You have firmly decided that you will create your own legal business, theoretically and morally prepared for possible difficulties at the initial stages, prepared start-up capital ... But if you open your own business for the first time, then you are still not immune from making banal mistakes that most beginners go through entrepreneurs.

Do not stuff bumps on personal experience. Use our tips on how to start a legal business from scratch and what mistakes to avoid.

At the heart of all these mistakes is one problem - a lawyer who is just starting his business is ready to attract “at least some” clients at any cost and take on every case.

So, what not to do in the early stages, if you do not want to kill the nascent business:

    1. Immediately rent an office

      Office space is, of course, solid and business-like. But these are significant additional expenses. At the first stage, when you do not yet have an established customer base, such expenses are simply not appropriate. You don’t want to work to pay the rent of the office, or even in the red? Moreover, the lack of an office can even be turned into competitive advantage, offering clients the departure of a specialist to a place convenient for them.

    2. Invest in marketing without developing a strategy

      It’s good if, before registering an individual entrepreneur or organization, you carefully thought out a business development strategy for at least a year in advance. Then you only need to stick to the plan, directing all the resources to its implementation. But if you are still looking for the right organizational form, business models, specializations - in a word, you have not yet planned what and how you will do and what goal you will reach in a year - do not invest in marketing. With a probability of 90% it will be a waste of money. At the first stages, it is necessary to rationally use free and low-cost methods of attracting customers.

    3. Engage in a large number of services and work with all

      Would you trust your health to a cardiologist who works part-time as a dentist three days a week and replaces the surgeon during operations on weekends? Would you send your child to be trained by a tutor who teaches geography, algebra, chemistry, French, and singing?
      Not? What is in doubt in these examples? The fact that you can not be an expert in everything at the same time! And a lawyer is, in fact, the same generalized concept as “doctor” or “teacher”. The client needs an expert in the problematic area for him, and not a “generalist”. In addition, spraying on all categories of clients and areas of law will in any case affect the quality of your services negatively.

It is important to understand that at the heart of all these errors is one problem - a lawyer who is just starting his business is ready to attract “at least some” clients at any cost and take on every task. In fact, from the first days, you should strive not for clients to choose you, but for you to be able to freely choose only good clients for yourself.

How to start legal business from scratch : step by step plan

Below we offer you a step-by-step plan for building legal business.

After carefully studying the question of how to open law firm, you can avoid the mistakes of predecessors and build profitable business.

Capital investments - from 500,000 rubles.
Payback - 1 year.

The profession of a lawyer has been considered one of the most profitable and promising for many years.

Thousands of applicants choose law as their main specialty, but not all of them find a job that suits them after graduation.

You can avoid the collapse of all hopes if you carefully study the issue, how to start a law firm.

There are plenty of private law firms in any city today, but not all of them provide quality services and can boast of having qualified specialists on staff.

If you avoid the mistakes of your predecessors, you can build a profitable business.

Who Should Start a Law Business?

There are many types entrepreneurial activity which can be practiced without special education.

But coming into the legal business without a special education is very bold, because you will in no way be able to control the work of your subordinates and risk losing your law office at one fine moment.

It is best to try to open a legal business to people with a legal education and work experience who are tired of working for someone and dream of their own business.

If we take into account the number of graduates of law faculties who annually graduate from domestic universities, we see that there are enough such people.

If you have enough money to start a business and dream of owning your own law firm, you can invest in it using lawyers as employees.

Although this path is associated with certain difficulties.

For example, the inability to act as a lawyer in a criminal trial or difficulties with quality control of the work of subordinates.

What activities should a law firm provide in order to become profitable?


Before you start the registration procedure, decide what services your law firm will provide.

To maximize profits and client base formed quickly, you should involve in your consultation lawyers who would specialize in:

    legal disputes.

    It often happens that the state interferes in the affairs of private entrepreneurs or another businessman, trying to snatch a tasty morsel, violates the rights of another entrepreneur.
    Lawyers will be able to defend the rights of your clients in legal disputes.

    Family litigation.

