Graham is an attorney in Minneapolis and has been running his own practice, Martin Legal Services, LLC, full time for nearly three years. During that time he has also successfully been running his own blog, Pro and Contracts, which has been noted as one of the Top 25 Blawgs in Minnesota by the Minnesota State Bar Association, and recognized by journalists such as David Pogue of the New York Times. Graham focuses primarily on contracts in their various forms, and has a particular affinity for working with self-employed tradespeople in the construction industry and small business owners like himself. He understands the challenges that face start-ups and the fears that can come with working for one's self, and is particularly adept at making the law understandable and accessible to his clients. Graham has worked on cases from Minnesota and across the country, cases with the amount in dispute in excess of $300,000 and less than $1,000. He fashions himself a legal problem-solver. And, of course, he is honored to be a writer for Lawyerist.
Just as many people have been suckered into sending money to a nameless Nigerian prince, it turns out that even lawyers are not immune to internet scams, and sometimes the lure of a big payout will hook even the most cautious of practitioners.
To wit, I recently received an email in my business email account from Miyoko Kazuo. In its entirety it reads as follows:
Marketing and networking are big, nebulous items that are foreign to many people—hence the amazing number of books on networking available. And although there is plenty of networking help for attorneys out there, sometimes it is just too big to figure out where to start. I have found that by compiling data related to marketing and networking, I am able to narrow them and focus my energy and resources on only those types of marketing and networking that produce the best, most consistent results.
At the beginning of December my wife had major hip surgery, and due to my need to stay home and care for her, my focus and productivity have been suffering. After much frustration regarding completing my work, I realized that creating a routine will get my life and productivity back on track.
Waiting for the perfect case to walk through your door is a losing proposition. If you only limit yourself to taking the cases with which you feel entirely comfortable, you will be stuck working on a few simple types of cases for your entire career—never developing the legal experience necessary for your career to progress. This will make you bored and unmotivated. I have had far too many referrals from people who are totally capable to handle the cases they send me, and they just missed an opportunity to build experience and bring in revenue.
As a solo practitioner with a practice less than one year old, I can understand the trepidation with which many people approach the idea of starting their own practices. But after working in terrible contract attorney positions and realizing the value I can produce, it was easy to become confident about my ability to start my own successful law practice. So here are some strategies that helped me overcome the major concerns.
Square.com
One of the most daunting tasks I encountered when setting up my law practice (other than getting clients) was figuring out how to accept credit cards and pay for all the equipment, services, and fees. Running a new solo practice already provides a pretty slim profit margin, and the idea of finding the capital to buy the equipment and pay the monthly service fees and percentages seemed unlikely at best.
Which is why I was so excited when I read about a new credit card system called Square.
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Graham Martin
I am an attorney in Minneapolis focusing on contracts, and am currently trying to delve into the construction industry and foreclosure defense work. I’m currently attempting to build a practice that involves equal parts litigation and transactional work, because without variety I quickly wither and die.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/docman/5053155/
The following are the most frequent Marketing Monday tasks I address, although the full list is much longer.
Almost everyone has tried googling themselves, and almost everyone has had the same experience finding out that it’s incredibly difficult to distinguish one’s self on the web. According to Google, I was the US Ambassador to South Vietnam in 1973, have a foundation dedicated to the preservation and restoration of natural ecosystems, live in Queensland, Australia, and am a professor of avian sensory science at the University of Birmingham in the UK, among other things.
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