There are a lot of ways to promote a lawyer (lawyer or law firm), but here I will reveal methods of promotion on the Internet. The effectiveness of online promotion can be very high and should never be neglected. If we take me as an example, I can say that 99.9% of customers find me through search engines. And only a small part is based on recommendations from other clients.
With the help of the site, it is quite possible to develop a legal business - the main thing is not to give up and not count on results within a couple of months. Promoting a legal website in the context of existing competition, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, takes from six months to several years. And you don’t have to invest a lot of money in the development of the site - the main thing here is regularity and quality, not the quantity of costs.
Moreover, for aggressive promotion (for example, bulk purchase of links, which is very often the sin of optimizers), search engines can ban the site, and it may not be possible to rescue it from the ban at all.
And if they don’t ban you, then they will impose other sanctions, thanks to which the site will instantly drop in all positions and traffic will drop to a minimum.
- Order the creation of a legal website from a good specialist. Don't skimp, let them make you a unique, thoughtful design. From appearance, good navigation, the right colors, menu location and other parameters depend very, very much. When visiting a website, a person first sees overall picture, and only then reads the text. By the time he gets to your greeting, he will have already formed half of his impression of you. And it is not in your interests to spoil this impression with a typical picture, dark background and unreadable font.
If you have a website, but its conversion is poor (visitors practically do not become clients, but rather leave the site), then perhaps you should think about changing the design or concept of your resource.
Using my own example, I can say that at the beginning of my activity, when I had just started freelancing, I had an unsuccessful change in the structure of the site kreuzmarine.com, where you are now. This ill-conceived modernization deprived me of new clients for almost a year: they simply stopped placing orders. For a long time I couldn’t understand what was going on, but as soon as I figured out “rolling back” the changes, the customers suddenly seemed to wake up and immediately began offering work. Those. It’s absolutely clear that it’s not just the text that influences conversion, although it’s also important.
- Think over the content of the site - a list of your services, a section with news or articles, a section with contact information, etc.
- Consider niching your site. Competition in the legal business is quite high and narrow positioning will allow you to stand out among other lawyers and advocates, promote your law firm and capture a certain category of cases. I wrote more about this issue in the article “Niching a lawyer’s website.”
- Order legal texts for your website from a good copywriter. For example, me :) It is ideal if the copywriter and optimizer are combined into one person, or work as a team.
- In the future, do not stop there, and order support for a legal website - its promotion with articles. In my opinion, it is best to advertise and promote legal services using so-called article clusters. I wrote about this in the text “how to boost a legal website with articles.”
- Think about beautiful design articles using text formatting and illustrations. You can read more about this issue in my article “Is it necessary to illustrate texts on a legal website.”
- Don’t be afraid to include links to useful resources, this will only increase the quality and information content of your texts. You can read about this in the text “should you put links to other people’s sites in your articles.”
- The site should look alive. The reader immediately sees whether the resource is being updated, whether they are working on it. It is not necessary to write or order articles every day, but at least once a week or two weeks it is worth doing. To do this, it is not necessary to write voluminous texts; you can order the writing of at least one legal news per week and this will immediately revive the site.
- Study competitors' websites - you can find useful tricks there. But don't overuse it. In the pursuit of new ideas, you can lose individuality, overload the site, or even introduce chaos into it, confusing the visitor. Too many gimmicks and useful things can also cause harm. Remember to maintain balance in everything.
- Don’t chase visitors for the sake of visitors and positions in search engines for the sake of positions. In this matter, not everything is so obvious. Ten visitors can transform into five clients.
How to open a law firm from scratch
A thousand readers can look at the site, find out the information they need from the article, and leave. The most important thing is high conversion, that is, the percentage of customers from total number site users. But the growth of conversion depends on many parameters, which must be determined individually in each individual case.
The same applies to search positions. You may be the first for some attractive and “popular” keyword from wordstat.yandex.ru. But here’s the problem - when people are looking for a lawyer, they actually use completely different queries, and identifying these queries, and then moving up through them, is the goal of professionals involved in promoting your website.
Finding clients for a law firm or lawyer is not so easy, but if you pay regular attention to your website and use the help of specialists in promoting your resource, then your costs will be justified.
What legal website promotion services can I offer?
The legal company "Olmax" was created in 2004 as an organization engaged in the registration of legal entities in Moscow. We are constantly developing in this direction, we do not stop there, we are improving and expanding our services for registering legal entities in the Russian Federation.
The company successfully combines two areas united by a single concept - “Creating a successful business”:
- Legal services
- Accounting services
Both areas are extremely important for creating a business. A set of well-written documents, as well as an optimally selected taxation system and properly organized accounting, make it possible to successfully start a business and win the favor of your clients and partners. We take an individual and comprehensive approach to each client who needs to register a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. Our staff, to whom we place strict demands, is able to fulfill all your needs in creating a business.
The Olmax company provides a full range of services for registering legal entities, accounting services and tax consulting for legal entities and entrepreneurs. We comply with the legislation on registration of legal entities, saving your time and money.