    In the US and Europe, family law lawyers are rarely out of work and make huge profits handling divorce, probate or child custody cases.
    We also have a wide field for the activities of specialists in family law.

    Registration procedure.

    The legislation of Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries is so imperfect, and bureaucracy and corruption flourishes so luxuriantly that aspiring entrepreneurs cannot do without legal assistance during, OOO or.

    Criminal law.

    People with money who are accused of a criminal offense prefer to pay for the services of a highly qualified private lawyer, rather than being content with a public defender.

    Notary services.

    Registration and re-registration of property, confirmation of the accuracy of copies of documents and translations of documents from / to foreign language, issuance of certificates, etc.

    Collectorship.

    This does not mean that you will have to knock out debts.
    Your task is to explain to the debtor instead of the borrower what threatens him with non-payment of debts in accordance with the legislation of the country.

    Intellectual Property Legislation.

    Relatively new, but very promising field for the activities of law firms.

Nuances of legal business

The first rule of business is to make money, no matter how other rules get in the way.
Mikhail Mamchich

Figuring out how to open a law office is not so difficult, especially if you yourself are a lawyer and know this kitchen from the inside.

And yet, the legal business, like any other, has its own nuances that should be remembered:

  1. The competition in this sector is quite high, so you definitely need to take care of the competent formation of competitive advantages:
    • payment for your services in installments;
    • discounts for regular customers;
    • convenient office location;
    • a wide range of legal services you provide;
    • acceptable pricing policy, etc.
  2. You can open as an office that provides some specialized services, for example, specializes in family law, or you can open a law firm that will help in any matter related to jurisprudence.

    Experts advise choosing the second option, although the opening of such a business requires large investments.

  3. Any law firm needs a manager who will deal with administrative issues, advertise the business, look for new clients, etc.

    He doesn't have to have legal education, but simply must be a great manager.

  4. Aiming at the legal business, it is imperative to form a long-term strategy.
    This is the only way to recoup capital investments in a short time and occupy your niche in the market.
  5. You should approach the law firm as carefully as possible, especially given the high level of competition in the market.

    You should not only calculate how much money you will need to open a business, focusing on prices in your city, but also conduct a preliminary market analysis: calculate the number of competitors, find out about the solvency of citizens, what legal services are lacking, etc.

How to find clients for your law firm?


The main difficulty faced by those who are thinking about how to open a law firm is the need to build a client base in a short time in order to earn money.

Indeed, with such a high level of competition and a modest average level of well-being of citizens, it can be difficult to find a way to customers.

To achieve success, the management of a law firm must act in different directions:

  1. Good advertising campaign.
    Should:
    • involve the media;
    • place ads on billboards, banners, in public transport;
    • leave your leaflets and brochures in banks, shopping centers, government agencies;
    • use the Internet (contextual advertising on websites and social networks).
  2. Bypassing potential customers with offers of their services.
    These can be office centers, banking institutions, large shopping centers and much more.
  3. Creating your own website with a list of services, prices, information about your lawyers.
    The main thing is to order the creation of a site and writing texts to a good SEO specialist, because if your site remains “invisible” to search engines, then you will waste money on it.
  4. Cooperation on paid basis with those who can help you in finding potential clients: law enforcement officers, ship clerks, tax officials, bankers, etc.
  5. Word of mouth radio.
    Your legal office should provide its services in such a way that all clients (both large and small) are satisfied.
    Only in this way they will not only become your regular customers of services, but will also recommend you to all their friends and acquaintances.

How to open a law firm: timetable


It is not difficult to open a legal consultation office if you yourself are a lawyer and have a sufficient amount of capital investment. In this case, it is quite possible to accept the first client in 3 months.

If you encounter certain difficulties (you will not immediately find a suitable premises, you will be forced to look for a partner who will share the financial hardships with you, etc.), then starting a business can take longer: six months or more.

The optimal time for opening a law firm is 5 months:

StageJanFebMarAprMay
registration
Premises rent and repair
Purchase of furniture and office equipment
Recruitment
Site creation
Advertising
Opening

Registration of a legal business


As we have already found out, anyone can open a law firm, even without a legal education.

