35 Phone Calls: One Lawyer's Attempt to Build a Practice

I’ll retire at 72.

I’m 37 now.

That means I’ve only got 35 years to sort out what I want to get done professionally.

And what I want to do is: receive 35 phone calls. One per year.

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If you’re a lawyer in private practice, my goals are similar to yours: generate enough work to pay myself, to pay the firm’s owners, and to pay the overheads.

Using the back-of-the-envelope, let’s say that each of (i) me, (ii) the owners, and (iii) the overheads get a third of what I generate. 33.33% split three ways.

(The leftover 0.01% should, of course, be spent stocking the kitchen with Caramel Crowns, the greatest chocolate biscuit of all.)

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So, how am I going to bring in enough work to keep my colleagues and I eating CCs?

Well, hopefully: by generating one substantial piece of commercial litigation that will run to final hearing (with the whiff of a trip to the NSWCA perhaps in the background) per year, every year, for 35 years.*

Only one per year! One!

But how?

Plan A: become Batman to the accountants of Sydney.

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Right now, I’m trying to generously share my knowledge on a podcast, using videos, and in writing with the chief goal of bringing accountants value.

My hope is that the accountant who has read one of my posts, or listened to one of my podcast eps, will be better equipped to advise their clients than they would have been otherwise.

999 times out of 1,000 the result of that should be: that accountant has a warm feeling about their deepened expertise, has happy clients, and perhaps (if I’ve done my job right) might have avoided Dealing With The Lawyers.

So what about the 1 in a 1,000? Those difficult times when litigation looms; when our accountant needs to choose a lawyer to recommend to their client, and make a phone call?

Which lawyer will it be?

1.     A Very Big Firm with a recognisable name? Mm-hmm. Yeah, possibly.

2.     One of their mates they went to an expensive private school with? Yep. Could be.

3.     The first firm that pops up on a Google search? Perhaps, but probably not. It is 2019 after all.

4.     A lawyer with whom they have an established relationship? Bingo! Most likely.

5.     Some lawyer who’s used the internet to help them learn about the law, to the benefit of their clients? Well, maybe. Just maybe…

And there’s the rub: with every podcast, blog post and video I put out I am looking to marginally increase the chances of 5. occurring. I aim to be that lawyer in the mix and under consideration when our accountant has to make that 1 in a 1,000 phone call.

And if I get 35 of those phone calls over the next 35 years – just one per year! – game over.

That’s the plan.

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So, bit by bit, I aim to help accountants understand more about the law as it applies to their clients. I do so generously, without expectation of anything in return.

I hope to contribute to the success of others, even though I might never know about it. That’s the 999 in 1,000.

But – or I should say “and” – the sharp, commercial edge of that “generosity” model is: the more generous I am, and the more value I bring, the closer I get to being considered for that 1 in a 1,000 phone call.

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With all that said: accountants, I hope some of you are getting value from what I’m up to. The plan is to keep it up (or something similar but a little more sci-fi and futuristic) for another few decades.

And if you need to make a phone call? Well, you know...

* - It probably goes without saying that a practice that generates substantial matters that go to final hearing should in addition and simultaneously generate substantial matters that settle at mediation, that require an early intervention “dispute resolution” approach, that require rigorous advice work etc.