Registration of legal entities is our job, which is the responsibility of specialists with extensive experience and knowledge of the process, which we carry out with full responsibility, so that each of our clients, as they develop, contact us again. We are very glad that we have such clients. We invite everyone to register a company or open an individual entrepreneur!
We provide services to both start-up entrepreneurs for registering an LLC and registering a private legal entity, as well as existing firms and organizations for registering changes in the unified state register (amending the Unified State Register of Legal Entities), obtaining statistics codes, extracts from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
How to promote a law firm and find clients for a lawyer or lawyer
We are ready to solve any unusual situation related to the re-registration of a company, including working with documents that were previously rejected by the tax office.
For those who create a large organization with the attraction of additional investments, we recommend registering a joint stock company with subsequent registration of the issue of shares with the Central Bank. We also carry out registration of non-profit organizations.
One of the areas of our company is registration of private security companies and licensing of security activities. Registration construction companies and joining an SRO is the most popular service in the modern economy.
We are aimed at long-term cooperation! We are always happy to provide assistance at the right time! Call, come or order services online!
The mission of the Olmax company is to promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Moscow, assist entrepreneurs in resolving legal issues related to the registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, obtaining legally established documents necessary for doing business.
Our company stands for the legality of doing business on the territory of Moscow - each business entity must be registered in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation.
We only support real businesses! Our company does not provide services for the creation of legal entities whose purpose is to commit crimes in financial, economic and other activities, we do not provide services for the purchase and sale of documents, their copies and seals. All documents and seals that our company stores are legal and obtained in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Our company is against raider attacks! All changes made to constituent documents legal entities must be carried out in strict accordance with current legislation.
All legally significant actions during the registration of legal entities and entrepreneurs are carried out personally by applicants, whose credentials are verified, and whose identity is established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Our company does not interfere in the activities of third parties - we do not request documents that are not related to the service provided, and we are not interested in the cause and effect of the Clients’ registration actions.
We undertake to store all documents and seals that we have, but we are not responsible for their damage or disappearance due to force majeure. If the Client for some reason cannot pick up the documents and seals, our company has the right to send them by mail to the address of the legal entity (residence of the individual entrepreneur).
All services that our company provides are performed in strict accordance with the law, so we do not sell places in queues, do not speed up the work of government agencies for a fee, and cannot guarantee 100% the result of any type of registration or receipt of any document. Our goals and interest are to complete the work, provide the service legally and within the time period agreed with the Client. If you receive a refusal due to our fault - the shortest possible time correct the error at the expense of our company, and the extent of our company’s liability is limited by the contract. We do not compensate for lost profits, as well as for the Client’s expenses not directly related to the subject of the contract. If it is impossible to perform work or provide services for any reason, our company has the right to refuse further work with the Client, returning the amount paid to him (in accordance with the agreement).
We treat all our company's clients with respect! By contacting our company, ordering any legal service, the Client thereby expresses his agreement with this company policy. Adhering to other policies, interests and goals that are contrary to the policies of our company, the Client assumes full responsibility for the actions he performs. The Olmax company is in no way responsible for the financial, economic and other activities of its clients - legal and individuals, does not persuade or force anyone to interact.
Olmax team
Our blog
Types of legal services
Legal services are a type of activity that is becoming increasingly in demand in Russia, both from the population and business. The speed and regularity with which new firms emerge offering diverse and comprehensive legal assistance is a clear confirmation of this.
At the same time, as experts note, not only legal entities, which have long recognized the need for qualified legal assistance, are increasingly resorting to the help of lawyers, but also ordinary citizens, not only in large industrial centers and megacities, but also in small towns in Russia.
As a rule, types of legal services are divided according to branches of law - civil, family, administrative, tax, criminal, housing, etc. If you require legal services in Moscow, you will find specialists in any of the listed and other industries at YurProfiConsult LLC.
Types of legal services offered by the company:
Legal support for legal entities
All larger number companies prefer to outsource the entire range of legal issues to specialized law firms. Why do they refuse the services of their own legal departments in favor of consulting companies and law firms? This is dictated by direct economic feasibility:
- Legal department employees need to be paid wages constantly, even if the need for their work in a given period is quite low; the services of third-party specialists are paid strictly according to the price list, and expenses arise only in the event of a clear need for legal services;
- if a company hires a limited staff of lawyers (or a single employee), management cannot count on the universality of legal knowledge of even the most highly qualified employees; the staff of specialized law firms includes employees with a wide range of specializations in certain areas of jurisprudence, having significant experience and the highest qualifications;
- a salaried lawyer may be much less motivated to achieve a company victory in court than a lawyer of a specialized company, for whom each such victory is an additional competitive advantage;
- in matters of confidentiality, law firms show excellent result because they value their reputation.
For small and medium-sized firms, outsourcing legal services is often the only acceptable way to obtain legal support, but recently, fairly large companies are increasingly resorting to the help of third-party legal consulting, especially when it comes to fairly narrow areas of law.
