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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ - Making the Hours of Your
Life Worth More ™
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SPECIAL BONUS ISSUE: THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE TO THE
BILLABLE HOUR - PRACTICING LAW ON
YOUR OWN TERMS
AN INTERVIEW WITH HELEN LEAH CONROY
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To subscribe to "Beyond the Billable Hour" ™ go to
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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INDEX: 1. "The Ultimate Alternative to the Billable Hour:
Practicing Law on Your Own Terms" - An
Interview with Helen Leah Conroy
2. "Of Counsel" Examines Coaching for Lawyers
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com/ofcounselarticle.html
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ARTICLE SUMMARY: Helen Leah Conroy has a solo practice
in the San Francisco Bay Area doing what
she loves most - intellectual property
licensing transactions. After spending
18 years in large law firms, most recently
as a partner, she decided to break free
of the billable hour.
In July, 2001, Helen started her own
very successful practice. She granted
this interview with LawyersLifeCoach.com
to show other attorneys one way to achieve
success on their own terms.
To find out how and why Helen left her
large firm partnership to achieve
extraordinary success AND a fulfilling
life, read on.
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Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., Editor
Ellen is the founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com ™
Personal and Career Coaching for Lawyers Determined
to Achieve Professional Success AND
a Fulfilling Life
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OUR PERSPECTIVE
Most attorneys -- especially women -- live impossibly busy lives.
Finding a balance between work and life without sacrificing
professional success, deciding on the best practice area or
work setting, and making career transitions can be a daunting
task, even for the most gifted and accomplished lawyer.
Just as every person deserves the best possible legal
counsel, every attorney deserves professional, dedicated
support in accomplishing her most important goals.
You know how hard you've worked to get where you are --
you serve others, both personally and professionally.
You've earned the right to both career success and
a fulfilling life.
This newsletter is intended to help you create a
satisfying life -- within, or outside of -- legal practice.
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1. THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE TO THE BILLABLE HOUR:
PRACTICING LAW ON YOUR OWN TERMS
An Interview with Helen Leah Conroy
LawyersLifeCoach.com Q: You're doing something that
many lawyers think and dream about doing. Tell us what led
you to make the leap from big firm life to your own
practice.
Helen Leah Conroy A: I'd been thinking about it for several
years - but more in terms of starting my own small firm,
and doing it within a five-year time frame.
I wanted to build up the kind of practice that I could
easily take with me, and that would support three or four
associates. I'd find two or three partners in
complimentary areas, and we'd set up a brand new I.P.
boutique.
LLC Q: Things didn't unfold that way, obviously. What
changed?
HLC A: Well, I realized that I just didn't want to wait
that long to go out on my own. I've been very active
in the women's business community here, especially
with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and the Women in
Business Roundtable of the San Francisco Chamber of
Commerce. Increasingly in my business development
activities, I would come into contact with women my age
and younger who had started their first, second and third
businesses. What an amazing group of women they were.
I loved their enthusiasm and energy, and began to see
myself as one of them.
LLC Q: When did you actually decide to go solo?
HLC A: There's a funny story behind that. I joined a
women's dinner group, which consists of ten women who
have their own successful companies or professional
services firms. Last November, I announced my intention
to start the five-year transition from being a partner in
a big firm to founding my own small firm. They all looked
at me like I was crazy and said, "Five years?! You should
do it next week!"
They lavished me with encouragement and support, and told
me I'd be so successful, and that I shouldn't be thinking
so long-range. So, I thought about it some more.
In January I made up my mind that I was going to leave by
the end of the year, either out on my own or with one or
two other partners. Again they said, "End of this year?!
Do it next week!"
In February, I told them that I was leaving July 1. I
needed that much time to close some transactions and to
then focus full time on making a smooth transition.
LLC Q: Is your practice different now than the one you
had in the firm?
HLC A: You bet it is. When I was in the big firm, I
couldn't attract the kinds of clients I really enjoy
working with the most - software developers, inventors,
consultants and other creative people - because they
neither needed nor wanted to support the large firm's high
overhead. Interestingly, I'm doing deals where the big
Silicon Valley firms are on the other side of the table,
so in that respect, things aren't so different. But I'm
actually working on more sophisticated deals now.
