Q&A Segment of Episode 14 of “The Ask the Law Firm Seller Show”

Episode 14 of the Ask the Law Firm Seller Show includes 3 segments. In Segment 1., host, Jeremy E. Poock, Esq., answers the following 2 questions:

 

(1) I am considering selling my law firm within the next . . . What do I need to do know?

 

(2) You say that maintaining the Status Quo is risky, but I am not ready to sell my practice yet. What are my options?

 

Key points from the Q&A segment include the following:

 

When considering selling a law firm, Senior Attorneys should conduct the following 3 updates:

 

1. Identify Top Performing Practice Areas: In advance of selling a law firm, its Senior Attorney owners should analyze revenues of their top practice areas during the last several years. As Poock points out, knowing where revenues have come form will typically indicate to a purchaser a forecast for future revenues.

 

2. The Importance of Updating the Selling Firm’s Client List, plus 2 Bonuses: Considering the importance of a Selling Firm’s Book of Business, Senior Attorneys should update the following for all of their clients: physical addresses, e-mail addresses, and cell phone numbers. As 2 bonuses, Poock suggests the following:

 

While updating the Client List, please consider requesting 5-Star Google Reviews from satisfied clients and connecting with clients on LinkedIn.

 

3. The Need to Update a Selling Firm’s Website & Attorney LinkedIn Profiles: As Poock explains, would-be purchasers will visit a Selling Firm’s website, as well as the LinkedIn profiles for its attorneys.

 

When visiting a Selling Firm’s website, visitors want to see updated pictures and new content, as compared to pictures from 10+ years ago and stale content.  Visitors to LinkedIn profiles also want to see new pictures, updated biographical information, at least 500 connections, and ideally, recent content posts.

 

Regarding the risk to Senior Attorneys by maintaining their Status Quo, Poock shares the following:

 

“The major risk of the Status Quo is a Random Tuesday . . . is that your key employee lawyers could come down the hall one day and say to you that they're not going to continue with your practice. They've taken another job. And, as a result, in the short-term, your revenues will go down. And, in the long-term, your practice will be less valuable without those key employee lawyers because Growing Law Firms want and need them to be able to do the work from that Book of Business that you present to Growing Law Firms.”