The types of legal services provided to companies cover a fairly wide range, however, all this variety of types can be grouped into the following areas:
- legal support at the stage of enterprise registration;
- legal support for opening branches, expansions, acquisitions, opening subsidiaries and offshore companies;
- legal support and protection of the company’s interests in relations with financial and credit institutions, insurance companies, investment funds;
- protection of interests in matters of relations with the state (in particular, tax claims);
- legal support in relationships with counterparties (failure to fulfill delivery obligations, accounts receivable, delivery of defective products, failure to fulfill obligations by transport companies, litigation with contractors, etc.);
- legal support in labor conflicts;
- legal support at the stage of liquidation or reorganization of an enterprise.
Legal services are a type of activity that requires the highest level professionalism and responsibility. LLC "YurProfiConsult" is a company that you can completely trust to resolve any legal issues, including in the field of international law.
Legal services to the public ⇑
The level of legal literacy of the population of the Russian Federation remains insufficiently high: the majority of ordinary people have a rather vague idea of their rights and obligations determined by law. However, a positive trend is the growth of trust in professional lawyers: citizens, having secured the legal support of specialists, are no longer afraid to sue employers, financial institutions and even tax authorities.
How to promote a law firm... I am tormented by terrible doubts...
Protecting your rights in the Russian legal field is, undoubtedly, an extremely difficult task, requiring mastery of all the nuances and subtleties of legislation, which is often not without internal contradictions. However, literally everyone can afford the services of a lawyer who is professionally versed in your matter. Therefore, the sector of the legal services market, covering work with individuals, is actively growing.
Legal services for individuals can be roughly grouped into the following areas:
- legal support in concluding transactions (purchase and sale and exchange of real estate, financial investment, borrowing and granting loans, etc.);
- legal support in relations with banks and insurance companies, private pension and investment funds;
- protection of interests in labor conflicts;
- protection of interests in family disputes;
- legal support in matters of inheritance;
- protection of intangible interests, protection of honor and dignity, compensation for moral damage, copyright protection;
- protection of consumer rights;
- protection in tax matters;
- legal support for persons who have committed administrative or criminal offenses, etc.
LLC "YurProfiConsult" provides a wide range of legal services for the population, which concerns literally all aspects of the life of a private person: after all, there are an infinite number of situations in which your rights can be infringed. But our company employs highly qualified professionals specializing in all areas of law, so contacting us will ensure the best result.
How to open your own law firm from scratch
Changes are coming to the legal services market and they are not always associated with dumping and crisis. The creation of expensive divisions and departments with a large number of lawyers on staff is a tradition of Russian business. In most cases, lawyers are hired with very low qualifications and practically unfamiliar with the intricacies of running a specific business.
But the time of large corporations with an inflated staff is passing; the future belongs to small law firms with highly professional specialists.
Why are the services of law firms insufficiently in demand by large businesses in Moscow? The logic of the heads of business corporations is simple - why contact a law firm when business has improved and standardization rules the roost in relationships with counterparties.
When the business was just developing, each contract was drawn up from scratch, each transaction with more than two participants was considered unique, and legal services cost a tidy sum.
Today, a newly minted lawyer, hired as a result of an advertisement, uses time-tested templates of contracts and claims in his work.
But when it comes down to it legal proceedings, mergers and acquisitions, non-standard bank loans or external investments, in-house lawyers do not always cope with the assigned tasks, sometimes making irreparable mistakes, the consequences of which cannot always be corrected, and additional financial costs and direct losses significantly exceed the payment for legal services of professionals.
Many business leaders complain that companies providing legal services do not have the desire to study the specifics of their clients' businesses. They are absolutely right about this.
Effective interaction with the client, personal contact with him, confidentiality and, most importantly, a thorough knowledge of the client’s business and understanding of the specifics of the industry’s functioning of the business are the key to success for mutually beneficial cooperation between the head of the company and the external lawyer.
The conflict between in-house specialists in the corporate sector and external consultants who provide legal support to businesses is an old story in most developed countries.
Only mature businesses and sufficiently educated managers begin to realize that external outsourcing is more profitable and there is more demand for violation of confidentiality from an external partner than from a lawyer who works for you today and for a competitor tomorrow.
The legal services market, especially in Moscow, is developing rapidly; most business leaders are increasingly using legal outsourcing, in other words, attracting external lawyers to provide legal services to their business.
What is the advantage of a legal services business? The fact is that it cannot be scaled, made networked, and you cannot make money on it through simple computerization of the business process.
In this business, it is necessary to be closer to the client, providing targeted service, a flexible and individual approach, while using all the accumulated knowledge to interpret the legislation and apply the law in non-standard situations.
Small law firms have a demand for services, they have great prospects, because they are closer to the client and demonstrate high efficiency. You can be sure that there will be an increasing demand for legal services from large corporations and government agencies that are reducing the cost of maintaining in-house lawyers.
Maxim Shilin
Especially for the Information Agency "Financial Lawyer"
Business Consulting
Surely many of those who now have any business remember how, when they started, they dreamed of big money, freedom, the opportunity to travel and spend time the way they wanted and where they wanted. Those who don’t yet have a business dream about it. Someone wants to live abroad, someone wants a house on the ocean...
