business plan law firm example

Law Firm Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Law Firm Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 lawyers to create business plans to start and grow their law firms. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a law firm business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Law Firm Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your law firm as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Law Firm

If you’re looking to start a law firm, or grow your existing law firm, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your law firm in order to improve your chances of success. Your law firm plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Law Firms

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a law firm are personal savings, credit cards and bank loans. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a law firm.

If you want to start a law firm or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below are links to each section of your law firm plan template:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of law firm you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a law firm that you would like to grow, or are you operating law firms in multiple cities?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the law firm industry. Discuss the type of law firm you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of law firm you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of law firms:

• Commercial Law : this type of law firm focuses on financial matters such as merger and acquisition, raising capital, IPOs, etc.
• Criminal, Civil Negligence, and Personal Injury Law: this type of business focuses on accidents, malpractice, and criminal defense.
• Real Estate Law: this type of practice deals with property transactions and property use.
• Labor Law: this type of firm handles everything related to employment, from pensions/benefits, to contract negotiation.

In addition to explaining the type of law firm you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, number of cases won, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the law firm industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the law firm industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your law firm plan:

• How big is the law firm industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your law firm? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your law firm plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: businesses, households, and government organizations.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of law firm you operate. Clearly, households would respond to different marketing promotions than nonprofit organizations, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most law firms primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

Finish Your Law Firm Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other law firms.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes accounting firms or human resources companies. You need to mention such competition as well.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other law firms with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be law firms located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of cases do they accept?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide better legal advice and services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you provide more responsive customer interactions?
• Will you offer better pricing or flexible pricing options?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a law firm plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of law firm company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to in-person consultation, will you provide virtual meetings, or any other services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the products and services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your law firm company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your law firm located in a busy business district, office building, etc. Discuss how your location might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your law firm marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your law firm, including filling and filing paperwork, researching precedents, appearing in court, meeting with clients, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to file your 100th lawsuit, or be on retainer with 25 business clients, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your law firm to a new city.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your law firm’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing law firms. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with legal experience or with a track record of successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you file 25 lawsuits per month or sign 5 retainer contracts per month? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your law firm, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a law firm:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of licensing, software, and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or your certificate of admission to the bar.  

Putting together a business plan for your law firm is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert and know everything you need about starting a law firm business plan; once you create your plan, download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will really understand the law firm industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful law firm.  

Law Firm Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my law firm business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Law Firm Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of law firm you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a law firm that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of law firms?

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Law Firm business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how Growthink’s professional business plan consulting services can create your business plan for you.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How to Create a Law Firm Business Plan Aimed at Success

Want a successful law firm? Start with a solid business plan. Our guide covers everything that will help you create a roadmap for success.

A firm exists to serve people—so its business plan must take into account those it aims to help. A law firm's business plan lays out the key pillars that will support a practice, from operational details to marketing strategies to financial projections. Furthermore, it should provide a clear roadmap for where the firm hopes to be in the coming years.

In this blog,  we will guide you through the process  of creating a comprehensive law firm business plan that  will help you achieve your goals . Additionally, in our latest Grow Law Firm podcast, our host Sasha Berson conversed with Omar Ochoa, the founding attorney of Omar Ochoa Law Firm, to discuss the topic of creating a law firm business plan aimed at success. Be sure to listen to another insightful episode featuring Tom Lenfestey, where he discusses crafting a sellable and profitable law firm.

Why Is a Business Plan Important for Law Firms?

A business plan is a vital tool for any law firm to achieve success. It outlines goals, strategies, and the feasibility of business ideas, providing a clear direction and focus for the firm. The plan can be used to secure funding from investors or financial institutions by demonstrating the potential for growth and profitability.

Moreover, a business plan supports decision-making by evaluating the feasibility of new ventures and assessing potential risks and rewards. It helps to manage resources effectively by setting financial goals and tracking progress, ensuring the firm is making the most of its resources and achieving objectives.

Lastly, a law firm's business plan enables growth by identifying new opportunities and developing strategies to capitalize on them. By planning for the future and setting realistic growth targets, law firms can take their businesses to the next level. Overall, a well-developed business plan is critical for success in the legal industry, providing direction and focus, supporting decision-making, managing resources effectively, and enabling growth.

General Tips for Creating an Attorney Business Plan

Building a business plan for law firms is not an easy or intuitive process. By considering the following issues before opening your doors to clients, you have a much better chance of having a stable firm that matches your values and has a clear set of goals.

— Stay Focused

Forming a law firm can feel overwhelming. You have a lot of freedom and can easily get sidetracked into issues that either can wait or do not deserve your attention.

If having a strong law firm website design is important enough for you to include in your plan, you will spend time on that instead of less important matters.

A plan also includes a budget. The process of planning your firm's finances can ensure that you do not overspend (or underspend) as you start your own firm.

The attention to detail that comes from having a plan will help you avoid spreading yourself too thin by focusing on every issue or the wrong issues. Instead, you will maintain your focus on the important issues.

Whether you have law partners or develop a solo law firm business plan, the plan will help you stay focused on your end goals.

— Keep Track of Goals and Results

It is easy to set goals when you  start a law firm and then promptly forget about them.

Your plan will set out your goals and the metrics you will use to determine your progress toward meeting them. The plan should also explain how you will know when you have met them.

For example, you might have a growth goal of reaching five lawyers within two years. Or you might have a revenue goal of collecting $200,000 your first year.

Too many businesses, including law firms, meander on their developmental path. By setting goals and the path for meeting them, you will have guardrails to keep your firm on track.

"If you want to be the number one law firm in the country by revenue right in a 20 year time period, have that be your goal and everything that you do right is in service of that goal. You might not get there, but you're gonna find that you're gonna be very successful either way."

"If you want to be the number one law firm in the country by revenue right in a 20 year time period, have that be your goal and everything that you do right is in service of that goal. You might not get there, but you're gonna find that you're gonna be very successful either way." — Omar Ochoa

— Sort Out Your Own Law Firm Strategy

Developing a clear vision is important for establishing a strategic law firm plan aimed at long-term goals . As Omar Ochoa discusses in the podcast, having very specific milestone visions like where you want to be in five, ten, or fifteen years helps drive the strategy and actions needed to get there.

It's easy to say that you'll run your law firm better. But a plan actually helps you identify how to improve by articulating a concrete strategy. The process of creating the plan will help you pinpoint problems and solutions.

A plan forces consideration of operational details often overlooked. It equates to defining your firm's purpose and then pursuing that vision with purpose-driven strategies and actions. As Omar notes, marrying vision to action through knowledge of other successful law firm models is key to achieving goals.

One area that is frequently overlooked in plans is the inclusion of law firm marketing strategies . Developing this aspect is critical for attracting clients and sustaining growth.

Level Up Your Brand

Book a Free Consultation

— Move Forward

You should view your plan as a law firm business development plan that will guide the formation and growth of your firm .

You can review the document periodically to remind you and your law partners of your growth and expansion projections. After this review, you can ensure your growth and expansion remain on track to carry you to your goals.

The review will also tell you whether you need to update your firm's goals. When you started your law firm, you might have been unduly pessimistic or optimistic in your projections. Once you have some time to operate according to your plan, you can update your goals to keep them realistic. You can also update your processes to focus on what works and discard what does not.

The review can provide your projections for what you hope to accomplish and the roadmap for accomplishing it.

Law Firm Business Plan Template

Each of the websites below includes at least one attorney business development plan template:

• Business Plan Workbook
• PracticePro
• Smith & Jones, P.A.
• Wy'East Law Firm

You can use a law firm strategic plan example from these sites to start your firm's plan, then turn the plan into a document unique to your circumstances, goals, and needs.

What to Consider before Starting Law Firm Business Plans

Before starting a law firm business plan, think through a few key issues, including:

— Setting the Goals

Reflect deeply on your firm's purpose. Think about who you represent and how you can best meet their needs. A law firm exists for its clients. As you think about your  law firm goals , think about goals for providing legal services to your clients.

"We continue to try to have the biggest impact that we can because ultimately, in my opinion at least, that's what lawyers are for, is to be able to help people and be able to move us forward." — Omar Ochoa

You need to set realistic and achievable goals. These goals should reflect your reasons for starting your law firm. Thus, if you started your law firm because you expected to make more money on your own than working for someone else, set some goals for collections.

While you are setting your goals, think about how you will reach them and the ways you will measure your success. For example, if you want to expand to include ten lawyers within three years, think about intermediate goals at the end of years one and two. This helps measure your progress.

— Choosing Partnership Structure

For lawyers considering a partnership structure, it's important to select partners that complement each other's strengths and weaknesses to help the firm function effectively.

There are 2 main partnership structure options:

• A single-tier model provides equal decision-making power and liability between partners.
• Meanwhile, a two-tier structure offers tiers like equity and non-equity partners, providing flexibility and career progression opportunities.

While similarly skilled individuals may clash, partners with differing abilities can succeed together. Some attorneys also choose to run their own firm for flexibility. This allows them to leverage different specialists through occasional joint ventures tailored for specific cases, without the constraints of a single long-term partnership. Furthermore, it highlights how the law firm partnership structures impacts freedom and sustainability.

— Thinking of the Revenue You Need

Calculate how much revenue you need to cover your overhead and pay your salary. Suppose your expenses include:

• $2,000 per month for office rent
• $36,000 per year for a legal assistant salary
• $600 per month for courier expenses
• $400 per month for a copier lease

Assume you want the  median annual salary for lawyers  of $127,990. You need $199,990 per year in revenue to cover your salary and expenses.

But revenue is not the end of the story. Your landlord, vendors, and employees expect to get paid monthly. So, you should also calculate how much cash flow you need each month to cover your hard expenses.

You also need a reserve. Clients expect you to front expenses like filing fees. Make sure you have a reserve to pay these costs and float them until clients reimburse you.

— Defining the Rate of Payment

You need to make some difficult decisions when it comes to setting your own fee structure. If you choose a higher billing rate, you will need to work less to meet your revenue goals. But you might not find many clients who are able to pay your fees.

Whether you charge a flat fee, contingent fee, or hourly fee, you should expect potential clients to compare your fees to those of your direct and indirect competitors. Remember, your firm competes against other lawyers, online services like  LegalZoom , and do-it-yourself legal forms books.

Finally, you need to comply with your state's rules of professional conduct when setting your fees. The  ABA's model rules  give eight factors to determine the reasonableness of a fee. These factors include the customary fee for your location and the skill required to provide the requested legal services.

— Making the Cases in Your Law Practice Meet the Revenue Needs

Figure out how much you need to work to meet your revenue target . If you charge a flat fee, you can simply divide your revenue target by your flat fee.

Hourly fee lawyers can calculate the number of hours they need to bill and collect. However, law firm owners rarely bill 100% of the hours they work due to the administrative tasks they perform to run a firm. Also, you will probably not collect 100% of your billings, and clients could take 90 days or longer to pay.

Contingency fee lawyers will find it nearly impossible to project the cases they need. You have no way of knowing the value of your cases in advance. You also have no idea when your cases will settle. You could work on a case for years before you finally get paid.

The Founder of Omar Ochoa Law Firm

Omar Ochoa is a founding attorney with extensive experience in complex litigation, including antitrust, class actions, and securities cases. He has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients and has been nationally recognized as one of the best young trial lawyers in the country.

Omar graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in business administration, accounting, and economics. He later earned his law degree from the university, serving as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review. He has clerked for two federal judges and has worked at the prestigious law firm Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Omar is dedicated to seeking excellence. He has been recognized for his outstanding achievements in antitrust litigation.

Parts of a Business Plan for Law Firm Formation: Structure

A law firm business plan is a written document that lays out your law firm goals and strategies.

For many businesses, a business plan helps secure investors. But the ethical rules prohibit law firms from seeking funding from  outside investors or non-lawyer shareholders .

Your business plan is for you and your law partners. It will help you manage everyone's expectations and roles in the firm. Here is a law firm business plan example to help you see the parts and pieces in action.

— Executive Summary

An executive summary combines the important information in the business plan into a single-page overview. Your plan will include details like projections, budgets, and staffing needs. This section highlights the conclusions from those detailed analyses.

Your executive summary should include :

• A mission statement explaining the purpose of your firm in one or two sentences
• A list of the core values that your firm will use whenever it makes decisions about its future
• The firm's overarching goals for itself, its lawyers, and the clients it serves
• The unique selling proposition that sets your firm apart from other firms in the legal industry

You should think of this section as a quick way for people like lenders, potential law partners, and merger targets, to quickly understand the principles that drive your firm.

— Law Firm Description and Legal Structure

First, you will describe what your law firm does. You will describe your law practice and the clients you expect to serve.

Second, you will describe how your firm operates. The organization and management overview will explain your legal structure and the management responsibilities of you and your law partners.

This section should fill in the details about your firm's operation and structure by:

• Describing the scope of the legal services you offer and your ideal clients
• Restating your mission statement and core values and expanding upon how they will guide your firm
• Explaining your location and where your clients will come from
• Describing your business entity type and management structure
• Detailing your unique selling proposition , including the features that distinguish your firm from your competitors

When someone reads this section, they should have a clear picture of what you will create.

— Financial Calculations

Your attorney business plan explains where your firm's revenue comes from and where it goes. This is where your skills as a lawyer begin to diverge from your skills as a business owner. You may need to learn a few new accounting concepts so you can perform the analyses expected in a financial plan.

You will need a  financial plan  for at least the first year.

If you plan to seek a bank loan or line of credit, your bank may need a financial plan that covers three years or longer.

You will need more than a few rough numbers for a useful business plan. Instead, you will need to estimate your expenses and revenues as accurately as possible.

"Take some financial statements courses, take some managerial accounting courses that teach you how to track costs, how to frame costs in a way that you're looking at the important costs." — Omar Ochoa

You might need to contact vendors and service providers to get precise costs. You will probably need to track your billings with your prior firm to predict your revenues. If you are opening a law firm after law school or an in-house job, you may need a competitive analysis to show what similar law firms earn in your location and practice area.

Some reports you may need in your business plan include:

• Revenue analysis listing the fees you will collect each month
• Budget describing your monthly and annual expenses
• Financial projections combining the revenue analysis and budgeted expenses to predict your profit margins
• Cash flow statement showing how your revenues and expenses affect your cash on hand.

Your cash flow statement might be the most important financial report because it explains how your bank balance will fluctuate over time. If your clients take too long to pay their bills or you have too many accounts payable due at the same time, your cash flow statement will show you when money might get tight.

— Market Analysis

A market analysis will tell you where you fit into the legal market in your location and field. You need a competitive analysis to understand the other lawyers and law firms that will compete with you for potential clients. You can also analyze their marketing messages to figure out how to stand out from the competition.

A competitive analysis will tell you what services other firms offer, how much they charge, and what features help your competitors succeed.

Your analysis should include a discussion about your :

• Ideal clients and what you can do to help them
• Market size and whether you offer something clients need
• Competitors and what they offer to clients
• Competitive advantages and how you can market them to potential clients

You can also develop and hone your marketing strategy based on the benefits you offer to clients over your competitors. Finally, a market analysis can tell you the locations and practice areas in which your firm may expand in the future.

Your market analysis helps you focus your efforts on your legal niche.

— Marketing Plan

A marketing plan sets out the steps you will take to reach your target market. Your marketing strategy will take your market analysis and turn it into a plan of action.

You will start with the results of your market analysis identifying your clients, your competitors, and your competitive advantages. You will then discuss the message you can deliver to potential clients that captures the advantages you have over your competition.

Some advantages you might have over other lawyers and law firms might include tangible benefits like lower billing rates or local office locations. Other advantages might provide some intangible benefits like more years of experience or state-bar-certified specialists in those states that allow specialization.

You will then discuss your marketing plan. A marketing plan explains :

• Characteristics of the target market you want to reach
• What your competition offers
• The distinct benefits you offer
• A message you can use to explain what separates you from your competition
• Your action plan for delivering your message
• Your goals for your action plan, such as the number of client leads, new clients, or new cases per month

Your action plan will include the marketing channels you want to use to spread your message. Marketing specialists can help you identify the best channels for your marketing message and client base.

For example, if you practice intellectual property law, you need to reach business owners and in-house lawyers who want to protect their companies' brands, inventions, artistic works, and trade secrets. A marketing agency may help you create a marketing strategy geared toward trade publications and business magazines.

However, IP lawyers require an entirely different marketing strategy than firms that practice family law. Family lawyers need to market to individuals and will tailor their marketing efforts toward different marketing channels and messages.

Even if you expect most of your client leads to come from referrals, you still need brand recognition for those leads to find you. You should consider a website, basic SEO, legal directory, and bar association listings.

— Your Law Firm Services

You will outline the services your law firm offers to clients. Lawyers with established clients and an existing legal practice can simply describe what they already do.

Any new law firm or lawyer transitioning from other practice areas should consider:

• Practice areas you know and enjoy
• Overlapping practice fields that will not require extra staff, such as personal injury and workers' comp
• Related legal services your clients may need, such as wills and guardianship

By offering needed services you can competently provide, you can gain clients and avoid referring existing clients out to other lawyers.

— Your Law Firm Budget

You should approach your budget as a living document. You will spend more money as you add more lawyers and staff members to your firm. But you can also look for ways to reduce your operating costs through investments in technology services and other cost-saving measures .

Your budget should set out the amount you expect to initially spend on start-up expenses. As you create your start-up budget, remember many of these expenses are not recurring. Furniture, computers, and office space build-outs can last several years. In short, your budget should answer the question, "What do you need to open a law firm?"

It should also lay out the amount you plan to spend each month to operate your firm. Here, you will include your recurring expenses, such as rent, staff salaries, insurance premiums, and equipment leases.

Using your operating budget, you will determine the amount of money you need to start and run your firm. This, in turn, will tell you whether you need to take out a loan or tap into your savings to start your law firm. You will need a plan for paying your expenses and day-to-day costs while your firm gets onto its feet.

Let us help you create a digital marketing strategy and a growth plan

Some Useful Tips on Creating a Business Plan for Law Firm Creation and Development

As you draft your law firm business plan, you should focus on the process. By putting your thoughts down in writing, you will often identify issues you had not previously considered.

Some other tips for drafting your business plan include:

— Describe Both Strengths and Weaknesses

You want to project confidence as you prepare your business plan. Remember, you will use this plan to approach potential law partners, lenders, and merger targets. You need to show that you have a solid plan backed up by your financial projections.

At the same time, you need to remain realistic. Write a business plan that describes your business challenges as well as your competitive advantages.

For example, if you have a strong competitor that has a solid  law firm reputation management  and many of the clients you will target, acknowledge the difficulty of getting those clients to switch law firms. Describe your marketing strategies for approaching and pitching your law firm to those clients.

— Think Ahead

Remember that your business plan sets out the roadmap for both the establishment and operation of your law firm . Think about issues that could arise as your firm grows and matures.

For example, you may have a goal of reaching ten lawyers in three years. But as your staff grows, you may need a human resources manager. You may also seek to handle your payroll in-house instead of outsourcing it to a payroll provider. These changes will create ripple effects throughout your business plans. You will incur costs when you add staff members. You will also realize benefits like increased attorney efficiency.

