The Boon of 
Small Law Firms

’The practice of law is all about going back to basics,’ declares Richard Hugo-Hamman, a former lawyer and a legal technology specialist from Australia.

The last law firm that Richard worked in was his own in South Africa. The firm, which he and a colleague set up, grew from a staff strength of five to 180 over a 10-year period. 

Having no core services, the firm decided to focus on debt recovery work – which the South African large law firms were not engaged in. ’We wanted to do the work well and used technology in the debt recovery work process.’ 

The firm did not turn down clients who could not afford their fees. They were willing to do pro bono work, which then formed 20 per cent of their total workload. They were honest, trustworthy, showed humanity and integrity to all their clients. ’Soon the debtors became our clients. We then got to do debt collection for a bank. That was quickly followed by instructions to do their mortgage work. The work just started coming in. In the first six-and-a-half years, we were growing every month and got additional office space every two months.’  According to Richard, they had no marketing plan. Their motto was just to do good work. 

Training was an important aspect of the firm. The staff were trained not only in the professional aspect of the business. ’We taught the staff how to handle telephone calls and how to greet clients. When the client enters or leaves our office, he or she arrives and leaves with a handshake.’ According to Richard, if handshakes are not exchanged, the relationship has not started.

Having worked with small law firms in his current legal technology business, Richard gave insights and offered tips for small law firms when he was in Singapore a few months ago. Relevant to the small law firms in Singapore, excerpts from this interview are reproduced here.

The Global Emergence of Small Law Firms

‘Ten- or fifty- member law firms are breaking up. The partners of these law firms then go on to form sole practices or two-man partnerships. In my view, the two-man partnerships are the happiest. They know and trust each other well. They provide good services and enjoy a good work-life balance. Globally today, 95 per cent of law firms are small law firms.

They fulfill the basic needs of people in the areas of conveyancing, personal injuries and family law.‘

The Difference between the Large Law Firm and the Small Law Firm

‘The large law firms sell time. The more time they bill, the more profitable they become. They are not necessarily productive. They do not need to invest in productivity software.

The typical consumer is not able to afford the price of the large law firms’ services. So, he has to turn to small firms. 

With pressure on price and fixed fee work, it is imperative that these small firms be as efficient as possible – and they need good software in order to do so. Small firms have led the way and driven the market for the development of 
productivity software.’

The Small Law Firm Lawyer

‘Most lawyers choose the legal profession to help people. This gives us immense satisfaction. 

The small law firm lawyer is a good example. He is honest and not greedy for the money.  He does a large amount of pro bono work. Thus, the small law firm lawyer should feel proud. He makes a valuable contribution to the community he lives in. He should tell himself: “I am a typical lawyer in the world and I do good work.” The last thing he should do is feel inferior. It is much tougher to practise law with limited resources.     

Clients go to these law firms on the basis of their friends’ or relatives’ recommendations. The foundation of this solicitor-client relationship is one of familiarity and trust.’

The Successful Small Law Firm Lawyer

‘To be successful, the small firm lawyer has to be productive and maximise profits. He has no choice but to embrace information technology. For him, information technology is an enabler. It can solve 90 per cent of his problems. This is the secret of the success of many small law firms that I have visited. The remaining 10 per cent is pure self-discipline. The administration of the firm is your personal responsibility. You have to allocate, for example, half a day in each month to plan the future of your business and how to run it.

It is a myth that time recording is only suitable for the large law firms. For small law firms, it is the best form of record keeping of the daily work. It helps in the allocation of resources for the various areas of practice.   

Sometimes, the lawyer spends a lot of time in his work and does not make profits. Why? I would like to comment on three essential aspects of providing legal services - the importance of taking contemporaneous attendance notes, billings and outsourcing.

On a typical day, a lawyer is busy attending meetings, talking to clients on the telephone and going to court. They do not find the time to make attendance notes. After a few days, they simply cannot recall the details of their communication with their clients. If a lawyer does not make attendance notes, how is he going to bill his clients? I do not think that the lawyer is doing a service to his client by not keeping proper attendance notes. 

I have seen many law firms where work comes to a standstill towards the end of the month. Everyone just spends their time preparing bills. This is not the correct approach. Bill regularly and do not leave it to the end of the month.

Lawyers cannot be good lawyers and bookkeepers. Outsource the bookkeeping services. Invest in a good trust account computer system. It would solve most of your problems. The main reason why lawyers run foul of solicitors’ accounts rules is because of neglect – they are busy attending to client needs.’

Marketing the Small Law Firm

‘I am a traditionalist on the subject of marketing. I do not think advertising is an effective tool for small firms. If a lawyer were honest, trustworthy, courteous, responsive and available 24/7 to his clients, his clients would not forget him. Referrals from former clients would then make up 99 per cent of a lawyer’s work. When I was practising, I would interrupt my bridge game on a Friday night to take clients’ calls.

Once, we did not manage to help a client to win his case. He turned up at my office the next day to instruct us on new matters. He had full trust in us and understood that we would win some cases and lose some. 

The single most powerful way for a small law firm to market  itself is to be affiliated with the chambers of commerce or be involved in a local charity. The people that you meet in these organisations become your marketing machines.

I have also found advertising in the community newspapers useful. (These are similar to the news magazines distributed by the various districts in Singapore). For example, advertise the law firm as a “Family Law Hotline”.’

The Role of the Law Societies in Promoting Small Law Firms

‘I have always felt that the law societies around the world have not done enough for the small law firms. Their role should not be to publicise the negative aspects of small law firms. Instead, they have to be more responsible in helping small law firm lawyers feel good about themselves. Give them recognition for the good work done. Emphasise their positive contributions.   

Go back to the basics of law practice. Stop and examine the micro processes of your law practice. Your success lies there.’

Rajan Chettiar

Rajan Chettiar & Co

E-mail: rajan@rajanchettiar.com