Profession: Lawyer Entrepreneur – The definition of its offer – #1
On the occasion of a series of several articles, Master Chloé Schmidt-Sarels, user of Jarvis Legal, tells us her vision of the lawyer, an entrepreneur above all.
Presentation and introduction by Maître Chloé Schmidt-Sarels.
Having graduated from CAPA in 2012, I did not at all want to practice as a lawyer. So I started my professional career as legal manager of a start-up.
After a very enriching experience, a need for autonomy and a certain nostalgia for public law led me to set up as a liberal lawyer.
But what to do ? Having never gone through the collaboration box, I still had this crazy idea of setting up directly on my own.
The few internships that I had completed during my studies in Paris were far removed from what awaited me as a new lawyer in a city that could be described as a judicial desert and within a very small bar ( 100 lawyers, or 300 times fewer than in Paris: another world!).
No experience, no clients, no network: was I going to be one of those lawyers who hangs up their dress after a year?
To get out of it, I obviously had to pull out all the stops and adopt a sort of entrepreneurial approach.
Even if this tends to change, I regret that this qualifier of entrepreneur is not necessarily in the DNA of our profession.
However, it seems that this is one of the secrets of the success of our senior brothers and sisters. This is how Corinne Lepage responded to a journalist who asked her if she should manage her law firm like a business manager, that she did not know “how those who don’t do it do it”.
This sentence caught my attention and guided me a little.
This is why I am happy to be able to share my experience as an entrepreneurial lawyer.
I therefore offer you a series of articles which I hope will enable you to succeed in your installation, whether or not you have been a collaborator.
I will therefore share with you my moods and my state of mind, the way in which I defined my offer, the communication levers, management tools who make my daily life easier and the way I manage the financial and administrative part.
Define your offer, the first essential step.
« You will see, it will be the customers who will choose you "," You will be forced to take all the files that come ». These are the kind and/or worried comments that colleagues have made to me.
Despite my limited experience, I knew why I had studied law. I also knew what I couldn't and above all didn't want to do. It was out of the question for me to focus on criminal, commercial and labor law.
I did not set up as an independent so that my clients would dictate my choices.
So I told myself that I would do everything to ensure that the files handled correspond to me and that my activity is not modeled by my clients but modeled by me, in the service of my clients. So I decided, step by step.
The first questions to ask yourself are: « who am I and what drives me? what is my initial training? ».
Who am I ? What animates me ?
The idea of practicing in town planning and environmental law quickly imposed itself on me.
Shortly before my move to this small town located in a semi-rural area experiencing massive urbanization, I had a strong ecological awareness and made a shift to (almost) zero waste in my daily life.
As lawyers, in all areas, we are fortunate to be able to sometimes put ourselves at the service of causes (or people) who will give more meaning to our profession.
Each of us necessarily has something that is close to our hearts and which could give a particular color to at least part of our activity by allowing it to differentiate itself. By the way, this consistency is a good way to be happier and more efficient on a daily basis :)
What is my initial training? Should I deepen certain aspects?
Until the master's degree, we are all generalists. We specialize a little during the master's degree. Obviously, my training in general administrative law, followed 6 years previously, would not be enough to allow me to practice in town planning and environmental law.
As soon as I settled in, I decided to train in rural law by completing a university diploma and then going further by completing a second master's degree in town planning and environmental law.
These training courses gave me self-confidence, opened many doors for me and introduced me to wonderful people.
Differentiate yourself
A precise and specialized offer sets you apart. It will reassure you as much as it will reassure the customer.
The time of general lawyers is over. Increased competition and the increasing technicality of many materials simply no longer allow this. Let us not forget that the files we accept engage our credibility and our responsibility towards the client.
Once the “dominant” has been defined for your firm's activity, go further and detail it: by type of case (consulting or litigation), by type of clients (companies, individuals, communities, associations, etc.).
We are lucky to be independent. Let's take advantage of this chance to choose the area that suits us the most and that motivates us.
Obviously, it will then be a matter of ensuring that your desire responds to a request or a need! I will talk about it in my next article.