At the same time, any projections more than five years into the future will likely be useless. Your firm and its clients will evolve, and technology will change how you practice law.

"A law firm that actually does something in the unique way that is an actual measurable advantage to their clients or to their firm." — Tom Lenfestey

— Be Clear about Your Intentions

As you develop your plan, you should keep its purpose in mind. First, you want to outline your core values and goals for your law firm. Set out the reasons why you started your law firm and what you intend to accomplish with it.

"You can't just be doing something because you want prestige. There's gotta be more to that, right? You have to have a purpose that you're following. And if you've got that, that purpose is like gravity, right? You will always be grounded." — Omar Ochoa

Second, you set out your path to achieving those goals. This will include boring technical information like how much you spend on legal research every month. But it will also explain your approach to solving problems consistent with your mission statement and philosophy for law firm management.

— Consult and Update If Necessary

Your plan should guide you as you build your firm. It contains your goals and the roadmap for reaching them. But your plan is not carved in stone.

As you face challenges, you will consult your plan to make sure you approach these challenges in a way consistent with achieving your goals. But under some circumstances, you might find that the plan no longer provides the right solution.

As you work with your firm and your law partners, your goals, processes, and solutions to problems may evolve. The technology your firm uses may change. Your law firm's costs may go up with inflation or down as you realize economies of scale. You should update your plan when this happens.

— Develop a Succession Plan for Your Law Firm

Creating a succession plan for a law firm is essential for ensuring a smooth transition and preserving the firm’s value. Drawing from the experiences of professionals in other fields, it is clear that lawyers often face unique challenges in succession planning. A well-structured exit strategy can help lawyers realize the value of their practice, whether they plan to retire or pursue other interests.

Firms generating over $2 million in revenue typically have invested in systems that make them more attractive and easier to transition. These systems are crucial in creating value and attracting buyers. A transition-based sale, where the selling attorney remains involved for a period, ensures a smooth handover of clients and referral sources, reducing the risk of value loss. Additionally, specialized, systematized, and profitable firms command higher valuations. By investing in robust systems and considering your exit strategy early, you can create lasting value, financial security, and peace of mind, making your law firm more sellable in the future.

Building High-Value Law Firms with Tom Lenfestey, the CEO of Law Practice Exchange

This podcast episode features a discussion between Sasha Berson and Tom Lenfestey about the Law Practice Exchange, a marketplace for buying and selling law firms. Tom, an attorney and CPA, explains how his experience with other professionals inspired the creation of this marketplace. They discuss the importance of building systems to enhance a firm's value, the challenges of succession planning, and strategies for creating a smooth transition and maximizing value during a sale.

"You make more money with hopefully more consistency and less stress. And so that's also part of it is enjoy it. Build to better, right, overall, but build that firm that you want." — Tom Lenfestey

Tom Lenfestey

The CEO of Law Practice Exchange

Tom Lenfestey is an attorney and CPA who founded the Law Practice Exchange, a marketplace for buying and selling law firms. With a background in assisting dentists and CPAs in selling their practices, Tom identified the need for a similar platform for lawyers. His work focuses on helping attorneys realize the value of their practices, providing structured exit strategies, and facilitating smooth transitions.

Final Steps

There is no recipe for creating a business plan for law firm development. What goes into your mission statement and plan will depend on several factors, including your law firm's business model. But this is a feature, not a bug of developing a business plan.

The process of business planning will help you develop solutions to issues you might have overlooked. If you have law partners, just going through the process of creating a law firm business plan can ensure that everyone is on the same page.

As you create your plan, the process itself should provoke thoughts and ideas so you can have a unique law firm tailored to your goals and values. This will help you get exactly what you wanted when you started in the legal industry.

To learn how to expand your client base as your firm grows, check out Grow Law Firm, a professional  law firm SEO agency .

• Easy steps you can take to bring in more clients and up this year’s revenue
• The top website and marketing mistakes holding your law firm back

Find out how much demand there is in your geographical area

To view the calculation tailored to your law firm's needs, please provide your email address

Consult with Sasha Berson, a legal marketing expert , to address your marketing needs.

You May Also Like

Law Firm Marketing Budget: How Much Should You Spend?

Unlocking the Secrets of Law Firm Partnership Structures: A Must-Read Guide for Success-Driven Lawyers

Lawyers Against Unbillable Hours: Joshua Lennon Maximizes Attorney Billable Hours

How to Start a Law Firm in 2024 and Succeed

Starting a Law Firm: LLP vs. PC

Don't just wait for clients, attract them!

Get our FREE Marketing Audit to find bold new ways to boost your caseload.

Contact us today to speak with one of our experts and learn more about how we can help you grow your firm.

Stay ahead of the competition!

Compare your law firm's performance to Local competitors with our instant assessment tool

Get a clear picture of your firm's performance

Boost your online presence

Free Download

Law Firm Business Plan Template

Download this free law firm business plan template, with pre-filled examples, to create your own plan..

Or plan with professional support in LivePlan. Save 50% today

Available formats:

What you get with this template

A complete business plan.

Text and financials are already filled out and ready for you to update.

• SBA-lender approved format

Your plan is formatted the way lenders and investors expect.

Edit to your needs

Download as a Word document and edit your business plan right away.

• Detailed instructions

Features clear and simple instructions from expert business plan writers.

All 100% free. We're here to help you succeed in business, no strings attached.

Get the most out of your business plan example

Follow these tips to quickly develop a working business plan from this sample.

1. Don't worry about finding an exact match

We have over 550 sample business plan templates . So, make sure the plan is a close match, but don't get hung up on the details.

Your business is unique and will differ from any example or template you come across. So, use this example as a starting point and customize it to your needs.

2. Remember it's just an example

Our sample business plans are examples of what one business owner did. That doesn't make them perfect or require you to cram your business idea to fit the plan structure.

Use the information, financials, and formatting for inspiration. It will speed up and guide the plan writing process.

3. Know why you're writing a business plan

To create a plan that fits your needs , you need to know what you intend to do with it.

Are you planning to use your plan to apply for a loan or pitch to investors? Then it's worth following the format from your chosen sample plan to ensure you cover all necessary information.

But, if you don't plan to share your plan with anyone outside of your business—you likely don't need everything.

More business planning resources

Simple Business Plan Outline

How to Write a Business Plan

10 Qualities of a Good Business Plan

Business Plan Template

How to Write a Law Firm Business Plan

How to Start a Business With No Money

Industry Business Planning Guides

How to Write a Business Plan for Investors

Download your template now

Need to validate your idea, secure funding, or grow your business this template is for you..

• Fill-in-the-blank simplicity
• Expert tips & tricks

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

Not ready to download right now? We'll email you the link so you can download it whenever you're ready.

Download as Docx

Download as PDF

Finish your business plan with confidence

Step-by-step guidance and world-class support from the #1 business planning software

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

Client Management

Case management, billing & payments, accounting & report, e-signature.

• Help Center

Starting a law firm can be a rewarding and lucrative venture, but it requires careful planning and strategy. A well-crafted business plan is a crucial tool for any law firm looking to establish itself, secure funding, or grow its practice. The business plan will serve as a roadmap, outlining the law firm’s objectives, strategies, and unique selling proposition

Why Every Law Firm Needs a Business Plan

A well-structured business plan is imperative for every law firm, regardless of its size or specialization. While legal expertise is undoubtedly crucial, having a clear vision and strategic direction is equally essential. A business plan serves as a guiding light, defining the firm’s mission, values, and long-term goals. This clarity is vital for aligning the entire firm towards a common purpose, ensuring that everyone understands the objectives and the path to achieving them. Without a business plan, a law firm may find itself navigating uncertain waters, reacting to circumstances rather than proactively pursuing its ambitions.

The Key Components of a Law Firm Business Plan

A well-structured law firm business plan consists of several key components, each playing a crucial role in guiding the firm’s operations and ensuring its long-term success. Here are the essential elements of a comprehensive law firm business plan:

• Executive summary
• Law firm description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Services 
• Marketing Strategy
• Financial plan
• Start-up budget

Section One: Executive Summary

The executive summary is arguably the most critical section of your law firm’s business plan. While it appears at the beginning, it is often written last, as it serves as a concise yet comprehensive overview of your entire plan. This section should capture the reader’s attention, providing them with a clear understanding of your law firm’s essence, mission, and what to expect from the rest of the document. In your executive summary:

• Introduce your law firm: Briefly describe your law firm’s name, location, and legal specialization.
• Mission and vision: State your firm’s mission and vision, highlighting your commitment to serving clients’ legal needs effectively.
• Your unique selling proposition: Clearly state your USP, and present what is unique about your firm that will ensure success.

The executive summary sets the stage for your entire business plan. It should be a concise yet compelling introduction to your firm’s mission, values, and potential. If crafted well, it can grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to explore other sections in detail. If you feel overwhelmed by this, you can write this section last. 

Section Two: Law Firm Description

This section of your business plan provides a deeper dive into your firm’s background, history, legal specializations, and legal structure and ownership. This section should provide a concise yet informative overview of your firm’s identity and history. Here’s what this section should cover:

• Mission Statement: Briefly reiterate your law firm’s mission statement. This statement should encapsulate your firm’s overarching purpose and guiding principles.
• Geographic Location: State out the physical location of your law firm’s office(s). This should include the city or region where your primary office is situated.
• Legal Structure and Ownership: State the legal structure of your law firm, whether it’s an LLC, S-Corp, or another legal entity. This choice is a fundamental aspect of your business model, influencing ownership, liability, and taxation. If your firm’s ownership is not that of a sole proprietorship, provide details on the ownership structure. Explain how the chosen structure aligns with your firm’s business model, decision-making processes, and long-term goals.
• Firm History: Provide the history of your law firm. Highlight key milestones, achievements, and notable moments in your firm’s journey. If your firm is well-established, briefly summarize its history, showcasing your accomplishments and contributions to the legal field.

Remember that brevity is key in this section. Don’t spend too much time, just touch on important points and achievements. 

Section Three: Market Analysis

A well-conducted market analysis will not only demonstrate your understanding of the legal industry but also inform your law firm’s strategies and decision-making. It goes beyond understanding your competition; it delves deep into your potential clients’ needs and expectations. 

Through market analysis, you can segment your target market based on demographics, industry, legal needs, and preferences. This segmentation allows you to tailor your services to meet the specific needs of different client groups. It also helps you identify the pain points and challenges that potential clients face. By understanding their concerns, you can offer solutions that directly address these pain points.

Your market analysis should also reveal the pricing strategies of your competitors. By benchmarking your pricing against theirs, you can position your services competitively. You can choose to price higher if you offer unique value or lower if you aim to attract price-sensitive clients. Your market analysis should reveal areas where your competitors may be falling short. Use this information to frame your services as the solution to these weaknesses. For example, if competitors have slow response times, emphasize your firm’s commitment to timely communication. 

Showcase your firm’s USPs that directly address client needs and preferences. If you excel in a particular practice area, have a reputation for excellent client service, or offer innovative fee structures, use these strengths to attract your preferred clientele. Ultimately, a well-documented market analysis not only informs your law firm’s business model but also guides your approach to client acquisition, pricing, and service delivery. It ensures that your legal services align with client expectations and positions your firm for success in a competitive legal industry

Section Four: Organization and Management

Image Source – Creately

This section provides a clear picture of your firm’s internal structure and leadership. Name the key stakeholders in your law firm and what they bring to the table. Highlight any unique experiences or expertise that each partner brings to the firm. This could include prior work at prestigious law firms, involvement in landmark cases, or specialized knowledge in a specific area of law. Explain how these experiences set your firm apart and enhance its capabilities. You can also include an organizational chart that visually represents your law firm’s structure. This chart should showcase the hierarchy, roles, and reporting lines within the firm. By including the names, educational backgrounds, unique experiences, and organizational chart, you paint a comprehensive picture of your law firm’s leadership and structure. This not only builds confidence in your team’s capabilities but also showcases the depth and expertise of your staff to potential clients, partners, or investors.

Section Five: Services

This section is the core of your law firm business plan. Here, you will go into detail about all aspects of your services. Present in simple words:

• The problem(s) your law firm is addressing and your approach to how to alleviate those pain points? Answer these questions, and provide in detail how your firm is in the best position to tackle this problem. 
• The solution(s) you are providing. This should describe how your law firm resolves your prospective market’s needs. This should include the work you do, and the benefits that each client will receive if they work with your firm. 
• Your law firm competition.  This should describe what advantages your law firm has over your competitors? What you do differently when providing your solutions and how your clients will gain additional benefits when they work with your law firm.

Section Six: Marketing Strategy

As you craft your business plan, keep these four essential questions in mind:

• What Is Your Firm’s Value Proposition? Clearly define what sets your law firm apart from others. This should guide your marketing and sales strategies, emphasizing the unique value you offer to clients.
• Who Is Your Target Audience? Identify your ideal client profile. Understanding your target audience helps tailor your marketing efforts to reach those most likely to benefit from your services.
• What Are Your Growth Goals? Set specific, measurable growth goals for your firm. These goals should inform your sales and marketing strategies, outlining how you plan to achieve them.
• How Will You Measure Success? Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your marketing and sales efforts. Whether it’s tracking client acquisition rates, website traffic, or revenue growth, having measurable metrics will help you gauge your progress and make informed adjustments.

It is also valuable to perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to assess your law firm’s internal and external factors. Describe your online marketing efforts, including your website, social media presence, and email marketing campaigns. Explain how you plan to leverage marketing  to reach and engage potential clients effectively. You should also define your pricing structure and fee arrangements. This may include hourly rates for specific legal services, retainer agreements for ongoing representation, or flat fees for standardized services. 

Section Seven: Financial Plan

If you want to expand your law firm and ensure a steady income, it’s essential to create a financial strategy for your practice. While you might not have all the answers regarding your firm’s finances, provide comprehensive details. Your goal should be to establish a financial plan, particularly for the initial year of your firm’s operation.

Provide comprehensive financial projections that cover the anticipated income, expenses, and cash flow for your law firm. These forecasts should offer a clear picture of how your firm expects to perform financially. You should also Incorporate income statements, which show your firm’s revenue and expenses, balance sheets that detail your assets and liabilities, and cash flow projections, which illustrate how money moves in and out of your business. These financial statements offer a holistic view of your firm’s financial health.

Explain the assumptions underlying your financial projections. This may include factors like growth rates, market trends, client acquisition strategies, and pricing models. Describe your strategies for achieving growth and how they translate into financial outcomes. This section is critical for demonstrating your law firm’s financial preparedness and sustainability. Investors, lenders, or partners will scrutinize these sections to assess the viability of your firm, making it essential to provide detailed and well-supported financial information.

Section Eight: Start-up Budget

When developing a business plan for your law firm, it is essential to create a realistic startup budget. This involves carefully considering various initial and ongoing expenses and factoring them into your revenue objectives. Here are some instances of expenses to incorporate into your budget:

• Hardware costs, such as laptops, printers, scanners, and office furniture.
• Office space expenses, whether you plan to rent space or work from home.
• Malpractice insurance fees.
• Staff salaries, including potential hires like administrative assistants or paralegals.
• Utility expenses, covering phone and internet services, among others.
• Expenses on practice management software or other tech tools

After itemizing these costs, review them thoroughly. Clearly state the total amount of funding you require to start and sustain your law firm. Explain how this funding will be allocated, including how much goes into covering startup costs and how much is reserved for ongoing operations. Be specific about the purpose of each funding component. 

Additionally, explore tools and solutions that can streamline non-billable tasks, freeing up more time for your legal practice. This not only enhances your overall productivity but also allows you to allocate more time to your legal practice. One exceptional solution that can significantly benefit your law firm operations is a legal practice management software. 

DigitsLaw: The Legal Practice Management Software for Law Firms

DigitsLaw is an all-in-one practice management software that streamlines and simplifies the day-to-day operations of a law firm. Whether you are a small firm or you have law firms in major cities, DigitsLaw can meet the unique needs of your legal practice. Our simple and intuitive tool offers a wealth of features that can make a substantial difference in the success and efficiency of your firm.

Here’s how DigitsLaw can help your new law firm scale:

• Effortless Case Management: DigitsLaw simplifies case management by centralizing all your client information, documents, and communications in one secure location. This ensures that you have easy access to everything you need, right at your fingertips.
• Time Tracking and Billing: With DigitsLaw, tracking billable hours and generating invoices is seamless. You can accurately record your time, expenses, and activities, allowing for transparent and error-free billing processes.
• Conflict Check: DigitsLaw provides a robust conflict check system that assists law firms in maintaining ethical standards and preventing conflicts of interest. By incorporating DigitsLaw conflict check capabilities into your law firm’s workflow, you can enhance your due diligence processes, reduce the risk of conflicts of interest, and uphold the highest ethical standards in your legal practice. 
• Client Collaboration: Foster better client relationships through DigitsLaw’s client portal . Clients can securely access case information, share documents, and communicate with your firm, enhancing transparency and trust.
• Legal Document Management: Say goodbye to the hassle of paper documents and disorganized files. DigitsLaw enables efficient document storage, organization, and collaboration, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors.
• Secure and Compliant: DigitsLaw prioritizes security and compliance, ensuring that your client data and sensitive information are protected at the highest standards.

By leveraging DigitsLaw’s capabilities, you can significantly reduce administrative overhead, minimize errors, and provide a more streamlined and responsive experience for your clients. It’s a strategic investment that will pay dividends as your firm grows and prospers.

Sample Business Plan and Fillable Template

If you’re in the early stages of creating your business plan, we’ve prepared an example that can serve as a reference. You can also download a blank version of our template here. Remember to tailor your plan to your specific requirements and objectives. 

Download your copy of our law firm business plan template HERE

Final thoughts.

In conclusion, crafting a law firm business plan is not just a formality; it’s a roadmap that guides your firm toward success. Whether you’re launching a new law firm or seeking to revitalize an existing one, a well-thought-out plan helps you.  From defining your firm’s mission and values to conducting a thorough market analysis every section of your plan plays a crucial role in shaping your law firm’s journey. It’s not just about impressing potential investors; it’s about setting clear goals, making informed decisions, and ensuring that your firm is well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

As you start planning, remember that your business plan is a living document. It should evolve and adapt as your firm grows and the legal industry changes. Regularly revisit and update your plan to stay aligned with your mission, serve your clients better, and achieve your long-term vision.

Share this post

Latest Writings

The latest news and resources from our team

Our Integrations​

It is the easiest and most organized way to manage your law firm, clients, cases, billing, accounting and more.

Get the app

© 2023 Digitslaw. All rights reserved.

Free Download

Free law firm business plan template.

Whether you’re starting a law firm or developing a plan to grow an existing firm, it’s important to document your goals and how you’ll achieve them. This is why we created an easy-to-use business plan template for law firms.

