How to open a law firm. How to open a legal consultation from scratch How to open a legal consultation business plan

In this article we will try to answer the main questions that concern those who are just about to start their own business. We know how difficult and risky this is, and we present to your attention a step-by-step algorithm, following which you will get fewer bumps at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey:

Step 1. Market analysis and determination of specialization

Choosing a practice profile, i.e. The choice of specialization is a question that is best decided on at the preliminary planning stage. The specificity of the professional services business is that only narrow specialists are valued here, and the “general profile” inspires less confidence in a potential client. Based on this, at the very beginning of your practice, we recommend deciding on a specialization.

What types of specializations are there?

Based on our experience, as well as the experience of our Partners, you can take 2 main paths in order to decide on your specialization.

• By type of clients- servicing individuals or legal entities. The simplest type of specialization, which allows you to divide clients into 2 large groups and abandon one in favor of the other.
• By area of ​​law- criminal, civil, tax, customs, etc. A narrower division, from a professional point of view. You can also combine and deal, for example, with bankruptcy of individuals only.

How to choose a specialization and not make a mistake?

There is no universal answer to the question of how to choose an activity profile. But there are at least three approaches to this problem, each of which is effective in its own way. Decide which parameter will be the main one for you:

1. Competition.
   Choose a niche with the lowest competition. To do this, of course, you will first have to evaluate the supply market in your region.
2. Practical experience.
   Already have practical experience in handling cases in court? Choose an area of ​​law in which you can show a potential client a case study of successful cases today.
3. Personal preferences.
   Focus on the area of ​​law that interests you most. Yes, you can simply choose an area that is close to you, interesting, and in which you really want to develop and work. Personal attitude towards work is an important indicator for the client.

The main difficulty in choosing a specialization in the field of professional services is that it is impossible to fully “probe” the audience by offering them a tasting or test drive of services in order to understand which area is most in demand. You must understand that, one way or another, you will have to take a risk, and time will tell how justified it will be.

The hero of our article, Demid Emelyanov, created his own company while studying in his fourth year at university. He, acting as a manager, registered the company and hired several employees - including a fairly experienced head of the legal department. Of course, you will need the education of a lawyer, but, as our hero says, theory is very different from practice, and knowledge of your business comes with experience. Therefore, if you are not yet very confident in your abilities, then you will need more experienced employees, whose work you will organize. For the latter, you must have leadership qualities. And don’t limit yourself to just this role: the manager must be a highly qualified lawyer.

Demid Emelyanov

When I opened the company, I did not conduct market analysis. I had friends in this area, and I knew that there was a lot of work on the market, a good lawyer is always in demand. Later, of course, as we developed, we began to study the market and analyze niches. It’s one thing to be a generalist lawyer, another thing to lead a specific legal direction. There is no point in doing everything. To be a professional, you need to hone your skills in several areas, otherwise you will not be able to provide quality service. You need to choose several niches. That's what we did. We have gradually mastered several niches and are working in them. We are focused only on small and medium-sized businesses - liquidation and registration of companies, bankruptcy. Sometimes we take on the personal affairs of client-business owners as an exception. To determine which niches were the most profitable, temporary marketers were hired to conduct research. I advise beginners to immediately hire marketers, if funds allow, or contact a third-party organization. Or go, as we did at the beginning, by trial and error.

The legal services market is saturated. Many new firms open every year, and many lawyers believe that they are ready to open their own company. But, experts say, there are few market participants providing high-quality services. However, in order to occupy a certain percentage of the market, you need to provide services competently and be competent. Currently, quality and price on the market are not comparable: companies often charge a lot of money for their services, but do not complete the work. If you want to work long and fruitfully, do not repeat their mistake: know that the higher the quality of your services, the more regular clients you will have.

What other market nuances do you need to know? It is necessary to constantly monitor changes in legislation. Because the relevance of the service line directly depends on these changes. For example, over the past few years we have noticed that legislation is changing very often, this is due to the economic crisis and the government’s attempts to reach a new level of interaction with business. To stay afloat in such a situation, you need to always be in trend, study innovations, create and practice new directions, “reshape” your services to accommodate changes in the law and provide an always up-to-date and new product to the client.

