Getting Paid Commandment #6

We’ve covered a lot of ground so far.

You’ve learned to: (1) change your mindset about getting paid, (2) bill regularly (at least once per month), (3) not chase money, (4) always have money in trust, and (5) to stop work if your client doesn’t pay or doesn’t have money in trust.

These five commandments will go a long way to helping you get paid 100% for the work you do, but they won’t get you all the way there.

Today’s commandment really tightens things up and will help make your law firm system much more efficient and profitable.

Here it is, commandment #6: specialize in one thing.

I realize telling some attorneys to specialize is like telling them they need to sacrifice their children to the gods, or, worse yet, become a social worker, but it’s sage advice no matter how much lawyers protest.

Why specialize?

Reason #1: specialists make more money.

You know this to be true, and here’s an example illustrating this truth.

General family practice doctors make on average around $160,000 per year.

General surgeons (i.e., specialists) make significantly more than $160,000 per year.

Neurosurgeons (high-level specialists) who are experts on, and only work on, one particular type of brain tumor, make exponentially more than $160,000 per year.

Generalists make general money, and specialists make special money.

Reason #2: You’ll serve your client better.

We’re lawyers. We think we’re smart We think we’re smarter than everyone else.

This kind of hubris leads us to do dumb things, like have five separate areas of specialization.

“Sure, I can do a car wreck case. Sure, I can do a divorce. Sure, I can do a slander of title trial. Why not? I’m smart.”

That sounds really dumb when I string all those together, but that’s what attorneys do every day, and it hurts you and your client.

It hurts you because it means you never get really good at any one thing.

It hurts your client because you never really get good at any one thing.

Pick your one thing and commit to it.

Dive deep.

Get as good at that one thing as you possibly can.

That’s how you make money and serve your clients exceptionally well.

(Note: if you have a rural practice, you may not be able to do just one thing. I get that, and that’s fine. What you do in a situation like that is to focus on as few things as possible. If you can’t do just one thing, do two things, don’t do five things. The fewer the better.)

Conclusion

Specialize.