This template includes sections for:

• Executive summary
• Market analysis
• Marketing strategy
• Financial plan
• Organization and management

Law Firm Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Law Firm Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Law Firm business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Law Firms.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Law Firm business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

The Harris & Harris Law Firm is a startup up business that provides legal advice and services for clients located within the Scottsdale, Arizona region. The company is founded by Roger Harris and his son, Anthony. Roger Harris has been a partner in a well-established company, Foundations Law Firm, for over twenty years. Anthony Harris is a recent law school graduate who will begin his training under the scholarship of his father. With the extensive list of former clients in hand, Roger and Anthony are confident they can begin open their doors for business and grow the new law firm successfully.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide a comprehensive array of services for individuals or business entities who need advice and/or legal representation in court proceedings. Harris & Harris will provide a multi-prong approach to fashion specific solutions for each individual they represent; in that regard, all services are custom-packaged and provided for clients by the lawyers at Harris & Harris. This unique factor will set them above all other area lawyers, as most follow standard processes within the companies where they work.

Product Offering

The following are the services that Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide:

• Client-centric efforts in every case until resolution is found
• Unique process to fully explore client options in any dispute
• Creative and sustainable solutions on a case-by-case basis
• Prioritization of client needs above all else
• Dedication to professionalism and honesty
• Equally dedicated to securing the correct outcomes for our clients
• Team of highly-skilled lawyers who create winning solutions

Customer Focus

Harris & Harris will target the residents of Scottsdale, Arizona. They will also target medium-to-large businesses within Scottsdale, Arizona. They will target former associates and lawyers with whom they can collaborate in the future. They will target residents who have been served a summons for civil or criminal case appearances, whether as a witness, interested party or a potential defendant.

Management Team

Harris & Harris will be owned and operated by Roger Harris. He recruited his son, Anthony, to join the new firm upon Anthony’s recent graduation from law school. Within the next ten years, depending on performance, Anthony will receive incremental distributions of up to 49% of the company value in private stock. This will be based on Anthony’s performance and growth in the company as his role expands.

Roger Harris was formerly a partner in a well-established company, Foundations Law Firm, for over twenty years. He practiced law in the personal law arena, including wills and probates, trusts and other forms of personal law. He also managed the real estate law team at his former place of employment. Roger’s role in Harris & Harris will be the President, with the primary responsibility of driving new client traffic to the company. Roger has recruited Anthony, Richard Cummings, and Torey Crouch to begin their employment at Harris & Harris, as well.

Anthony Harris is a recent law school graduate who will begin his training under the scholarship of his father. Anthony will specialize in a unique processing of individual cases by creating algorithms that will specify which outcomes will best serve the client. Anthony will also represent clients in court and assist in defense appearances. With the extensive list of former clients in hand and the unique processes they’ve designed for clients going forward, Roger and Anthony are confident they can begin and grow the new law firm successfully.

Richard Cummings, a former associate of Roger Harris, will take on the role of Managing Partner in the launch of Harris & Harris. He will oversee all junior partners and staff, as the total number of lawyers grows expeditiously over the first few years.

Torey Crouch, a former law student with Anthony Cummings, will take on the role of Research & Records Manager, as she will form the background work necessary for all the other lawyers on staff.

Success Factors

Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Friendly, knowledgeable, and highly-qualified team of Harris & Harris Law Firm
• Comprehensive menu of services designed to provide specific customer-centric solutions
• Specializations in real estate, trusts, probate, civil and criminal law are all offered under this multi-pronged services of Harris & Harris Law Firm
• Harris & Harris offers family discounts and other forms of packages for clients.
• Harris & Harris offers a “monthly pay” program for clients who need to spread out payments over time.

Financial Highlights

Harris & Harris Law Firm is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch its Harris & Harris Law Firm. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and marketing costs. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Office space build-out: $20,000
• Office equipment, supplies, and materials: $10,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $10,000
• Working capital: $10,000

The following graph outlines the financial projections for Harris & Harris Law Firm.

Company Overview

Who is harris & harris law firm.

Harris & Harris Law Firm is a newly established, full-service law firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Harris & Harris Law Firm will be the most reliable, solution-centric and effective choice for clients in Scottsdale and the surrounding communities. Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide a comprehensive menu of attorney services for any individual, family or business to utilize. Their full-service approach includes a comprehensive array of services that are uniquely prepared for each client.

  Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to serve the residents and businesses of Scottsdale. The team of professionals are highly qualified and experienced in all aspects of the law and several permutations of legal representation. Harris & Harris Law Firm removes all headaches and issues of securing a comprehensive law firm that is reliable and dedicated to clients, and ensures all issues are taken care of expeditiously, while delivering the best customer service.

Harris & Harris Law Firm History

Since incorporation, Harris & Harris Law Firm has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Harris & Harris Law Firm, LLC to transact business in the state of Arizona.
• Has a contract for 10,000 square feet of office space midtown Scottsdale office buildings
• Reached out to numerous former clients and contacts to consider Harris & Harris for all their legal representation needs.
• Began recruiting a staff of five lawyers and three office personnel to work at Harris & Harris.

Harris & Harris Law Firm Services

The following will be the services Harris & Harris Law Firm will provide:

• Dedication to professionalism and honest dialogue

Industry Analysis

The law firm industry is expected to grow over the next five years to over $75 billion. The growth will be driven by an increased population requiring legal representation The growth will be driven by the increase of income for individuals, which can support the decision to hire representation. The growth will be driven by the increase in faulty or misleading documents, agreements, and certifications. The growth will be driven by legal firms who collect fees for business mergers and negotiations. Costs will likely be reduced as current technology becomes dated and new, higher-performing technological advances are employed.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

Customer Segmentation

Harris & Harris Law Firm will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Residents of Scottsdale region
• Businesses within Scottsdale region
• Former associates and clients with whom they can collaborate
• Individuals or businesses that have been served with a summons to appear in court

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Diamond & Johnson Defense

Diamond & Johnson Defense is a law firm located in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm was established in 1998 and has three partners who oversee all cases: Robert Anderson, who is a lead criminal defense attorney; Lisa Martinez, who is a criminal appeals and post-conviction relief attorney, and David Collin, an investigations and trial preparation lawyer. The law firm has a total of six attorneys who specialize in criminal defense, and six office staff, who communicate directly with each lawyer on staff.

Diamond & Johnson Defense is known as “The Defendant’s Law Firm” in Scottsdale, as 99% of the law practice is focused on personal law representation in civil or criminal court cases. The law firm charges fees within the top 5% in the county for personal representation. The years of practice have proven to be winning ones for Diamond & Johnson Defense, as over 69% of their clients have been released without any prison time. The team at D & J Defense are known to be highly-skilled at investigations and trial preparation, with several team members who will take on a single case to thoroughly cover every possible defense for each client.

Legacy Law Associates

Legacy Law Associates is well-known as a “compassionate” team of attorneys, specializing in family wills and trusts. With a team of dedicated and experienced attorneys, the firm aims to provide comprehensive legal services that meet the goals of each client or family who need legal services during a difficult season of life. Legacy Law Associates consists of a partnership of two attorneys, Jonathan Dunlap and David Sessions, who established the law firm in 2005 in Phoenix after graduating from law school together. Together, the co-owners seek families who have legal needs after the death of a family member; such as estate negotiations, final documents and closures, trustee assistance, probate searches, and confidential proceedings per the will of any individual. The law firm has hired a private secretary for each partner and is housed in a small office in downtown Phoenix. The firm has not grown since 2007 and does not choose to make that a pivotal goal for their partnership, relying instead on the on-going legal processes of trusts, wills, probate and other related items.

Construction Defect Law Firm

The Construction Defect Law Firm is owned and operated by Chip Jackson and is located in Green Valley, Arizona. The focus of the law firm is to represent homeowners who have determined a new or nearly-new home contains construction defects. In most cases, the home builder has moved on from the geographic region and, even when contacted repeatedly, is unwilling to rectify the situation by repair or monetary refund.

Chip Jackson is a highly-skilled evaluator and contractor within the construction industry. He is able to determine the viability of most construction issues with merely a cursory examination and has proven over the past ten years to be a worthy adversary in the courtroom. He wins 98% of all cases he brings into the courtroom. Chip’s clients are always homeowners who have been victims of construction defects in homes that are typically new or less than ten years old. His skill set includes negotiation outside the courtroom, compelling videos of problematic construction processes, drone footage of damaged rooftops, chimneys and other areas not typically viewed by homeowners and other support graphics that demonstrate the defects of the property.

Competitive Advantage

Harris & Harris Law Firm will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Harris & Harris Law Firm will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Harris & Harris Law Firm is as follows:

Word of Mouth/Referrals

Harris & Harris Law Firm has built up an extensive list of contacts over the years by providing exceptional service and expertise to former clients and associates. This group will follow Roger and Anthony to their new company and help spread the word of Harris & Harris Law Firm.

Professional Associations and Networking

Harris & Harris Law Firm will take an active role in all community organizations and networking events, where they can spread the word about the launch and start of their company. The law firm will offer an Open House specifically for association members to acquaint the city of Scottsdale with their new services and location.

Website/SEO Marketing

Harris & Harris Law Firm will fully utilize their website. The website will be well organized, informative, and list all the services that Harris & Harris Law Firm provides. The website will also list their contact information and list their available reservation times to meet with one of the attorney’s for an initial consultation. The website will employ SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “law firm services” or “lawyer near me”, Harris & Harris Law Firm will be listed at the top of the search results.

The pricing of Harris & Harris Law Firm will be moderate and on par with competitors so customers feel they receive excellent value when purchasing their services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Harris & Harris Law Firm. Operation Functions:

• Roger Harris will be the Owner and President of the company. He will engage and manage new client relations.
• Anthony Harris will be the Legal Outcomes & Research Manager for the company. He will work with clients to craft potential outcomes based on algorithms and research.
• Richard Cummings will take on the role of Managing Partner and, as such, will oversee junior partners and staff, as the total number of staff lawyers is expected to markedly grow in the coming five years.
• Torey Crouch will take on the role of Research & Records Manager, where she will support and provide research for all junior and senior attorney staff members. She will also oversee the office personnel.

Milestones:

Harris & Harris Law Firm will have the following milestones completed in the next six months.

• 5/1/202X – Finalize contract to lease office space
• 5/15/202X – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the Harris & Harris Law Firm
• 6/1/202X – Finalize contracts for Harris & Harris Law Firm clients
• 6/15/202X – Begin networking at association meetings and industry events
• 6/22/202X – Begin moving into Harris & Harris Law Firm office
• 7/1/202X – Harris & Harris Law Firm opens its office for business

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Harris & Harris Law Firm are the fees they will charge to clients for the legal services and representation they provide.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff Harris & Harris Law Firm. The expenses will be the payroll cost, rent, utilities, office supplies, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Harris & Harris Law Firm is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch its law firm. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and association memberships. The breakout of the funding is below:

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of Clients Per Month: 125
• Average Revenue per Month: $325,000
• Office Lease per Year: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Law Firm Business Plan FAQs

What is a law firm business plan.

A law firm business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your law firm business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Law Firm business plan using our Law Firm Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Law Firm Businesses? 

There are a number of different kinds of law firm businesses , some examples include: Commercial Law, Criminal, Civil Negligence, and Personal Injury Law, Real Estate Law, and Labor Law.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Law Firm Business Plan?

Law Firm businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Law Firm Business?

Starting a law firm business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Law Firm Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed law firm business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your law firm business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your law firm business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Law Firm Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your law firm business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your law firm business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Law Firm Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your law firm business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation.

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your law firm business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful law firm business:

• How to Start a Law Firm

How to Create a Law Firm Business Plan

What is in a law firm business plan.

A law firm business plan is an essential piece of document that outlines the goals and growth strategies of your venture. Ideally, it contains several components, such as an executive summary, company description, marketing strategy, financial plan, and organizational structure. 

Why Your Law Firm Needs a Business Plan

Here are some of the biggest reasons why you need a law firm business plan:

• Establish your position in the market with unique value propositions.
• Set realistic goals to drive your marketing and business development forward. 
• Better manage your law firm by guiding your decision-making process.  
• Define an organizational structure for effective communication and collaboration workflows.
• Make better hiring decisions to keep your workforce as lean and efficient as possible. 
• Ensure your capital is invested and allocated wisely. 
• Create a profitable business model moving into the future. 

Things to Consider Before Creating Your Business Plan

As a law firm, your business plan lays the foundation for a financially and professionally successful firm. It’s not something that you can go back to and revise whenever you want. 

So, before creating your business plan, settle down and gather your thoughts on how you envision your firm’s success. 

More specifically, you need to deliberate on your law firm’s goals, fee structure, and revenue targets. 

Define Your Goals

How would you define success as far as running a law firm goes? What are the positive values you want to live by, and how will they benefit your future clients?

A well-defined goal may not seem as important initially, but it significantly impacts your decision-making as you flesh out your business plan. 

Your goals can affect how you hire your staff, build your law firm website , plan your pricing, and so on. They will also help you plot out short- to mid-term goals, which serve as milestones that bring you closer to your long-term goals. 

Some examples are:

• To have acquired 200 clients by the end of the first year in business.
• Build a solid law firm brand and grow online traffic by 200% in the first six months.
• Attain a case closure rate of at least 80% by the beginning of the third quarter. 

Build Your Firm’s Fee Structure

Building your fee structure is an important step that also helps determine if your specified short-term objectives are realistic. 

It’s generally a good idea to look at how competitors charge clients for their services. This should give you a baseline rate for similar services you offer.

You can also adopt policies like “no fee unless you win” over an hourly rate, which can attract clients by transferring risk to the firm. 

Set Your Revenue Targets

Your annual revenue target is the last measurable piece of information you need to pin down before preparing your law firm business plan. 

Don’t be afraid to aim high and exceed the average annual salary of attorneys in your law practice area. Keep in mind that, on top of essential expenses like student loan payments, office lease, insurance, and mortgages, you’ll need more funds for marketing your law firm and growing your team. 

To put things into perspective, 2024 data from PayScale revealed that the average annual salary of lawyers in the United States is $97,720.  

You can use the average salary as your baseline and increase your target revenue based on how much you’re willing to spend on marketing, advertising, and hiring. 

Factor in your fee structure to determine how many clients you need. Of course, you should also consider the number of founding lawyers that your firm starts with. 

Finally, use your own discretion and only lower the bar if you believe your target revenue is not humanly possible in terms of caseload. For example, if your target revenue requires you to handle over 150 active cases a month (which most lawyers would still consider attainable — depending on their practice area), you may need to readjust your expectations. 

8-Point Law Firm Business Plan Checklist

Now that you have nailed your goals, fee structure, and target revenue, it’s time for the nitty-gritty of building a law firm business plan. 

Here’s a rundown of all the key details you must include:

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary provides a concise, top-level overview of all the other elements of your business plan. It also encapsulates three points that give your law firm its unique identity, namely: 

• Mission statement: A mission statement focuses on your firm’s purpose and guiding principles, including your commitment to new clients. It should ideally be two sentences at most.
• Core values: Your core values should reflect what you stand for as a legal professional — guiding your firm through tough decisions and challenging cases. Looking for employees who resonate with your core values also helps build a more productive, collaborative, and tightly-wound workplace culture.
• Unique value/selling proposition: A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a more direct statement that answers the question, “Why should clients pick you?” Try to capture the benefits and unique qualities that make your firm stand out.

2. Company Description

Next up, the company description summarizes the technical details of your business operations. This provides partners and potential investors a general idea of what your firm does on a day-to-day basis. 

Below are the aspects that your firm description should cover: 

• Services and target audience: What specific legal services do you offer, and who are they for?
• Legal structure: What is the legal structure of your firm (e.g., sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), limited liability partnership)? If you’re forming a partnership, be sure to include the names and practice areas of each partner. 
• Service locations: Where is your office’s location, and which areas do you serve?

3. Market Analysis

Every business plan — regardless of industry — needs preemptive market research to set initial financial projections on revenue and marketing performance.

Dig deep to gauge the demand for your services, how your target audience makes hiring decisions, who your competitors are, and your potential clients’ spending power. Your local bar association website should be a great place to start, along with local attorney directories and legal industry reports. 

Be sure your line of inquiries encompasses the following details:

• Your ideal client: Who are you marketing your law firm to? Fill this information with demographic data, such as age, gender, occupation, and location. 
• Client motivations: Why do prospects need your legal services? List down their pain points and the qualities they’re looking for in a law firm.
• Industry description: What is the projected size of your market? Are there any ongoing trends to consider?
• Competitive analysis: Build a list of known competitors in your area (similar practice areas serving the same location). You may also include indirect competitors that also compete for your target audience’s attention. 
• Projections: How much are your ideal clients willing to pay for legal services? This will help you make fine adjustments to your fee structure.

4. Organization and Management Structure

The next section of your law firm business plan expands on the details of your partners and core staff members. 

This process is as straightforward as it gets. Just write up their names, law school, experience, and primary roles in your new firm. 

For bigger firms, you may need to create an organizational chart that visualizes who each member reports to. 

5. Legal Services

After filling out the organization and management section, create summaries of the legal services your firm will provide. 

For example, if you run a business law firm, are you going to cater to dispute resolution, intellectual property, contracts, estate planning, or corporate tax clients? 

What specific problems do these services solve? What is your flat fee per hour or case? 

More importantly, what are your firm’s unique advantages over competitors that offer similar services? 

6. Marketing Strategy

Next comes the more challenging aspects of drawing up a law firm business plan. 

In the marketing plan or strategy section, you need to determine a handful of details that play a critical role in your firm’s growth. This includes: 

• Target client persona: Briefly describe the profile of your target market (as defined in your market analysis). Then, identify their media consumption preferences, like social media, magazines, and search engines. 
• Marketing goals: Map out the marketing objectives you wish to accomplish within set timeframes. For example, are you looking to generate a specific number of leads through online marketing or securing more referral leads from local business partnerships? 
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Which KPIs will you use to measure law firm marketing success? You can set target values and brackets to rate the performance of your strategies (getting 10+ clients a month can be rated as excellent, whereas getting less than three clients can be rated as very poor). 
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis: An in-depth SWOT analysis can help you set campaign-level objectives for your marketing efforts. For example, having a lot of perfect, five-star reviews on your Google Business Profile is a strength you can leverage to boost your brand image. 
• Marketing platforms: What content creation and distribution channels will you use to market your law firm? Depending on your answer, which tools and services do you need to make the most out of your channels? 
• Marketing budget: Finally, you need to cook up a detailed law firm marketing budget . Itemize the platforms and strategies you want to use and allocate a budget accordingly (e.g., $3,000 for SEO, $4,000 for billboards, and $2,000 for PPC advertising ). 

7. Financial Plan 

A solid financial plan does two things: ensure your firm doesn’t run out of cash and create a positive profit margin needed for growth. 

Since you’re still building your business plan, you only need to focus on your first year. 

Here are the items you need to include: 

• Monthly expenses: In addition to your marketing budget, you need to take into account other expenses. Some examples are office space, utilities, IT support, and salaries. 
• Monthly target revenue (up to 12 months): Based on the fee structure and revenue goals you calculated earlier, determine the monthly revenue you need to be on track. This should be well above your firm’s monthly expenses. 
• Cash flow statement: Attach a cash flow statement to the financial plan section of your law firm business plan. Update your revenue, expenses, and budget accordingly throughout the year. 

8. Startup Budget

The startup budget section underlines everything you need to turn your law firm business plan into reality. With extra attention to detail, you can also use it to find opportunities to lower your overhead costs. 