Investment size

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

8 years ago, when we opened the company, investments required only 50 thousand rubles. We rented an office, bought inexpensive furniture, sat down ourselves, hired a lawyer and started working. This was enough to start moving. We hired promoters who distributed leaflets with information about our company. This is how we started getting our first clients.

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

Nobody taught me how to do business; I studied literature on my own. We started with an office of 12 sq.m., paid 400 rubles per sq.m., five people sat in this nook. Now we have an office of 200 sq.m., a staff of qualified lawyers and partners throughout Russia.

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

Previously, I combined several positions. He himself was a secretary and answered calls. But after some time I realized that my time is valuable and I can bring in more money if I hire a secretary. Therefore, it is better not to optimize work, but to increase incoming traffic.

Step-by-step instruction

In your activities, you will, of course, interact with representatives of government agencies, as well as with office supply suppliers, cleaning services and courier services. There is a lot of paperwork in the work of a law firm, and you need to find a good courier service that can deliver these papers to the right place on time - and often these are other cities. As a rule, the most famous courier company works better than others. But you will still have to choose by trial and error: if they do not have time to do everything on time, change the counterparty.

There is no need to specially establish relations with government agencies. The longer you work, the more officials will know about you. But this is not always good for a lawyer. After all, they may also not like you, knowing how persistently you fight for the client.

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

When recruiting employees, the main criteria for us are education, experience, and psychological qualities. We already have an image - a psychological portrait of the person we need. The team is friendly, and we need people to join it. When the company is small, this is important. The most important thing is the climate in the company. I am against employees being friends, but their psychotypes must match. For a lawyer, such qualities as determination, perseverance, and the desire to achieve assigned tasks are important. I like extraordinary people who have their own point of view and are ready to defend it, who are ready to prove their competence in their work and learn.

We usually post vacancies on the HR website. After this, we identify suitable candidates. But I have this rule: until I look at about a hundred people, we won’t fill the vacancy. Usually 50-70 people come out. It happens that already at the fifth or sixth interview the same person comes, but as long as there is an incoming flow, we make sure to look at everyone. There are two interviews - primary and secondary, then a three-month probationary period. If a person shows himself earlier, within a month, we are ready for a permanent relationship.

How do we attract people to work? We have good wages, everything is created to ensure that the employee receives the necessary work experience, we have all the necessary tools. In some companies, an employee is simply given a Yellow Pages directory and tasked with looking for “I don’t know what.” We have training. Some specialists spend 3-4 years searching for our vacancies in order to get an interview with us. In general, lawyers with experience know the status of companies on the market and understand where they want to get a job.

The work schedule for a law firm is standard - from 8 to 17 or 9 to 18, five days a week. There may be extra-hour working hours, but by agreement with employees. Occasionally, you may need to meet with clients on Saturday and Sunday.

You can also create your own club card. According to them, regular customers receive several services for free (for example, an extract and a Unified State Register of Legal Entities) or at a discount. Naturally, clients who will cover your monthly revenue with one order will require a special approach.

If your company is aimed at serving small and medium-sized businesses, then it is convenient to be located next to the registration authority - the Federal Tax Service, since you will often need to be there. But the Federal Tax Service is not always located in a place convenient for clients. Of course, a regular client will come to you anywhere, but if you don’t have many of them yet, then the best option is to open an office in the city center, where it’s easier for people to get to.

There are no special requirements for the premises. But, the hero of our article notes, as you develop, you should have at least a reception room where the secretary sits; the legal department, managers, and management should be located in separate rooms. You also need a cozy meeting room. This is very important, because a regular client comes to a lawyer as a psychologist, and in order for him to trust you with his problems, a favorable environment is needed.

