From coast to coast, people suffer physical and psychological injury every day, whether due to unsafe working conditions, medical malpractice, or simple slip-and-fall incidents. That means that no matter where you choose to set up shop, personal injury law is a potentially lucrative field of practice. 

But your success as a personal injury lawyer ultimately depends on the efficiency with which you handle all aspects of your business, from marketing to client acquisition and beyond.

Have you considered starting your own personal injury practice? Here are four top considerations a personal injury lawyer should take into account to create, build, and manage a successful business. 

Tip 1: Decide Whether to Partner Up or Go Solo

When you’re wondering how to start a personal injury practice, you probably need to answer one key question: How will you organize your business? Will you be the sole owner, or will you want or need a partnership?

Working with a partner or several partners has benefits, including:

  • Several perspectives to bounce ideas
  • Shared fiscal responsibility
  • A larger team to handle operations and marketing
  • The capacity to take on more personal injury cases

But if you’re looking to strike out on your own and be the sole decision-maker, you’ll enjoy other advantages, including complete autonomy. Just keep in mind that other than being a personal injury lawyer, you’ll also be solely responsible for managing the workload of a business owner.

Consider the pros and cons of sole ownership and partnerships carefully. Then, decide on a legal entity structure for your personal injury law firm. Depending on how many members are involved, the options include sole proprietorship, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), partnership, or corporation. 

Tip 2: Make the Time to Create a Thorough Business Plan

Start with a mission statement to determine exactly how you will stand out from your competition. This will give you and any partner(s) a blueprint to make further business decisions. 

Most business plans should include the following at a minimum:

  • Company Description – Describe your business in detail, including your customer demographics and how clients will benefit from your services.
  • Market Analysis  – Make time for this research to help you determine what you can offer that competitors do not.
  • Funding Needs and Financial Projections – Set up financial projections to determine how much start up capital you’ll need. You will also want to account for additional costs if you plan to outsource services to a legal call center, for example.
  • Organization and Management – Describe the chain of command (if applicable).

Tip 3: Fine Tune Your Marketing Strategy

As you research marketing opportunities and scope out the best states to practice personal injury law, you’ll see advice to join specific social media sites. But, it can all be a little overwhelming. Where do you start? When do you have time?

Start with your personal injury firm’s website. Get recommendations for a web developer that can build a professional site, or build one yourself. 

Then, consider these ideas to fine tune your marketing strategy.

Become a Thought Leader

Create a blog where you give advice as an expert in your field.  If you’re more comfortable speaking than writing, create videos and upload them to YouTube or present them on your personal injury firm’s website.

In addition, make sure your website includes an FAQ page as a reference for any potential client and current clients.

Find Your Desired Clients on Social Media 

Instead of trying to register your firm on all the social media sites, first determine where your desired clients are. Test one or two social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, then check the results. 

You can always add more options later. 

Not social-savvy? Consider hiring a Social Media Manager or a Virtual Assistant trained in social media marketing. 

Tip 4: Make It Your Mission To Provide Excellent Customer Service

Once you’ve generated some leads from your marketing channels, the next step is interviewing those prospects and getting personal injury clients.

But, how do you manage the influx of calls?

You’ve probably had plenty of experience calling a company and failing to get a “real person” on the line. It may seem like it’s less expensive to use automated systems than to hire real people. But consider how expensive it could be to miss out on clients looking for a real person to answer their questions. They’ll quickly move on instead to another firm if they reach your voicemail or have to push another number choice on their phone. 

Instead, consider hiring a legal answering service so you can ensure there’s always someone on the other end of the line. 

Virtual Support for Your Practice from Alert

When you first considered working for yourself in your own business, did you dream of making your own hours? Have glimpses of knocking off early on Wednesdays for nine holes of golf or spending a couple weeks at the beach or in the mountains, unplugged? 

The reality is that running your own firm requires much more than the usual 40-hour week—unless you find the right support.

The plans at Alert include call answering, legal intake, virtual receptionist services, and live chat for law firms—all at a fraction of the cost of an in-house employee. Our bilingual staff can act as an extension of your personal injury law firm—in both English and Spanish, plus keep your sensitive communication HIPAA Compliant. We’re here to help you start your personal injury law practice out on the right foot!

Sources: 

Indeed. 9 Steps to Writing a Business Plan (With 2 Templates). https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/business-plan-templates?gclid=CjwKCAjwq9mLBhB2EiwAuYdMtYh3PqnrwmXmYYiMWWnQ2SxSLbP33mW0B76WoZn0Fzt_XOc818lyyBoCkkkQAvD_BwE&aceid=

Justia. 6 Tips for Marketing Your Personal Injury Practice. https://onward.justia.com/6-tips-for-marketing-your-personal-injury-practice/