Wrap up your business plan by finalizing the following:

• Sources of capital: How will you fund your new law firm? Where is the money coming from?
• Capital allocation: Where will your firm’s initial funds be spent? This can be the same as the expenses table of your financial plan — with the addition of upfront costs like LLC formation and business registration fees. 

5 Law Firm Business Plan Templates to Get You Started

Feel free to use the checklist above to create your law firm business plan from scratch. Or, you can streamline the process by using any of the templates below: 

• Law Office Business Plan — This template was created by the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund and includes guide questions to help you enter the required information. 
• Practice Support Business Plan — This downloadable business plan template by the Law Society of Ireland helps you include specific details like your would-be business contact information, assets, and business continuity planning. 
• Startup Business Plan — Canva is home to dozens of graphic business plan templates, including this one, which has all the important sections you need for your law firm. 
• Law Firm Business Plan Outline — If you need pointers as you write your business plan, this simple template from practicePRO ensures you don’t miss important details. 
• Attorney Business Plan — Lastly, this business plan sample by BCG Attorney Search is for individual lawyers looking to start a small firm or grow their legal practice as a solo attorney.

How About a Custom Marketing Strategy to Execute Your Business Plan?

With your business plan ready, the stage is set for a productive and profitable year for your own law firm. Let’s make sure you hit your goals . Contact us to get a custom marketing strategy crafted specifically for your firm’s needs .

Table of Contents

Related Articles

20 Best Estate Planning Law Firm Websites

Live Chat For Attorneys: 12 Top Tools

Best Legal Content Writing Providers in 2024

Dominate Your Market with Digital Marketing Services That Deliver

Talk to a certified professional today, and we will design a strategy specific to your case.

• Support Center
• System Status

A business plan for lawyers: How to write one and what to include

• June 21, 2024

Jennifer Anderson

If you’re reading this article, Congratulations! You must be thinking about starting a law firm and are looking for examples of a business plan for lawyers.

Of course, if you’re serious about this prospect, one of the first things you’ll need to do is sit down and draft a business plan. And, as luck would have it, that’s why we’re here today.

In this post, we’re going to walk you through the steps of creating a business plan for your new firm. As Aristotle once said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Sound advice.

A simple guide for a business plan for lawyers

So, we’ll provide you with the key parts and pieces for creating a law firm business plan along with a sample plan intended to show you how to create your own plan. 

Now, in order to walk you through this, we’ve created a hypothetical firm using certain assumptions, which we’ll list below. Your new firm almost certainly has different factors at play.

That’s alright. We trust you’ll be able to plug in the particulars that suit your business. For now, here’s what our fictional new law firm looks like:

• This California-based law firm is founded by four partners who were all business owners before going to law school. Using our fictional founders’ last names, we’ll call the firm Smith, Jones, Jackson, & Wyle, LLP.
• The firm aims to have multiple practice areas including business litigation, labor and employment, technology, and real estate.
• The target clients will be small-to-midsize regional businesses throughout the state. 
• The partners’ goal is to hire up to 10 associates over the next five years. 
• The firm’s main competitors are other small, regional business-focused firms. 
• Initial marketing ideas include social media, networking with former business contacts, and becoming thought leaders in various areas of the law through blogging and public speaking.
• The partners envision being highly tech dependent, utilizing CRMs, AI, and other tech tools as much as possible. 
• The founding partners’ goal is to launch the firm in 6 months and to be profitable within a year.

With those basic facts in mind, let’s break down the various components that we’ll include in our business plan:

1. Executive summary

A business plan for lawyers, like any plan, should start with an e xecutive summary . This section concisely outlines a business plan’s key points, goals, and strategies. Ultimately, it serves as a snapshot for quick understanding and decision-making and should include the following parts:

Mission statement

A Mission Statement is like the elevator speech for your new firm. It charts the course for your goals, objectives, clients – and also quickly lays out your proposed methods for reaching those goals. A sample Mission Statement for our firm might say: 

At Smith, Jones, Jackson, & Wyle, LLP (“SJJW”) we are dedicated to empowering small-to-midsize businesses in California with comprehensive legal solutions. With a foundation built on the rich business acumen and legal expertise of our founding partners, we aim to bridge the gap between business challenges and legal success. Our mission is to provide personalized, effective, and technology-driven legal services that not only address today’s legal needs but also anticipate tomorrow’s challenges. We are committed to becoming trusted advisors to our clients who leverage our unique background as former business owners to offer practical, actionable legal advice. Through innovation, integrity, and a client-focused approach, SJJW strives to achieve excellence in all aspects of our service, fostering long-term partnerships with our clients and contributing to their success.

Here, you will outline the firm’s growth objectives and provide a snapshot of the firm’s operations.

SJJW aims to become the leading legal advisor for California’s small to mid-sized businesses, expand our team with 10 associates within five years, and leverage technology to enhance efficiency and client satisfaction.

Brief overview

Some business plans also include a brief overview of the business. Our hypothetical firm’s overview might look like this:

Founded by four partners with business ownership backgrounds, our California-based law firm specializes in serving small-to-midsize businesses, emphasizing technology-driven solutions and personalized legal services to navigate complex challenges.

2. Firm description

Your law firm description will provide a bit more detail about the make-up of your business. This section should include information on: (1) legal structure and history; (2) location and areas of practice; and (3) vision for the future: 

SJJW is a dynamic legal partnership founded by four seasoned attorneys who are also experienced business owners. Based in California, our firm offers comprehensive legal services tailored to the needs and challenges of small-to-midsize businesses across the state. Our firm practices in four distinct areas: Business Litigation, Labor and Employment, Technology, and Real Estate. With a deep understanding of both the legal landscape and the entrepreneurial journey, our team is uniquely positioned to provide strategic, effective solutions across this range of legal disciplines. As an LLP, we emphasize collaboration, integrity, and innovation, leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver exceptional service and outcomes for our clients. Our commitment to excellence, combined with our business-savvy approach, makes us a trusted partner for businesses seeking to navigate legal complexities with confidence.

3. Market analysis

The next part of our business plan for lawyers is the market analysis. Your market analysis is where you do the heavy lifting around how your firm fits into California’s extensive legal market. It should include information on your target market, a competitive analysis, and the need for your particular firm within the region. 

Target market

SJJW’s primary target market consists of small-to-midsize businesses in California, spanning various industries such as technology, retail, real estate, energy, and manufacturing. These businesses often encounter unique legal challenges that require personalized attention and expertise. With the state’s diverse economic landscape, there is a substantial demand for legal services that cater specifically to the nuanced needs of these entities, from regulatory compliance and intellectual property protection to labor disputes and contract negotiations.

Competitive landscape

The legal services market in California is highly competitive, with numerous firms vying for the business sector’s attention. Small, regional law firms similar to ours form the bulk of this competition, offering a range of general and specialized services. However, our differentiation lies in the unique blend of legal expertise and real-world business experience possessed by our founding partners. This combination positions us to offer unparalleled insights and practical solutions that resonate with business owners.

Market trends

The increasing complexity of regulatory environments, coupled with the rapid evolution of technology and the digital economy, has led businesses to seek legal partners who are not only advisors but also innovators. There’s a growing trend towards legal services that are highly specialized yet broadly knowledgeable about the cross-functional impacts of legal decisions.

Opportunities

Given our firm’s unique positioning and expertise, significant opportunities exist to capture market share by:

• Offering specialized services that address the intersection of business operations and legal requirements, such as compliance, data privacy, and e-commerce.
• Developing niche expertise in emerging areas of law that are particularly relevant to California’s business environment, such as tech startups, renewable energy, and digital media.
• Leveraging technology to provide more efficient, transparent, and cost-effective legal services, appealing to the tech-savvy and cost-conscious small-to-midsize business sector.
• Building strong relationships through networking and thought leadership, establishing the founding partners as go-to experts in legal matters relating to business.

Key challenges include establishing a distinct brand in a crowded market, continually adapting to rapidly changing legal and technological landscapes, and ensuring the firm remains accessible and appealing to the target market’s cost and value expectations.

In summary, the market analysis underscores the potential for SJJW to carve out a significant presence in California’s legal services sector for small-to-midsize businesses. By focusing on our strengths and strategically addressing the market’s needs, we can achieve substantial growth and success.

4. Marketing and sales strategy

The marketing and sales strategy is a crucial but often neglected aspect of any business plan for lawyers. This is where you lay out how you’re going to attract clients, convince them to use your firm’s services, and – importantly – how you’re going to retain those clients long term: 

Our objective is to establish SJJW as the premier legal service provider for small to mid-sized businesses in California, leveraging our unique blend of business acumen and legal expertise.

Marketing strategy

Brand positioning

Position the firm as not just legal experts, but as partners in our clients’ business success, emphasizing our founding partners’ background as business owners.

Digital marketing

• Website : Develop a professional website highlighting our expertise, services, and the unique value we bring to businesses.
• Content marketing : Regularly publish blogs, articles, and whitepapers on legal issues affecting our target market, positioning us as thought leaders.
• Social media : Engage with our audience on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, sharing insights, legal updates, and participating in discussions relevant to our target industries.

Networking and partnerships

• Leverage the existing business contacts of our founding partners and actively participate in industry events, seminars, and local business associations to build relationships and referrals.
• Establish partnerships with complementary service providers (e.g., accounting firms, business consultants) to offer bundled services or referrals.

Public relations

• Engage in speaking opportunities at industry conferences, webinars, and local business events to increase visibility and establish credibility.
• Utilize press releases for significant firm milestones, new service offerings, or significant case wins to build brand awareness.

Sales strategy

Client acquisition

• Implement a CRM system to manage leads and opportunities effectively and utilize  personalized follow-up and engagement strategies.
• Offer free initial consultations to prospective clients that provide immediate value and foster trust from the first interaction.

Client retention

• Provide exceptional client service with a focus on transparency, regular communication, and technology-driven solutions for ease of access and efficiency.
• Implement a client feedback loop to continuously improve services and address client needs proactively.

Cross-selling and up-selling

Once a client relationship is established, SJJW will identify additional legal needs or areas where the firm can provide value. The goal is to make sure all clients are aware of the full range of services offered.

By executing this comprehensive marketing and sales strategy, SJJW aims to rapidly grow its client base while maintaining high levels of client satisfaction and loyalty.

5. Operations plan

An operations plan outlines the day-to-day activities required to run your law firm. It details  things like processes, technology, staffing, and resources needed to achieve business objectives.

To ensure efficient, effective, and client-focused legal service delivery through advanced technology integration and streamlined processes.

Legal operations

Case managemen t: Implement a state-of-the-art Case Management System (CMS) to track and manage all cases efficiently, ensuring deadlines are met, and clients are kept informed.

Document management : Utilize a secure, cloud-based Document Management System (DMS) for storing, retrieving, and sharing documents with clients and within the team, enhancing collaboration and security.

Client communication : Adopt Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to manage client interactions, ensuring personalized and timely communication across all touchpoints.

Technology integration

Artificial Intelligence (AI) : Leverage AI tools for legal research, document review, and predictive analytics to increase accuracy and reduce turnaround times.

Automation tools : Implement automation in routine tasks such as billing, client notifications, and document drafting to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of human error.

Human resources

Team structure : SJJW will initially be comprised of four partners and support staff, with plans to expand to up to 10 associates within five years. It is our goal to foster a culture of teamwork and continuous learning.

Professional development : Invest in ongoing training and professional development opportunities for all staff, ensuring the team remains at the forefront of legal and technological advancements.

Client service

Service delivery model : Offer flexible service models including traditional hourly billing and alternative arrangements like flat fees for defined services.  

Client feedback system : Implement a system for collecting and acting on client feedback to continually refine and improve service offerings.

Compliance and quality assurance

Regulatory compliance : Ensure strict adherence to legal and ethical standards, with regular reviews of compliance protocols, especially regarding data protection and privacy laws.

Quality control : Establish a quality control framework to review legal work internally, guaranteeing the highest standards of legal service.

6. Financial plan

Your financial plan is one of the most critical aspects of a business plan for lawyers. There are too many factors at play here for us to create a meaningful sample plan for our hypothetical firm, but here are the details you definitely want to include in your plan:

Initial capital and use

Detail how the initial capital provided by the founding partners will be allocated (e.g., office space, technology, marketing, initial payroll).

Financial projections

Include projections for revenue, expenses, and profitability for the first 1-5 years. Use realistic assumptions based on the size of your target market, expected client acquisition rates, billing rates, and operational costs. 

Revenue projections

Estimate potential earnings from client work, taking into account the growth in associate numbers and the capacity to handle more cases and matters.

Expense projections

Forecast expenses, including salaries, technology investments, office overhead, and marketing costs.

Profitability analysis

Calculate when the firm expects to become profitable. Our hypothetical firm, for example, aims to be profitable within the first year.

7. Legal and regulatory compliance

What kind of lawyers would you be if your plan didn’t include a section on legal and regulatory compliance ? A business plan for lawyers should always cover compliance, particularly in an environment where it is becoming increasingly important for firms to accommodate it .

This is where you’ll provide details regarding legal practice, data protection, and any relevant regulations for your areas of practice.

To uphold the highest standards of legal and ethical integrity by ensuring full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and professional guidelines governing the practice of law in California.

Compliance framework

State Bar of California : SJJW will strictly adhere to the rules and ethical standards set forth by the State Bar of California, including those related to client confidentiality, conflict of interest, and professional conduct.

Data protection and privacy : We will implement powerful data security measures compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and any relevant federal laws. We will also protect client information through encrypted storage and secure communication channels.

Business operations compliance : As an LLP, SJJW will maintain compliance with California’s business operation laws, including partnership registration requirements, financial reporting, and tax obligations.

Employment law : It is our steadfast aim to follow all state and federal employment laws, ensuring fair labor practices, workplace safety, and equal opportunity employment within the firm.

Continuous monitoring and education

Regular training : We will conduct or host ongoing legal education and training for all partners and staff on compliance matters, changes in the law, and best practices in legal ethics and data protection.

Compliance audits : The firm will perform regular internal audits to review and assess compliance with all legal, regulatory, and ethical standards, identifying and rectifying any potential issues proactively.

Risk management

Professional liability insurance : Before beginning operations, SJJW will secure comprehensive professional liability insurance to protect the firm and its clients against potential legal malpractice claims or other claims.

Conflict of interest checks : The firm will implement a rigorous system for conducting conflict of interest checks for every new client and case, with the goal of preventing ethical breaches and maintaining the firm’s integrity.

Client confidentiality and trust

Confidentiality protocols : SJJW will establish strict confidentiality protocols to protect client information, including secure document handling procedures and restricted access to sensitive data.

Client trust accounts : In accordance with California law, the firm will manage client funds with the utmost care, adhering to the State Bar’s guidelines for handling and accounting for trust accounts, ensuring transparency and accountability.

8. Milestones and timeline

Finally, a business plan for lawyers should include a section that details the timing involved in getting your law firm up and running. Again, there are probably too many details to give an effective sample here, but at the very least, your plan should include the following components:

Launch timeline

Here, you’ll plot out the key steps leading up to your launch date , including legal organization, the establishment of your office space, technology implementation, and initial marketing.

Growth milestones

Lawyers love deadlines and the growth milestones section is a good place to create them. Set specific goals for things like client acquisition, revenue targets, and team expansion to be reached within the first year and beyond.

Obviously, your firm’s business plan will include a lot more detail than our hypothetical plan for SJJW. We hope, however, that this sample plan gets you started on an enjoyable journey to starting a successful law firm.

Starting a law firm is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. A well-crafted business plan for lawyers means getting all the essentials in place to guide your firm’s growth and success.

Get your executive summary, firm description, market analysis, marketing and sales strategy, operations plan, financial plan, and legal compliance all covered before embarking.

With careful planning and execution, you can build a firm that not only meets but exceeds your expectations, providing exceptional legal services to your clients.

A free, detailed guide on all the basics of eFiling

Learn all the basics about eFiling with this eBook guide. If you have a workflow that needs improving, are new to eFiling, or just want a handy companion guide to share with your colleagues, then this is for you. Download this free eBook now.

Share this article on social media:

More to explore.

What is a Chief Legal Officer and how can you

How to mess up a subpoena in California

A business plan for lawyers: how to write one and, what is one legal.

We’re California’s leading litigation services platform, offering eFiling, process serving, and courtesy copy delivery in all 58 California counties. Our simple, dependable platform is trusted by over 20,000 law firms to file and serve over a million cases each year.

All of your litigation support needs at your fingertips

© InfoTrack US, Inc.

• Accessibility statement
• Privacy policy
• Terms of service

Legal Up Virtual Conference

Register now to get actionable strategies and inspiration to level up your legal career.

Need a business plan? Call now:

Talk to our experts:

• Business Plan for Investors
• Bank/SBA Business Plan
• Operational/Strategic Planning
• L1 Visa Business Plan
• E1 Treaty Trader Visa Business Plan
• E2 Treaty Investor Visa Business Plan
• EB1 Business Plan
• EB2 Visa Business Plan
• EB5 Business Plan
• Innovator Founder Visa Business Plan
• UK Start-Up Visa Business Plan
• UK Expansion Worker Visa Business Plan
• Manitoba MPNP Visa Business Plan
• Start-Up Visa Business Plan
• Nova Scotia NSNP Visa Business Plan
• British Columbia BC PNP Visa Business Plan
• Self-Employed Visa Business Plan
• OINP Entrepreneur Stream Business Plan
• LMIA Owner Operator Business Plan
• ICT Work Permit Business Plan
• LMIA Mobility Program – C11 Entrepreneur Business Plan
• USMCA (ex-NAFTA) Business Plan
• Franchise Business Planning 
• Landlord Business Plan 
• Nonprofit Start-Up Business Plan 
• USDA Business Plan
• Cannabis business plan 
• eCommerce business plan
• Online Boutique Business Plan
• Mobile Application Business Plan
• Daycare business plan
• Restaurant business plan
• Food Delivery Business Plan
• Real Estate Business Plan
• Business Continuity Plan
• Buy Side Due Diligence Services
• ICO whitepaper
• ICO consulting services
• Confidential Information Memorandum
• Private Placement Memorandum
• Feasibility study
• Fractional CFO
• How it works
• Business Plan Examples

Law Firm Business Plan Sample

Published Jun.03, 2018

Updated Apr.23, 2024

By: Noor Muhammad

Average rating 4.3 / 5. Vote count: 4

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Table of Content

Do you want to start a law firm business?

Do you plan to start a law firm business? There is no doubt this is an awesome business venture with amazing potential. In recent years, the law firm industry has been experiencing a steady growth of more than 15% per annum. The need for individuals, businesses and companies seeking for lawyer services in order not to get into legal problems has greatly increased. Today, there are many niches you can choose to start your practice on. All you need to have is the right qualification and target the right customers for your law firm business plan .

Executive Summary

2.1 the business.

The law firm will be registered under the names Raymond Associates, and will be situated in Houston, Texas. The law firm will be owned and managed by Alex Raymond who is a lawyer by profession.

2.2 Management Team

Alex Raymond is a lawyer by professional who has worked in the legal industry for more than fifteen years. Before coming up with a law firm business model, Alex worked for many to law firms across the United States and is an accomplished legal business service expert .

2.3 Customer Focus

Raymond Associates plans to offer different top notch legal services to customers in Houston, Texas. The customer focus will cater for different age groups and working class.

