40 Top Tips to Become a Successful Lawyer

40 Top Tips to Become a Successful Lawyer

By Attorney James P. Hentz

1. Be honest with your potential client. If your client does not have a case where he/she can 

have a favorable outcome, do not take the case. If you do, then you are opening up your 

client and yourself for unrealistic expectations that will lead to discontent.  If you are honest 

with your client and you do not take their case when he/she thanks you says "Don't thank 

me- send me a referral." There exists an ugly stereotype surrounding attorneys.  I have 

found that  people  can be very apprehensive of attorneys, they think  that  lawyers are 

dishonest, in some cases due to past experiences or "hear say".  They believe that lawyers 

will take their money without question.  Most people believe that attorneys do not return 

phone calls. Be different and you will differentiate yourself from everybody else.

2. Care for your client.  If you care for your client, it will show and your client will like you. How 

do you show your client you care? See number 1. Caring for a client is something that has to 

come from within. If you do not care for your client it is likely you will not perform as well as 

you should have. Many times, your client may not recognize and appreciate what you do for 

them. But if you are passionate about what you do, the rewards are sure to follow.  I had 

my first SSDI case and we won the case after my client tried twice to get SSDI herself. In an

SSID case the Federal government will pay a percentage and it has a cap. Unfortunately, I 

did not put on the contract "whichever is lower"; therefore, I had to bring my client in to 

sign a paper to get paid. My client's husband thought I was trying to pull a  "fast one."

Everything I had done was for free and if I did not win the case I would not have  gotten 

paid. I was disappointed that in an eight months span my client thought I was not honest.  

Always remember to stay true to who you are.

3. Give your cell phone number to your client and you will avoid getting a call from the BBO

(Board of Bar Overseers). In this day and age of cell phones, email, Facebook, My Space, and 

Linked in, etc., you must be accessible. This generation wants to speak with you in real time 

and on demand. If you do not answer your phone and do not return a phone call within the 

same business day or weekend the potential client will call another lawyer and you will lose 

business. The biggest complaint to the BBO is that an attorney is not returning a phone call. 

You can show your client that you care by returning his or her phone call in the same day

4. Be Likeable. See number 2. One of the ways to make a connection with a potential client is 

being warm, friendly and ask questions about them and their family client a little first then talk about business. The client will be more at ease  and it will 

demonstrate to them that you care.  Try to add humor to the first interview; it will put both 

you and your client, on a friendly and even playing field, which is always a great place to 

begin.  If you are meeting with a client, it usually means that they are in trouble and need 

help fast.  If your client likes you, he will trust you and if he trusts you the client will hire you

(and very importantly will refer you.) Remember the client is meeting you for the first time 

and they are nervous about giving any sum of money to an attorney to fix their problem.  If 

they cannot see the value of your service and trust that you will do what you say then the 

client will not hire you. You have to engage the client and ask a lot of questions for them to 

open up to you.

5. If you ever take a case where you do not know what you are doing and it "blows up" give 

your client their money back, immediately. Early on in my profession, I took an immigration 

case from a client and spent $2,000 in fees. Once I realized that I had made a mistake by 

taking the case, I gave back the $2,000 to my client and referred her to a new attorney. She 

won her case and two years later she called me and thanked me for helping her stay in this 

country. At the time I did know the case was beyond my abilities but I soon realized my 

client needed more help than I could give. It was tough giving the money back, but I avoided 

a malpractice claim and had a happy ex-client.

6. Never take a retainer less than $1,000 because your time and experience is worth more 

than that. Some cases you only need a $1,000.00 to get the job done. In my criminal law 

practice, when a client has committed a crime,  he or she will come  to you for legal 

representation. Read the police report and the complaint. Then  give your analysis of the 

strength and weakness of the government case. Refrain from saying "it is a slam dunk you 

will win this case at trial" First, a trial is too unpredictable to make that claim and it is 

unethical to guarantee a win.  What you do is tell your client that based on your experience 

what typically happens is you plea out the case and estimate it will cost $1,000.00. Then you 

can give your opinion of any motions you could file to help his/her case and an analysis of 

the chances of winning. Let your client make the decision. You are managing expectation. 