Documentation

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

Our center was first registered as an individual entrepreneur, and later an LLC was opened. It is customary in society not to take this form of individual entrepreneur seriously. However, from a legal point of view, an individual entrepreneur bears more responsibility in the event of litigation, while a legal entity has ways to evade liability. However, it is easier to run an individual entrepreneur: it is easier to report taxes - choose UTII and have an outsourced accountant. For example, we didn’t have an accountant on staff for five years.

You do not need to obtain a license to open a law firm. A license will only be required to provide specific services - for example, if you are engaged in bankruptcy of individuals, the employee in charge of this area must obtain the status of an arbitration manager, be a member of the SRO, and pay membership fees.

Opening checklist

Is it profitable to open

In order to correctly set prices for your services, you need to constantly monitor the market and find out competitors’ prices for similar services. You also need to correctly evaluate the quality of your service.

Demid Emelyanov

General Director of the legal center "ZNAT"

Sometimes we don’t break the price, we don’t even go down to the level of the average market price, because we know that the quality of our service is very good. And people come to us - albeit a little, but they know that with us they will achieve a positive result. New companies entering the market resort to dumping and reduce prices because they have no customers. But, as a rule, the quality of the service provided suffers from this.

If you start with small investments and low expenses, with an office of 10 sq.m., then you will reach point zero in the first month. If you rented an office in the city center, hired about 10 people, and spend 700 thousand rubles a month, then you can break even no earlier than in a couple of years, having initially invested at least 10 million rubles.

Is it difficult to open a law firm? What permissions are needed for this? Where to start and how to finish it? How strong is the competition in the market? From our article you will get answers to all your questions, after which you will not be perplexed by the question of how to open a law firm.

 

Business Description

The law firm provides paid legal services to private and corporate clients, advising on various issues: from registration of an organizational form to divorce proceedings.

The company can work in several directions:

1. One-time consultations for individuals. This includes all types of law (from civil and criminal to banking and administrative), representation of interests in court and government agencies, acting in the interests of the client by proxy. The advantages of such work are the ability to quickly find customers, the disadvantages are the average and low solvency of the main target group.
2. One-time consultations for legal entities. Legal assistance is provided already at the stage of company registration, when obtaining special permits, as well as when interacting with government agencies. The undoubted advantage is high rates for services provided, the disadvantage is the possible hidden insolvency of the client (it can be more difficult to collect money from corporate clients than from private clients).
3. Work with legal entities under an outsourcing agreement (subscription services). In this case, the company becomes the client’s partner and takes on all tasks related to legal management and personnel work (registration of employees, contractual relations, interaction with government agencies). The advantage is regular payment, the disadvantages are a wide range of issues to be resolved (from the sale of real estate to appealing against illegal actions and decisions of law enforcement agencies).
4. Services for individuals and legal entities under individual contracts. The premium segment of the market is private consultations for very wealthy clients. Such persons need “their own lawyers” who can be entrusted with confidential information. The advantage is high wages, the disadvantage is difficulties in finding clients.

So, a law firm must take its place in the legal services market, that is, find a niche that is more or less free from competitors. It is worth noting that new areas of work are constantly emerging in this area. For example, 3-4 years ago, registering an online store in payment terminals was an exotic service; today dozens of companies offer it.

Business target audience:

1. Individuals facing legal problems. The range of potential consultations is very wide: family, civil, housing, administrative, tax law. Therefore, it is necessary to decide on a narrower target group and concentrate on certain tasks.
2. Small firms in need of ongoing legal assistance. Such companies engage legal organizations under outsourcing agreements. In fact, the counterparty takes on all the legal work of the partner, establishing the principles of payment (fixed, premium).
3. Medium and large companies that need one-time advice on a complex issue. Questions may arise in the field of economic, customs, and administrative law. To provide effective assistance, law firm specialists must have good knowledge of specific issues.
4. Small and medium-sized companies in need of a specific service. This could be purchasing equipment on lease, obtaining a loan, commercial mortgage, etc. The law firm will accompany the transaction, or select a counterparty, ensure legal security, etc.
5. Foreign companies in need of representation in Russia. These clients are the most interesting, since you can get high payments from them. Foreign companies require a full range of services: registration, submission of reports, obtaining licenses, interaction with government agencies.