Once you have figured out how to start your own law firm, having an idea of the customer you intend to target is important. The customers you plan to target is essential for the growth of the business.

2.4 Business Target

Raymond Associates intends to offer services to a wide range of clientele keen on seeking legal services for their various needs. For a business to grow, it is important to carry out an in-depth research to target the right clientele.

Company Summary

3.1 company owner.

Alex Raymond is a lawyer professional who has worked with famous legal firms in the United States. In the course of his career, he ascended to the position of a seasoned attorney and took the lead role in planning the law firm operations and overseeing all management related aspects.

3.2 Aim of Starting the Business

After having been in the career long enough, Alex noticed there was a lot of potential in the legal industry in his home town Houston. That is the when he decided to move back to home and start a business plan for law firms . With a good business plan for law firms , Raymond Associates will indeed be one of the best law firms in Houston.

3.3 How the Business will be Started

As an expert in legal services, Alex understands what he needs to start the law firm. To set his idea into action, he has worked closely with businesses set-up experts to develop a financial plan for the law firm.

Services for Customers

Raymond Associates is focused on offering professional legal services to different type of clients. According to the starting a law firm business plan, the business is focused on offering the following services:

• Provide property law services to people facing mortgage, foreclosure and other property acquisition.
• Offer legal services to people suffering from personal injury. Employees’ injuries at work are extremely     sensitive and need a qualified lawyer to intervene.
• Provide legal services to couples going through a divorce.
• Offer legal services to people buying and selling businesses – acquisitions and mergers.

Marketing Analysis for Law Firm Business

For Raymond Associates to meet its market obligations, a detailed market analysis was done to help the business establish itself in the industry and adequately serve the needs of client. This law firm business plan explains the strategy the business will follow to attain its goals. Given the rising demand for various legal services, there is a great opportunity for Raymond Associates to meet its objectives.

5.1 Market Segmentation

Given the increasing popularity of law firms industry, Raymond Associates understands the value of coming up with sustainable marketing strategies to acquire a larger market share. Being one of the largest cities in the United States, Houston is a business hub with many individuals and companies looking for legal services. Based on the market findings and law firm business plan template, the law firm intends to target the following potential customers.

excellent work

excellent work, competent advice. Alex is very friendly, great communication. 100% I recommend CGS capital. Thank you so much for your hard work!

5.1.1 Couples

Marriage is a good thing but a time comes in life where people want to depart for various reasons. Nowadays, there is a high divorce rate in Texas, and for this reason Alex so it necessary to start a law office business plan to provide divorce legal services. When going through a divorce, you want to use a law firm that know how to handle sensitive issues. Raymond Associates highly trained attorneys and family law professionals will be dedicated to help people going through divorce to successfully navigate the family courts. If you have a family law case, it can be frustrating to sort through the maze of paperwork required to finish your case. Raymond Associates is ready to help though all the steps if filing a divorce, spousal support orders or custody issues among other services listed in the law firm business plan sample.

5.1.2 Property Owners

One of the main services offered by Raymond Associates is foreclosure and mortgage legal services. Whether it is mortgage, foreclosure or other property acquisition, Raymond Associates lawyers will help you go through that. The lawyers will offer the best advice and assist you throughout the whole process. The law firm will help file necessary documents and go through disputes that may arise between the transactions.

Business plan for investors

5.1.3 employees.

With so many companies and organization in Houston, Raymond Associates sample law firm business plan will target employees. When it comes to legal services involving employee injuries at work, these cases are usually sensitive and need a qualified lawyer to intervene. In most cases, employees feel oppressed in matters in regards to compensation and opt to use a lawyer. This is why Raymond Associates has a well inclusive personal injury law firm business plan to cater for such cases.

5.1.4 Businesses

According to the law firm marketing plan template, Raymond Associates will offer legal services to businesses to buying and selling businesses – acquisitions and mergers. With many individuals buying and selling businesses, it is important to use the services of a lawyer. A good law office will help you minimize taxes and potential liability issues for buyers and sellers figuring out how to structure a deal.

5.2 Business Target

Raymond Associates is getting into a highly competitive environment considering there are a high number of law firms in Houston. However, this small law firm business plan outlines the plan the business intends to use to acquire clients and propel business growth. It is costly to set up a fully functioning law firm, but adequate strategies have been put in place to help the business fully recover its initial capital. After finalizing the starting a law firm business and rolling out operations, the call centerexpects to recoup its initial investment in three years based on a projected 30-40% annual sales growth.

5.3 Product Pricing

While strategizing on how to start a law firm business plan , Alex Raymond together with the assistance of experts has come up with a competitive pricing structure tailored for different services. At the beginning, the call center intends to offer various incentives to attract clients.

When planning to start a law office, you need to come up with a great business development strategy . Alex Raymond has engaged experts to formulate a call center strategy that will be instrumental to steer business growth. He has also invested time to studying law firm proposal examples. The following is Raymond Associates law firm sales strategy.

6.1 Competitive Analysis

Raymond Associates has deployed the latest telemarketing technologies to boost efficiency and seamlessly handle multiple clients without compromising quality. After completing the procedures of how to build a law firm, the business anticipates high competition considering there are numerous similar establishments in Houston.

6.2 Sales Strategy

For Raymond Associates to achieve its intended targets and create a successful law office which is popular with clients, the following sales strategy will be implemented.

• Hire professional marketing agencies to help advertise the law firm and reach out to potential clients.
• Organize an official opening party and welcome top industry stakeholders to create awareness about the business
• Advertise on digital media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
• Use local media channels such as Television and newspapers to advertise the business

6.3 Sales Forecast

Raymond Associates law firm has put in place various sales strategies in order to meet its targets. According to the law firm business plan example, the sales forecast looks promising for the business.

Personnel Plan

Raymond Associates provides diverse services in order to boost the company’s income. When coming up with a business plan for law firms , it is vital to focus on having a good personnel team to handle business operations.

7.1 Personnel Plan

The law firm is owned by Alex Raymond who will be the overall firm manager for the business. The law office intends to hire the following staff to enable the business carry out its operations.

• Administrator
• Operations Manager
• Two Marketing Executives
• Five Lawyers
• Three Advocates

Successful candidates will undergo intensive training to understand procedures and expectations.

7.2 Average Staff Salaries

Raymond Associates law office plans to pay its staff the following salaries in the first three years of operations.

Financial Plan

Alex Raymond law firm has formulated a financial plan that will steer the path to business success. To the business, Alex will use his personal savings and funds from two investors. A loan will be sought to help raise startup capital for the business. Crucial financial information for the business has been indicated in the law firm business plan template free.

8.1 Important Assumptions

Financial forecast for Raymond Associates law firm will be based on the following assumptions.

8.2 Brake-even Analysis

Raymond Associates Brake-even Analysis is indicated in the graph below.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

Profit and Loss information for Raymond Associates calculated on a monthly and annual basis is shown below.

8.3.1 Monthly Profit

8.3.2 Yearly Profit

8.3.3 Monthly Gross Margin

8.3.4 Yearly Gross Margin

Below is the profit and Loss Analysis for Raymond Associates law firm.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

The diagram below is a summary of subtotal cash spent, subtotal cash from operations, subtotal cash spent on operations, subtotal cash received and pro forma cash flow.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following is a Projected Balance Sheet for Raymond Associates law firm that shows capital, assets, long term assets, liabilities and current liabilities.

8.6 Business Ratios

Raymond Associates law firm Business Ratios, Ratio Analysis and Business Net Worth are shown below.

[get_in_touch_small text=”Any questions?” bold=’Get in Touch’]

Download Law Firm Business Plan Sample in pdf

OGS capital professional writers specialized also in themes such as financial due diligence, technical due diligence , due diligence of the enterprise , due diligence template , etc.

OGSCapital’s team has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs with top-rate business plan development, consultancy and analysis. They’ve helped thousands of SME owners secure more than $1.5 billion in funding, and they can do the same for you.

Case: OGScapital Provides Quality of Earnings (QoE) Support

Ice Vending Machine Business Plan

OGScapital at the National Citizenship and Immigration Conference

How to Start a Plumbing Business in 2024: A Detailed Guide

Vegetable Farming Business Plan

Trading Business Plan

Any questions? Get in Touch!

We have been mentioned in the press:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Search the site:

Law Firm Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business ideas » Service Industry » Legal Services » Law Firm

Are you about starting a Law firm? If YES, here’s a complete sample Law firm business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE to get started .

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a law firm . We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample law firm marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for law firms. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

Lawyers would always be in need by people, companies, schools, and what have you. This isn’t unique to any part of the world, because it is the same phenomenon all over the world. For as long as there are people still living on the face of the earth, there would be rancor and disputes, and the need to have lawyers trash out cases would always arise.

It is for this reason that some lawyers have positioned themselves to take advantage of this trend, and have continued to make huge amount of money from the industry. Without mincing words, starting a law firm is a very profitable venture.

A Sample Law Firm Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

The services of lawyers are needed in every part of the united states of America. Statistics has it that the United States of America has about 165,000 law offices and they generate about $180 billion in annual revenue. These goes to show that starting a law firm is indeed a prosperous business in the U.S, because there is a large market for such business and the industry provides loads of job opportunities for lawyers and other professionals.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that job opportunities for legal practitioners will grow at the same rate as the average for all other occupations in coming years; the growth will be fastest in areas such as intellectual property, healthcare, antitrust, and environmental law et al.

No doubt, the growth of the U.S. population and the expansion of corporate America will definitely lead to the growth in the demand for legal services.

All over the globe, before anyone can be allowed to practice law, they are expected to pass the bar exams in the country or state in which they want to practice. In other words, the journey of starting your own private law firm starts when you eventual pass through a law school.

Although a large percentage of lawyers work for big, corporate law firms, but there are still many lawyers who are employed at mid-sized regional firms and even in one- man and two-person law firms. Just like most other industries in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, the legal services industry is globalizing at a swift pace.

Progressively more, bigger law firms are establishing offices in other countries, some are restructuring and repositioning their existing foreign offices, and others are merging or partnering with local law firms in order to position their organization to handle legal aspects of international trade and other related issues.

This recent trend is responsible for creating job opportunities for lawyers with expertise in international relations and cross-border transactions et al. In the U.S. and also in other parts of the world, lawyer firms who know how to position their organization will always be busy handling legal businesses for their clients.

Some law firms may decide to operate a general law business that cuts across various law practices, whilst others may choose to specialize in any of the two major areas of private sector law. They can choose to operate as a transactional (corporate) law firm or specialize in litigation.

Beyond every reasonable doubt, being a lawyer can be extremely challenging and demanding, but at the same time, it can also be quite rewarding. Lawyers have the privilege of providing a vital service to the business world and to individuals as well.

Lawyers serve as protectors, advisers, and advocates, which is why they are considered experts in communication, analysis, and persuasion, giving them prestige and leverage in society.

2. Executive Summary

Jefferson & MacArthur Law Firm LLP is a law firm that will be located in Inc. 268 13th Street, Suite 1110 Oakland, California 94612. The company will operate as a litigation law firm and also handle other related aspect of law as requested by our clients.

Our services will cover areas such as; breaches of contract, securities-law breaches, class-action lawsuits, antitrust actions, employment-related problems, white-collar crime, and any other related cases.

We are aware that businesses these days require diverse and sophisticated legal services. This is why we will position our law firm to offer a wide range of legal services as requested by our clients. We handle offer legal services ranging from mergers and acquisitions to Product liability, from intellectual property to real estate.

Jefferson & MacArthur Law Firm LLP is a client-focused business law firm that provides broad-based experience at an affordable fee that won’t in any way put a hole in the pocket of our clients.

We will offer a complete range of legal services to our local, state, national, and multi-national clients and we will ensure that we work hard to provide the legal services and counsel needed by our clients to accomplish their business goals and objectives.

At Jefferson & MacArthur Law Firm, our client’s best interests come first, and everything we do is guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire attorneys who are well experienced in a wide variety of transactional and litigation matters.

We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely. We will cultivate a working environment that provides a human, sustainable approach to earning a living, and living in our world, for our partners, employees and for our clients.

Jefferson & MacArthur Law Firm will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually and as a firm, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.

Jefferson & MacArthur Law Firm, LLP is founded by Jefferson Carson and his son MacArthur Carson. The organization will be managed by MacArthur Carson; he graduated from Cumberland School of Law and Brock School of Business at Stamford University.

He has extensive experience in a diverse range of transactional matters, and his legal practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial real estate, commercial finance, construction, and general business contracts.

3. Our Products and Services

Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP proposes to offer a variety of services within the scope of the law industry in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our law firm is to make profits from the industry and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and ambition. Our business offering are listed below;

• Arbitration & Mediation
• Business Formation
• Business and Commercial Transaction
• Collections and Credit Matters
• Commercial Real Estate
• Construction
• Corporate Governance and Compliance
• Creditor’s Rights
• General Counsel Services
• Immigration
• Real Estate Consultancy and Advisory Services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to provide our clients with skilled legal advice in a timely and efficient manner.   We strive to handle each matter with accountability and responsiveness, as if we were representing ourselves. We focus our attention on the legal aspects of our client’s business so that our clients can focus their attention on the success of their business.
• Our vision reflects our values: integrity, service, excellence and teamwork.
• Our mission is to provide professional and trusted legal services that assist businesses and non-profit organizations in operating sustainably. We provide expert legal counsel in combination with our own business backgrounds, and deliver valuable services in a timely and cost-effective way.

Our Business Structure

Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP will build a solid business structure that can support the growth of our business. We will ensure that we hire competent hands to help us build the business of our dream. Below is the business structure that we will build Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP on;

• Founder and President

Patent Attorney

Legal Secretary

• Legal Assistant

Admin and HR Manager

Business Developer

Front Desk Officer

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Founder and President:

• Responsible for providing direction for the firm
• Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for handling high profile clients and deals
• Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
• Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization
• Reports to the board
• Represents clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings
• Draws up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions.
• Attends court hearings (and doing the preparation beforehand)
• Responsible for negotiating (not all cases will end up in court)
• Explains the law and gives general legal advice
• Responsible for settling disputes and supervising any agreements
• Researching and gathering evidence
• Responsible for analyzing legal documents
• Supervises legal assistants.
• Discusses inventions and processes with inventors or manufacturers and ascertaining whether they are likely to succeed in being granted patents
• Studies and analyzes scientific or technical documents, including previously granted patents, to assess whether an invention is new and innovative
• Writes detailed descriptions of inventions in precise legal terms (patent drafts)
• Suggests modifications or extensions to the definition of the invention
• Applies for patents from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) , often presenting complicated technical arguments
• Prepares responses to reports from patent examiners
• Ensures application and renewal deadlines are met
• Works with solicitors and barristers to defend or enforce uk patents
• Conducts litigation in proceedings at the EPO or in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), formerly the Patents County Court
• Advises overseas agents on applications for foreign patent applications
• Instructs on whether business activities will infringe someone else’s patent rights
• Deals with assignments of patent when a patent is sold or transferred
• Keeps up-to-date with legal developments in the intellectual property field
• Advises on other intellectual property rights, e.g. designs or trademarks
• Tutors and mentors trainee patent agents.
• Responsible for drawing up contracts and other legal documents for the company
• Welcomes guests and clients by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
• Produces information by transcribing, formatting, inputting, editing, retrieving, copying, and transmitting text, data, and graphics; coordinating case preparation.
• Conserves attorneys time by reading, researching, reviewing, verifying, and routing correspondence, reports and legal documents; drafting letters and documents; collecting and analyzing information; initiating telecommunications; organizing client conferences, and attorney meetings; scheduling couriers, court reporters, expert witnesses, and other special functions; coordinating preparation of charts, graphs, and other courtroom visuals; preparing expense reports.
• Maintains attorney calendar by planning and scheduling conferences, teleconferences, dispositions, and travel; recording and monitoring court appearance dates, pleadings, and filing requirements; monitoring evidence-gathering; anticipating changes in litigation or transaction preparation requirements.
• Represents attorney by communicating and obtaining information; following-up on delegated assignments; knowing when to act and when to refer matters to attorney.
• Generates revenues by documenting and inputting attorney billable time and reimbursable expenses; preparing invoices; tracking payments.
• Maintains client confidence by keeping client/attorney information confidential.
• Provides historical reference by developing and utilizing filing and retrieval systems; recording meeting discussions; maintaining transcripts; documenting and maintaining evidence.
• Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
• Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
• Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional organizations.
• Enhances department and organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments.
• Assists attorneys in preparing for trials and court proceedings.
• Supports attorneys in a legal office.
• Investigates the facts of cases and ensure that all relevant information is considered.
• Identify appropriate laws, judicial decisions, legal articles, and other materials for assigned cases.
• Compiles, analyzes, and organizes information.
• Gathers exhibits.
• Prepares written reports.
• Prepares legal arguments for lawsuits.
• Drafts pleadings and motions filed in court.
• Secures affidavits.
• Assists attorneys during trials.
• Organizes and tracks files from case documents and make them available and easily accessible to attorneys.
• Drafts contracts, mortgages, and separation agreements.
• Prepares tax returns.
• Establishes trust funds.
• Plans estates.
• Supervises other law office employees.
• Delegates responsibilities.
• Maintains financial records.
• Searches legal literature stored in computer databases and on CD-ROM.
• Tracks hours and bill to clients.

Legal Office Assistant

• Works under the direction of lawyers and help them prepare for meetings, hearings and trials. Undertake research projects for multiple cases to determine precedent, drafts or completes legal documents and ensure the correct paperwork is filed with the courts within a specific time period.
• Works directly with clients in a non-advising capacity, such as answering questions, scheduling appointments and making sure all court requirements are met.
• Handles other routine tasks, such as processing and transcribing documents, entering data, scheduling and taking dictation are common duties of a legal office assistant.
• Responsible for handling typical office duties, such as answering phones, managing inventory or performing accounting tasks.
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out staff induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office activities.
• Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
• Documents all customer contact and information
• Represents the company in strategic meetings
• Helps increase sales and growth for the company
• Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for the company
• Serves as internal auditor for the company
• Receives Visitors / clients on behalf of the organization
• Receives parcels / documents for the company
• Handles enquiries via e-mail and phone calls for the organization
• Distributes mails in the organization
• Handles any other duties as assigned my the line manager

6. SWOT Analysis

Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP hired the services of a core professional in the area of business consulting and structuring to assist the firm in building a solid law firm that can favorably compete in the highly competitive law industry.

Part of what the business consultant did was to work with the management of the firm in conducting a SWOT analysis and preparing a law firm marketing plan for Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP;

Our core strength lies in the power of our team; our workforce. We have a team that can go all the way to give our clients value for their money. We are well positioned and we know we will attract loads of clients from the first day we open our doors for business.

As a new law firm, it might take some time for our firm to break into the market; that is perhaps our major weakness.

• Opportunities:

The opportunities in the law industry is massive and we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.

Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a law firm operating in the United States are unfavorable government policies, and global economic downturn. There are hardly anything we could do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

Quite a number of distinct trends have emerged in recent times in the legal industry, which is why law firms are positioning their organizations to survive the peaks and troughs of an ailing economy.

