Summary
- Rather than focusing on scarcity and finite opportunities, adopt an abundance mindset.
- Don’t be afraid to share your strategies for attracting cases and operating your firm.
- Immerse yourself in learning how to grow your practice.
About three years ago, my career as an attorney took a different and unexpected turn for the better. For the first 15 years of my career, I built from scratch a solid personal injury practice in Boston. The money was good, and the hours weren’t killing me. But, I had an itch for more. I wanted to scale and grow my firm because I realized that being a solo with just one assistant was going to limit my ability to grow my career into something bigger. The following is the road map I stumbled upon and discovered worked well for me and allowed me to triple my practice in three years:
The first thing I did was look outside the legal industry, and I began reading how business owners in other industries grew their businesses. I discovered that a common thread among many people I was reading about was that they all had at some point adopted an abundance mindset. I started looking at our profession and saw that the most successful lawyers adopt an abundance mindset and see unlimited opportunities everywhere. They don’t see scarcity. Rather, what they see is that the universe grants abundant opportunities. To be honest, during the first 15 years of my career, I had no idea what an abundance mindset even was, and I didn’t even really care to know. Like most of us, I was just focused on putting my head down and grinding away. In retrospect, during those 15 years, I was always thinking in terms of scarcity. I believed that there were only so many cases out there. That there were only so many opportunities. I saw the legal profession specifically as a zero-sum game. If one of my competitors got a big case I wanted, I somehow lost. I saw only finite opportunities available. But I have learned that what you focus on is what determines your reality. If you see scarcity, then there is scarcity in your life. Conversely, if you see abundance, then there is abundance in your life.
The second thing I did was to transition from being selfish to generous. This dovetails directly with adopting an abundance mindset. For many years, I was paranoid about sharing what worked well for me in generating cases for my practice. I was scared to share these strategies that worked for me because I was fearful my competitors would take those ideas and benefit from them. Ironically, I discovered that when I started sharing these things, my career actually grew. For example, when I get on stage or jump on a Zoom and share with a roomful of lawyers how I attract cases and how I operate my law firm, I find I actually gain from sharing during those opportunities. This has resulted in more referrals from other attorneys and more speaking engagements. I find that the giving results in the returns compounding over time into bigger and greater opportunities. The more you give, the more your career will grow.
The third thing I did was to really immerse myself into learning as much as I could about growing my practice. I started going to out-of-state conferences for the first time in my career. I would come home with notes for days on ideas I had learned that I wanted to implement immediately. I found the more I got away from my office and learned from others further ahead in the journey than me, the more I grew as a person. That, in turn, led to my firm growing, too. I then hired a coach, and later added a second coach. Soon, I joined a mastermind group, and then a second one. All the while, I was constantly reading business books, listening to podcasts, and generally geeking out and getting my hands on everything I could find to teach me how to grow my practice. I discovered over the past few years that those lawyers who are forever learners are the ones who generally find the most success. The key is to always challenge yourself to get better and to learn more. The moment you stop growing is the moment you — and your practice — start dying. Never stop learning and growing as an attorney.
These three things worked for me, but they certainly are not the only ways to grow a practice. If you are trying to grow your firm, I encourage you to find what works best for you. If you have other ideas and tips on how to grow a practice, I want to hear from you. Please email me at [email protected] because I’d love to connect with you.