r/LawFirm

I know there isn’t a straight answer but I was hoping to hear from personal injury attorneys or from those that know one.

I’m debating on jumping in but I’d take a pay cut because a lot of the firms in California seem to only pay $150k if you have 2-5+ years of experience and I don’t see any sort of percentage deal in the job descriptions. And I can’t seem to find any jr. associate positions so I’m assuming they’d pay less.

The only reason I’d make the switch (currently doing family law) is because the work seems interesting and with me wanting to start my own firm, the money would be nice too. I’d likely stay for 2-3 years until I got some clients.

However, there’s a ton of mixed opinions online regarding how personal injury attorneys do. I saw one past post on Reddit about some 38 year old that made $6 million/year and had a net worth of $15 million and it only took him roughly a decade to reach that.

Then you get people saying that a lot of personal injury attorneys might do great one year and have to close shop the next because they lost too much money on cases or they just couldn’t get enough business.

So it seems insanely risky and I want to make sure I’m not romanticizing it because I know a lot of people like to think they’re outliers but I wasn’t sure if the likelihood of success was actually achievable or if it’s more of a pipe dream that would take a significant amount of luck to achieve.

Basically I want to know that if you hustled and handed out business cards and did as much marketing as you could, would the chances of achieving a $1 million income be realistic? Or is it like trying to start a coffee shop hoping it turns into Dutch Bros.?

Question for the group, especially for smaller or solo firm owners:

What do you use for legal billing? Do most firms use Clio for this? Spreadsheets? Simple legal billing apps?

I'm in a small firm and we are trying to decide what makes sense. We were looking at Clio but already have Netdocs for document management, which seems to overlap a lot with Clio. We're getting rid of Advantage Law for time tracking and billing, which precipitated this decision.

Is there anything comparable to replace Advantage Law with for time tracking and billing?

i am moving all my contracts and agreements from paper based to e-sign at our family law firm and looking for something that works well for legal documents.

what are you using at your firm for client agreements, contracts and other documents that need signatures? looking for something simple and reliable that clients can use without much hassle.

if youve made the switch from paper to e-sign, anything you wish you had known before choosing a tool?

i just graduated with a degree in psychology and have been in the process of looking at what it will take to eventually go to law school. my original plan long before graduating was to get my paralegal certification, work at a firm for some time to gain some experience and better understanding in this field (seeing as i have little to no experience now), and once I feel ready, apply for law school. that way i will have already fostered connections in law and may even secure a job before i get my JD.

my parents have been telling me to just go straight to law school though i don't feel that i have the CV or experience needed to actually get in anywhere right now. does anyone have any advice? is my plan sound or should i go back to the drawing board?

I'm awaiting bar results and plan to hang out my own shingle in TX as soon as they come through. Was wondering if anyone has experience getting referral cases from some of the big law firms like Morgan&Morgan? I have a small network of mid/large firms in my area that I plan to ask for referrals but am genuinely trying to figure out how the economics work in these situations.
[referral arrangements are only part of my marketing efforts, will also be self-generating cases via digital and in-person events]

Long time solo real estate attorney. I've built up a good flow with my office but I feel like I should be adding clients at a quicker pace. I supplement the slow periods with estate planning and evictions and its helped tremendously in consistent income.

I really enjoy real estate and would like to keep that my main focus. I'm in an urban area where transactions are primarily controlled by the Realtors. The majority of the time, the clients go with whatever attorney the Realtor recommends or puts on the contract. I'm forced to constantly keep Realtors happy or try to gain their business. I try various methods to reach clients directly, but it is far less effective.

I would love to hear from other real estate attorneys that are in the same boat. What have you done that has been effective in getting Realtors to refer you? I go out of my way to do a great job for my clients at every closing and often are complemented by the agents. However, getting them to use me as one of their recommended attorneys constantly feels like an uphill battle.

I send invitations to take Realtors out to lunch (mixed success)

I send newsletters with updates on changes in real estate law (mixed success)

I tried sponsoring local Realtor boards (awful waste of money)

I've sponsored events held by Realtors (even bigger waste of money)

What am I missing?

I have my first trial this week and I am feeling very anxious about it. If anyone can offer any advice, I would love to hear it. Any good pointers on preparing testimony outlines?

I own an estate planning / probate practice outside a Top 25 market. Had some questions to those who have opened multiple locations of their practice.