As a matter of fact, most of these trends aid law firms and organizations to become more creative, competitive, efficient, and productive in a global market. Some other trends in the legal industry could be attributed to changing demographics, attitudes and work styles.

Another trend that is gaining momentum in the legal industry is that clients have the options of seeking legal assistance from a growing number of non-lawyer professionals such as; paralegal technicians, legal document preparers, legal self-help sites, virtual assistants and offshore legal vendors.

As a result of this trend, the decisions about how legal services are delivered which include staffing, scheduling, strategies and most importantly how firms charge for their services – are increasingly being influenced by the clients, and not by the law firms as it used to be in time past.

No doubt, as the cost of legal services continues to increase and as corporate spending falls, new legal delivery methods will continue to emerge and gain momentum going forward. In addition, the market for legal services has shifted from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market.

Lastly, it is now becoming trendy in the legal industry for smaller law firms to merge with bigger law firms and for bigger law firms to acquire smaller law firms; mergers and acquisitions. Many law firms all over the United States are coming to the conclusion that the bigger the better for them.

8. Our Target Market

Although Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP will initially serve small to medium sized businesses, from new ventures to well established businesses, but that does not in any way stop us from growing to be able to compete with the leading law firms in the United States.

We hope to someday merge or acquire other law firms and expand our legal services beyond the shores of the United States of America.

As a full service business law firm, Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP have a variety of practice areas to help startups grow.

While we works with a variety of organizations and industries, Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP will also specialize in working with startups, real estate investors, and contractors, manufacturers and distributors, banks, lending and financial institutions.

Our target market cuts across people of different classes and people from all walks of life, local and international organizations as well. We are coming into the industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the highly placed people and companies in the country and at the same with the lowly placed people and smaller businesses.

In other words, our target market is the whole of the United States of America and subsequently other parts of the world. Below is a list of the people and organizations that we have specifically design our products and services for;

• Businesses and Entrepreneurs
• Blue Chips Companies
• Corporate Counsel
• Manufacturers and Distributors
• Real Estate Owners, Developers, and Contractors
• Research and Development Companies

Our Competitive Advantage

A close study of the legal industry reveals that the law firm market has become much more intensely competitive over the past seven years. As a matter of fact, the supply of legal services has significantly exceeded demand. In other to position to take on the market, most law firms have begun to merger or acquire other law firms.

Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP might be a new entrant into the law industry in the United States of America, but the management staffs and board members are considered gurus. They are people who are core professionals and licensed legal practitioners in the US. These are part of what will count as a competitive advantage for us.

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be amongst the best within our category (startups law firm) in the industry – meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP is established with the aim of maximizing the profits in the law industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract clients on a regular basis. Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP we generate income by offering the following legal services for individuals and for organizations;

10. Sales Forecast

As long as there are people living in the United States of America and business starting and growing in the U.S., the services of law firms will always be needed.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in the U.S, and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income / profits from the first month or operations and grow the business and clientele beyond Oakland, CA to other states in the U.S. and even the global market

We have been able to critically examine the law market and we have analyzed our chances in the industry. We have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projection are based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to startups in California.

Below is the sales projection for Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP, it is based on the location of our law firm and the wide range of legal services that we will be offering;

• First Year-: $500,000
• Second Year-: $1,000,000
• Third Year-: $2,500,000

N.B : This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry,

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

We are mindful of the fact that there is stiffer competition in the legal market in the United States of America; hence we have been able to hire some of the best business developer to handle our sales and marketing.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited based on their vast experience in the industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of the organization. We will also ensure that our excellent job deliveries speaks for us in the market place; we want to build a legal business that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from satisfied clients (both individuals and organizations).

Our goal is to grow our firm to become one of the top 20 law firms in California, which is why we have mapped out strategy that will help us take advantage of the available market and grow to become a major force in the. Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;

• Introduce our business by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to organizations and key individuals in California and other parts of the U.S.
• Promptness in bidding for legal contracts
• List our business on yellow pages
• Attend expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
• Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver quality services to them
• Leverage on the internet to promote our business
• Direct marketing
• Encourage word of mouth marketing

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We have been able to work with our consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market.

We are set to take the law industry by storm which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our firm. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise our property development business;

• Place adverts our law firm on both print and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant TV shows
• Maximize our firm’s website to promote our business
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook ,Twitter, LinkedIn, Badoo, Google+ and other platforms (real estate online forums) to promote our business.
• Offer Pro Bono services as part of our community social responsibility
• Brand all our official cars

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Hourly billing for legal services is long – time tradition in the industry. However, for some types of work, flat fees make more sense because they allow clients to better predict legal costs. As a result of this, Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP will charge our clients a flat fee for many basic services such as; business formation and document drafting and review.

At Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP we will keep our fees below market rate for all of our clients by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance. In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to disadvantaged individuals, nonprofits, cooperatives, and small social enterprises.

We are aware that there are some clients that would need regular access to legal advice and assistance; we will offer flat rate general counsel services that will be tailored to take care of such clients’ needs.

• Payment Options

At Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP, our payment policy will be all inclusive because we are quite aware that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them. Here are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;

• Payment by via bank transfer
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via bank draft
• Payment with cash

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our plans without any itches.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

• The Total Fee for incorporating the Business in California: $750.
• The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license: $5,000
• The Amount needed to acquire a suitable Office facility with enough space in Oakland, California for 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive): $50,000.
• The Cost for equipping the office (computers, printers, fax machines, furniture, telephones, filing cabins, safety gadgets and electronics et al): $15,000
• Cost of accounting software, CRM software and Payroll Software – $3,000
• Other start-up expenses including stationery – $1000
• Phone and Utilities (gas, sewer, water and electric) deposits – ($3,500).
• Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $40,000
• The Cost of Launching our official Website: $600
• Additional Expenditure (Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions et al): $5,000

Going by the report from our research and feasibility studies, we will need about $200,000 to set up a law firm in Oakland, California.

Generating Funding / Startup Capital for At Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP

At Jefferson and MacArthur Law Firm, LLP is going to start as a private business that will be solely owned by Bar Jefferson Carson and family.

He will be the sole financial of the firm, but may likely welcome partners pretty much which is why he has decided to restrict the sourcing of his start – up capital to 3 major sources. These are the areas we intend generating our start – up capital;

• Generate part of the start – up capital from personal savings
• Source for soft loans from family members and friends
• Apply for loan from my Bank

N.B: We have been able to generate about $60,000 (Personal savings $40,000 and soft loan from family members $20,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $100,000 from our bank. All the papers and document has been signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

It is easier for businesses to survive when they have steady flow of business deals / customers patronizing their products and services. We are aware of this which is why we have decided to offer a wide range of legal services. We know that if we continue to deliver excellent legal services, there will be steady from of income for the organization.

Our key sustainability and expansion strategy is to ensure that we only hire competent employees, create a conducive working environment and employee benefits for our staff members. In the nearest future, we will explore the options of either merging with other law firms or acquire law firms in order for us to increase our market share.

We know that if we implement our business strategies, we will grow our law business beyond Oakland, California to other states in the U.S in record time.

Check List / Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of All form of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating part of the start – up capital from the founder: Completed
• Applications for Loan from our Bankers: In Progress
• writing of business plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
• Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
• Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the business (Business PR): In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with key players in the industry: In Progress

Related Posts:

• Personal Injury Law Firm Business Plan [Sample Template]
• A Sample Law Firm Marketing Plan Template
• Photocopy Shop Business Plan [Sample Template]
• Resume Writing Service Business Plan [Sample Template]
• Psychic Services Business Plan [Sample Template]

Log in to Lawyerist.com

Not a Subscriber yet? Register here. (It's free!)

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Forgot your password? Reset it here.

Subscribe to Lawyerist

Back to login.

• Hidden Date MM slash DD slash YYYY
• Name * First Last
• Password * Enter Password Confirm Password
• United States
• Which state is your firm's primary location? * Pick one. Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah U.S. Virgin Islands Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific State
• Which province is your firm's primary location? * Pick one. Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Province
• What is the size of your firm? * Pick one. Solo practice Small firm (2–15 lawyers) Medium or large firm (16+ lawyers) I do not work at a law firm
• What is your role at your firm? * Pick one. Owner/partner Lawyer Staff Vendor (web designer, consultant, etc.) I do not work at a law firm
• What is your primary practice area? * Pick one. Bankruptcy Civil litigation (non-PI) Class Action Collections Corporate Criminal Education Employment Estate planning, probate, or elder Family General practice Immigration International Landlord/Tenant Mediation/ADR Personal injury Real estate Small business Sports/Entertainment Tax Trademark/IP Other I do not work in law
• Legal Technology Products and Services
• Building a Healthy Firm
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

You have read all five of your free articles this month. To read this article, log in or register.

• Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Part of the ‘Lawyerist Healthy Law Firm’

Legal product reviews and business guidance from industry experts.

Chapter 3/6

Developing a Business Plan for a New Law Firm

How to Start a Law Firm

10 min read

Guides Parent Form

Already an Insider? Log in to your account to receive your e-book!

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

A law firm business plan is the foundation for everything your business does. Without a solid foundation, your firm will lack direction from the very beginning.

Starting a Law Firm Business Plan

A good business plan includes:

• Vision. Create a picture of what you’re building.
• Values. Identify the rules to guide your team’s important work. 
• Law Firm Business Model. What you offer, who you offer it to, and how you’ll deliver your services.
• Targets and Priorities. Clarify metrics that indicate success.

Law Firm Vision

We worked with a lawyer who was stressed out about his vision. He spent weeks on the assignment because he couldn’t think of a statement that would make his entire office happy. 

During one coaching session , he got that lightbulb moment when we told him that he was making too big of a deal of it. You don’t have to create the most amazing vision that perfectly captures everything you are hoping to build. You do need to start mapping out what you are (and aren’t) trying to create. 

Picture these two lawyers:

• Lawyer 1 wants to double the size of his team in the next two years so he can handle more cases, help more people, and make more money.
• Lawyer 2 does not enjoy managing people. She wants to build a technology-based solution that she can offer clients with a recurring monthly price and that is delivered using a few key team members.

Neither vision is wrong. But, how each lawyer will make decisions to build a profitable business will look very different. You need to get a sense if you are trying to build something that looks more like Lawyer 1, Lawyer 2, or Lawyers 3-8. Get it? 

Jot down thoughts now so you know where you’re headed and can start building the guardrails for future decisions.

Law Firm Values

Your values are a living embodiment of the firm culture you’re hoping to create and the approach to work your team shares. They are the guardrails of your business. 

From hiring to client management to a marketing strategy, every decision you make comes from your values. 

Your values are typically 3-6 factual statements that are authentically you. 

Here are some tips on crafting great values:

• Your values must concretely point to your business. You want achievable values that set your business up for success .
• Your values must have actual meaning. Like the “be the best lawyer” example, you want to avoid the obvious. Sure, every firm wants to be the best. But what, precisely, does your firm want to do that sets you apart from the crowd?
• Finally, avoid table stakes values. Honesty, integrity, and hard work are all good works that all companies should have. But, they have nothing to do with your specific goals vs. any other firm.

As an example, here are Lawyerist’s values :

• Build an Inclusive Community.
• Experiment Like a Lobster.
• Grab the Marker.
• Seek Candor.
• Grow as People.

Each of these represents the culture of our company (even “ Experiment Like a Lobster ,” which describes our playful and out-of-the-box thinking process). We use these values for all of our decisions, especially hiring. When we evaluate a candidate, we study their fit: Are they open to experimenting? Are they willing to help us build an inclusive community ? Are they eager to lean into candor and compassion ?

Building your vision and values is an essential first step for your business. We can’t tell you how much easier other decisions will flow once you have these documented. You will make better decisions and alleviate some of the anxiety of decision fatigue.

Law Firm Business Model

One of the biggest perks of starting your firm is deciding your law firm business plan and model. You get to take everything you learned in school and while working at other organizations and implement the parts you like. Even better, you get to leave out the details that stressed you out.

This is an excellent place to review your vision and values. Take the time to dream about this. This is often the most rewarding part for new law firm owners. With a smart strategy, you can build your dream firm.

Ask yourself:

• What kind of place do I want to work in every day? 
• What kind of clients do I want to serve? Who is my ideal client ?
• What type of pricing model do I want? 
• What kind of access to justice issues do I want to tackle?

You get the gist. The questions you can ask yourself here are endless, but use your vision and values to inform your model. For example, if one of your values is “ grow as people ,” you might offer education opportunities for clients in areas related to their cases. 

The important part is, it’s all up to you. This is yours. You get to decide.

Competitive Analysis

As part of finalizing your law firm business model, it can be very helpful to complete a competitive analysis. A competitive analysis not only forces you to define who your competitors are, it gives you a chance to determine what may be missing in the market so that you can address it. 

Lawyers often assume as long as they practice law, there’s a market for what they want to do. Or they think they’re only competing against other lawyers when clients are often drawn to non-law solutions. 

These lawyers are missing a huge opportunity. They aren’t asking clients how they heard about their firm. They’re not trying to figure out what other solutions their clients tried first. They aren’t looking at what clients want and how the market is attempting to respond.

Here are some tips for putting together a competitive analysis:

• Make a list of competitors. Simple, right? List firms in your practice area/location, your jurisdiction, and who may be serving your ideal client base.
• List the other ways your clients are solving their problems . Are they use an online service to create their will? Are they asking their cousin’s nephew’s wife, who once worked at a law firm in 1988, for advice? Get creative.
• Do field research . Ask your friends, family, and current clients what they do when they have a potential legal problem.

Once you’ve collected the data, you can begin the analysis. Think about the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor and the solution you’ve collected. Compare pricing, accessibility, marketing messages, and client service. How does it all compare to your firm? What do you do better? What could you improve?

And keep in mind: This isn’t a one-time deal. You’ll want to stay on top of competitive solutions through Google or social media alerts or by subscribing to industry emails and newsletters. At least once a year, do a complete forensic competitive analysis to see where things have changed.

Targets and Priorities

When you’re first starting a law firm business plan, you may just have a goal of “get my firm up and running.” A good goal! But, as you dream on your initial strategy, it’s helpful to set some initial short-term and excellent long-term goals. Yes, these goals may change as you learn and grow. But, setting goals upfront will give you a path to get started.

Short-term Goals

Look to your initial vision and values for your first goals. If you’re a family law firm that wants to do low-conflict divorces, you might have a client acquisition goal aligned with this.

For example, you could say: In the first six months of my firm opening, I want 50% of my new clients to be low-conflict separations and divorces. You’ll see this goal follows the S.M.A.R.T. formula: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound. 

Another short-term goal might be systems-oriented: I want a written client onboarding process documented in my first three months. (If not implemented.)

Think through all the different parts of your business and see if you can achieve one short-term goal.

Long-term Goals

Long-term goals can be a little trickier when you’re first starting. Thinking one, two, or even five years out might seem impossible. But this is where you can begin to dream a little.

A long-term goal might be that in three years, you want a staff of five people, a complete operations manual, 50 new clients a year, and Fridays off each week. 

Remember, these goals might—and likely will—change. But give yourself something to work with in the beginning.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

As you’re starting a law firm business plan, you’ll need  a way to measure your firm’s health. These measurements are called KPIs. They track goals in all parts of your business, from marketing to finances to client acquisition .

Measuring and monitoring your KPIs will allow you to:

• Monitor the health of your firm . KPIs will enable you to see how well your law firm is performing. For example, KPIs make it easy to track your finances and your firm’s monthly growth.  You’ll see problems and successes quickly and be able to take action by creating new goals or redirecting your team’s efforts.
• Simplify decision-making . Armed with the above information, you can make informed, rational decisions for everything in your business. You don’t have to guess if a decision is the right one. Instead, you can (and should) measure all variables to make the best decision for your firm’s future.
• Track your wins. By tracking your KPIs, you track your wins. Monitoring law firm data makes it simple to incentivize your staff’s hard work. After all, when you meet your numbers, everyone benefits.

For example, at Lawyerist, we track KPIs with a color-coded system.

Green means hitting our goal, yellow means we’re on the cusp, and red means not hitting the number. We track weekly, which means when something goes yellow, we can analyze and plan before it goes red.

And, because we track weekly, a one-week red doesn’t mean an emergency. It means we need to take time to discuss, find a cause, and make a plan.

Types of KPIs for Successful Firms

KPIs can cover all aspects of your business, including your finances, client satisfaction, marketing, and business development. Keep in mind, as you start your firm, KPIs will be new to you and can feel overwhelming. So, keep it simple in the beginning. 

Start by picking three business questions you want answered. Find a way to measure that answer that you can track and update without too much work regularly. Then, start measuring. As your firm grows, you’ll develop your KPIs.

Let’s look at some examples.

Financial KPIs

Want to increase your revenue or improve your law firm’s financial health? You’ll want to track some financial KPIs , including (but not limited to):

• Revenue (cash collected)
• Monthly amount invoiced to clients
• Accounts receivable (amount clients owe you)
• Budgeted expenses

Regardless of your goals, we recommend tracking some basic financial data to keep an eye on the health of your firm. For a quick win, narrow down your financial KPIs to the top three financial numbers  needed to understand your business.

Client Satisfaction KPIs

Your clients are your most valuable assets. Firm success requires that you watch specific metrics involving your clients. 

Client satisfaction KPIs connect to several key law firm growth goals. These include increasing referrals, increasing revenue (happy clients are loyal clients), and improving overall client experience. 

Examples of KPIs to track include:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Client retention rate
• Speed at which you close cases

Your Net Promoter Score measures whether current or former clients would recommend your legal services to others. A satisfied client is more likely to do so. This metric is most often gathered using a survey at the final delivery of your services.

Other measures, such as closing speed and retention, can give you insights into how happy your clients are with your services. Do you have a lower NPS than you expect? Are you losing clients? If so, your client satisfaction is low, and you could take action to improve it.

Marketing and Business Development KPIs

Is your current marketing strategy working? Without measuring KPIs, there’s no way of knowing. By tracking marketing metrics for your firm, you can see your marketing strategy’s performance and tweak where needed. 

Some of these metrics include:

• Organic traffic to your website
• Number of leads generated
• Conversion rates
• Acquisition costs/return on investment (ROI)

For example, if you see your website traffic trending down, some fresh content might do the trick. Or, if you see low conversion rates yet high traffic, your website isn’t inspiring potential clients to give you a call. You might need to change your call-to-actions or refresh your website.

Marketing and business development go hand-in-hand—as they’re both critical to achieving long-term growth goals.

Some examples of business development metrics to track include:

• Number of new clients each month
• Competitor pricing
• Sales cycle length
• Number of leads that turn into consultations

Profitability KPIs and Law Firm Financial Ratios

Every law firm should have a documented long-term financial strategy and profitability model. Any healthy business has a written plan to forecast revenue, expenses, net profit, and cash reserves. To ensure you follow through with your plan, track your firm’s profitability and financial KPIs.

And where should you track these KPIs? Don’t think too hard on that one. At Lawyerist, we use a Google Sheets  spreadsheet with a few simple formulas. Track anywhere that makes sense for your firm .

Next, we’ll outline how to use legal technology successfully.

Download the Full Guide on How to Start a Law Firm

With this guide, you’ll have the tools to plan, strategize, organize, finance, brand, launch, market, and run a new firm.