Is there a special procedure for opening law firms?

To create a lawyer’s education (office, board, bureau), according to the Federal Law “On advocacy and the legal profession in the Russian Federation,” it is necessary to obtain the appropriate status. Persons wishing to establish such an organization must pass a qualification exam and take an oath. At the same time, the “tests” will be more than rewarded, because lawyers have a wide range of rights and powers: representing the interests of the principal (client) in civil (criminal) proceedings, sending requests to various organizations, conducting written surveys of citizens.

In addition, to conduct private notarial activities in accordance with Part 3 of the Federal Law “On Notaries”, it is necessary to obtain a license. To count on it, you will need to pass a qualifying exam, after which you can open your own office. A notary engaged in private practice has the right to rent an office, hire employees, and keep a bank account.

A special permit, according to the Federal Law "On Licensing of Certain Types of Activities", is necessary only for conducting private detective activities (the licensing authority is the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia). This area is extremely promising for such areas of legal work as debt collection, alimony obligations, and transaction support.

For other areas of legal activity, licenses and other special permits are not provided. Moreover: many recognized experts in the field of customs law and foreign economic activity do not have higher education at all.

Finding a promising direction for work

The legal world is very wide, and there are really many areas to work here. Some firms concentrate exclusively on customs law (clearance of goods), others on the construction industry, and still others on registration services. Some areas of activity are disappearing (notarization of real estate transactions), others are just emerging (e-commerce support). Let's try to evaluate several promising areas that currently have average supply, and find out the potential demand for certain services.

We have identified several areas of interest in the modern market:

1. Collection of debts under receipts and loan agreements using legal methods (preparing claims, applications to law enforcement agencies, writing statements of claim).
2. Support of enforcement proceedings (decision, order, ruling that has entered into legal force).
3. Legal services in the field of construction (enforcement of contract performance, claiming penalties, conducting examinations).
4. Legal assistance to foreigners (application to government agencies, purchase of real estate, participation in administrative, civil and criminal proceedings).
5. Assistance in obtaining a residence permit and citizenship (assistance in finding employment in Russia, preparation of necessary documents, support for foreigners).
6. Appealing illegal decisions of law enforcement agencies (resolutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor's office).

Note: A relevant niche in current market conditions is protecting the rights of borrowers before lenders (for example, the StopLoan franchise).

Assessment of demand for promising areas of activity:

Main methods of promotion:

1. Internet advertising. For all the areas we have identified, contextual advertising Google.Adwords and Yandex.Direct work well. The effect of marketing activities will be felt within 2-3 weeks after the launch of the project. In the medium and long term, good conversion can be achieved by SEO promotion, that is, filling the site with optimized articles.
2. Participation in free consultation services. A number of popular websites for providing legal assistance to citizens enable specialists, when answering questions, to provide their contact information, that is, to advertise. But, given the lack of territorial reference (don’t even think about the vastness of Russia), getting a large number of clients will not be easy.
3. Conducting trainings and seminars. To promote such services as subscription services for legal entities, as well as legal support for foreign companies, organizing working meetings for managers and heads of departments is promising. You can also charge a fee for participation in thematic trainings and seminars, but this is associated with other organizational costs.
4. Preparation of business proposals. When promoting subscription legal services for companies, targeted mailings will help you find clients. In the business proposal, it is necessary to outline possible cooperation algorithms and indicate the cost of the company’s services.
5. "Cold calls". Most small and medium-sized companies cannot maintain their own legal department, but they encounter legal problems with enviable regularity. Targeted telephone conversations with managers will help you find clients. Moreover, such a promotion method is rarely used when selling services in the field of jurisprudence.
6. Successful legal practice. Finally, the notorious “word of mouth” remains an important source of clients. The more useful the help and advice is, the more satisfied clients will share their valuable specialist with their friends.

