Learn how a shared office space can turn things around for your law practice.
Running a law practice is a journey with many peaks and valleys. There are times when you can’t seem to make anything work in your favor and your success starts to stagnate. You begin to realize you need to make a change in order to rebuild your momentum.
Matrimonial and family law attorney, Anne McCarthy, ran her solo practice out of her home for years, but felt she needed to try something different in order to continue the success of her business. The support system she gained from other lawyers in her shared space breathed new life into her practice.
Anne’s experience is a common one for attorneys who choose to share office space. Whether you’re working from home or renting office space somewhere else, moving into a shared space with other lawyers will give your law practice the boost it needs to become more successful.
Here are four key ways shared law office space will benefit your practice:
You’ll get new clients
Not be able to attract new clients could be the main reason your law practice is struggling. Your marketing tactics don’t seem to be working and you’re exhausted from attending networking events that don’t result in referrals.
Moving into a shared space is your quick, easy solution for finding new clients. You’ll be able to keep a steady flow of new business coming into your practice by exchanging referrals with your suitemates.
Forming referral relationships with other attorneys in your shared space is easy because you’ll bond over your mutual interest in law. It’s effortless networking that happens organically because you’re surrounded by like-minded professionals.
You’ll retain more cases
Your problem with your law practice might not be that you can’t find new clients, but that you keep losing them due to the limitations of your practice area. You’re on your own and you don’t know any attorneys who could co-counsel on a case with you.
A shared space makes finding a qualified attorney in a different practice area as easy as walking down the hall. You can also reach out to the staff managing the space and they can connect you to an attorney.
Operating your law firm in a collaborative environment will put you in a position to retain more of your own business and be invited to join your suitemates’ cases. You’ll never have to worry about losing a client because you can’t serve all their needs ever again.
You’ll gain a support system
You might be a solo lawyer, but that doesn’t mean you have to go through the experience of managing your firm alone. It helps to have colleagues you can go to when you have to gut check a decision on a case or when you aren’t sure how to resolve a problem with your marketing or administration.
Attorneys using shared space are able to seek advice from peers on practice management and difficult client issues. This provides you with fresh ideas on how to grow a successful firm and it significantly reduces your malpractice risk.
The collegial environment you’ll find in a shared space is one that reflects what it’s like to work a big law firm, but you’re still your own boss. You can avoid the isolation of being a solo attorney, while retaining your autonomy.
You’ll be inspired to work harder
It’s easy to experience burnout as a solo attorney. Even if you find ways to cope with stress, you might still struggle to regain the determination and enthusiasm you once had.
Luckily, emotions are contagious and our brains are programmed to mimic the behaviors of others. Being surrounded by other lawyers who are working hard and have a passion from what they do will help renew your sense of purpose.
You’ll be able to tap into your competitive nature as an attorney and harness your desire to keep up with your peers. Establishing new relationships with other solos in your shared space will inspire you to be more successful.
Take a moment to ask yourself if you law firm is really doing as well as you want it to. Then consider what might be missing. It’s very likely that surrounding yourself with other attorneys in a shared space is exactly what your law practice needs to reach its full potential.