1. How did you decide where to locate the next location? I'm looking at space but when I find a possible match I am parallel checking my competition in the area via Google search. Are there other things to consider in that regard?

2. What are some mistakes you made in the process and/or tips for finding success?

3. Is your other location / locations smaller than your main office? I am looking to just have a space to meet for plan signings in person on a preset slate of days per month. I don't intend to have it staffed every day so I'm looking for the nicest space for the month while weighing the square footage given the amount of use I'll get.

4. Did you have any issues with Google My Business profiles, SEO, etc.? Any tips on that is also appreciated.

Senior attorney being asked to move from production into building and running a pod of associates, some experienced laterals, some brand new with no cases. I’d ramp my own billing down as the management load grows.
How is this actually paid at your firm?
Is the managing cut a percentage of associate collections, or of a margin (collections minus salary, or collections above a multiple like 3x)? Does it start from the first dollar, or only after they cross a threshold? If there’s a threshold, how do you get paid during the year you’re building someone from zero, before they produce?
Is there a flat management stipend on top, or is it all production-based?
Trying to figure out whether there’s a market standard for compensating the build itself, versus just paying the managing cut once associates are already producing. Any real structures or numbers appreciated.

Public accountants and Law firms issue sensitive, high-stakes documents to their clients, that then get passed on to other users such as lenders.

Does it concern you, as a CPA for example, that someone (client or a third party) can use basic pdf editing software to change some numbers on the statements and use them for lending purposes? A lot of mortgage fraud happens on fraudulent documents. You would probably avoid any liability, but it can cause reputational damage and unnecessary headache.

Would you pay for a solution that helps prevent this tampering?

I just got a job offer that requires 2100 total hours per year, but 1800 are billable and 300 are non billable, so like admin/firm related stuff. Is that do-able or is that gonna suck?

Hey everyone, I need some advice because I’m honestly confused about what I should do next.

Yesterday I saw a Facebook ad for a work-from-home handwriting/copywriting job. The ad said they provide weekly assignments, there is no daily work, and that payment is guaranteed.

I contacted them through the Telegram details given in the ad. They sent me a Telegram channel/account called HANDWRYTTEN BOOKS PUBLICATION and the handle was @FREELANCE_HANDWRITING_JOB9509.

I asked them whether the publication/job was genuine before paying anything. They assured me that it was 100% real and trusted.

They initially asked me for ₹501 as a registration fee. They sent me a QR code and I made the payment.

After I paid, they sent me a registration confirmation with my name on it and claimed that my registration was successfully completed. The document mentioned something called “The Federation of Indian Publishers”.

Then suddenly they told me that I needed to pay around ₹1,999 as a file charge to proceed further. They said the amount was refundable and that I would receive it back along with my earnings/refund.

I questioned them about the ₹1,999 and asked them to clarify/refund the amount, but instead they kept asking me to make the additional payment.

At this point I realised something was seriously wrong. I did NOT pay the ₹1,999.

I have screenshots of everything — the original Facebook advertisement, Telegram conversation, their Telegram profile/channel, QR code, payment receipt, registration document, and their messages asking for the additional ₹1,999.

The ₹501 payment was made through UPI to the payment details they provided. I have the complete transaction proof and UTR saved.

I have also kept the phone number used by the person, but I'm not posting it here because I don't want to expose personal information publicly. I have already provided the number and other details to the authorities.

What I have done so far

I have already filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal under Online Financial Fraud → UPI Related Fraud.

I submitted the transaction details, Telegram handle, suspect payment details and other available evidence.

Now I want to know what I should do next.

Can someone who has dealt with a similar scam please guide me?

Should I also raise a fraud dispute with my bank/UPI app?

Should I visit the local cyber crime police station with all the screenshots?

Is there any realistic chance of recovering the ₹501?

Should I separately report their Telegram account and the Facebook advertisement?

Is there anything else I should immediately do after filing the cyber complaint?

I know ₹501 isn't a huge amount, but I don't want them to keep doing this to other people. The fact that they ask for a small registration amount first and then demand a much larger “refundable” file charge is what makes me suspicious.

I have all the original evidence and can provide it to the authorities. I just don't want to post my personal details publicly.

If anyone has experienced something similar or knows the proper next steps, please help. 🙏

Alright I need to know the connection- why do all of you seen to buy gigantic boats? Is it a write off somehow? A status symbol a little lady like me wouldn’t understand?

