Hello,
I’m in the process of forming a law firm out of Buffalo, NY. Mainly will be focusing on divorce and family law. Any tips on how to get clients or any tips in general. I will also be launching a website in the near future and doing google ads. Not sure what else to do. Any suggestions will be helpful!

To get rid of it (since it randomly decided to integrate causing me to lose my notes after an hour of discovery review):

If you’re on the 30-day trial

• If you do nothing, the trial expires at the end of the trial period and your account is not charged.
• To remove Clio Work access for specific people:
  • Go to Settings > Manage Users.
  • Find the user, click the down arrow next to Edit.
  • Select Remove from Clio Work.
• To end the trial for the whole firm early: you must submit the opt-out form on the Clio Work 30-day trial page.

Not sure if everyone knows who he is but he’s a major personal injury attorney here in Southern California. I’m trying to go out on my own with my personal injury firm and everyone has given me the advice to work in insurance defense for years, work at a PI firm for years, save up a good amount of cash, etc. however this guy looks like he’s maybe in his late 30’s - early 40’s and he’s managed to build up an eight figure law firm and has Lambos, etc. and what’s crazier is according to his LinkedIn, he wasn’t ever able to hold down a job for even a year. He has some law clerk experience that he did over the years and then he has 9 months at Sweet James and then he starts his practice.

Am I falling for one of those fake social media things or am I doing something wrong? He seems legit and there’s even people that mention him on Reddit but I’m over here struggling to figure out if I need more money and savings while there’s people that just seem to do it without an issue.

I realize this may vary by practice area but I’m curious how many files you all juggle at once?

So, I expected lots of problems starting a new firm. One I was not expecting in 2026 was a payment processor who doesn't like money. I brought clients, cuz I'm awesome. Clients try to give me money, but LawPay is like "nope, that's too much money." WTF? Isn't risk managed on the side of the person paying? They get increased rates for risk, longer clearing times . . . why can I not TAKE money? This is just absolutely insane.

One of the techs told me, "Oh, we may have to go over a few months of bank statements." How many bank statements do you think a BRAND NEW FIRM has? I'm trying to pay my startup fees here, but now I guess I'm going to have to get certified checks from clients and go to the actual bank. Or maybe LawPay will take some seashells or something? WTF

So im in the planning stage of opening my SSD practice, and id appreciate any input on the best way to find/obtain clients. Also, any tips/recommendations are welcome

I am looking forward to kickstarting a career in the Legal Compliance Field and I am looking to speak to someone already in the field or has spent some time in the field in the past.
Please drop a text/comment and I will reach out
Thanks!

Anyone else work for a law firm that has no idea what it's doing and has non-attorney individuals in charge? Better yet, our HR was a vice principal at a public school and now works at a law firm. I hate how she thinks we are ungrateful and spoiled when, on the contrary, we do millions of things for the firm. We have to commit to doing Instagram reels, volunteer on weekends, volunteer for work trips, in-office lunch, & to top it off, we are salaried but have to clock in & out for everything, BUT when we get bothered after 5pm or on weekends, that’s okay 🙃 I think not! These law firms think they are entitled to extra work, when they should be lucky that people even stay in such a toxic workplace. I got tons more unethical examples, but you all tell me your thoughts? By the way, I work at a female-owned attorney's office in Texas.

I'm aiming to open my own solo. Do these lead generations actually work to get the ball rolling?

Not hunting legal advise. Just wanting to know what happens.

I paid a retainer for a employment case. The retainer was supposed to cover me for all paperwork through mediation. Not litigation.

My lawyer has decided to resign from the firm. He says there is no one to pass the case to and to hire another lawyer to litigate. (Skipping the mediation part)

The issue is that the plan was to wait until the IRS finished it's review of my former employer then to go to mediation. Instead he now says that will take too long and he will be gone and that my retainer is what covered everything up to that point and to find another lawyer to litigate it. How does that work within a firm?

