Successful Small Firm Practice

The Successful Small Firm Practice Course (the Course) is now offered upon request as an intensive, one-on-one program for the D.C. Bar member interested in a small business incubator-like experience for launching and developing a law firm.

Ideally, a member interested in the Course will first attend Basic Training & Beyond.  Next, the member meets with a practice management advisor to create their individual Course plan.

The member’s Course plan will cover:

• Business plan development
• Firm infrastructure implementation
• The initial marketing initiative
• The client onboarding process
• Fee agreements
• Banking and managing law firm accounts
• The client experience

One-on-one sessions and member work sessions will be conducted in the Bar’s Member Connection Suite.  

To register for the Course, email [email protected] and request an initial Zoom meeting with a practice management advisor.  The Course is free for D.C. Bar members and their staff.

The Course is led by the Bar’s Practice Management Advisors, Kaitlin McGee and Daniel M. Mills. Mills and McGee combined have over 45 years of experience in law firm management.

This unique, intensive program is designed to assist the lawyer who is considering or has already launched a small firm practice and wants ongoing one-on-one guidance from a practice management advisor to grow and improve their business.

The Course covers core concepts, such as understanding the legal service market, office management, ethics issues, and money management, as well as advanced techniques in marketing, client relations, and law firm technology and innovation.  This intensive, custom program will lay the groundwork for starting your own law practice and help you reach the efficiency, productivity, and work–life balance that is possible in the small firm practice.

Attendees of the Course are expected to actively participate in the one-on-one sessions and to create work product during and between sessions. Work product will include a detailed law firm business plan, marketing plan, newsletters, website content, social media strategy, fee agreements, standardized client communication procedures, law firm account management systems, and a law firm data backup and security plan.

The Course was awarded the ABA Gambrell Award in 2015.