There are lots of attorneys trying to make their law practice work.  It isn’t an easy road.  It has been especially tough with the state of the economy since 2008.  Many lawyers graduate from law schools and not nearly enough quality clients who pay the bills.  What’s an attorney to do to make it?

Some attorneys opt to get advice from an attorney who they see carrying lots of manila files up and down the courthouse’s steps.  These attorneys are often told to take traditional approaches.  The traditional approach usually involves networking, passing out business cards, offering low-cost services, and being extremely patient.  Many young attorneys then take this “me too” approach and wonder why they struggle.

At the end of the day, being a “me too” attorney is generally a pathway to mediocrity, at best, or not being able to make the law firm work at its worst.  In the end, simply repeating what other attorneys are doing is not a way to separate yourself.  Most attorneys come out with high student loans, credit card balances, and other family responsibilities.  If you want to be successful, you have to separate yourself.  You have to think differently.

But most attorneys are resistant.  They opt to take the safe approach.  They opt to mimic and do what others tell them.  But years into their practice, those student loans are still there, the credit card balances barely have a dent in them and student loans have to be taken out yet again to put the kids through college (when the attorney’s student loans are still there or freshly paid).

There are lots of ways an attorney can be different.  But for now, let’s get over that initial hump by pledging not to be a “me too” attorney.

If you have specific ideas in terms of how attorneys can do things differently from the masses, please share your comments below.