So if the case "goes south" you warned your client.

  

7. When I take a phone call and that person on the other line asks "How much will it cost me?" 

I respond, by asking "Am I the first attorney you called?"  Regardless of whether the answer 

is yes or no, my response is, "You are not shopping at Wal-Mart- you get what you pay for" 

Then listen to how he/she responds.  Chances are he or she is "shopping around" and you 

would not want to do business with him/her anyway.  

mind can become a big "pain in the butt."  You have to explain to the client that it is not 

about time, but experience and getting the job done right the 1st time.

8. If you are out of the office have your office phone forward calls to your cell phone. Lawyers 

are always on the go and half the time you are not in your office. Therefore, it is imperative 

that you be available to your current clients and potential clients. It has happened on more 

than occasion a client has hired me because I picked up the phone. Sometimes, I was the 

third or fourth attorney that they called. It shows the potential client that you are accessible 

and want their business.

9. Have your web site on your business card because people will be able to find you. In this 

day and age you must have a great business card and a web site. The first thing I did was to 

design a "killer" business card with my picture, cell phone, web site, areas of practice, fax 

number and e-mail address. If you do not have that on your card then you are "dead in the 

water."  Try to have as much of that information as possible.  Set yourself apart from the 

crowd.

10. Have your emails sent to your cell phone and then answer your emails first chance you get. 

This way, you will always be in contact with your clients. Attorneys spend half of their time 

out of their office and you need to be connected.  If you are in court and you check your 

email you can respond right away instead of waiting to get back to your office. It is about 

customer service and keeping in contact with your clients.

11. Return your phone messages before the end of the day. That shows your client that you 

care and your client will love you for it. This is another example of providing excellent 

service to your client. The word will get out that you respond to phone calls and emails thus 

you can achieve a following and break down the stereotype of the attorney that never 

returns phone calls.

12. If your potential client calls you on the phone determine as quickly as possible if you can 

help him or her. If so, make an appointment as soon as you can. The longer you put off the 

meeting the less likely you get the new client. If you cannot make an appointment within

three days you will lose this client. He or she will change their mind and find a reason to 

come up with the money for a retainer.

13. If you can't help him then refer him to someone that can. He will thank you and remember 

you. If a potential client calls and I do not practice that area of law I will refer him or her to 

an attorney that I know. If I do not have an attorney in mind then I will refer them to the 

Laywer.com, Worcester Bar referral or the Massachusetts Bar referral. Be a resource to the 

community.

14. Sign a contract with your client so you and your client are on the same page. There will not 

be any misunderstandings. In my contract, I have three types of ways I can earn a fee

 The first method of payment is one with a retainer with an hourly rate and that is 

reserved for my private criminal matter, and private civil matters

 The second method of payment is a contingency fee agreement for my personal injury 

cases which is the standard rate of .33% of any settlement of a car accident case. Every 

attorney has the same rate for attorney

 The third method of payment is a flat rate fee which means you have a retainer for the 

entire process. I utilized that method for my immigration clients and my simple Wills 

clients. People like the flat rate because they know there is a cap for legal fees. You 

must know how much time and effort the particular case will take because if y6ou 

estimate "too low", you lose money, "too high" and you might not get the case. Find out 

the going rate so that you do not price yourself out of the market by calling other 

attorneys and getting a quote.

    

15. Give a detailed invoice on the 15th

and the 30th of the month because your client will 

understand where their money is going. Also, your client knows you are working on their 

case. Clients are very apprehensive when they give you their money and one way to 

eliminate that is to explain that they will get a bill on all the work that you have done q and 

it will be documented. The bill will have the trust amount so it keeps the client in the loop. 

The client will not get the bill and wonder where their money went and it will cut down on 

unnecessary phone calls.