And it seems to have been chosen great option business, a great opportunity to earn money, but little profit, some constant losses, and when it comes time to pay rent or salary, there is always not enough money. Or another situation: the business is stable, there seems to be enough money, but you want the business not only to justify itself, but to bring in a decent income.
Profit never stands still. It either goes up or it goes down. And if you don’t solve business problems right now, you can completely lose it. Competitors are not asleep!
Who needs it business consultation?
Almost any businessman is a busy person. Every minute, every second counts. Constant meetings, negotiations, affairs... There is no time to study dozens of books on business, marketing, management. There is no time to attend general webinars and trainings. There is no time to look for ways to implement the information given in them.
How to promote a law firm
Everyone has their own situation and very often the solution to the problem is very close, you just need to understand what the problem is. Individual consultation for business - the fastest option to get personalized answers and see quick results.
What gives business consultation?
— strategies for rapid development;
- ability to attract clients on an ongoing basis;
— vision of reserves for the explosive growth of the company;
— advanced development plan, high competitiveness;
- the ability to earn much more.
This is investing in yourself, in your development, in your reputation. This is the solution important issues. These are truly professional answers. This is a vision of doing business of any specific nature: advertising services, financial services, lending, trade, real estate sales, marketing, accounting, etc.
Pledge successful work enterprises - proper organization business.
Recently, more and more of those who already have their own business and those who are just starting initial stage paths are increasingly turning to specialists. A whole range of services involves business consulting: resource management, reporting, implementation of new systems, personnel management, consultations on preparing a business project or business coaching.
Business consultants observe real events in the business process, analyze risks and the work of competitors to develop an optimal business strategy.
The main objective of business consultations is the ability to achieve maximum effect when minimum costs including saving time and saving resources.
Tags: business consultations
Next article
Question how to open a law firm This question is usually asked by lawyers who are tired of working for hire. Although, in order to open such a company, it is not at all necessary to be a lawyer. This activity is not licensed and any person can register a company. The exception is defense services in criminal proceedings - this requires the status of a lawyer.
For the stable operation of a law firm, the manager must first of all be a successful businessman, but he may not be a lawyer. The manager must be able to attract clients and select qualified legal personnel.
Organizations engaged in the provision of legal services have the right to use the simplified taxation system (STS). Let me remind you that with this taxation system there can be two rates:
6%, if the object of taxation is income,
15% if the object of taxation is income reduced by the amount of expenses.
Most law firms in our country specialize in providing services for registration, re-registration and liquidation of legal entities. This is explained not only by the fact that this is one of the most popular services, but also by the low barriers to entry into the market. This work does not require legal qualifications and, accordingly, personnel costs are minimal. To operate such a company, two people are enough, even without higher education. But this type of activity is becoming less and less profitable due to fierce competition and dumping by large players like Registrar.
Narrow specialization provides some advantages, but also imposes serious limitations. In my opinion, a more competent legal business should be built on a wide range of services, where company registration would be only one of the types of services. The most interesting area of activity in terms of income is b2b (Business to Business) - servicing legal entities. Here the competition is already lower, especially in the small business sector. Big business prefers to use the services of foreign consulting companies.
Therefore, before opening a law firm, you need to have a plan for the future and decide on a strategy. If we focus on the growth and expansion of the list of legal services, then this already requires qualified lawyers. Many legal entity registration firms have realized that they have reached the ceiling within their narrow specialization and are expanding their range of services. This is easier to implement than starting from scratch, immediately offering a wide range of legal services, which requires significant investments
It’s easier for a lawyer in this regard. He has the opportunity to start a legal business from scratch and without investment. As I did with my partners, I built up a client base while working for hire, and only then opened an official account and registered the company. But I started by providing services only for individuals and individual entrepreneurs. And only after the official opening it began to focus on legal entities.
What expenses are required to start? I’ll reveal the figures for my office, although this is far from an indicator.
The initial costs were as follows (prices in Moscow):
There was already a registered LLC, so there were no expenses for this item. And so registering an LLC will cost an average of 20-30 thousand rubles, of which 10,000 - 15,000 rubles cost the legal address. If you register yourself, you can save about 10,000 rubles.
Furniture and office equipment – 50-60 thousand rubles.
Rent and repairs – 60 thousand rubles.
Other expenses (telephone, Internet, software) – 30-40 thousand rubles.
In our case, there was no need to hire lawyers, since we were specialists ourselves. And so you should expect that the minimum salary for a lawyer in Moscow is 30-40 thousand rubles (the level of qualifications is a separate issue).
We also need a secretary, but for the first couple of months we didn’t bother. And then they hired a person who worked from home: took calls and made appointments. When we were in the office, we sometimes switched the phone to ourselves and took calls ourselves. Technically, this is easy to organize. You can, of course, rent a professional call center, but this is necessary when there is really a flurry of calls, and a self-organized virtual secretary is not inferior in quality if everything is done correctly. The asking price is 7,000 rubles per month. Call center services – 11,000 rubles one-time and 9,000 rubles monthly, i.e. it’s still two to three times cheaper than hiring a secretary for an office and organizing a workplace.