Advantages and disadvantages of your own law office:

pros	Minuses
Flexible work schedule	High competition
Arbitrary pricing	Extensive work experience required
A large number of spheres	Difficulties in promoting certain types of services
Possibility of constant expansion of the company	Psychological problems (constant contact with other people's difficulties)
A huge number of potential clients	The need to constantly update the legal framework and update legislation
Self-realization of a specialist	Independent search for clients
Ability to choose your own clients	A large number of people wishing to receive free consultation
Right to refuse consultation (assistance)	A license is required for certain areas of work.
Effective use of working time	It is difficult to find good specialists as employees
Minimum costs for organizing the work process	The company is responsible for the quality of services
Stable demand	Taking your place in the market is not easy

Examples of successful businesses

Summary analysis of service costs

Company name	Law Firm "Arcadia"	Law Firm "Angard"	GC "Yurliga"
City		Ulyanovsk	Ekaterinburg
One-time consultation	1,500 rubles/hour	700 rubles	from 1000 rubles
LLC registration (no state fee)	11,000 rubles	2,500 rubles	7,500 rubles
Registration of individual entrepreneur (no state duty)	3,500 rubles	1,000 rubles	4,500 rubles
Liquidation of a legal entity	60,000 rubles	is not provided	34,500 rubles
Drawing up a statement of claim	9,000 rubles (comprehensive service)	1,000 rubles (application only)	9,500 rubles (comprehensive service)

So, the above companies provide similar services, however, Arcadia Law Firm specializes in registration issues (formation and liquidation of legal forms), Angard Law Firm is more focused on accessible services for individuals, and Yurliga Group of Companies provides a wide range of services to both private and to corporative clients. Even a superficial analysis demonstrates how widely prices for work vary. It is not surprising that in Moscow the cost of services is much higher than in Ulyanovsk.

Let us add that the price of the work depends significantly on the status of the lawyer. Famous firms that serve only regular clients can charge 15-30 thousand rubles a day, or even more, for representing the client’s interests. The stakes are especially high in the field of criminal law: when a rich person faces the prospect of being in places “not so remote,” he is no longer so eager to count his savings.

Question how to open a law firm This question is usually asked by lawyers who are tired of working for hire. Although, in order to open such a company, it is not at all necessary to be a lawyer. This activity is not licensed and any person can register a company. The exception is defense services in criminal proceedings - this requires the status of a lawyer.

For the stable operation of a law firm, the manager must first of all be a successful businessman, but he may not be a lawyer. The manager must be able to attract clients and select qualified legal personnel.

Organizations engaged in the provision of legal services have the right to use the simplified taxation system (STS). Let me remind you that with this taxation system there can be two rates:

6%, if the object of taxation is income,

15% if the object of taxation is income reduced by the amount of expenses.

Most law firms in our country specialize in providing services for registration, re-registration and liquidation of legal entities. This is explained not only by the fact that this is one of the most popular services, but also by the low barriers to entry into the market. This work does not require legal qualifications and, accordingly, personnel costs are minimal. To operate such a company, two people are enough, even without higher education. But this type of activity is becoming less and less profitable due to fierce competition and dumping by large players like Registrar.

Narrow specialization provides some advantages, but also imposes serious limitations. In my opinion, a more competent legal business should be built on a wide range of services, where company registration would be only one of the types of services. The most interesting area of ​​activity in terms of income is b2b (Business to Business) - servicing legal entities. Here the competition is already lower, especially in the small business sector. Large businesses prefer to use the services of foreign consulting companies.

Therefore, before opening a law firm, you need to have a plan for the future and decide on a strategy. If we focus on the growth and expansion of the list of legal services, then this already requires qualified lawyers. Many legal entity registration firms have realized that they have reached the ceiling within their narrow specialization and are expanding their range of services. This is easier to implement than starting from scratch, immediately offering a wide range of legal services, which requires significant investments

It’s easier for a lawyer in this regard. He has the opportunity to start a legal business from scratch and without investment. As I did with my partners, I built up a client base while working for hire, and only then opened an official account and registered the company. But I started by providing services only for individuals and individual entrepreneurs. And only after the official opening it began to focus on legal entities.