 

16. Send an email, letter, phone call to your client every 30 days. See tip #6. Keeping your client 

informed and being proactive will cut down on unnecessary phone calls that will allow you 

to work on your case. If you need something that is important keep it on a two day dairy 

until you get the information that you requested. Always "cc" your client on all paper work 

that you send out. It will let your client know you are working on his/her file   

17. Exceed expectations for your client.  For example, "I will get your immigration paper work in 

30 days" and get it done in two weeks. When a new immigration client is in the initial 

interview they will ask many questions but the most important one is how long will it take. 

Depending on the nature of the case, I would say usually six months on average. I will 

explain my goal is to have the paper work out the door in 30 days from the hiring interview 

then it will take another five months for USCIS to process the paperwork. It will take that Law Office of James P. Hentz

long to get the paper work from your client and fill out the proper forms for USCIS. Get the 

paper work within 30 days.

18. Have a computer program for tracking your time, billing, diary and monthly reports. After 

starting to get my web site done, I bought PC LAW, the software system that will track time, 

client, diary your court dates, print out invoices, breakdown your monthly expenses and 

profit for tax time. I made more money faster because of the PC LAW features. It is your 

practice online. If you are a solo practitioners it will save you a vast amount of time and 

earn you money.

  

19. Find out where the client got your name and if it was a referral, send a thank you note! In 

general people like to help other people and to have more referrals, send thank you notes, 

it demonstrates gratitude.  The other attorney or former client will appreciate your effort 

and send you more clients. You must track your marketing efforts so you can spend your 

money on marketing that works.

   

21. During an interview, if you have something in common express it at the right time. I do a lot 

of immigration work, and I mention that my wife emigrated from Panama. I mention my 

great grandmother came from Spain  

22. Put a picture of you on your business card because you will stand out. Most attorneys' 

business cards have name, address, work telephone number, and maybe their web site. My 

business card has my photograph, web site, cell number, email address, areas of practice 

and it has some color and that makes it stand out. You can have a 20th century business card 

or one for the 21 century it is up to you.

23. List out the areas of practice on your business card so people will remember what areas of 

the law you practice. To expand on this idea most people that you meet will not remember 

what area of the law you practice. To overcome this gap, put your top 4 areas of practice on 

your card. So when a person needs your service they will look at your card and call you

24. If you are in law school and have no intentions of practicing law, rethink your strategy, you 

may be wasting a lot of your time and money. If you think it will help a non practice career, 

consider a master's degree. Law school teaches a way of thinking not a way to help your 

non-legal career. Law school is a lot of money, time, and effort to get your degree and not 

practice. I went to law school at age 32 and my single intentions was to practice law. I had a 

career as a claims adjuster and wanted more out of life. I love to help people and earn a 

living practicing law. You must love the law to become successful at it  

25. Take time and experiment different areas of law and practice those ones that you love and 

the money will follow. The old saying goes if you love what you do then you are never working. Depending where you live will have an effect on what you practice. If you are on your own it is easy to determine what areas of practice you are going to do. You just have to 

market to where you think your clients are. If you are going to work for someone else you 

might have to work based on what your boss wants you to do. If that is what you have to do 

then do it. But I would then market in an area of practice that the firm does not do so you 

can develop a book of business and take the lion share of the money

26. Base your fee on the ability to pay your client and the complexity of the case. If your client 

wants to plead his case out on the first pretrial hearing then charge him/her $800 dollars. If 

he/she wants to try the case charge him/her $5,000.00.  Give your client options about the 

strength of his/her case as to going to trial or pleading out his case. State the "good, bad 

and the ugly" when going over his or her case

27. Let your client know he has a great case to win but might never get what he wants. For 

instance, the cabinet installer screwed up the installation and it cost your client $5,000.00. 

Tell him he can win his case but it will cost him about $5,000. 00 to win his case. You might 

win the case but it could be hard in collecting the judgment.  Manage the expectation

28. When someone asks you "What kind of lawyer are you? Tell them "A great one."  When 

they ask again, tell them "I solve legal problems at a fair and reasonable price" when they 

ask you what law you practice, tell them. You will always be battling the stereotype 

attorney.  It is so important to set yourself apart from the other guys

29. Refrain from vices like over drinking, attending strip clubs, gambling, cheating on your 

spouse, etc., because this leads to trouble.   Partaking in negative activities can lead you to 

thoughts of wrong doing.  Never take your client's trust money- it will lead to disbarment. 