Legal business is not subject to licensing, but registration is.

To begin with, you have to choose one of the forms (IP or LLC).

Experienced lawyers still advise opening a legal consultation office as an LLC, because this gives a wider field for activity.

To, you must have a legal address.

Be sure to select the system by which you will pay taxes.

The best option for an LLC is the simplified tax system with one of the interest rates:

  • 6% of income;
  • 15% of income, the rate of which is reduced from expenses.

If you yourself are a lawyer, then there should be no problems with the registration procedure - you can easily collect the required package of documents, as well as prepare the premises in which you are going to open a law firm for inspections by the SES and the Fire Service.

They must give their permission to operate the office.

Premises where you can open a law firm


You need to look not only for the ideal premises in order to open a law firm, but also to take care of advantageous location your office.

You can not organize your business somewhere on the outskirts, it is better to choose the central part of the city.

Also make sure that the entrance to your office is from the street - serious clients will not look for you for a long time in the yards.

The size of the office space directly depends on whether you want to open a large law firm and how many lawyers you will work with.

Let's say you intend to open an office in which 2 lawyers would work, which means you need a room with total area at least 70 square meters to equip 3 offices (for you and two lawyers), a hall with a secretary's work place and a waiting area, a small kitchenette (to prepare tea and coffee for your clients) and a bathroom.

Each lawyer should have his own separate office (you, as a manager, of course, too), because attorney-client secrecy must be preserved.

Even if you're renting rather than buying a space, be sure to give it a good refurbishment to impress serious clients.

Keep it concise business style: contrast of light and dark shades, lack of flashy colors, natural materials, etc.

If you're on a budget, hire an interior designer to spruce up your office.

Equipment you can't open a law firm without


The list of equipment for a law firm will not differ much from any office space.

You will need desks with chairs, filing cabinets, office equipment, etc.

And you also need to equip the hall with furniture (best of all - sofas), where customers will expect an audience.

You should not buy the cheapest or second-hand furniture - this can alienate money customers.

About 300,000 rubles should be allocated for the office environment, in which 2 lawyers + secretary + manager will work, and the purchase of equipment:

Item of expensesQtyCost (in rubles)Amount (in rubles)
Total: 280 000 rub.
Computers or laptops
4 20 000 80 000
Printer (3 in 1)
2 10 000 20 000
Air conditioner
4 15 000 60 000
tables
4 3 000 12 000
Chairs and office chairs
8 2 000 16 000
Sofa in the reception area
1 20 000 20 000
Cabinets and racks
8 3 000 24 000
Plumbing for the bathroom
15 000 15 000
Kitchen equipment
20 000 20 000
Other 13 000 13 000

How to open a law firm: personnel


Even if you have a law degree and are going to work by profession, it is not too smart to think about how to open a law office without involving other specialists.

You are better off taking on administrative and advertising functions, focusing on the PR campaign for your firm and finding clients.

It is better to transfer accounting functions to an outsourcing company, whose services will cost you about 5,000 rubles a month.

For normal operation law firm, you need to hire at least two lawyers, a secretary, a system administrator and a cleaner.

Paying for staff services in a small town will cost you about 100,000 rubles a month:

QtySalary (in rubles)Total (in rubles)
RUB 110,000
Lawyers2 30 000 60 000
System Administrator1 20 000 20 000
Secretary1 15 000 15 000
Cleaning woman1 10 000 10 000
Outsourced bookkeeping 5 000 5 000

How much does it cost to open a law firm?


Entering the legal business is not cheap.

To do this, it is necessary to have a decent amount of capital investment, moreover, than more city where you are going to work, and the larger the office you want to organize, the higher the costs you expect.

For example, to open a law firm in an office with a total area of ​​70 square meters, with two lawyers and a secretary in a small town (population 200-300 thousand people), you must have at least 500,000 rubles.

To feel safe at the initial stage of starting a business, you should put in the start-up capital the amount necessary to pay staff salaries, pay for office rent, advertising, etc.

Starting a legal business from scratch is not easy; it will take about six months to develop a client base.

