First Things First — A Name for My Law Practice

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One of my first orders of business is to come up with a name for my law practice.  This seems like such an easy task, but it is more difficult than I imagined.  About a month ago, I started compiling a list of potential names for my law office.  As I was compiling the list, I realized that I needed to back up one step and make sure that I considered any pertinent rules that may exist.

Each state bar has a rule that relates to naming a law firm.  I have an active license in Texas and Virginia and I may practice in both states (that is the benefit of an Internet-based practice).  According to Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 7.01:

(a) A lawyer in private practice shall not practice under a trade name, a name that is misleading as to the identity of the lawyer or lawyers practicing under such name, or a firm name containing names other than those of one or more of the lawyers in the firm, except that the names of a professional corporation, professional association, limited liability partnership, or professional limited liability company may contain “P.C.,” “P.A.,” “L.L.P.,” “P.L.L.C.,” or similar symbols indicating the nature of the organization . . .

On the other hand, Rule 7.5 of the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct reads:

(a) A lawyer or law firm may use or participate in the use of a professional card, professional announcement card, office sign, letterheads, telephone directory listing, law list, legal directory listing, website, or a similar professional notice or device unless it includes a statement or claim that is false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive.  A trade name may be used by a lawyer in private practice if it does not imply a connection with a government agency or with a public or charitable legal services organization and is not otherwise in violation of Rule 7.1 and 7.2.

Under the Virginia Rules, Rule 7.1 deals with communications about lawyer services and Rule 7.2 deals with advertising.

My review of these rules, reminds me that I must pick my practice name carefully.  As I compare the two rules, it becomes clear that the Texas rule is much more restrictive than the Virginia rule.  Texas prohibits the use of trade names.  Although I could use a trade name in Virginia, I want to make sure that I can practice in both states under the same name so a trade name is out!

The tried and true method is to simply use my name and nothing more.  After considering ”Sean Condron,” I quickly dismissed it.  It doesn’t sound quite right and, in my humble opinion, my practice name needs to be a bit more robust than just my personal name.  As I contemplate derivations of my practice name, I realize that I also need to consider the use of my middle initial.  For whatever reason, I don’t think of myself as Sean Condron.  Rather, I think of myself as Sean M. Condron.  I am sure you are asking yourself why in the world it matters, but for some reason it does to me.  So on issues like this, I just have to trust my gut.

Here is the list I have come up with:

Sean M. Condron Law Office(s)
Condron Law Office(s)
The Condron Law Office(s)
The Law Office(s) of Sean M. Condron
Condron Law
The Firm of Sean M. Condron
The Law Firm of Sean M. Condron
The Condron Firm
The Condron Law Firm
Sean M. Condron, Attorney at Law
Sean M. Condron, Attorney & Counselor at Law
SMC Law Firm
Condron Legal Services

Some of these options appear to have potential problems.  Using my initials rather than my name may not fly in Texas because the state bar may consider it a trade name.  The use of the phrase “Legal Services” may also cause problems because it runs the risk that it is misleading.  People may believe that my office is a form of legal aid.  Although, if the name does not suggest a geographic location, I am probably on safe ground.  I am also unsure about the plural of the word office.  This is an issue that the rules don’t clearly address.  I have decided to error on the side of caution and call both my state bars to discuss the use of these issues in more detail.

Another consideration that plays into this decision is the domain name that I may want to use for my firm.  I plan to use the Internet heavily in my practice.  I want to make sure that my firm name fits well with the domain name that I will use for my website.  Unfortunately, another attorney already uses www.condronlaw.com, so I can chalk that name off my list.  I will not select a firm name until I have purchased the domain name for my website.  After selecting my practice name, I can begin my efforts to design a logo and start thinking about my website design.  Picking a firm name is an exciting and important step in the process of fulfilling my dream.  I hope to make my decision soon and will let everyone know once I do!

On another note, I am in the beginning stages of drafting my business plan.  Once I get further along with the draft, I will provide an entry about my thoughts and experiences.

