Divorce Lawyer Practice Tips: Selecting an Office

One of the most challenging decisions for a new divorce lawyer is deciding on the location to begin your practice. This is especially true in large metropolitan areas where lawyers are seemingly spread out all over the place. Law schools do not instruct, of course, new attorneys with this fundamental question and so it is necessary to examine the best locations for a family law practice.

At its most basic level there are two primary considerations to make when choosing a location for a family law practice. The first is that the location be economical. While somewhat intuitive, it is crucial that you remember that you are practicing law to make money. Remember that the more that you spend on your location, the more that you will have to make or risk reducing your profits. Make sure that you keep in mind that one of the most common reasons that businesses fail is the lack of sufficient starting capital. For the most part, it will be unrealistic for you to believe that you will have super-wealthy clients from the outset of your solo practice. This means that spending more money than you would on an economy-type office is likely a poor business decision.

The second primary consideration is that the space is convenient both for your clients and yourself. Many personal injury attorneys, for instance, either congregate on main boulevards that are easily accessed from all areas of the metropolitan area or they drive to their clients. For a starting divorce lawyer, you want your practice to have as broad a base as possible because you do not know what type of clients that you will be end up attracting. Because you are new, you will likely begin representing clients with the least resources.

Combining the two of these, here is a possible scenario to consider for a divorce lawyer. Rent a space in an easily accessible part of the city that has plenty of parking, and where some of your colleagues could also occupy in order to keep you rent as low as possible. This should be able to provide you with a good start in your practice as a divorce lawyer. You will probably find that you are very happy to have other attorneys around you, even if they are not family attorneys. This is because you will be able to learn a lot from their successes and failures in attracting clients, as well as being able to gather their thoughts and ideas on challenging aspects of your cases.

It should be noted that there is nothing wrong with improving your office at a later point. If you find that your resources and space needs mean that you should get a better place, this is fine. To begin, however, at the top will probably only lead to you not being limited by the amount of advertising that you do and, in turn, then number and quality of clients that you attract.

As always, this article is meant as information only – please do not take it as legal advice. When you need an attorney, contact one as soon as possible in your local area so that you are able to preserve your rights. Will Beaumont is an attorney in New Orleans and Metairie, and is not licensed in any other state than Louisiana.