• Product Reviews

The original content within this website is © 2024. Lawyerist, Lawyerist Lab, TBD Law, Small Firm Dashboard, and

The Small Firm Scorecard are trademarks registered by Lawyerist Media, LLC.

Privacy policy // XML sitemap // Page ID: 1405448

Seven Sample Attorney Business Plans: Why Attorneys Must Have Business Plans

Share this article

Print/Download PDF

By  Harrison Barnes

Rate this article

2460 Reviews Average: 5 out of 5

• Business plans are a dying art, especially in the legal profession.
• Needless to say, business plans are also essential for a lawyer’s career.
• As the adage goes, if you don't plan your career, someone else will plan it for you.

Many of you work in firms that don't have a business plan for the firm as a whole , let alone your practice group or individual attorneys. And some of you are not privy to the firm's plan, even if there is one.

• If you are interested in seeing the elements of a lateral partner business plan click here: Partner Business Plans: Key Elements

Even so, that's no reason to forgo developing a plan for yourself. Remember, if you don't plan your career, someone else will plan it for you.

Have no fear. Personal business planning is not about writing a 50-page manifesto outlining every detail of every day of your professional life for the next 10 years . In fact, personal business planning can be as simple as you want to make it, as you can see here with this sample business plan for law practice PDF . You don't even have to call it a business plan -- call it a career plan if you prefer.

No matter how simple you make it or what you call it, personal business planning is about taking inventory of where you are , determining where you want to go and building a roadmap for getting there. Once you have the plan in writing, all you have to do is revisit it periodically to check your course and make any necessary adjustments.

Also, when it comes to planning, the biggest land mines are complexity and procrastination. Try to avoid creating a plan that overwhelms you or anyone you tell about it. And remember that any plan is better than no plan at all.

Strive to keep your plan simple and start taking action. As an attorney, you're well-versed in the areas of analysis and logic. In every work matter, you look at the situation and connect the dots to accomplish the desired objective. Apply the same approach to personal business planning and the dots you connect will lead you to the career you've always wanted.

• See 30 Ways to Generate Business as an Attorney for more information.

Business Plan For A Law Firm

How do i write a business plan for a law firm, what goes into a business plan, overview of the firm.

• A mission statement about the firm’s purpose.
• A vision statement or recitation of medium- and long-term goals for the firm.
• Important aspects of the firm’s history.
• Any important philosophies that the firm brings to legal practice.

Market Analysis

Do lawyers write business plans, 1. what are your goals.

• What do I want to achieve by starting my own law firm ?
• What is the impact I want to have?
• What am I good at?
• How do I want to service my clients?
• What problems do I want to help solve?
• What does success look like after starting this law firm?

2. Consider how much revenue you will need.

3. setting your fee structure, 4. determine how many cases you need to meet that revenue goal, how to create a law firm business plan, 1. executive summary.

• Mission statement: One or two sentences describing your firm’s purpose.
• Core values: What values are most important to the firm?
• Major goals: What are your firm’s overarching goals and objectives?
• Unique selling proposition: What sets your firm apart from other firms?

2. Firm Description

• Service(s): What type of law do you practice? What types of clients do you serve?
• Firm values: Restate your mission statement and core values.
• Legal structure: What sort of business entity are you? Are you in a sole proprietorship or a limited liability partnership?
• Location: Where is the office geographically located? What areas does the firm serve?
• Unique selling proposition: What makes your firm stand out? What technology or services give your firm an edge?

3. Market Analysis

• Ideal client: What demographics (like location, age, occupation), needs, and motivations would signify the best client match for your firm, and why?
• Industry description: What is the current and projected size of the market your firm is in? What are the trends in your legal niche?
• Competitive analysis: Who are your direct and indirect competitors, and how are they serving your target market? Where do your competitors succeed? What opportunities are there for your firm?
• Projections: How much can your ideal clients spend on legal services? How much can you charge?

4. Organization and Management Overview

• Describe what makes you unique and what sets you apart from other applicants.
• If applicable, include what makes each member of your team suitable for their particular roles.
• The organizational chart is a great visual aid if you have a larger practice.

5. Services

• What problems do your potential clients need your help with?
• How can your services uniquely help your clients solve their problems?
• What is the benefit of your services to clients?
• Why would potential clients choose your firm over another firm?

6. Marketing Strategy

• Ideal client: Where would you find your ideal client?
• Marketing goals: Detail what specific outcomes you hope to accomplish through marketing. Goals should include tactical objectives (more clients? Higher billing rates?) and overall objectives (like increased name recognition).
• Unique selling proposition: Restate what sets you apart and makes you uniquely able to best serve your clients.
• Competition: Detail who your competition is—and what they are doing to gain clients. Analyze their marketing strategies and assess where the cost of your services fits in with your competitors.
• Action plan: List the specific actions your firm will take to reach your target market and achieve your marketing goals (this could include a media/advertising strategy).

7. Financial Plan

• Revenue goal: How much money you want to make broken down by month.
• Financial projections: What you will really expect to earn, how many cases you think you will have the capacity to take on, and what you will be charging each client each month.
• Budget: A breakdown of your expenses and what your money will be going towards each month.
• Cash flow statement: What you actually earned and spent each month. This is different from your projections and budget and should be updated as the year progresses. You will find that you may have budgeted for something that cost you much less than you originally thought or made more in a month than you projected, these discrepancies should be recorded in your cash flow statement.

8. Start-Up Budget

• Hardware (laptops, printers, scanners, office furniture, etc.)
• Office space (Will you rent, or work from home?)
• Malpractice insurance
• Staff salaries (Are you planning to hire an administrative assistant or paralegal?)
• Utilities (Phone, internet, etc.)
• Practice management software or other technology services
• Partner Business Plans: Key Elements
• You Need to be Self-Managing and Responsible
• The Importance of Finding and Creating Demand
• The Importance of Asking the Right Questions, Self Improvement and Perception
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 1
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 2
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 3
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 4
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 5
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 6
• Attorney Business Plan Sample 7

Want to continue reading?

Become a free bcg attorney search subscriber..

Once you become a subscriber you will have unlimited access to all of BCG’s articles.

There is absolutely no cost!

Harrison Barnes does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for attorneys and law students each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can attend anonymously and ask questions about your career, this article, or any other legal career-related topics. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom

Harrison also does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for law firms, companies, and others who hire attorneys each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom

You can browse a list of past webinars here: Webinar Replays

You can also listen to Harrison Barnes Podcasts here: Attorney Career Advice Podcasts

You can also read Harrison Barnes' articles and books here: Harrison's Perspectives

Harrison Barnes is the legal profession's mentor and may be the only person in your legal career who will tell you why you are not reaching your full potential and what you really need to do to grow as an attorney--regardless of how much it hurts. If you prefer truth to stagnation, growth to comfort, and actionable ideas instead of fluffy concepts, you and Harrison will get along just fine. If, however, you want to stay where you are, talk about your past successes, and feel comfortable, Harrison is not for you.

Truly great mentors are like parents, doctors, therapists, spiritual figures, and others because in order to help you they need to expose you to pain and expose your weaknesses. But suppose you act on the advice and pain created by a mentor. In that case, you will become better: a better attorney, better employees, a better boss, know where you are going, and appreciate where you have been--you will hopefully also become a happier and better person. As you learn from Harrison, he hopes he will become your mentor.

To read more career and life advice articles visit Harrison's personal blog.

Article Categories

• Legal Recruiter ➝
• Harrison's Perspectives ➝
• Career Advice for Attorneys

Do you want a better legal career?

Hi, I'm Harrison Barnes. I'm serious about improving Lawyers' legal careers. My only question is, will it be yours?

About Harrison Barnes

Harrison is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and several companies in the legal employment space that collectively gets thousands of attorneys jobs each year. Harrison is widely considered the most successful recruiter in the United States and personally places multiple attorneys most weeks. His articles on legal search and placement are read by attorneys, law students and others millions of times per year.

Find Similar Articles:

• Attorney Business Plans
• Business Development
• Business Plans
• Develop Additional Business
• Generate Business
• Lateral Partner Business Plan
• Legal Career
• Legal Job Market
• Partner Business Plans
• Partner Resources
• Personal Business Planning

Active Interview Jobs

Featured jobs.

Location: Florida - Delray Beach

Location: Indiana - Fort Wayne

Location: Florida - Orlando

Most Viewed Jobs

Location: New Jersey - Hackensack

Location: New York - New York City

Location: Arizona - Tempe

Upload Your Resume

Upload your resume to receive matching jobs at top law firms in your inbox.

Additional Resources

• Harrison's Perspectives
• Specific Practice Areas
• The Winning Mindset

BCG Reviews

I appreciated how I felt my legal placement professional was really personable and friendly. She wanted to get in touch .... Read more >

Taeva Shefler

New York University School of Law, Class Of 2013

Harrison, thank you! I am grateful for all that you and your team have done for me. While I did not receive a direct pla.... Read more >

Michael Thicksten

University of Miami School of Law, Class Of 2014

Working with BCG gave me access to opportunities that weren't necessarily posted in the market place. The job I ended up.... Read more >

Alison Holdway

New York University School of Law, Class Of 2014

My legal placement professional was extremely personable and she was easy to relate to and easy to talk to. BCG has all .... Read more >

Scott Glassmoyer

Boston College Law School, Class Of 2007

My legal placement professional is great. She is responsive and has inside info on a bunch of openings. She applied me t.... Read more >

Alexandria Ordway

Harvard Law School, Class Of 2015

Some of my favorite things about working with BCG are that it was successful and that they are easy to work with.Working.... Read more >

Wisconsin Law School, Class Of 2005

Popular Articles by Harrison Barnes

• What is Bar Reciprocity and Which States Allow You to Waive Into the Bar?
• What Do Law Firm Titles Mean: Of Counsel, Non-Equity Partner, Equity Partner Explained
• Top 6 Things Attorneys and Law Students Need to Remove from Their Resumes ASAP
• Why Going In-house Is Often the Worst Decision a Good Attorney Can Ever Make
• Top 9 Ways For Any Attorney To Generate a Huge Book of Business

Helpful Links

• The BCG Attorney Search Guide to Basic Law Firm Economics and the Billable Hour: What Every Attorney Needs to Understand to Get Ahead
• Quick Reference Guide to Practice Areas
• Refer BCG Attorney Search to a Friend
• BCG Attorney Search Core Values
• Recent BCG Attorney Search Placements
• What Makes a World Class Legal Recruiter
• What Makes BCG Attorney Search The Greatest Recruiting Firm in the World
• Top 10 Characteristics of Superstar Associates Who Make Partner
• Off-the-Record Interview Tips From Law Firm Interviewers
• Relocating Overseas
• Writing Samples: Top-12 Frequently Asked Questions
• The 'Dark Side' of Going In-house
• "Waive" Goodbye To Taking Another Bar Exam: Typical Requirements and Tips to Effectively Manage the Waive-in Process
• Changing Your Practice Area
• Moving Your Career to Another City
• A Comprehensive Guide to Working with a Legal Recruiter
• A Comprehensive Guide to Bar Reciprocity: What States Have Reciprocity for Lawyers and Allow You to Waive into The Bar

Related Articles

Important Questions Attorneys Need to Ask Themselves Before ....

The Importance of a Great Business Plan

No Job Offer in Hand? Then You Need a Plan

Business Plans Revealed

When you use BCG Attorney Search you will get an unfair advantage because you will use the best legal placement company in the world for finding permanent law firm positions.

Don't miss out!

Submit Your Resume for Review

Register for Unlimited Access to BCG

Sign-up to receive the latest articles and alerts

Already a subscriber? Sign in here.

Home Committees, Members & Career Services Small Law Firm Center Overview Small Firm Resources Writing a Business Plan for Law Firm – Law Firm Business Plan Sample

Writing a Business Plan for Law Firm – Law Firm Business Plan Sample

Business plans for lawyers.

New York City Bar Association Small Law Firm Committee

Writing a Business Plans for Lawyers – The Non-Financial Side

1 Why write a law firm business plan?

First and foremost, it’s a Management Tool, It f orces you to think through important issues you may not otherwise consider The recipe to grow your law practice

• A roadmap, albeit a changing one, with milestones to help reach goals you already know and have yet to define
• A sales tool to obtain financing
• A sales tool when looking to form a partnership or join one
• Some parts of a business plan include stating the obvious, but should not be overlooked because they still form a part of the whole
• As you write it, ideas come, strategies unfold, beliefs you may have had change
• It also changes your mindset. You’re no longer thinking about starting a business, you’re now in the process of starting a business.
• If you write a business plan and put it away in a drawer you have not written one that is feasible or is going to do you any good. Continual updating – whether semi-annual, annual, biennial, whichever is best for you – is your own set of checks and balances.

If you are going to buy a book, look for one that offers general advice and suggestions applicable to all businesses. And, if you choose a software package, eliminate the “techy” things like their numbering system; that is a dead giveaway that you’re using a software program. Also, eliminate sections that are irrelevant!

Suggestion: Don’t just buy one from an online bookstore. Take the time go through a table of contents and thumb through.

Examples available from Barnes & Noble:

• Alpha Teach Yourself – Business Plans in 24 Hours by Michael Miller
• Successful Business Planning in 30 Days TM, 3/ed, Peter Patsula
• The Executive Summary
• Analysis of Your Market
• Description of Your Firm
• Competitors
• Your Marketing Strategy

No set formula for a successful practice

Before developing a plan for a lawyer, answer the following:

• Identify your practice niche(s)
• What skills and experience you bring to your practice
• What legal structure to use: sole proprietorship, PC, partnership, LLP, etc.
• What clients you currently have and might potentially acquire
• What clients you want
• What business and social contacts you have
• What other attorneys you can call upon to fill in practice gaps
• How your firm’s records will be kept
• What equipment and supplies will be needed
• What library and other information sources will be needed
• What insurance will be needed
• What other resources will be needed
• How you will compensate yourself
• Review your current finances re assets, current cash flow, expenses
• What financing may be needed
• What financial assets do you have
• What banking accounts will be needed
• Review your current non non-financial resources
• Identify your market
• Describe your startup plans
• Where will your office be located
• What will the name of your firm be

2 The Executive Summary

For some businesses this is the most important part of the business plan because it summarizes what the company does, where it is going and how to get there. Therefore, it must describe the company, the “product” and the market opportunities concisely.

It is written after the plan is complete but is the first and, sometimes, most important part read by investors.

How important this is for a legal business plan depends on your long and short term goals, e.g., whether they are to grow a partnership, join a firm, build up a practice that is enticing for acquisition by a larger firm, etc.

In order to provide that summary, go through a number of exercises:

• Mission statement – the firm’s purpose and what it will do
• Major goals
• Objectives/milestones needed to achieve those goals
• Vision statement – where you want to go and what you want your firm to become, not just 20 years down the road but where you want to be three or five years from now
• List what is out of your control e.g., nature of the law business, direction of the marketplace, competition, mergers and acquisitions among clients, and competitors, attorneys and firms already in place
• Analyze opportunities to face and threats
• List your firm’s specific capabilities and whatever you believe you can offer that is unique
• If you are not a solo practitioner, who is the management
• What is the legal organization
• What technology will you be capitalizing on
• What is the marketing potential
• Describe your basic strategies based on the information you have learned about the legal business, your competition and applicable markets within your field.
• Provide the basis for why you believe your strategy is the right one for your firm.
• What markers will you use to change direction
• Outline what your firm needs to make that strategy succeed
• Financial projections
• Back up of those projections with assumptions (so that they can be adjusted as necessary)
• Summary of revenues by month for at least three years
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow statement
• What actions you’re going to take to carry out the plan
• What changes will be needed or skills acquired to put the plan to work

3 Analysis of Your Market: The Legal “Business” that Affects You

Purpose: an accurate understanding of trends affecting law practice in general and your specializations, client demographics, client universe.

Keep track of impact factors, obstacles, opportunities and threats to better forecast and build the strategies.

• Identify who and what firms dominate and where they are
• What new technologies have already and may yet change the way your practice is done
• What laws and regulations have and may yet change your practice
• Describe the overall demand for your specialties
• What else besides price affects your client decisions to use your services
• What clients (people or companies) can influence your areas of practice
• Large firms, mid size, boutiques, solo practitioners
• In-house attorneys
• Government attorneys
• Divide into primary, secondary and, if necessary, tertiary levels
• Is there substitution, e.g., do it yourself or outsourcing to India
• List what is available and how it affects your practice
• Describe how technology is affecting your kind of practice
• Describe who controls the technologies that affect
• Describe how you keep up with new technology
• List all the things that will make it difficult for you to practice in your expertise and locale
• List the things that will make your exit from you area of expertise or your transition to a different one difficult
• What can relationships with suppliers do for you
• Could a supplier become a competitor, e.g.; for articles you write
• Colleagues and competitors
• Professional associations
• Community associations
• Social and business organizations
• Current and former clients
• Former employment colleagues
• Pro bono colleagues
• What ways improve your position with clients
• Does pricing affect
• What else affects your relationship
• What kind of follow up do you do after meeting someone who may be a potential client or who can introduce you
• Writing articles
• Giving speeches
• How can you use your other relationships
• What are the overall costs that affect your hourly, daily or matter rates?
• Profit margins
• What do suppliers of your technology, research, information, etc. offer by way of pricing, discounts
• Are there long term agreements that can be to your advantage/disadvantage
• Elasticity of demand for the rates you charge
• If on a regular retainer, are you realizing 100% of your hourly rate, or more/less
• Identify where the biggest costs of your practice come from
• Identify fixed and variable costs
• How to gain economies of scale
• Identify where you can lower costs
• Is the profit margin you’re working with the right one for your practice
• Describe the size of your primary market
• List the niche markets that can use your expertise
• Is your kind of practice a growing or shrinking market
• Identify new growth opportunities in your areas of expertise
• Economic slowdowns
• Changing statutes, regulations and decisions
• Social pressures
• By product, industry, size, geography
• Membership lists of trade organizations
• List of conference attendees
• By referral of current clients
• By referral of colleagues, bar association, etc.
• By referral from competitors with conflicts
• What untapped market is there
• What underserved market is there
• Trade associations made of small companies in the same field
• Part time general counsel for small companies
• Trade associations you can join and committees you can volunteer for

4 Describing and Analyzing Your Own Firm

• It’s not just a law firm.
• What’s the general history
• When was it formed and why
• What is your mission
• What are your goals
• What direct experience do you have? Your partners?
• How relevant is your experience to the current world?
• How often do you talk to prospective clients
• What do you current clients feel about you
• What is the maximum amount of business you can handle yourself without farming it out
• To whom can you farm
• Who is your backup when you are too busy, traveling on business, on vacation, sick
• What is unique about you or your practice
• Describe the areas you focus on and want to focus on
• What are the ancillary areas of law that often or usually involved or triggered by your focus area
• What need does your expertise serve
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of your areas of expertise
• Identify your own strengths and weaknesses
• Who are your clients
• Who among your clients makes the decisions to use your services
• What stage of business development are your clients in
• How sophisticated/knowledgeable are your clients
• Are your clients street smart and/or business savvy
• Do they use more than one lawyer at a time
• Long term objectives
• Short term objectives
• What problems do you face
• What problems do your clients face
• What do you consider milestones
• What are the legal (statutory, regulatory & case law) trends that will affect it
• What are the technological trends that will affect it
• What are the economic trends that will affect it
• What potential risks and opportunities to be faced?
• Do you use innovative technology
• Do you offer superior client care/service
• Is your hourly, daily, or matter pricing lower than the “norm”
• Is there a small group of firms or attorneys who offer the same expertise or specialization
• Are you well known for a book, a speech, an article, news coverage, etc.
• Are you a trade association or bar association director or active participan
• Do a SWOT Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