Blogging Will Help Me Open My Law Office

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I want to take to a moment first to discuss my reasons for blogging. I find it hard to believe that I am writing my seventh blog entry. Two things have surprised me about blogging, that I am writing a blog at all and that I actually enjoy blogging. If you had asked me a year ago what I thought about blogging, I probably would have laughed and said that it is a silly activity. However, when I started to get serious about opening my own law office, I realized that blogging has a whole lot of upside and basically no downside.

The first benefit of blogging is the ability to think out loud and organize my thoughts as I prepare to open my law office. Opening a solo practice, just like opening any small business takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. There is way more to it than renting an office, hanging out a sign, and hoping clients will find me. For the past year, I have spent a lot of time reading other people’s thoughts about opening a legal practice. There is a wealth of knowledge out there. One website that I have found particularly helpful is How to Start a Law Firm. I also subscribe to the RSS feed for the Solo Practice University blog. In spite of all the information that exists out there, you simply can’t just “read.”  You have to actually “do”. So my doing right now is to blog. Blogging is my way of considering options that I face at this early stage. I can’t start my legal practice until I finish with my full-time public service job. For now, all I can do is think and plan. A blog is a perfect way to do exactly that. My hope is that by actively blogging, I am able to lay all the pieces in place to open a successful practice right out of the gate.

The second benefit of blogging is establishing my presence on the Internet which will eventually assist me when I market my practice. During my reading, I began to realize how important it is to establish a web presence. Without a web presence, it is nearly impossible to successfully market a law firm on the Internet. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the key. If you don’t fall in the top 10 of a Google search, you are dead on arrival. People simply won’t find you on the Internet. I wanted to start a blog to begin building that presence. My next step to building my presence on the Internet is to start a blog devoted to each of my practice areas: estate planning and family law.

My last reason for starting this blog is to provide yet another resource for attorneys (and law school students!) who are thinking about opening their own legal practice. I know that I am very appreciative for all the information that I have found on the Internet. I also know that my practice will be highly successful over time, however I realize that I will have some obstacles that I need to deal with along the way. By blogging about my thought process and my approach to solving a particular obstacle, I am hoping that I can help someone else who may face that same obstacle in the future.

Busy But Still Moving Forward with My Solo Practice Plans

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It is amazing how fast life can move.  Between my full time job and my family commitments, I struggle to find time in the day to focus on planning for my own law practice.  But I know that I can’t let time move by without making progress on my plans.  This blog is the solution that I need.  Although it takes to time write a blog entry, my writing keeps me focused and organized.Since my last entry, I have been doing a lot of thinking.  So much so that I need to stop thinking, make some decisions, and start establishing some goals for myself.  I am definitely going to open my own practice.  It looks like I will open my doors sometime in the fall (I will provide an update on the exact day when I finalize it).

I have given my practice areas considerable thought.  Picking the right area for me is important.  I want to make sure that any practice area that I choose fits my vision.  As a public servant, I have not had the opportunity to pick my area of practice.  I finally have that chance, therefore my practice area needs to be one that I will enjoy.  In my last post, I considered and eliminated civil litigation.

I have decided that I am going to focus on two areas of practice: estate planning and family law.  These are two areas that fit solo practice well.  They complement each other because the client pool includes families and individuals, not businesses.  I have no doubt that I will thoroughly enjoy both practice areas.  They may require slightly different marketing approaches, but that diversity appeals to me.  I see it as a challenge and a way to gain broad experience selling my law practice.  With estate planning, I can find clients in any state in which I am licensed.  I am not limited to my local community.  If I open a virtual estate planning practice most of my work will be done on the Internet.  Family law on the other hand is quite a bit different.  I will need to market my family law practice in more traditional ways.  Although Internet marketing will work, local speaking engagements and word of mouth will be critical ways to market my family law practice as well.

Now that I have selected my practice areas, I have some new follow-on tasks.  I need to develop a business plan and a market plan.  I also need to start considering office locations.  I can also start keeping abreast of recent developments in each field.  I want to be fully knowledgeable in both areas of practice as soon as I open my doors for business.  In the next few weeks, I will be discussing each of these tasks individually.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about embarking on this adventure.  It is an exhilarating experience.  I am sure that the upcoming months will be both exciting and nerve wracking, but each decision I make brings me one step closer to the goal that I have dreamed about for a very long time.