There’s no point in talking about an accountant - definitely outsourcing (incoming accountant). We have a simplified taxation system and, accordingly, simple accounting. Services cost 2500-5000 rubles per quarter, depending on the amount of work.
In total, about 200 thousand rubles were spent at the start in the first month. We reached the break-even point in the second month, but this is thanks to the existing customer base and current orders.
It should be borne in mind that we did not use the classical scheme for organizing a company, which allows us to significantly reduce costs, which will be discussed below. Therefore, when calculating a regular business plan, these figures must be multiplied three times, and when the enterprise reaches payback depends on the skill of the manager.
The scheme of work we implemented is as follows. Initially, orders were fulfilled entirely by ourselves. Over time, we expanded the list of services through our affiliate network. This is a criminal lawyer, realtor, auditor, registrar and others. The most difficult thing is to find a conscientious specialist who provides quality customer service, otherwise your reputation may suffer. And you can always agree on a partnership, since this is a mutually beneficial cooperation.
Of course this is one possible options implementation of order execution. I'm just describing mine personal experience and your own way of organizing an office.
This type of organization provides the following advantages:
Minimum costs (rent, salary, etc.);
High quality of services, control over which is not required, since each partner cares about his reputation;
Income is proportional to expenses, resistance to seasonal lull;
Mobility and flexibility in choosing a room.
The main advantage of this approach is that the best price/quality ratio for the service is established.
The classic version of a law firm involves renting a substantial premises and a staff of lawyers and assistants. I see serious disadvantages in this option:
Significant rental costs (especially relevant in Moscow);
More stringent conditions in choosing premises;
Constantly high wage costs, regardless of seasonality;
Other costs also increase significantly (organization and maintenance of workplaces, more complex accounting,
Finding staff is more difficult than choosing a partner, since a hired employee is a dark horse, and private specialist or the company has an established reputation. In addition, it is more difficult to change an employee than a partner;
Less job stability due to staff turnover;
The quality of services is worse; in-house lawyers do not care about their reputation;
Spending time and effort on monitoring execution and working with staff.
We will still come to this option over time. But in order to maintain the level of quality at such costs, it will be necessary to significantly increase prices, which means entering into tougher competition. Or a huge number of orders are needed, which will allow maintaining the price/quality level by reducing margins.
Instructions
If you need to register as an individual entrepreneur, you first need to prepare necessary list documents. You can make the registration process easier for yourself by contacting companies that help resolve such issues for a certain amount of money. In this case, you need to provide them with documents, agree on the cost and get the result in a couple of days. Most often you have to register yourself.
To do this, you need to provide the Federal Tax Service (tax office) with your passport data, a photocopy of a document with registration information and index, TIN (individual taxpayer number) and a list of activities that can be carried out. It must be remembered that an individual entrepreneur is not, but at the same time can provide the population with legal services, such as representation in court, preparation of documents for the purchase and sale of real estate, labor disputes and so on.
If you plan to open an OJSC (open), LLC (limited) or CJSC (closed Joint-Stock Company), then, in addition to all documents to the tax office, you must provide a constituent agreement, indicate the name of the company, location and list of co-founders, data of all employees, charter, if it exceeds the limit of 20,000 rubles, then an additional act of an independent appraiser, a photocopy of the TIN, contact details are required telephone numbers, bank details of a legal entity and many other documents that are subject to careful verification and after that, based on the conclusion of the Federal Tax Service, a certificate of registration of an LLC, OJSC or CJSC is issued.
Most often, they open to provide legal services to the public. As a rule, such a company provides assistance in the conduct of civil and criminal cases, helps in drawing up applications, concluding lease agreements, donations, gratuitous use, and provides assistance in matters of inheritance of all kinds. Usually this is done by people with higher legal degrees.
To become a representative in court, you need, in addition to education, to undergo a two-year internship with, then pass the appropriate exam and receive a certificate allowing you to provide services lawyer to the population. A notary helps more in the preparation of papers and documents, certifies them properly and can provide services for representation in court.
Open legal services not difficult, the main thing is that they are in demand by the population and help in a certain life situation.
note
A person with a higher legal education and work experience in the specialty of at least 2 years can provide legal assistance to the population.
To carry out independent activities in the field of providing legal services, you must have a higher specialized education, two years of professional practice and a status that allows you to create any of existing species legal organizations, including opening a law office.
Instructions
A notice of the establishment of a lawyer's office is sent to the council of the Chamber of Lawyers, which indicates information about the lawyer, the location of the office, and the procedure for communication between him and the council. It should be noted that this type of organization is not a legal entity, but a lawyer receives the status of an entrepreneur without forming a legal entity. He is also required to open a bank account and have a stamp.
In most cases, a lawyer provides services in several areas at once, for example, assistance in resolving housing disputes, conducting divorce proceedings, registering rights to real estate and inheritance, representing the client’s interests in court, etc. However, a lawyer’s office can specialize in a narrow legal segment. Interaction with clients is carried out on the basis of a civil contract for the provision of services, which, among other things, stipulates their cost. The size of the client base is directly determined by the professional reputation of the lawyer.