On the peculiarities of doing legal business

also described in the video:

Is it profitable to try to open a legal business?


A legal business can be both profitable and ruin its owner. It all depends on you and your ability to build a client base.

In fact, jurisprudence is a fairly profitable occupation, if you look at the approximate cost of the services of offices in small towns:

But rates for corporate clients much higher than for individuals.

What can we say about litigation.

On average, law firms, even in medium-sized cities, can generate income from 220,000 rubles.

If you subtract the costs of maintaining the business, then the owner of the company is left with about 50,000 rubles of net profit.

Even with such indicators, it is realistic to make the business self-sustaining in 1 year.

And if you form a large client base and get several large clients from the face of large entrepreneurs, then your monthly profit will be from 100,000 rubles.

All this indicates that legal business- a profitable occupation, if you approach its organization with all care.

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  • Legal orientation of the company
  • Most requested services
  • Organizational financial costs
  • Registration Features
  • Business payback

The law firm is an attractive business, despite great amount private offices and large companies providing legal support. If flower shop business plan or real estate agencies can be easily found on the Internet, then the organizational chart of such an office requires a paid download. You can also buy a franchise worth from 180,000 rubles, but in reality there is nothing tricky in this matter. Below we will provide a ready-made law firm business plan with 2019 calculations.

Legal orientation of the company

To open a legal business, it is important to decide what services the firm will provide. The trend in this area today is a narrow specialization, for example, representing the interests of the military, sailors, providing advice and doing business in the field of property relations. Not least in terms of profitability is the protection of clients in criminal cases.

To determine the most profitable line of business, a business plan requires taking into account the features economic development region, locality professions that prevail in it. It is also desirable to monitor competitors, to determine what legal offices in the city are doing. This is necessary in order to quickly, without wasting time and money, occupy your niche in the market. legal services.

Despite the huge number of law firms and agencies, it is quite difficult to find really high-quality legal support. Many professionals aspire to open a luxury office, not realizing that it will not affect in any way professional level and will work only in the representative plane, and this is only 20% of success.

Most requested services

According to statistics, the list of the most popular legal services is as follows:

  • court and arbitration;
  • consulting in the field of tax law;
  • corporate right;
  • due diligence;
  • development of shareholder agreements, contracts;
  • support of equity transactions;
  • registration and liquidation of business entities;
  • support of bankruptcy processes;
  • consultations and legal support in the field of economic activity.

May be of interest: An oyster farm in Crimea is a very profitable business!

All of the above are in the greatest demand and you can earn impressive money on these services if write a good business plan.

Organizational financial costs

A law firm does not require significant expenses. Starting capital will go to the following needs:

  • Office rent 8,000–30,000 per month. It all depends on the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room and its location.
  • Repair of the premises, but it is advisable to rent an office ready for work - 20,000–30,000 rubles.
  • Purchase of furniture - 40,000–50,000.
  • Office equipment 60,000–70,000.
  • Advertising campaign - 10,000-100,000. In principle, there can be no restrictions here, since a start-up law firm needs an active, powerful start. An excellent PR move would be the organization of a call center, where 2-3 specialists will provide free consultations to callers, turning them into potential customers.
  • Creation of a website - 50,000 rubles. This is a weighted average price, and more can be invested in this powerful business engine.

In total, the organization of a legal agency will require 188,000–330,000 rubles. At the same time, you can save on renting premises by traveling to clients or renting conference rooms or offices for short periods of time. Main value companies in this case are specialists. It is they who ensure the success of the enterprise by brilliant conduct of business.

Some resources provide business plans, where the amount of initial investment exceeds 1,000,000 rubles. It all depends on the region where the law firm operates, staffing, legal orientation.

Download detailed law office business plan you can with our partners. The quality of calculations is guaranteed!

Registration Features

Registration of the company here you can do yourself or attract for this specialized organization. The cost of its services is in the range of 10,000-15,000 rubles.

