BOOTSTRAPPING
YOUR LAW PRACTICE
TIPS AND TRICKS TO KEEP YOU UNDER $100 A MONTH
by Kevin Thompson

BUSINESS
Billing
Accounting
Support

BUSINESS
Billing
Freshbooks (www.freshbooks.com)
Freshbooks offers a ridiculously easy way to track your time
Automatically send invoices via email or snail mail
Review reports of outstanding invoices
Brand invoices with your company logo

BUSINESS
If you’re broke and have less
than 3 clients, it’s free.
If you’re a mega-rainmaker,
it costs a whopping $27 per
month
Max cost = $27 per month

BUSINESS
Accounting (I hate accounting!)
Outright (www.outright.com)
Their tag line says it all...“Free Online Bookkeeping”
It’s tough to beat free. I’ve tried...it can’t be done.
It offers a very intuitive way to track your income and expenses
Did I mention it’s free?

BUSINESS
Outright syncs with
freshbooks to help you stay
on top of your income/
expenses.
Based on income and
expenses, outright gives
quarterly tax projections
Main limitation: it doesn’t let
you partition expenses by
client. See next slide.
Max cost = $0 per month

BUSINESS
Xpenser (www.xpenser.com)
Xpenser is a great supplement to Outright.com
They allow you to record expenses via a cell phone
Simply call and state the expense (or SMS it), and it’s captured
“17.50 for lunch with client x” Boom, it’s done.
Xpenser allows you to export the expenses into freshbooks by client
freshbooks then includes the expenses on the next bill. Very awesome.
Max cost = $0 per month

BUSINESS
Support - Because it isn’t worth your time
Virtual Assistant (get your own)
Go to www.elance.com
For free, submit a proposal asking for a virtual assistant
Set the maximum pay at $2.00 per hour
Don’t believe me? See the next slide

BUSINESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfg_dfm2aZo

BUSINESS
Higher wages, payroll taxes, office equipment, office
space...forget about it.
Only pay for hours worked. No more paying your secretary
for checking his or her facebook status ten times a day.
I use mine to handle dictations (digital), document prep for
entity formations, marketing materials, travel bookings, etc.
You should only pay for work done
The ABA has published an advisory opinion on the practice
of offshoring legal work.
Long story short, it’s ok.
Typical cost = $80 per month

BUSINESS
Office Space (the place where you work, not the movie)
When all your work is done remotely,
the office goes wherever you go.
“But where do you meet your clients?”
Be creative. Some clients are impressed with symbols of power like high
rise building, pinstripes, paintings, tapestries, suits, and young secretaries.
Most are value-driven and are grateful for the efficiency.
If you’re dying for an office, dig online and look for entrepreneurial groups
that share office space. If you’re running your own law practice, guess
what, you’re an entrepreneur.

PRODUCTIVITY
Google
and Google
and Fastcase

PRODUCTIVITY
Email
Google Apps (www.google.com/a)
First, you need to pick a domain name.
It costs $10 per year.
The domain follows the @ in your email i.e. kevin@theadvocategroup.net
Tip: Be unique

PRODUCTIVITY
Email
You can create up to 50 accounts, which is 48 more
than you’ll probably need.
Google hosts all your email for free (up to 7
gigabytes).
If you need more than 7 gigabytes, tell your friends
to quit sending dirty pictures.

PRODUCTIVITY
Email (continued)
If you’re addicted to Outlook, you can set it up to
automatically download the emails from Google.
If you’re used to tagging emails to a matter, you
can create custom labels for certain emails.
Max cost per month= $1

PRODUCTIVITY
Documents!
Google Docs
It’ll take some getting used to, but hey, it’s free.
If you’re a transaction lawyer, it’s all you need.
If you’re a litigator that needs to crank out pleadings with captions and
stuff, there’s currently no way to mail merge where the fields are
automatically populated.
But seriously, you’re paying someone $2 an hour, so it’s not that big of a
deal to have your VA manipulate the documents.
The next slide is a video from google that better explains this.

PRODUCTIVITY
Pros
It’s extremely efficient to collaborate with clients and your VA.
Instead of sending drafts back and forth, you simply send the link
and you all work on the same file
Documents can be viewed and edited from any computer in the
world. There’s no need for an expensive local server that runs
Windows and crashes twice a day.
Documents can easily be emailed as PDFs or Word files straight
from google docs.
It works fine

PRODUCTIVITY
Pros (continued)
The files are stored on google’s servers, not on your rinky-dink laptop, so there’s no need
for crazy back-up procedures.
You can still open and edit docs offline.
Easily locate files via the search function.
No need to spend $200 to upgrade software every two years.
When you share a document with a client, they’ll think you’re some sort of genius.
Max cost per month= $0

PRODUCTIVITY
Need to create a spreadsheet
or submit an expense
report?
Use one of google’s forms. The
list of forms grows every day.
Max cost per month= $0

PRODUCTIVITY
Tip
Get a decent scanner, one that scans double sided
docs.
Upload the PDFs into google docs. You’ll never
lose them and it’s easier to send links instead of
large PDF files.

PRODUCTIVITY
Legal Research
Fastcase (www.fastcase.com/)
Fastcase is super-cheap and if you’re member of a partnering bar
association, it’s free. Lexis and Westlaw are great, but if you’re on a tight
budget, fastcase is the answer.
JD Supra (www.jdsupra.com/
JD Supra is a great resource where lawyers share forms. If you need a
purchase and sales agreement, search for it on jd supra. There’s no need to
reinvent the wheel.

MARKETING
“They don’t call it social media anymore, they just call it business...”
Gary Vaynerchuk
Leverage social media channels to get in front of your
prospective clients.
Join groups in the community. Contribute.
Build trust first. Avoid the sales pitch. Business will
follow.
Keep client contact information with google contacts. If
you bought your domain with google, you can share the
contacts with all the users.

MONTHLY COSTS
Business
Invoicing (Freshbooks) $17
Accounting (Outright) $0
Expense tracking (Xpenser) $0
Support (Virtual Assistant) $80
Office (wherever) $0
Productivity
Email (Google) $1
Document creation/hosting (Google) $0
File storage (Google) $0
Legal Research (fastcase/JD Supra) $0 - $95 per month if necessary
Marketing
It costs nothing to be remarkable.
TOTAL = $98 per month .

ABOUT ME
Kevin is founder of The Advocate Group and specializes in regulatory issues surrounding the network
marketing industry. Prior to starting his own practice, Kevin was Chief Legal Counsel for Signature
Management Team, LLC, also known as Team. Team produces training aids for MonaVie distributors.
Kevin withdrew from his post at Team in February of 2009. During his tenure, Kevin helped guide the
company through litigation with Amway (still pending).
Thompson is founder and president of Advanced Advocates, an exclusive platform for law students
across the globe. He is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and agent of change. His ideas about the changing legal
landscape were featured on the notorious blog, Buzzmachine. He was recently featured in an
international magazine titled “New Marketing” where he wrote an article on practical uses of
outsourcing. For more information, please contact Kevin directly.
You can read and watch Kevin challenge the status quo of the legal industry at Next Generation Law.
He enjoys connecting with people and sharing ideas through social media on platforms like Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Bio
Kevin is a loving husband and proud father of two children, Luke and Siena Rose. He is an avid
sportsman as he was once an all-American in the decathlon from the University of Tennessee.
More about Kevin Thompson
Prior to joining Team, Kevin was an associate at Lewis, King, Krieg, and Waldrop in Knoxville,
Tennessee, where he handled personal injury litigation. He graduated law school from the University
of Tennessee College of Law.