Strengths & Weaknesses are vis à vis your competitors, rather than your own history Focus on current competition and potential competition

• Are there advantages to your expertise areas
• What do you enjoy doing
• What resources to you have access to
• What do others see as your strengths
• What can you improve
• What don’t you do well
• What should you avoid
• Do others perceive a weakness you don’t agree with
• Are your competitors doing better than you
• How can you meet a potential client
• What are the good opportunities – are they new areas, new statutes & regulations, etc.
• How can changes in technology help you
• How can changes (or no changes) in government policy affect your area of expertise
• Are there changes in social patterns or lifestyle that can help
• What opportunities can open if a weakness is eliminated
• Family/emotional/physical challenges
• Technological challenges
• What is your competition doing you are not
• How can technological changes threaten you

5 Competitive Analysis and Target Market

• List law firm/solo practice trends
• List direct competition
• List indirect competition
• Describe the extent of the unserved market for your kind of legal services
• Who is your client/customer
• What is your price
• Profile your primary customer
• Traits: geographics, demographics, psychograhics
• List client needs
• Describe how your fill those needs
• List primary, secondary and tertiary competitors
• What services do they offer in addition to yours
• What do they charge
• How do competitor firms sell their services
• What are the competitor strengths
• What are the competitor weaknesses
• What size competes with you
• What other specialties do they offer
• Who are they representing
• What is their pricing
• What are their operational strengths and weaknesses
• Are they adequately financed
• How do your competitors advertise or promote themselves
• What are their conflicts
• How does your competition market itself
• Competitive Identification
• Direct competitor – offers the same benefit
• Indirect competitor – services the client can get instead of yours
• Visit and read competitor websites and their advertising, including separate websites by individual partners
• Subscribe to competitor law firm online or other newsletters
• Does it use innovative technology
• Does it offer superior client care/service
• Is its hourly, daily, or matter pricing lower than the “norm”
• Are they well known for a book, a speech, an article, news coverage, etc.
• Are they trade association or bar association directors or active participants

Generate similar info for potential clients to help identify the target that will be most interested in you

A marketing plan must have a detailed description of the target market for your services, an analysis of the trends and conditions of that marketplace and how the trends affect that marketplace

• Total size of targeted market
• Historical current and projected growth rates
• What social, economic &political changes could affect it and your services
• Describe recent developments in the law that affect your areas of expertise
• Are there identifiable niches
• What or will be your clients’ needs and wants
• How will potential customers find out about you
• What kind of marketing, if any, are your clients and potential clients receptive to
• What do existing clients like best about your services
• Are your target clients consumers, businesses or both
• Demographics, psychographics, legal service purchasing habits
• When and how does the client decide to use a lawyer & find a lawyer
• Does your potential client use the Internet, bar association, trade association, business referral, family referral, friend referral, etc. to find a lawyer
• What is your client’s level of education and occupation
• Are they Fortune 1000,500, 100, mid size or smaller
• Is your client industry specialized and do you know that industry
• Does the client use more than one lawyer or law firm
• How long does the client take to decide to use a lawyer
• Does more than one person at the client make the decisions to use a lawyer, and if so who are they
• Is the person who decides who is going to provide legal services the one who is going to receive those services
• What influences your client’s decision to retain a lawyer
• Is using a lawyer optional, a necessity or a luxury
• Is a lawyer needed all year round, seasonal or ad hoc
• How and how well do your clients market themselves

6 Marketing & Strategy

Once you analyze your client needs you can build a comprehensive marketing strategy,

• What is it you intend to accomplish
• What is the amount of increase in clients and/or billing that you want to achieve
• Make each goal measurable and explain each one specifically
• Set each goal to a planned schedule
• Be able and prepared to assess all components to revise when necessary
• Compare these goals to what you believe your competitors’ goals to be
• Tactical objectives = measurable tasks
• Create client value
• Name recognition among your clients and potential clients
• Client retention
• Attracting partners or merging into a bigger firm
• Create a timeline for the objectives or events
• Determine the time frame for the plan, e.g., every six months, every year, etc.
• Describe the need for your services from the client’s POV
• Define the impact on the client of your services
• Ask whether your clients currently obtain this service more cost-effectively than you can provide it
• Describe what would compel clients to change from the lawyers they are using to you or to add you to their lawyer rosters
• E.g., how you will use that list of relationships
• Marketing Mix – Networking, Advertising, Promotion, PR
• Inserts in papers
• Bus, taxi, etc. ads
• Space in professional and trade publications
• Street banners
• New resident welcome kits
• Trade and trade association show directories and handouts
• Trade and trade association show sponsorships
• Coupon mailers
• Press releases
• Sponsorship
• CRM (customer relationship marketing)
• Cost based = cost plus profit margin
• Cost plus profit = cost plus fixed percentage markup
• Market based = use the market norm and add or subtract
• Ask what the highest price your target market can bear
• Determine the price elasticity for your kind of legal services
• Should you offer an introductory rate
• Age of business
• Premises/location
• Competition
• Cost to acquire a client

• Privacy Overview
• Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Law Firm Business Development Plan

Written by: [YOUR NAME]

I. Executive Summary

In the ever-evolving legal landscape of 2050 and beyond, it is imperative for [YOUR COMPANY NAME] to continuously adapt and innovate to maintain its competitive edge. This Law Firm Business Development Plan serves as a strategic roadmap to drive client acquisition efforts and foster sustainable growth.

II. Introduction

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] , a leading provider of legal services, is committed to delivering exceptional value to clients across various industries. Our team of experienced attorneys combines legal expertise with business acumen to address complex challenges and deliver favorable outcomes. With a track record of success and a dedication to client satisfaction, we are poised to capitalize on emerging opportunities and expand our market presence.

III. Objectives

Client Acquisition: Expand our client base by targeting new markets and industries. This includes increasing our presence in emerging sectors such as technology, healthcare, and renewable energy.

Revenue Growth: Achieve a 20% increase in annual revenue through strategic business development initiatives. This growth will be driven by a combination of new client acquisitions and enhanced service offerings.

Brand Enhancement: Enhance our firm's reputation and visibility through targeted marketing and thought leadership activities. By positioning ourselves as industry experts and trusted advisors, we aim to attract high-value clients and differentiate ourselves from competitors.

Relationship Management: Strengthen existing client relationships to foster long-term loyalty and maximize retention rates. By providing exceptional service and proactive communication, we will deepen our connections with clients and become their preferred legal partner.

IV. Client Acquisition Strategy

A. market analysis.

Identify Emerging Opportunities	Conduct thorough market research to identify emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges.	Q1 2050
Competitor Analysis	Evaluate competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.	Q1 2050
Target Market Identification	Define target demographics and industries with high growth potential.	Q2 2050

B. Targeted Marketing Campaigns

Tailored Messaging	Develop tailored marketing campaigns with messaging that resonates with target audiences.	Q2 2050
Multi-channel Approach	Utilize a combination of digital marketing channels and traditional channels to reach prospects.	Q3 2050
Collaboration and Partnerships	Partner with industry associations, trade organizations, and referral networks.	Q4 2050

C. Thought Leadership Initiatives

Content Creation	Produce high-quality thought leadership content, including articles, whitepapers, and blog posts.	Ongoing
Educational Events	Host webinars, seminars, and speaking engagements to share knowledge and expertise.	Ongoing
Social Media Engagement	Leverage social media platforms to share valuable content and engage with our audience.	Ongoing

D. Networking and Relationship Building

Attend Industry Events	Actively participate in industry events, conferences, and networking gatherings.	Ongoing
Client Engagement	Cultivate relationships with existing clients through regular communication and personalized outreach.	Ongoing
Referral Programs	Develop referral programs and incentives to encourage existing clients and professional contacts to refer new business.	Ongoing

V. Implementation Plan

A. timeline.

Market Research	Q1 2050	Q2 2050
Marketing Strategy Development	Q2 2050	Q3 2050
Thought Leadership Content Creation	Ongoing	Ongoing
Networking and Relationship Building	Ongoing	Ongoing

B. Responsibilities

, Managing Partner	Overall oversight and strategic direction.
Marketing Team	Execution of marketing campaigns, content creation, and social media engagement.
Business Development Team	Networking, relationship building, and client engagement activities.

VI. Monitoring and Evaluation

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Regularly track KPIs such as new client acquisitions, revenue growth, client satisfaction scores, and engagement metrics for thought leadership content.

Performance Reviews: Conduct periodic reviews to assess the effectiveness of implemented strategies and initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and make necessary adjustments to optimize outcomes.

Feedback Mechanisms: Solicit feedback from clients and internal stakeholders to evaluate client experiences, identify areas for improvement, and refine our approach accordingly.

VII. Conclusion

In conclusion, this Law Firm Business Development Plan outlines [YOUR COMPANY NAME] 's commitment to proactive growth and client-centric service delivery. By executing targeted client acquisition strategies, fostering strong client relationships, and positioning ourselves as trusted advisors and thought leaders, we aim to drive sustainable growth and become the go-to legal partner for clients in the dynamic legal landscape of 2050 and beyond.

Plan Templates @ Template.net

Election latest: Farage on defensive after supporters caught on camera making racist, murderous and homophobic remarks

Rishi Sunak has spoken out after a Reform UK supporter was filmed making racist comments about him - with party leader Nigel Farage forced on to the defensive. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from a Labour colleague's previous criticism of Donald Trump.

Friday 28 June 2024 19:37, UK

• General Election 2024

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

• Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue is live - watch and follow
• Sunak: Farage supporter using racial slur 'makes me angry'
• Farage on defensive after supporters filmed making racist, murderous and homophobic comments
• Police 'urgently assessing' comments to see if 'criminal offences' committed
• Reform UK racism and homophobia scandal: What do we know?
• Analysis : Sunak's tetchiness over betting scandal speaks volumes
• Rylan would 'love' to get into politics
• Politics at Jack and Sam's : The last weekend
• Live reporting by Ben Bloch

Election essentials

• Manifesto pledges: Conservatives | Greens | Labour | Lib Dems | Plaid | Reform | SNP
• Trackers:  Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Campaign Heritage:  Memorable moments from elections gone by
• Follow Sky's politics podcasts:  Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more:  Who is standing down? | Key seats to watch | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency is changing | Guide to election lingo
• How to watch election on Sky News

Next on Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue , we are hearing from Labour's shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation, Sarah Jones.

We ask first for her reaction to the racist and homophobic comments made by Reform UK activists, captured on camera, and she says it's "really grim for our politics in the middle of an election to hear such awful things".

She says Nigel Farage, the party leader, should question "what kind of party" he is running, and if such sentiments are widespread within Reform UK.

"But the fact that these comments were made openly and without anybody thinking that they would be challenged is quite extraordinary. And there's no room for those kinds of views in politics.

"And I hope that Nigel Farage looks very carefully at the party that he's leading and the leadership he's providing, that he's enabling people to feel it's okay for them to say those kinds of horrible things."

Asked what exactly she thinks Mr Farage should do, Ms Jones replies: "If he is serious, which it doesn't appear that he is actually because he's flip-flopping between saying, well, these comments were wrong and then saying, well, it was implying it was some kind of set up.

"He needs to own what's happened. Take responsibility for it, and stamp anything like that out within his party.

"And I think the scrutiny that he's now under is good. It's quite right that we're looking at him and understanding what he thinks about the world and about, about all these issues."

Finally, we ask Tory candidate and former defence secretary Sir Liam Fox what he made of the debate between presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden last night.

He says he "did not find it an encouraging spectacle".

"It did not look as though Biden was properly focussed on the subjects that he was being asked about. And Donald Trump wasn't exactly sticking to the issues either."

More broadly, he notes that countries like Iran, Russia, and China will have been watching, and "they will be taking from that debate that President Biden didn't appear to be properly focussed".

"His team have said that he was perhaps unwell. Perhaps he had a cold. But if I were a Democrat in the United States today, I would be taking a long, hard look at whether there was a potential other candidate."

As election day approaches, conversations are starting to happen about who could become a caretaker Tory leader in the event the Tories lose and Rishi Sunak subsequently quits.

Former cabinet minister and current Tory candidate Sir Liam Fox has been mooted as a potential interim leader, and we ask him next if he would consider the role.

He tells Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue : "I've always thought, as a doctor, it's a very good idea not to have a post-mortem while the patient's still alive.

"So let the voters make their own judgements next Thursday. And we'll deal with the circumstances we have afterwards."

Pushed on if it is something he would be hypothetically comfortable with, given that his name is being bandied around, he replies: "Well, it's very flattering, but, as I say, we have to wait and let the voters make the decisions."

The first guest on tonight's edition of Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue  is Sir Liam Fox, Conservative candidate and former defence secretary.

We ask first for his reaction to the racist and homophobic comments made by Reform UK activists, captured on camera, and he describes them as "horrible" and "disgraceful".

He also notes that party leader Nigel Farage claimed earlier in the campaign that Rishi Sunak "doesn't understand our culture".

"When you have that sort of dog whistle politics, you shouldn't be surprised if occasionally the dog bites you."

Asked if he thinks there is a wider problem within the Reform Party, he says he is "not really qualified" to make that judgement, but "that sort of way of speaking about other people has no place in our politics".

"I think that we've now seen Reform exposed," he adds, and points to Mr Farage's previous comments saying the west "provoked" Putin into invading Ukraine.

He says Reform is "an unsuitable party to be represented in the House of Commons".

Pushed on if the problem goes deeper in the party, Sir Liam says: "Well, it does seem to be a broader problem because we've seen it from a number of candidates, some of the things that we put out on social media."

"It does strike me that this is a group that is actually appealing to some of the most unpleasant and base instincts of parts of the country. And I hope that voters totally reject them.

"I think that their view of Britain is a distorted one, just as their view of the world is a distorted one."

Asked if he would say Reform UK is institutionally racist, he says it's "a deeply unpleasant party" with "deeply unpleasant individuals" and a "really quite dangerous" would view.

With just days until the general election, I think today was the most raw and angry we have seen the prime minister.

He talked about his daughters and about protecting his family as he responded to a recording of an activist from Reform, calling him, as Sunak himself put it, a "P***".

Nigel Farage said the comments caught on an undercover camera were very wrong but went on to claim it was part of a "set up".

But the Reform leader, so often on the attack, is on the defence.

The question being asked now: does the Reform party have a deeper problem?

Our daily politics show  Politics Hub  is live now on Sky News with our  political correspondent  Ali Fortescue  hosting this evening.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Joining Ali tonight:

• Sir Liam Fox , Conservative candidate and former defence secretary;
• Sarah Jones , Labour shadow minister for industry;
• Claire Ainsley , former adviser to Sir Keir Starmer.

And on her panel are:

• Mercy Muroki , former adviser to Kemi Badenoch;
• Ben Bradshaw , former Labour MP for Exeter and cabinet minister.

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

Watch  Politics Hub  from 7pm every night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on the  Sky News website  and  app  or on  YouTube .

With less than a week to go until election day, Rishi Sunak has a mountain to climb, with a new MRP poll putting his party on course to win just 85 seats.

Labour are forecast to win a whopping 470 seats and become the largest party in Scotland for the first time in over a decade, the new poll by Survation says.

Here are the full results from the survey:

• Labour: 470 seats
• Conservatives: 85 seats
• Liberal Democrats: 56 seats
• SNP: 12 seats
• Reform UK: 4 seats
• Plaid Cymru: 3 seats
• Green Party: 2 seats

The analysis is based on 23,364 interviews conducted between 15 and 27 June 2024.

In Scotland, Labour is predicted to win 37 seats, while the SNP will crash down to 12.

By Tomos Evans , Wales reporter

A minister in the Welsh government is set to be censured after he posted that Conservatives were "happy" to see "children killed".

He made the comments on the social media platform  X , in response to the party's opposition to the 20mph rollout.

The Welsh government  changed the default speed limit  in built-up areas in September last year.

It recently announced it was carrying out a review and that  some roads might be changed back  later in the year.

Mick Antoniw has been the government's counsel general, its top legal job, since 2021.

The Senedd's standards commissioner received a complaint about a post by Mr Antoniw.

"Tories so happy to see people and particularly children killed and injured on our roads. Wholly irresponsible but not surprising," the post stated.

The commissioner considered the comment to be offensive and Mr Antoniw accepted the assessment when contacted by him.

Mr Antoniw publicly apologised and deleted the post.

Read the full story here:

Our daily politics show  Politics Hub  will be live on Sky News from 7pm with our  political correspondent  Ali Fortescue  hosting this evening.

Joining Ali tonight are:

The general secretaries of big trade unions got their chequebooks out and handed over nearly £2m to the Labour Party as election day approaches.

Once again, cash is pouring into Sir Keir Starmer's party, with donations totalling £3.3m last week, compared to just £375,000 for the Conservative Party.

The latest weekly league table of political donations, published by the Electoral Commission, confirms that cash is rolling in to Labour and Tory donors are on strike.

Nearly half of Labour's £3.3m donations last week came in a £1.49m cheque from the public sector union Unison, the country's biggest union with 1.3m members.

The shopworkers' union Usdaw handed over a donation of £300,000 and another of £14,500. Community donated £25,000, the GMB £14,320, the Fire Brigades Union £11,725.

The most eye-catching Tory donation listed by the Electoral Commission was £18,000 from Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister with leadership ambitions.

Sources have told Sky News, however, that in fact the donation to national party funds came not from Mr Jenrick personally, but from his Tory association in Newark, where he is the candidate.

With their donors on strike, nearly half the Tories' £375,000 in donations last week came from the party's own fundraising, with £170,000 coming from proceeds from a spring lunch and a party lottery.

Donations to the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, higher than those to the Tories the previous week, were down. The Lib Dems received £193,945 and Reform UK just £99,000, including £20,000 from Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins.

The latest figures confirm that the Conservatives' election war chest under Rishi Sunak’s leadership is almost bare, and their finances are as dire as their opinion poll ratings.

In the previous week the Tories received £292,500 in donations, while Labour received a breathtaking £4,383,400, largely due to a £2.5m cheque from Lord Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty.

A week ago, therefore, Sir Keir's party appeared to be relying more on millionaires than union barons for its election fighting fund. That has now changed, and normal service has been resumed.

Here is the full list of candidates standing in the Newark constituency:

• Michael Ackroyd, Green Party
• Saj Ahmad, Labour Party
• Adrian Charles Amer, Independent Network
• Matthew Darrington, English Democrats
• Lyn Gailbraith, Indepedent
• Robert Jenrick, Conservative Party
• Robert Palmer, Reform UK
• Collan Siddique, Workers Party of Great Britain
• David Watts, Liberal Democrats

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free