The law allows you to place an office in residential premises, for example, in own apartment, but subject to the consent of the lawyer’s family members. This opportunity allows you to significantly reduce the cost of maintaining a lawyer’s office, but your own office is more solid and inspires more confidence from clients. You will need a small space, sufficient to equip a workplace and space for comfortable communication with visitors. It is advisable to provide a reception room, since legal activities involve confidentiality. Take care of attractive interior and a respectable but discreet sign on the door of the lawyer's office.
Is it difficult to open a law firm? What permissions are needed for this? Where to start and how to finish it? How strong is the competition in the market? From our article you will get answers to all your questions, after which you will not be perplexed by the question of how to open a law firm.
Business Description
The law firm provides paid legal services to private and corporate clients, advising on various issues: from registration of an organizational form to divorce proceedings.
The company can work in several directions:
- One-time consultations for individuals. This includes all types of law (from civil and criminal to banking and administrative), representation of interests in court and government agencies, acting in the interests of the client by proxy. The advantages of such work are the ability to quickly find customers, the disadvantages are the average and low solvency of the main target group.
- One-time consultations for legal entities. Legal assistance is provided already at the stage of company registration, when obtaining special permits, as well as when interacting with government agencies. The undoubted advantage is high rates for services provided, the disadvantage is the possible hidden insolvency of the client (it can be more difficult to collect money from corporate clients than from private clients).
- Work with legal entities under an outsourcing agreement (subscription services). IN in this case the company becomes the client’s partner, takes on all tasks related to the management of law, personnel work(registration of employees, contractual relations, interaction with government agencies). The advantage is regular payment, the disadvantages are a wide range of issues to be resolved (from the sale of real estate to appealing against illegal actions and decisions of law enforcement agencies).
- Services for individuals and legal entities under individual contracts. The premium segment of the market is private consultations for very wealthy clients. Such persons need “their own lawyers” who can be entrusted with confidential information. The advantage is high wages, the disadvantage is difficulties in finding clients.
So, a law firm must take its place in the legal services market, that is, find a niche that is more or less free from competitors. It is worth noting that new areas of work are constantly emerging in this area. For example, 3-4 years ago, registering an online store in payment terminals was an exotic service; today dozens of companies offer it.
Business target audience:
- Individuals facing legal problems. The range of potential consultations is very wide: family, civil, housing, administrative, tax law. Therefore, it is necessary to decide on a narrower target group and concentrate on certain tasks.
- Small firms in need of ongoing legal assistance. Such companies engage legal organizations under outsourcing agreements. In fact, the counterparty takes on all the legal work of the partner, establishing the principles of payment (fixed, premium).
- Medium and large companies that need one-time advice on a complex issue. Questions may arise in the field of economic, customs, and administrative law. To provide effective assistance, law firm specialists must have good knowledge on narrow issues.
- Small and medium-sized companies in need of a specific service. This could be purchasing equipment on lease, obtaining a loan, commercial mortgage, etc. The law firm will accompany the transaction, or select a counterparty, ensure legal security, etc.
- Foreign companies in need of representation in Russia. These clients are the most interesting, since you can get high payments from them. Foreign companies require a full range of services: registration, submission of reports, obtaining licenses, interaction with government agencies.
Is there a special procedure for opening law firms?
To create a lawyer’s education (office, board, bureau), according to the Federal Law “On advocacy and the legal profession in the Russian Federation,” it is necessary to obtain the appropriate status. Persons wishing to establish such an organization must pass a qualification exam and take an oath. At the same time, the “tests” will be more than rewarded, because lawyers have a wide range of rights and powers: representing the interests of the principal (client) in civil (criminal) proceedings, sending requests to various organizations, conducting written surveys of citizens.
In addition, to conduct private notarial activities in accordance with Part 3 of the Federal Law “On Notaries”, it is necessary to obtain a license. To count on it, you will need to pass a qualifying exam, after which you can open your own office. A notary engaged in private practice has the right to rent an office, hire employees, and keep a bank account.
A special permit, according to the Federal Law "On Licensing of Certain Types of Activities", is necessary only for conducting private detective activities (the licensing authority is the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia). This direction is extremely promising for such areas of legal work as debt collection, alimony obligations, and transaction support.
For other areas of legal activity, licenses and other special permits are not provided. Moreover: many recognized experts in the field of customs law and foreign economic activity do not have higher education at all.
Finding a promising direction for work
The legal world is very wide, and there are really many areas to work here. Some firms concentrate exclusively on customs law (clearance of goods), others on the construction industry, and still others on registration services. Some areas of activity are disappearing (notarization of real estate transactions), others are just emerging (e-commerce support). Let's try to evaluate several promising areas that currently have average supply, and find out the potential demand for certain services.
We have identified several areas of interest in the modern market:
- Collection of debts under receipts and loan agreements using legal methods (preparing claims, applications to law enforcement agencies, writing statements of claim).
- Support of enforcement proceedings (decision, order, ruling that has entered into legal force).
