Before starting the post, I just want to acknowledge that a lot of these posts are likely mindless drivel. That is what I get for setting a goal of writing 500 words every day. I’m pretty sure that in a month or so, I’ll go back and figure out how to mark the most ridiculous posts so that they don’t need to be read.
And on with the show. Today I had work to do, but also had to work on more promotion. The Local Bar sent out a notice that they are opening up the Referral List for 2018.
Attorney Referral Services
Texas has rules about lawyer referral services, so the straight referral services that Texas lawyers can use are limited. The State Bar of Texas has a good service that they offer, but it does’t cover Jefferson County. Instead, the Jefferson County Bar Association has their own referral service. I really like the people who run the JCBA (I’ve already mentioned how great they are), so I am ok with using them.
Getting on the list is pretty simple. You fill out the forms and pay a fee. The forms ask what areas of law you practice and ask you to agree to do 30 minute initial consults with people referred from the service for $20. There are some terms and conditions, and a requirement that you are qualified to practice the areas of the law that you are signing up to represent.
I turned in the form and paid my fee, and the JCBA staff told me that my extra language would help me to get lots of referrals. I guess there aren’t that many attorneys in the area that speak Spanish. Also, they asked for forgiveness in advance because they are statutorily required to pass on all requests to three lawyers, and they know that a lot of the requests are meritless. I’m willing to take that chance.
Ad Litem Certificate
While I was at the JCBA office today, I also picked up my course packet to get my Ad Litem Certificate. This certificate is required by the State to act as Guardian Ad Litem. This was another fee I had to pay, as well as some videos I have to watch and some material to read. It counts towards my CLE hours and will help get appointments to cases, so I was ok with it.
Expenses are adding up
I know that I am just starting my practice, and I budgeted for a lot of expenses in these first months, but I am looking at the money I am spending and it starts to worry me. I keep meaning to do a post about all the expenses I’ve incurred starting my new business – I just haven’t yet because I think if I look hard at the numbers it will be a little overwhelming.
That said, I have gotten a lot more business than I thought I would for the first month of my practice. I am really grateful for that. Like I said in previous posts, letting people know that I am going out on my own has been a huge boon to my ancient practice.
Pretty soon I’m going to run out of things to talk about
It seems like I’ve spent a lot of time talking in these posts about what I am doing to market my business. I guess that is probably fine, but once I get everything up and running I am going to have to search for more meaningful topics than what I did to look for new clients today.