Wahome Ngatia delves into legal business models, ethical dilemmas, success stories, and practical tips for aspiring legal entrepreneurs. Whether you’re a seasoned lawyer or a law student with big dreams, join us on this journey of legal innovation.
What it’s like to be a legal entrepreneur: Voices of lawyers who own law firms
Lawyers don’t have money all the time. That’s one of the myths that some legal entrepreneurs sought to debunk. We interviewed some lawyers who took the jump and went into legal entrepreneurship. Various respondents gave us candid answers about the ins and outs of being a lawyer and a businessperson at the same time.
We were curious about lawyers who chose to go into business and start their own firms. The aim was to know all aspects. The success, how you start, how to get capital, office space, getting clients etc. This report highlights the findings and nuggets that you as a lawyer can take home.
Scope
The interviews targeted leaders of firms, which were younger than 10 years. 75% of the respondents were male while 25% were female. Of the respondents’ firms, the largest had 10 employees.
Good service trumps a posh office all the time
There were lawyers who went into business convinced that having a posh, luxurious office place in a reputable neighborhood would earn them clients. This could not be further from the truth. Successful legal entrepreneurs concede that nothing can substitute good, excellent, and satisfactory service.
Some lawyers never had office space for a long time after starting their business. But their consistency in delivering desirable results to the clients sustained to inflow of business consistently. This gave them repeat business and more referrals. Such that they had a lot of business without investing in too much advertising.
You have to take the jump eventually
Starting a law firm or a business in the legal industry takes a leap of faith. You may have the desire to start and keep flirting with the idea of starting your own practice. But the engine will only start rolling when you start the long hard process of starting a business in Kenya.
The challenges are daunting but the returns are exceedingly rewarding. Many legal entrepreneurs didn’t have the starting capital needed to establish a full-blown legal enterprise. But they started small. One lawyer said that they started by offering concierge services for a long time.
But when the business grew they had to re-brand to re-invent their services. Take the risk and just start.
A toxic work environment and uncooperative employers inspired many people to go into legal entrepreneurship
90% of the entrepreneurs we interviewed said that toxic work environments drove them to start their own outfits. They were inspired to start a business that would foster a healthy workplace not just for themselves but also for others.
If you want to have good employee retention you need to treat your employees right. They need decent compensation and the work environment should be healthy to ensure that there is growth.
The environment is particularly tough on women
Female respondents conceded that they’ve had to deal with sexual harassment as they navigate the murky waters of business. 25% of the respondents had to let go of some clients because of sexual harassment. While others had to contend with being looked down upon on the basis of being female.
Finding the capital to start is a huge challenge
70% of the entrepreneurs we interviewed concurred that starting their own firm was greatly hampered by either lack of access to the capital they needed or the high cost of capital. They therefore had to start small with what they had and rely on referrals for the business to thrive. Others had to employ creativity and innovation such as cutting costs where they could. For example, for those who didn’t need an office to begin with they would meet at restaurants and other places with their clients.
Covid-19 also gave lawyers sleepless nights due to the slowing down of business. Leaving them with options such as releasing some of their workers.
In legal firms in Kenya, there is little to non-existent use of law management systems
Various legal management system software facilitate the management of cases and effective data storage for easy retrieval. Prominent examples of legal management system software are Clio, ClickUp, Lawmatics, and MyCase among many others.
Our survey revealed that none of the respondents has shifted to the digital system of working. Instead, they highly prefer the manual system. This gives an opportunity for IT consultants and providers to educate legal entrepreneurs on the importance and benefits of legal management systems.
There are clients who will just believe in you
One of the reasons that should encourage you to go on and start your own business is that you will get loyal clients. As long as you’re offering good service and delivering satisfactory results they will keep coming back. A lot of the respondents said that they had clients who took a chance with them and for more than four years now, they’re still working together.
It didn’t matter whether they lacked the stature of a big, established firm. These clients offered repeat business which helped the small firms stay afloat and grow over time.
It’s best to outsource administration work, accounting, human resources and tax compliance
Many legal entrepreneurs hate the administration work and human resource work. 90% of the respondents viewed it as overbearing. They recommended employing professionals to do the work. Alternatively, you can outsource to companies that specialize in the same. It will save you time and enable you to concentrate on the legal work that you’re good at. In the end, hiring people to do this work for you, who are proficient at it, saves you loads of money.
Government
One of the hurdles that legal entrepreneurs have had to endure is the murky swamps of high taxation and unbearable license fees. They would like it better if the government gave tax holidays for businesses that are younger than 3 years.
According to many lawyers, the punitive taxes that are currently in place have strangled Kenyans’ pockets. Consequently, clients don’t have money to spend on legal services which is slowing down business.
Additionally, female lawyers would love the leeway from government to sit on important boards. One of the respondents said, “Also give more chances to women-owned firms to sit on boards and join panels based on merit in the various parastatals without the rampant corruption that comes with applying for those positions.”
Law Society of Kenya
The LSK can also be more involved in lobbying the government on behalf of these small businesses. According to these entrepreneurs, they should develop a hands-on approach to train young lawyers who have chosen to pursue business. This should also involve the reduction of high license fees.
Myths that should be debunked about legal entrepreneurship
Our respondents were keen to dispute the notion that lawyers have money all the time. There are both good and bad days in business.
Female legal entrepreneurs said that a female led practice doesn’t need to partner with a male lawyer so that they can be taken seriously.
According to the responses given, law firms are said to be quick revenue earners. That could not be further from the truth. In reality, they take time to grow into flourishing, profit making businesses.
