If you have not yet developed your reputation in the local comm...