I’ll take both serious and unserious answers!

I’ve spent the last few months building TaskWhite:

https://www.taskwhite.com/

It’s a productivity/work-management tool focused on something I think most task managers still handle badly: accountability, follow-ups, recurring work and “what happened to this?”

I’m too close to it now, so I want Reddit to tear it apart.

Tell me:

- Why would you NOT use this?

- What’s missing?

- What makes you say “I already have this in ClickUp/Notion/Asana/Excel/WhatsApp”?

- What would you change first?

Don’t be polite. Pretend you’re trying to convince me not to waste another year building this.

I’ll read every serious criticism.

Hey everyone,

My dad is a lawyer, and for years I’ve watched him and his juniors operate in total chaos. Client documents scattered across 15 different WhatsApp groups, dates tracked in physical diaries (with the inevitable panic when one gets missed), and out-of-pocket expenses scribbled on random sticky notes that never actually make it to the client's final bill.

I build software for a living, so a few months ago, I finally sat down and built a platform specifically to fix his chamber.

He and his juniors have been running their practice on it for the last 3 months. Since it’s actually surviving the daily grind of a real firm without breaking, I polished it up and am opening it up to the public today. If you’re a young lawyer setting up your independent practice, or just tired of the traditional mess, this might save you some headaches.

I skipped the bloated enterprise software crap and focused on fixing the immediate problems:

• Custom Case Fields: Not every matter is the same. There are no rigid, useless forms here; you define the fields based on what the specific case actually requires.
• No More WhatsApp Digging: Centralized file storage so you can easily share docs with co-counsels or clients without losing them in a chat history.
• Google Calendar Sync: Case dates sync straight to your phone. No more missed hearings.
• Junior Task Management: A stupidly simple UI to assign drafting tasks to your team and see exactly what is due and when.
• Expense Tracking: Log every printing, travel, and filing fee per case instantly so you actually remember to bill for it.

I built this to solve a massive headache in my own house. I’d love for some actual practitioners here to try it out and tear it apart. Let me know what’s missing or what I got wrong.

Still Work In Progress. Would appreciate any feedback

https://firmdiary.com

I am a Plaintiff's PI lawyer. A good friend of mine from law school who is now also an attorney (not PI) referred me a case. My firm gets the typical 1/3 of settlement fee. The origination bonus we usually get is 1/3 of the firm's 1/3. what is the best way to split this fee with my friend? right down the middle? 60/40?

I want to be fair to both of us. I wouldn't have this case without him, but at the same time, all he is doing is saying "hey my friend needs a lawyer" and I will be handling everything myself from intake to settlement. Also don't wanna be an asshole and wanna make sure he feels comfortable referring me more cases in the future

I'm totally fascinated by law brand and marketing right now. The majority of the time, the brand, visual identity and marketing strategy seems terrible or non existent, at the very least basic compared to other industries.

In an era of GEO and AI why is this? Is everyone too busy doing actual law work? Do people see it as not part of the industry (as in the 70 year old boomers)? Often, I see office managers getting promoted as marketing managers at big law firms with no experience. 

Often the brand and website identity, as well as owned media is lacking - there’s no communication to current clients and new prospects apart from client updates, am I wrong? 

Hello all,

I have recently taken the bar and the MPRE and I'm waiting on my results. I would like to pursue a career within entertainment law (specifically copyright law). I went to a school well known for its IP program(s) and have interned at a firm that specializes in entertainment matters within the DMV area. The firm did work under WALA pro bono and it seemed like an appropriate way to break into the industry. I would like to do work within music or book publishing.

I have struggled to find employment for a new lawyer that wants to work within the entertainment industry and have decided to find means of networking. Is WALA a good place to get a membership and try for it? I've seen the events they have and it seems more geared toward helping out small businesses and sole practitioners with their entertainment practice. Also, all of the remaining events for this year are online seminars. Is it worth investing the money to join for the year?

Does anyone have experience in this matter? Would anyone else recommend another way to network to break into the field and eventually get a job? Please let me know. We can converse privately as well if you'd like. Thank you so much!

Does anyone know what a $2M book nets a partner at a law firm? I asked this over in big law and people said that book was too small for those firms.

Anyone heard anything good or bad about these bros that run a PI mill out of LA/FL? I heard they are a fun place to work for attorneys. Am I crazy?