What expenses are required to start? I’ll reveal the figures for my office, although this is far from an indicator.

The initial costs were as follows (prices in Moscow):

There was already a registered LLC, so there were no expenses for this item. And so registering an LLC will cost an average of 20-30 thousand rubles, of which 10,000 - 15,000 rubles cost the legal address. If you register yourself, you can save about 10,000 rubles.

Furniture and office equipment – ​​50-60 thousand rubles.

Rent and repairs – 60 thousand rubles.

Other expenses (telephone, Internet, software) – 30-40 thousand rubles.

In our case, there was no need to hire lawyers, since we were specialists ourselves. And so you should expect that the minimum salary for a lawyer in Moscow is 30-40 thousand rubles (the level of qualifications is a separate issue).

We also need a secretary, but for the first couple of months we didn’t bother. And then they hired a person who worked from home: took calls and made appointments. When we were in the office, we sometimes switched the phone to ourselves and took calls ourselves. Technically, this is easy to organize. You can, of course, rent a professional call center, but this is necessary when there is really a flurry of calls, and a self-organized virtual secretary is not inferior in quality if everything is done correctly. The asking price is 7,000 rubles per month. Call center services – 11,000 rubles one-time and 9,000 rubles monthly, i.e. it’s still two to three times cheaper than hiring a secretary for an office and organizing a workplace.

There’s no point in talking about an accountant - definitely outsourcing (incoming accountant). We have a simplified taxation system and, accordingly, simple accounting. Services cost 2500-5000 rubles per quarter, depending on the amount of work.

In total, about 200 thousand rubles were spent at the start in the first month. We reached the break-even point in the second month, but this is thanks to the existing customer base and current orders.

It should be borne in mind that we did not use the classical scheme for organizing a company, which allows us to significantly reduce costs, which will be discussed below. Therefore, when calculating a regular business plan, these figures must be multiplied three times, and when the enterprise reaches payback depends on the skill of the manager.

The scheme of work we implemented is as follows. Initially, orders were fulfilled entirely by ourselves. Over time, we expanded the list of services through our affiliate network. This is a criminal lawyer, realtor, auditor, registrar and others. The most difficult thing is to find a conscientious specialist who provides quality customer service, otherwise your reputation may suffer. And you can always agree on a partnership, since this is a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Of course, this is one possible option for order execution. I am only describing my personal experience and my path to organizing an office.

This type of organization provides the following advantages:

Minimum costs (rent, salary, etc.);

High quality of services, control over which is not required, since each partner cares about his reputation;

Income is proportional to expenses, resistance to seasonal lull;

Mobility and flexibility in choosing a room.

The main advantage of this approach is that the best price/quality ratio for the service is established.

The classic version of a law firm involves renting a substantial premises and a staff of lawyers and assistants. I see serious disadvantages in this option:

Significant rental costs (especially relevant in Moscow);

More stringent conditions in choosing premises;

Constantly high wage costs, regardless of seasonality;

Other costs also increase significantly (organization and maintenance of workplaces, more complex accounting,

It is more difficult to select personnel than a partner, since a hired employee is a dark horse, and a private specialist or company has an established reputation. In addition, it is more difficult to change an employee than a partner;

Less job stability due to staff turnover;

The quality of services is worse; in-house lawyers do not care about their reputation;

Spending time and effort on monitoring execution and working with staff.

We will still come to this option over time. But in order to maintain the level of quality at such costs, it will be necessary to significantly increase prices, which means entering into tougher competition. Or a huge number of orders are needed, which will allow maintaining the price/quality level by reducing margins.

It’s worth saying right away that it’s somewhat specific. Only those entrepreneurs who have a higher legal education will be able to open it.

Therefore, the first step in order to organize a legal business should be to work for the owner. This is necessary in order to gain the skills that may be needed to open such a business. Only after the entrepreneur is convinced that he really likes legal science can he begin to make attempts to create a legal enterprise. This should be an area in which a person can fully unleash his creative potential and thereby earn greater profits.

