The Trendy Legislation Library
Strive property regulation for a apply with work-life steadiness, says ‘Way of life Lawyer Revolution’ creator
Picture courtesy of Laura Cowan.
Laura Cowan began her profession in finance, incomes a licensed public accountant license and dealing at Ernst & Younger and Goldman Sachs. When she determined to go to regulation college at age 35, she knew that she wished to launch a boutique regulation agency with a apply space that complemented that monetary background. Property regulation appeared a very good match—however destiny threw her a curve ball simply as she launched her agency.
“I needed to flip my whole apply digital in a single day in 2020 in New York Metropolis due to COVID,” Cowan tells the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles on this episode of The Trendy Legislation Library. “I moved to Rhode Island to shelter in place with my dad. Throughout that couple of months that I used to be sheltering in place, I nonetheless needed to get my regulation agency working. I had a enterprise to run and payments to pay. So I made every little thing digital, and I actually streamlined every little thing. And what I discovered was that I may make fairly simply $10,000 a month, working simply a few hours a day.”
She has now leveraged the expertise of launching an all-virtual estate-planning apply into a training program, 2-Hour Lifestyle Lawyer, to assist different attorneys launch related practices. Her new ebook, Way of life Lawyer Revolution: Reside a Life You Love (With out Leaving the Legislation), is stuffed with suggestions and recommendation for constructing a personalised apply to offer work-life steadiness for attorneys.
“Now, what we discovered is that there’s numerous attorneys who’re completely satisfied working much more than that and are completely satisfied incomes much more, however the identify of the enterprise actually comes from simply this concept that you could nonetheless be a very nice legal professional with out working 10 hours a day, and you may make a pleasant dwelling with out working 10 hours a day,” Cowan says.
A key a part of not working too many hours is to rent acceptable help, whilst a solo simply beginning out, Cowan says.
“What I see numerous is attorneys that spend an excessive amount of time within the weeds of executing and doing all these various things that an admin might be doing and never spending sufficient time doing what the lawyer ought to be specializing in,” Cowan says. “In order that they’re each working an excessive amount of and never making sufficient cash, which is the worst attainable mixture.”
Cowan encourages property attorneys to host neighborhood workshops to assist individuals perceive the significance of wills and trusts. She says it’s a superb technique to set up connections that may result in additional enterprise.
“The true purpose that individuals rent us is due to the connection,” Cowan tells Rawles. “And I firmly imagine this. Individuals don’t rent you since you’re the perfect drafter on the planet. They rent you due to the best way that you simply make them really feel. So use AI and expertise behind the scenes that can assist you get your work finished and ship a very nice consumer expertise, however always remember that it’s going to be that that makes them rent you.”
On this episode, Cowan additionally discusses the advantages of value-based pricing versus the billable hour, attracting the consumer base you wish to goal, and how you can take care of your greatest frenemy: expertise.
Apple | Spotify | Google Play
In This Podcast:
Laura Cowan
Laura Cowan is a licensed public accountant and an award-winning property planning legal professional. She constructed her seven-figure property planning regulation apply in solely three years and pivoted right into a digital enterprise mannequin. The creator of 2-Hour Way of life Lawyer, Cowan additionally teaches entrepreneurial attorneys how you can construct their very own digital property planning apply. The creator of Way of life Lawyer Revolution, Cowan obtained her bachelor of science diploma in accounting from Iowa State College and her JD from the College of Minnesota Legislation College.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.