Small Law Firms

Filling Time When Slow With Work As A Lawyer At A Small Firm

A slowdown can be put to far better use than playing Freecell or just staring into space waiting for the phone to ring.

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When I first started my own law firm almost six years ago, I was not that busy with work. It took almost three weeks to secure my first client, and to be honest, I kind of liked the free time. Eventually I fell into a groove with keeping myself busy, but throughout my practice, there have been times when I was slow with work, and times when I could barely keep up with client responsibilities. Some lawyers at small firms may fear being slow with work, but lawyers can do several things in such instances to productively use the time.

Marketing

One of the best things lawyers at small firms can do with any free time from a work slowdown is to focus on marketing and business development. Marketing can come in a variety of different forms, including social media posts and blogging on a law firm website. When I was getting my firm off the ground, I invested considerable time on blogging. In the beginning, I blogged on a pretty consistent basis, but as I got busier with client work, I would only devote time to it when there was a slowdown with work. This helped me fill time and be productive, and I can trace a decent amount of business I originated as a result of these efforts. Lawyers at small firms do not need to blog like I did when filling time with useful tasks, but keeping busy with activities that can benefit a law firm is a good use of slowdowns.

Networking

Lawyers should always be networking, and I have witnessed some lawyers allow their contacts to grow cold since they did not invest too much time in networking during busy periods. However, networking can definitely become a focus of lawyer time during slow periods since such activity can lead to referrals as well as just being plain fun. When I am slower with work, I am much more likely to accept invitations to network, and I am hungrier for new business development leads.

Lawyers typically have a number network outlets. Attorneys can network with alumni communities associated with their college and law school. I spend the vast majority of my networking energy in that way. This works best if you have an  existing contact with someone at a networking event rather than going to an event cold, but it is also possible to create new connections at such events. I have also networked with bar associations, but I find that such events are not as good at making business development contacts since it seems that everyone there is also chasing leads to generate new work. Regardless of the events you choose, networking can be an extremely beneficial use of your time during a slowdown.

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Administrative Tasks

Many attorneys have a difficult time completing administrative tasks when they are busy with client work since they feel that their energy should be primarily spent on generating revenue. Lawyers may even put off critical tasks until a slowdown that permits them enough time to focus energy on administrative activities. A slowdown is a great opportunity to clear a lawyer’s desk of administrative tasks. At the beginning of every new year, I generally wait for a slowdown before completing all of the tax activities required for the previous year so that I complete these tasks when it might not take me away from client work. This requires a little foresight, but slowdowns can be helpful to lawyers when completing administrative tasks.

In the end, pretty much every lawyer experiences a slowdown in their practice, and extended slowdowns might be harmful. However, there are activities lawyers can complete during brief slowdowns to ensure that their time is being spent productively.

Rothman Larger HeadshotJordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].

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