- Legal services in the field of construction (enforcement of contract performance, claiming penalties, conducting examinations).
- Legal assistance to foreigners (application to government bodies, purchase of real estate, participation in administrative, civil and criminal proceedings).
- Assistance in obtaining a residence permit and citizenship (assistance in finding employment in Russia, registration necessary documents, escort of foreigners).
- Appealing illegal decisions of law enforcement agencies (resolutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor's office).
Note: A relevant niche in current market conditions is protecting the rights of borrowers before lenders (for example, the StopLoan franchise).
Assessment of demand for promising areas of activity:
Main methods of promotion:
- Internet advertising. For all the areas we have identified, contextual advertising Google.Adwords and Yandex.Direct work well. The effect of marketing activities will be felt within 2-3 weeks after the launch of the project. In the medium and long term good conversion can be achieved by SEO promotion, that is, filling the site with optimized articles.
- Participation in free consultation services. A number of popular websites for providing legal assistance to citizens enable specialists, when answering questions, to provide their contact information, that is, to advertise. But, given the lack of territorial reference (don’t even think about the vastness of Russia), getting a large number of clients will not be easy.
- Conducting trainings and seminars. To promote services such as subscription services for legal entities, as well as legal support foreign companies, organizing working meetings for managers and heads of departments is promising. You can also charge a fee for participation in thematic trainings and seminars, but this is associated with other organizational costs.
- Preparation of business proposals. When promoting subscription legal services for companies, targeted mailings will help you find clients. In the business proposal, it is necessary to outline possible cooperation algorithms and indicate the cost of the company’s services.
- "Cold calls". Most small and medium-sized companies cannot maintain their own legal department, but they encounter legal problems with enviable regularity. Targeted telephone conversations with managers will help you find clients. Moreover, such a promotion method is rarely used when selling services in the field of jurisprudence.
- Successful legal practice. Finally, the notorious “word of mouth” remains an important source of clients. The more useful the help and advice is, the more satisfied clients will share their valuable specialist with their friends.
Advantages and disadvantages of your own law office:
| pros | Minuses |
|---|---|
| Flexible work schedule | High competition |
| Arbitrary pricing | Extensive work experience required |
| A large number of spheres | Difficulties in promotion individual species services |
| Possibility of constant expansion of the company | Psychological problems (constant contact with other people's difficulties) |
| A huge number of potential clients | The need to constantly update the legal framework and update legislation |
| Self-realization of a specialist | Independent search clients |
| Ability to choose your own clients | A large number of people wishing to receive free consultation |
| Right to refuse consultation (assistance) | For individual directions work requires a license |
| Effective use of working time | Difficult to pick good specialists as employees |
| Minimum costs for organizing the work process | The company is responsible for the quality of services |
| Stable demand | Taking your place in the market is not easy |
Examples of successful businesses
Summary analysis of service costs
| Company name | Law Firm "Arcadia" | Law Firm "Angard" | GC "Yurliga" |
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Ulyanovsk | Ekaterinburg |
|
| One-time consultation | 1,500 rubles/hour | 700 rubles | from 1000 rubles |
| LLC registration (no state fee) | 11,000 rubles | 2,500 rubles | 7,500 rubles |
| Registration of individual entrepreneur (no state duty) | 3,500 rubles | 1,000 rubles | 4,500 rubles |
| Liquidation of a legal entity | 60,000 rubles | is not provided | 34,500 rubles |
| Drawing up a statement of claim | 9,000 rubles (comprehensive service) | 1,000 rubles (application only) | 9,500 rubles (comprehensive service) |
So, the above companies provide similar services, but Arcadia Law Firm specializes in registration issues (formation and liquidation legal forms), Law Firm "Angard" is more focused on available services for individuals, and Yurliga Group of Companies provides a wide range of services to both private and corporate clients. Even a superficial analysis demonstrates how widely prices for work vary. It is not surprising that in Moscow the cost of services is much higher than in Ulyanovsk.
Let us add that the price of the work depends significantly on the status of the lawyer. Famous firms that serve only regular clients can charge 15-30 thousand rubles a day, or even more, for representing the client’s interests. The stakes are especially high in the field of criminal law: when a rich person faces the prospect of being in places “not so remote,” he is no longer so eager to count his savings.
The provision of legal services today is more relevant than ever, and both individuals and legal entities often turn to legal companies. How to open a law firm and make money on consultations and legal services?
Business specifics
Today, almost every citizen needs the help of a lawyer, since frequently changing laws and not very clear legislative norms raise questions in many situations. This means that there is a need for clarification, which only professional lawyers can give.
At the same time, people need legal assistance on many issues, including legal support for business, assistance in registering companies, filing bankruptcy, protecting the interests of legal entities and individuals in court, representing the interests of parties when concluding transactions, etc.
Some people need advice to complete a major transaction (purchase of real estate, partnerships, etc.), while others need the constant services of a lawyer and are ready to enter into a cooperation agreement with a law firm.