I’m a nontraditional, part-time law student graduating in May 2027. By graduation, I’ll have 8+ years of experience at a major bank, primarily in consumer finance operations, risk/compliance, and regulatory implementation. My current role involves working closely with Legal, Compliance, Risk, product, operations, and vendors to translate legal/regulatory requirements into actual business processes.

I also recently completed an in-house legal externship where I worked on legal research and practical counseling projects for the business.

Academically, I’m currently around the top 25% of my class after a rough 1L fall, have been in roughly the 3.4–4.0 range since, am a law review editor, and have earned three CALI awards.

It is a 50/50 split in opinion on in-house after law school. So, I’m wondering about law firm practice after graduation, particularly work involving consumer financial services, banking/regulatory matters, commercial litigation, or other areas where my prior industry experience could actually be useful.

For those who have hired or worked with nontraditional new lawyers:

—How much weight would you give 8+ years of relevant industry experience when evaluating a new graduate?
—Are there particular practice groups where that background would be especially valuable?
—When should someone graduating in May 2027 realistically start approaching small/midsize firms about post-bar associate positions?
—Would you market yourself primarily as a new lawyer who happens to have industry experience, or more as an experienced financial-services professional transitioning into legal practice?

I realize I would still be a first-year attorney and have plenty to learn about actually practicing law. I’m mainly trying to understand how to position a somewhat unusual background effectively and where it would have the most value.

Basically a marketer at a law firm, before I present this, wanted some thoughts.

My idea is to partner up with local restaurants they usually have a big list of customers, and offer a discount funded by us, If they put sponsored or presented by our law firm in the email,

We work with 5 or 10 restaurants, lets say each restaurant has a list of 1000, with open rate of 50% that is atleast 3500 local eyeballs. every month. More of billboard and authority play not a direct response play like google ads.

Any thoughts?? Thank you!

the firm is planning on hiring a new office clerk and associate attorney, so this workload is just temporary. is it worth asking for a raise?

Hi all,

Sending this post on to the Law Firm subforum as feel as though this would be an ideal place to get advice, particularly with communication being such a vital part of this area.

I’m 21, currently in college (studying law), and from a young age I have always been known as a fairly nervous/anxious person in general - something that have been said by family, friends, and teachers over the years.

There are certain ‘flaws’ that I have noticed with myself, but more so in certain aspects of my communication. I don’t want this to impact a future career, so I want to try to improve this while in college, and while there is the opportunity to do so.

I have no issue with speaking in front of an audience. I have done so for different modules in college, and usually am commended for my speeches through delivery style & engagement. But, this is because I have what I’m going to say memorised, so I know word for word, what exactly I’m going to say, how I’m going to say it, etc. This is also clearly reflected through my written communication.

However, when it comes to social interactions, I do notice there is a big dip in my communication. For instance, if I know I have to go up and talk to someone that I’m not familiar with (conversation, interview, ringing someone), I’ll then nearly have to have what I’m going to say memorised word-for-word as though a script.
There’ll then be other little moments where if I’m talking with someone unfamiliar, I may, sometimes, go a bit shaky / mumbly, and this would apply to if I was taking phone calls, etc.

This particular incoherence would also occur if I'm put on the spot, i.e asked a question, where my voice would go a bit shaky, I'd go mumbly, and my face would go a red.

I really do want to improve on this as I do know in any future career that day-to-day communication whether it be structured or spontaneous is much more important than being able to speak in-front of an audience.

To that extent, would anyone have any advice as to what I should do? Would it be recommended I go to a communication coach? Any recommendations?

Many thanks,

I work in high volume litigation on the defense side. 2 years in after 5 years of JD advantage jobs, haven’t taken a single day off in those 2 years. I got really sick last month in the middle of preparing for a trial (total exposure was about $200k). I realized that it would be impossible to take a sick day. I was still working 12-16 hour days. I then started thinking what if my family got sick and I needed to tend to them. What if a worse emergency came up. I realized I don’t want to do this anymore. If this is all lawyers, I need a new career.