The best advice that the first and only law firm that I worked for said to me was not to have 

the vices mentioned above or the like, because it is too tempting to spend the trust money 

and get disbarred   

30. Never be intimate with your client- no matter how attractive the person. This tip was from 

my first semester of law school. It is just in bad taste and if the result is not a favorable one 

then it will lead to a complaint to the BBO. The client will stop paying you while you are 

doing the work

  

31 Think twice before taking a family member's case, because they may not be happy with the 

outcome. It can be difficult to separate yourself- there can be a lot of emotion which will 

prevent you from being objective while handling the case. A family member of mine is 

getting a divorce but I referred the case to another qualified attorney.  My family member 

received a discount and hired an objective attorney.

member to a good attorney. If the case goes "south "he/ she will blame that attorney and 

not you. Another reason not to take a client who is a family member is because at every 

family function the case will come up and it will drive you crazy

32. Always get the retainer up front.  This will allow you to focus your work without worrying 

that you will not be paid.  Try to get the retainer as close as you think it will cost your client 

to the end of the case. This rule applies to every attorney but for a solo-practitioner, it is 

vital. The retainer will keep you in business 

   

33 If you are in law school because your parents want you to be a lawyer, rethink this option. 

You may never be truly happy. A lawyer is not something you do, but it is what you will 

become. A passion for the law is the most important aspect of becoming a successful one. A 

passion for helping people will help your cause

34. Have a professional web person to host your web site not a family member. The website is a 

reflection on you and it is your branding of yourself. A one page web site will not captivate 

your audience. Have some creativity with your web site because it is the first thing a new 

client will see

35. The one case you do not take is the best one, because it would have been a malpractice 

case. If the client has gone through three attorneys, that is a red flag. If the client wants you 

to take a case on a contingency and it is not a personal injury case do not take it. If the 

potential client is really cost conscious he or she will be more of a pain than the fee you will 

earn

36. Be polite, friendly and say hello to the people that work in the clerk's office. There is a 

saying "A judge can hurt you but the clerk's office can kill you." The clerk's office is made up 

of individuals that are over worked and under paid. It is your job to make friends with them 

because they are very knowledgeable and dedicated to the cause and most importantly, will 

help you when you need the most. For example, I work as an independent contractor for 

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a public defender. On days when there was not a 

criminal docket, I sometimes got called in to do a bail in front of the judge. I was left a 

message from the court to come in. I called them back and they still needed an attorney. 

However, I was dressed in business casual attire.  I told the clerk I was out of my office and 

came directly to the courthouse. He explained the situation to the judge and after the 

hearings the judge thanked me for coming in instead of lecturing me on my business casual 

attire 

       

37. Get an American Express card. It is sign and an image of being successful.

38. Dress for success. Buy the $500 dollar suit and the $50 shirt with the $30 dollar tie. I just 

bought a three piece suit that looks great and I stand out from the other attorneys. The 

shirts and ties should have some color and be fashionable. Be noticed.

39. Create a Marketing Plan.  Keep track of your initiatives, due dates and predecessors to each 

task.  When you start your practice, begin by marketing little by little and increase your 

marketing budget with the increase in income. You may not have a lot of money when you 

start your practice but two things I did right away were to have a professionally done 

website and signing up with Lawyers.com. As you begin to earn money invest in your 

business because you need to spend money to make money. Keep track of where your 

clients are coming from so you will know where to spend your money.  If a marketing 

campaign/ strategy you implement does not pay for itself in 6 months, move on to "plan B."  

Always keep marketing at the forefront of your business.  Marketing does not have a 

completion date.  It is ongoing to keep up with the changing times and demands

40. Start a self employment retirement plan and try to save 10% of your income. Save your

money for retirement.

41. The most important lesson to remember is to do the job right (do the right thing) and 

success will follow then the money will be sure to follow you wherever you go  

That's it.  That's all for now.  I wish for you the very best in all that you do.  May you have all the 

success the world has to offer.

Circulated by: Lawyer Asad