Services
When you decide to open a law firm, you should first decide on the range of services that you plan to provide to clients. Of course, the wider your range of services, the better. But when choosing, you should be guided by the demand for one or another type of legal services. This means that in a small town there is no point in counting on great demand from legal entities, but it is better to focus on legal assistance to individuals. In general, a law firm can offer clients:
- protection of the interests of individuals and legal entities in court, as well as representation in government bodies;
- legal consulting for individuals;
- assistance in registration activities;
- legal support for the activities of companies;
- legal examination and drafting of documents;
- preparation and drafting of agreements, statements, contracts, claims;
- information support for organizations and consulting specialists in the legal field;
- consulting and accounting support;
- Notary Services.
It is worth remembering that you can provide legal services without a license (with the exception of notaries), although many areas require obtaining additional permissions, and the activities of the law firm will be regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Law “On Advocacy and Advocacy.”
Registration of a law firm
- Once you have decided to create a law firm and have decided on the services provided, you can begin registering your business.
- First you need to find office space and sign a lease agreement, as well as draw up a business plan for your future law firm.
- After this, you need to undergo state registration with the tax authority. Preferably (company with limited liability). This will show that you plan to conduct serious activities and are ready for long-term cooperation.
- Choose a tax system. The best option– (according to the “income minus expenses” scheme - this is beneficial if there are a large number of employees and a significant rent for office space).
- Select codes: 74.1 Activities in the field of law, accounting and audit; consulting on commercial activities and enterprise management.
- Renovate the office, equip it with furniture and necessary equipment.
- Hire employees and organize an advertising campaign.
The office is the face of the company
Everyone understands that clients will not go to a law firm that does not inspire confidence in them. This means that your law firm's office should communicate that your business is reliable, your employees are competent and can solve any legal problems. How to achieve this? Rent office space in the city center, in a crowded place, in a prestigious building. It would be nice if there is a transport interchange, a business center and convenient parking nearby.
In addition to a good location, a design that will demonstrate the integrity and respectability of the organization is important for a law firm’s office. So what needs to be done good repair, having chosen a strict design for decoration, equip the office with a comfortable and modern furniture, which will create a positive impression on clients, as well as install computers in the office and provide high-quality communications and high-speed Internet.
The office also needs to be equipped with a convenient place for clients waiting in line, a meeting room, specialist offices (this can be one office, but with partitions that guarantee good soundproofing), a room for technical staff, and a bathroom.
Search for clients
So, you opened a law firm and started working, but clients are not in a hurry to come to your office. What to do? Conduct advertising campaign, offer your services various companies and individual entrepreneurs. Ask your regular clients to recommend your company to their business partners and business colleagues.
You can negotiate with potential clients (we are talking about legal entities) and offer favorable terms of cooperation, as well as expand the range of services offered. This works great, especially if clients who have ever asked you for help are satisfied with the level of service from your company. So, having completed a one-time order well, you have every chance of getting a contract for permanent legal services for a specific organization.
Staff
As for personnel, a law firm must have qualified lawyers with higher education, work experience and a license to practice law. If you plan to provide a wide range of services, then it is better if you have a separate specialist with a narrow profile for each area, for example, in family, criminal, financial or land law. This will help streamline the conduct of business by area, and will once again demonstrate to clients a serious approach to working in your company.
But it is clear that not everyone can afford to maintain a large staff of highly qualified workers, especially at the beginning of the company’s activities. So it would be appropriate to hire a few law students to help the core staff. You can also invite students law schools for an internship (by concluding an agreement with an educational institution).
You also need an administrative secretary who will take calls and transfer them to the right specialist, ensure the functioning of the office, register documents and engage in archival activities (you can also take a law student with correspondence department university).
In addition to legal specialists, you will also have to hire technical personnel - office cleaners and janitors to restore order in the area adjacent to the office (if there is one, of course).
Initial Investment
For a law firm, it is very important to make a good impression on potential clients immediately after opening and create an atmosphere of respectability around itself. Therefore, there is no need to save on office, furniture and equipment. How much does it cost to open a law firm? Let's calculate the approximate costs of opening a law firm, taking into account that the office area is 200 square meters, and the cost of renting one square meter 3,000 rubles per month.
As for the profitability of the legal business and its payback, it all depends on the specific case. If we talk about average indicators, then this is about a year or a year and a half (subject to active activity). During this time, your company will demonstrate its capabilities, acquire regular customers, and it will be possible to sum up the first results.
When starting a business, you will have to work for authority, and only then will it work for you. So at first you will have to take on any matter, and each time prove that you are competent, competent and capable of resolving any issue in favor of your client. Of course, it will not be easy at first, but credibility in the legal services market is crucial, so you will have to earn it.
Qualified specialists are the main resource of any law firm. So you need to do your best to attract and retain leading legal experts in the company. This will add weight to your business in the eyes of competitors and potential customers.
Another feature of the domestic legal services market is high competition. Therefore, you always need to be aware of the market situation so as not to become an easy prey for another large law firm. And also do not spare money on advertising your services and paying for the work of qualified specialists (otherwise they will simply be bought by competitors). Well, and, of course, you need to constantly fight for clients, each time proving your high professional level.
