How to Make Money as an Attorney

Many people have high expectations of their professional careers in law. This is because law is considered to be among the highest paying career opportunities.

What most people fail to understand is that this success does not come over-night. It involves a lot of hard work, strategizing and planning.

In this article, we are going to let you in on a few success tips on how to make money as an attorney.

Have a Side Hustle

Whether you are looking to be able to make a down payment on that house you like, or you want to finance your vacation or you are trying to pay off your student debt from law school, the extra cash could go a long way.(moonlighting jobs for attorneys)

A side hustle is a great way to ensure that you always have enough in your pocket. This can be anything from creating a business out of your skills and hobbies such as photography, baking or hand-making items to sell. Besides the obvious advantage of making extra money, your side hustle could have other great benefits such as;

•    Giving you a competitive edge in your career: This is especially the case when your side hustle revolves around your professional qualifications. For instance, as an attorney, having a side hustle such as having a podcast or working as a part-time teacher will help you gain exposure hence increasing your likelihood of getting clients.

•    Makes you more resilient: sometimes things might be going wrong at your workplace but so well with your side hustle, this gives you the motivation to keep going.

•    Helps you to reset: Working the same job every day can be overwhelming. Having a side job will help you put into work other skills and expertise that you have.

•    Helps you network and interact with a diverse group of people besides your colleagues and clients from the legal side.

Choose Your Clients Wisely

The pre-screening process of trying to figure out if the needs of your clients align with your skills and expertise is very important. In as much as you would want to help as many people as possible, not everyone is a good fit for you. You also need to be cautious of troublesome clients; there are plenty of those out there. Some factors to look into to help you determine if a client is troublesome include;

No show: they tend to miss appointments.

Bargain hunters: these are clients who are hard-pressing, wanting to negotiate your charges.

Commanders: they want to be the ones to tell you how to do your work.

Evasive: they are not open and honest with you about the details you are looking for.

Generally, if the client makes you uncomfortable in one way or another, then you have to think twice before deciding to take up their case.

Determine Your Practice Area

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing the best practice area for your career.(best practice area for solo lawyers) While there might be a lot of buzz as to which are the best highly lucrative areas, what is most important is that you choose a niche based on your interests, skills and expertise. This is the surest way to ensure that you are always motivated to achieve success as an attorney.

Examples of highly profitable niches include:

•    Immigration attorney

•    Family law attorney

•    Medical law attorney

•    Corporate law attorney

Several other niches can be included on this list as well. Some basic principles to consider when deciding on a practice area include;

Your abilities: as an attorney, you want to make sure that you can deliver to your clients. The only way to do this is to make sure that you only practice law based on your abilities and expertise. A satisfied client equals more wealth since they will be more likely to refer a friend or two to you.

Work-life balance: having a proper work-life balance is a very essential aspect for any career person. As you decide on your niche, make sure it is one that will leave you with ample time to bond with your family and friends.

Resources: this includes time, skills, qualifications and tools that are essential for you to take on the task.

Client base: your clients form the base of your profession as an attorney. When deciding on a niche you need to carefully look into your client list to figure out if you have any in that niche because starting from scratch can be very difficult.

Freelance

The legal profession is evolving to cater to the changing demands in the marketplace. Freelancing is now becoming an acceptable form of practice with the numbers on the rise over the past several years.(ways for lawyers to make extra money)

The greatest advantage of a freelance attorney is the flexibility and control that freelancing offers them in terms of working hours and pay rates. Also, is it quite easy to get started on your freelancing career as an attorney since most of these sites are easy and free to join.

As a freelance attorney, your work will come mainly from other attorneys seeking to offload some of their work pile or from independent clients seeking attorney services online.

As a freelance attorney you only need to ensure you have;

•    A good working laptop or computer

•    Steady internet connection

•    Malpractice Insurance

•    Written freelance agreement

•    Marketing Strategy

•    Financial Plan

This helps to reduce your overhead costs hence seeing to it that your services are at a more affordable rate than those of your competitors with offices and employees.

A freelance attorney career is great for someone seeking to supplement their income with a second job, private practice attorneys or retired attorneys who still wish to continue serving their clients.

Decide on a Location

Among many other factors, your location is a major determinant of how much you can make as an attorney

Regardless of one’s profession, location decisions are very important since it will have a direct impact on key aspects such as the availability of clients which then has an impact on the earning potential of an attorney. Additionally, it is very important to think about your location since once a decision is made, it becomes costly to switch to something or somewhere else.

The three main factors influencing the choice of location include;

•    Cost of operation

•    Earning potential at the location.

•    Image

•    Site suitability

•    Opportunities for growth

Before deciding on a suitable location for your services as an attorney, you should do thorough research to find out the areas/cities with the highest earning potential. This will help you make an informed choice.

In Conclusion

There are a lot of changes happening in the world that have direct impacts on so many aspects of our lives including our careers, even in the legal field. As a professional, if you want to remain relevant, you have to do your research to ensure that you are always in the loop to protect you from becoming irrelevant.

Therefore, the above-mentioned tips are important in helping you leverage your skills as an attorney. Whether it is to help you increase your earning potential or to help you earn extra money. With the right strategy and skills as an attorney, you can be able to build a successful career.