Another difference is that I do most of my work from a
home office. When my clients need to see me, I go to their
offices. They love it. I average working about five hours
a day. On many days, that work gets done before my
children awaken in the morning, or after they go to bed.
I spend a lot more time with them during the day. We all love it.
My practice is also different, obviously, in that I don't
have the enormous support infrastructure that the big
firm provides. I like being self-sufficient; that's my
nature. There aare a few occasions (very few) when I miss
that, but I learned right away that with the Internet and
all of the online resources available, the big-firm
administrative support isn't worth the price.
LLC Q: What do you mean?
HLC A: I was leaving far too much money on the table.
The overhead in a big firm can eat up 60-70% of your
billings. My clients are paying 2/3 what they would
pay if I were still in that gorgeous office building in
San Francisco. I'm working half the hours that I used to,
and I'm making the same amount of money. My practice
has low overhead, and I'm enjoying the cost savings.
LLC Q: How large a book of business did you "take with
you"?
HLC A: Actually, I started from the ground up, and didn't
take a single client. For some reason (having to do with
my inexperience in marketing, no doubt), I was doing
very little of the actual legal work for all of "my" clients.
I had brought them in by cross-selling my partners'
expertise, and was essentially the "finder and minder"
(and not the "grinder") for those clients. One of my
primary concerns when I made the decision to leave
was to make sure that all of those clients were properly
cared for. In some instances, that meant transferring
the matters to other firms.
LLC Q: How could you start completely from scratch?
HLC A: I put the word out to all my contacts early on that
I would be leaving, and continued to do all the same kinds
of business development activities I'd been doing for the
past few years. Two weeks before I packed up my boxes and left,
I had my first substantial project, which I knew would
cover all of my overhead for the first year of my
practice, with some left over. Ten days after I started
my practice I got another huge project, and have had a
variety of other matters coming in on a steady basis
since then. I am confident that this pace will continue
and that my practice will grow. I've been overloaded
at times, and "underloaded" at other times - but overall
it's working out just fine.
LLC Q: Many women lawyers are uncomfortable with
marketing - at least as they envision it. You seem
quite comfortable. What has made this easier for you?
HLC A: Marketing has not always been easy for me. In
fact, I didn't do any at all until about two years ago.
When you're trying cases one after another, billing
2200-2400 hours/year, commuting, and trying to manage
a household with two small children, there's little
time to even think about marketing, much less do it.
I made a conscious decision to commit time to marketing,
and not worry about billing over 2000 hours. My firm
wanted me to become a rainmaker, and therefore supported
that.
When I first started, it was a bit daunting to go out to
a meeting or event where I didn't know a single person.
The more you do that, though, the more people you'll
recognize and before long, people will be coming up to
you, having seen you at other events, etc. I admit,
though, that it takes courage to step out of your comfort
zone when you're taking the first steps.
It gets easier with practice. I do a lot of public
speaking at conferences and trade associations, (most
recently at Comdex Las Vegas). I speak on a variety
of topics, which I later use in articles (or which were
derived from articles I'd already written.)
Finally, if you realize that marketing is nothing more
than going out and meeting people whose line of work
interests you, and talking about them and their needs,
it's easy to find joy in it. And then, of course, there's
the satisfaction of watching it all pay off when the
prospects call and the work rolls in.
LLC Q: Is your billing any different than it was at the
big firm?
HLC A: Yes. For most work I'm charging on a project
basis, using "value billing" as some other professional
service providers call it. No more time sheets! The
clients love it and I love it, and economically, I'm
doing splendidly.
LLC Q: What is the lesson for law firms from your
experience with value billing vs. billable hours?
HLC A: The lesson here is that corporate consumers of
legal services are becoming wise to the "racket," and
are demanding better value alternatives. They would
not tolerate inefficiencies or incentives to inflate
("bloat" is how one client describes it) fees in any
other service provider, and they are learning that there
are some of us out there who can offer them excellent
services that are priced on a more rational basis.