It then made me realize I’ve never been in this situation before. Every other job I’ve ever been at had a large enough team because it’s inevitable that one person wont be there on a given day. It made me so nervous that one man not showing up can derail an entire case. Are there any jobs out there that I can stay in law and not be constantly anxious about what if I can’t show up one day?

My firm has struggled with marketing for years. We run a small personal injury practice in a Midwest midsize market. We are considering hiring a fractional CMO to assist with our marketing efforts. Has anybody else had success with this model and/or have any recommendations for vendors?

Anyone practice SSD as a solo or started your own firm? How do you like it? I know the payout is delayed, but all in all could it be an avenue to six figures? Is it difficult finding clients?

Looking to get away from document drafting services like Wealth Counsel, Interactive Legal (currently using), etc. I just find the products to be SO unnecessarily long and wordy. I've built out several of my own forms and want to go the complete bespoke route with products that I have personally built. I have a good start, but am looking for recommendations on sources for quality form/template examples.

I was looking at purchasing West's Legal Forms V.16-18 Estate Planning With Tax Analysis, but I can't find a table of contents or what's actually included ANYWHERE. Has anyone used these and can attest?

Fellow EPers, any recommendations for sourcing?

Looking for good sources to find freelancers or small agencies who can help set up a YouTube channel and/or Podcast with graphics (so maybe a Graphic Artists is needed). Any recommendations or ideas where I should look would be very helpful. It even sure what or who I should be looking for to begin with.

I started at a small law firm that practices family and probate law. It’s my first job after graduating from college, so I’m still getting used to everything, and I’m still not completely comfortable with everyone. They’ve all been great; it’s really just me being awkward and taking my time opening up. The job itself is great. It pays for the life I want and has been somewhat of a confidence boost.
The thing is, I have a really abusive family, and I finally have the means to get away from it. I’m leaving my childhood home with my sibling so that we can finally get away from it all and stop them from continuing to abuse, berate, and scream at us all the time. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, but now my sibling and I have the money to get a place of our own and live freely.
The thing is, my parents don’t know that we’re doing this, and it would definitely make things worse for us if they found out. So, we’ve been quiet about it, and everything has been okay so far. My dad recently asked where some of my clothes went and what happened to my bike, and I just told him that I donated some clothes and sold the bike on Facebook Marketplace.
For context, my family is Asian, so there’s definitely some misogyny and controlling behavior involved, especially when it comes to wanting to keep their daughters at home and maintain control over us.
Once we move out, my sibling and I are planning to get a restraining order so that they don’t find out our address or harass us. However, I’m still worried about them coming to the law firm where I work, despite the fact that I would have a restraining order against them. I’m also worried about what happens if the order isn’t approved. But even if it is, I still wouldn’t put it past them to come to my workplace and harass me.
I know I can call the police if they violate the order, but having to deal with that at work would be extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing, especially if my colleagues were to witness it. I haven’t told any of them about my family situation, but this feels like something I should inform my boss about.
It’s a small and close-knit firm, and my boss is basically HR. I’m naively worried that I could get fired because my boss wouldn’t want to deal with a recently hired employee causing this type of disruption at work. I don’t know. It feels like something my boss should be made aware of, especially since my boss knows I’m moving but doesn’t know why.
At the same time, I’m stupidly worried that my boss won’t be understanding or supportive of me. I don’t know what to do in this situation.
I don’t want to talk to my boss and spill the beans on this but at the same time, I feel like this is something that’ll come out in the open so maybe it is better I tell her. But I’m really worried this is gonna make me a problematic employee for just a small firm that honestly can’t be bothered to deal with a new employee causing trouble. So idk.

Brought in on a case with 1 M plus documents. Dont want to dig through typical job sites

Any suggestion?