The optimal scheme for registering a law firm looks like this:

  • Organizational form of ownership of LLC.
  • The taxation system is simplified with a tax rate of 15%. Which is calculated according to the scheme "income minus expenses".
  • OKVED - 74.1 - activities in the field of law, services in the field accounting and audit. Providing advice on issues commercial activities and enterprise management.

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Sample application to the tax authorities for status assignment legal entity and list required documents located on the official website of the fiscal authorities.

Business payback

A powerful advertising campaign, brilliant work of specialists promise to pay off the business plan within 6 months after the start of activity. At the same time, payment from one client should be equal to 45,000 rubles and the number of contracts should be from 5 monthly.

It is important to remember here that the high-quality work of lawyers is quite expensive, so you should not skimp and infringe on employees in terms of wages. Otherwise, motivated specialists will leave, and mediocre performers will come in their place. It does not hurt to motivate staff with bonuses. Therefore, there is no need to chase profits and the desire to quickly recoup a business plan, because a law firm lives mainly on authority, which money cannot buy.

For a successful recruitment indeed good specialists We recommend reading the article on the topic " Algorithm for conducting an interview».

The following indicators can serve as a goal for business development:

  • Office in a prestigious area of ​​the city - 40 m2.
  • Staff consisting of 9 specialists, including secretaries, paralegals.
  • The annual turnover of funds is 14,000,000 rubles.
  • Net profit - 6,000,000 rubles.

This can be achieved if implemented correctly. organizational chart, already after 4 years of activity with minimal initial investment.

Sooner or later, every hired lawyer thinks about creating his own legal advice. Absence career development, problems with superiors or a fixed low income with a large amount of work may be the reasons for the desire to work for yourself.

And the endless stream of customers, mostly due to the illiteracy of our population or constantly changing laws, which are simply impossible to keep track of. ordinary person not related to this industry, makes this type of activity very attractive for generating income.

After working for several years in an office that provides legal services, you can get a very clear understanding of what kind of consultations are in demand among the population. Based on this experience, you can make a list of the most profitable services and implement them in your future company.

But is it only a lawyer who can open his own business in this area, and is it so easy to bring this idea to life? So, how to open a legal office?

If the presence of the phrase “legal advice” in the name of your organization is not important, the opening process will be a little easier. Theoretically, to create a firm that provides All you need is money savings and determination.

However, it is much easier to start such a business having not only a higher legal education, but also experience as a lawyer.

If it is necessary to create a legal advice office, the requirements become more stringent. In addition to having the appropriate education, you will need to obtain the status of a lawyer, because only they can use the phrase “legal advice” in the names of the offices being created.

For getting similar status it will take some time to work as an assistant lawyer, get permission to take the exam and pass it, take the oath. With the successful passage of the path of becoming a lawyer, you can begin to study the instructions for opening your own office.

Procedure for opening a legal advice office

To organize a business in the field of legal services, you will need:

  1. pass the stage
  2. rent or buy premises;
  3. purchase consumables, equipment, furniture;
  4. select qualified lawyers;
  5. advertise the office.

The features of each step are discussed in detail below.

Stage of registration and collection of documents

Entrepreneurial activity is possible if it is intended to provide services only to individuals. If the main goal is to advise legal persons it is better for one's office.

In the first case, it is necessary to provide the relevant authorities with a passport with copies, a receipt, applications for, for example, the simplified tax system, registration and TIN. The second option involves a slightly larger package of documents, namely, all the same receipt and statement, charter and minutes of the meeting of founders (if any), a document confirming the introduction of the Criminal Code and copies of passports with originals.

After you need issue or purchase and sale of the found premises. Having carried out the necessary repair work, you will need to invite employees of the SES and fire supervision in order to obtain permits from them. On this documentary red tape can be considered complete.

Finding a suitable room

When choosing a future office location, it is important to consider two main points:

  • the presence of similar offices nearby;
  • liveliness of the street.

A large number of nearby legal offices or firms providing similar services will significantly complicate the establishment of your business. But if there are no other options, it is necessary to find out as much information about competitors as possible: strengths and weak spots, the range of services they provide and, if possible, try to provide different advice or a little cheaper.