[For an excellent piece on the benefits to clients of
value pricing, take a look at this page on the website
of Alan Weiss, a terrifically successful consultant,
speaker and writer:
http://www.summitconsulting.com/articles/january2000.html]
LLC Q: Do you miss your former life?
HLC A: Well, a few months ago I was in the actual offices
that my former firm had occupied until the end of 1999.
Another firm had taken over the space, and I was in a
conference room just a few feet from the place where my
room had been. Someone at the meeting asked me if I
missed the big firm life. I told him that when I had
walked the ten blocks or so through the financial
district to the meeting that morning, I'd looked around
and felt sorry for all the people going to work.
LLC Q: Why was that?
HLC A: Because in starting my own practice, I've given up
a ten-hour day (sometimes, but not always, including
commute) for a five-hour day. And I'm doing exactly what
I want to, and charging the way I want to for it.
LLC Q: Do you miss having colleagues? You'd originally
planned on a boutique firm with a couple of partners and
a few associates.
HLC A: I don't miss having colleagues because I still
have them. They are just not my partners. I have a
network of women (and a few men) in complimentary
areas of practice, and some who do the same kind of work
that I do, with whom I correspond, speak and have lunch
or see at meetings on a regular basis. I don't spend as
much time in the office as I did when I was at the firm,
and I like it that way.
Since July, I have not felt lonely or isolated once,
and if I ever do, the phone is right there on my desk.
I have dozens of people who I could call and catch up
with, or bounce ideas off of, if I had the time or interest
in doing so.
LLC Q: Any words of wisdom for others thinking about
alternatives to the billable hour?
HLC A: Sure. Find an area of practice that you're
comfortable doing on your own, if you're not in one
already. Develop expertise in that area and make sure
the world knows that you're an expert. Get out there
into the business community (specifically, in the
businesses that would need your work), and make yourself
known. People will always remember you, not your law
firm, if you market yourself and your skills. Keep
good records of everyone you meet, and make sure your
good friends and business associates know that you are
looking for referrals.
Then, take a deep breath, and JUMP!
Helen Leah Conroy practices law in Oakland, CA.
She can be reached by email at hlconroy@pacbell.net
or by phone at 510-601-8847.
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2. "Of Counsel" Examines Coaching for Lawyers
Steven T. Taylor has written a wonderful editorial
about coaching for lawyers. Read his in-depth
interview with Ellen and his clear analysis of
the process and value of professional coaching
for lawyers in "Of Counsel," Vol. 20, No.6, June 2001.
You can also read it on line at:
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com/ofcounselarticle.html
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ARE YOU A LAWYER WITH CAREER SUCCESS AND LIFE BALANCE?
The legal field needs to hear your strategies. If you
are willing to share them, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send e-mail to Ellen@lawyerslifecoach.com.
Lawyers Life Coach is dedicated to sharing practical
strategies that lawyers are already using --
from something as small as hiring a virtual assistant
to something as large as leaving the profession.
Of course, I will only share your strategies and any
identifying information with your permission.
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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is published monthly by
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com.
She brings 20 years of experience assisting women
attorneys to her work in Lawyers Life Coach ™.
LawyersLifeCoach.com is a professional and personal
coaching firm specializing in working virtually (by
phone with email and fax backup) with women attorneys
interested in developing strategies to find greater
satisfaction in their careers within the law or
in exploring career alternatives for lawyers.
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. established Lawyerslifecoach.com
to coach busy lawyers who might benefit from the
insights gained from 20 years as a psychologist
combined with her experience and familiarity with
the legal profession.
Ellen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
from the University of Rochester and is a managing
member of Metropolitan Behavioral Health Care, LLC.,
a multispecialty, multidisciplinary psychotherapy
practice in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland.
She is a member of the International Coach Federation
and a graduate of the Mentor Coach Program ™.
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NOTE: BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is intended
for informational and educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for a personal consultation
with a mental health professional and should not
be construed as a form of, or substitute for,
counseling, psychotherapy, or other psychological
service.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D.
LawyersLifeCoach.com
Phone: (301) 578-8686
email: Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
Web: http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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(c)Copyright 2001 Ellen Ostrow. All rights reserved.
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However, you may not copy it to a web site.
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