The income of the office directly depends on the number of people applying to it. And the more people pass by it every day, the more customers there will be. Dormitory areas are swept aside immediately, even considering that the rent in them is lower.

For legal advice, 20 sq. m. A detached building, an office in a business center or a converted first floor in a residential building can serve as the location of your future office.

After renting or purchasing such premises, it is necessary to carry out repair work in it and obtain permissions for their further use from authorized organizations.

Acquisition of the necessary equipment for the arrangement of the premises

Opening a legal consultation office from scratch involves the purchase of the necessary equipment. So, for the situation of legal advice, you will need to purchase:

  • office furniture;
  • office equipment;
  • expendable materials;
  • reference publications;
  • safe;
  • stationery.

Furniture is purchased for both employees and visitors. For consultations with lawyers, they often go in pairs with someone, it is necessary to take this moment into account when purchasing chairs. You will also need to equip a waiting room for visitors, so that people can conveniently wait for an appointment in a queue.

Each employee must have a work area equipped - table, chair, computer.


Hiring staff for legal advice

Even if you have experience as a lawyer, good knowledge legislation, it is recommended to hire assistants. Depending on the services that are planned to be provided, it is better to start work from several areas and gradually expand, rather than trying to cover all areas from the very beginning.

At the initial stage, you can limit yourself to two lawyers with whom you will work together. As the customer base expands, the following units can be hired:

  • lawyer to work with l.;
  • lawyer for legal l.;
  • Secretary;
  • legal consultant;
  • cleaning woman.

To keep records of expenses and income, it is necessary, however, you can use special firms that will keep records at a distance. The quality of services provided in such accounting agencies is high level, and their work is cheaper than commissioning and paying another full-time unit.

The secretary can also be hired at half the rate and make his work remote. Responsibilities will include answering phone calls, appointment and consultation.

Advertising campaign

Can be where people can get acquainted with a list of services provided and their prices, address, information about lawyers working for you and their experience.

Legal Advice Business Plan

Before opening your own legal advice, you will need to study the market for the provision of such services in order to identify the most popular areas. The most promising are cases related to family, business and real estate, as well as the collection of debt obligations.

Expenses for opening a legal advice office

Having chosen the most suitable areas, you can proceed to the calculation of the approximate costs of opening a consultation:

  • Legalization of activities and obtaining legal. addresses about 30,000 rubles.
  • Office rent from 90,000 rubles.
  • Repair and arrangement from 60 000 rubles.
  • Purchase of equipment from 80,000 rubles.
  • Office supplies from 4,000 rubles.
  • The cost of software, Internet, communications from 40,000 rubles.

At the initial stage, you will need invest in the opening of 300,000 rubles.


Profitability of legal advice

The profitability of such a business is considered high, and with a competent approach, consultation can pay off in 2 years. With quality service, the customer base will increase rapidly, and with it, income.

The minimum cost of a lawyer's services, for example, a consultation, costs 1,500 rubles, and the liquidation of a legal entity. persons 50,000 rubles. For example, if in the first month 5 lawyers manage to serve 20 clients with an average price for the service of 5,000 rubles, the profit will be 500,000 rubles.

Decreasing this figure by (20% = 100,000) and initial expenses (300,000), we get a profit of 100,000 rubles. Given that every month the flow of customers, as a rule, increases, we can assume a stable growth in profits.

The main problems encountered on the way to opening a legal advice office

Possible difficulties

  • high competition;
  • difficulties in finding clients;
  • employee incompetence.

How to solve emerging problems?

1. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of law firms for future entrepreneurs. Starting your own business, you need to be ready for everything and go to the end. If you do not know how to open a law office on your own and make it successful, then And learning experience existing organizations and work in contrast, lowering prices for services, offering lawyers to travel will help to interest and entice clients from other offices.

2. To attract as many clients as possible, you need to make a lot of efforts to promote and advertise your office.

3. The human factor plays a big role - full-time employees do not always care about the company's image and sometimes treat their work too lightly. To prevent such situations, it is necessary to motivate employees with various bonuses, unscheduled days off, and so on.