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What you need to start your own legal business

Do not think that work in this area does not require much effort and is too simple. To succeed here, you will need to regularly put in a lot of effort and work hard. However, if you do everything correctly and adhere to the points of this business plan, after a certain amount of time it will be possible to turn a start-up law firm into one of the leaders in this market segment.

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Choosing partners to conduct such a business

It is important to note that starting such a business on your own can be quite difficult, so it is recommended to find suitable partners who will also have education and experience in the legal field. Each representative must be a dedicated and highly qualified lawyer.

You should know that there must be complete and unconditional trust between all partners. Therefore, it makes sense to think about those people whom an entrepreneur may have known for quite a long time. A good option here could be former classmates who received higher education together.

In addition, all specialists who will form one single team must understand that creating such a business on their own is almost impossible. The amount of future income of the enterprise will depend on the type of interaction between team members.

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Possible financial problem

When creating such a business at first, problems may arise related to financial resources. The thing is that at first, the legal business most likely will not bring any profit, but there will certainly be costs for renting premises and paying for the work performed by employees.

The first profit may appear not even after a few months, but after a number of years of hard work. Consequently, it may take several years before the co-founders are able to receive any tangible profit from the project being created.

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The problem of finding and attracting clients

The next problem that entrepreneurs planning to organize such a business may face is attracting and searching for potential clients. To a greater extent, this will apply to those companies that have just appeared on the market. The thing is that most often clients come to law firms on the recommendations of their relatives, acquaintances, and friends. Therefore, it can be concluded that the new company will not be able to earn a good reputation in a short time. It should be noted that this is quite natural and there is nothing surprising about it. That is why you need to be prepared for the difficulties that may arise for a young and promising law firm.

It is imperative to take into account that registering your law firm and making it successful and profitable are two different tasks. You will need to define your own policy from the very beginning, which is related to the fundamental issues of running such a business. This could be, for example, relationships between partners or principles of working with future clients.

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Fear of competition in this market

It is worth noting that if you thoroughly understand all the nuances and fundamental issues of running and, you can conclude that in fact opening a successful company is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. Exactly following the points of the business plan will allow you to recoup your investment in approximately one year.

Many novice entrepreneurs are very intimidated by the presence of a large number of possible competitors in a given market. However, you should be aware that this should not alarm interested businessmen at all. A large number of studies conducted confirm the fact that this niche is very large and over the next many years will be able to accommodate all the newcomers to this market. This is due to the fact that the level of legal literacy of Russians is quite low.

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Conducting research on this market

An important step that is necessary in order to properly organize a legal business is conducting market research. This will make it possible to realistically assess such factors as the number of possible existing competing firms, the territorial location of such companies, the possible advantages of legal services that competitors can provide to clients, and the weaknesses of their activities.

Do not forget that you will need to analyze the pricing policies of your competitors. This will make it possible to formulate the correct prices for your services. After a comparative analysis has been carried out, the data obtained can be used to build the correct development strategy for the newly opened enterprise.

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Choosing a legal form for doing business

You need to take care to register your business. It is worth knowing that you do not have to be a lawyer in order to register. Any person can do this. The exception is cases when defense services will be provided in criminal proceedings. This requires the status of a lawyer.

It is important to note that organizations that provide legal services can apply to apply the simplified taxation system (STS). With such a taxation system, the following rates may apply:

• 6% if the object of taxation is income;
• 15% in the case where the object of taxation is income, which will be reduced by the amount of expenses.

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Selection of premises for opening such a business

The next important step will be choosing a suitable premises for the office of a law firm. There are 2 options here: purchase the premises or rent it. It is worth noting that to open a law firm it is not necessary to immediately purchase premises. This is due to the fact that the repair will require a standard office one, which is used in a large number of different premises. Therefore, if the landlord asks to leave the premises, moving to a new building in most cases will not pose any problems for entrepreneurs.

The area must be large enough to accommodate at least 2 workstations. In addition, it is worth taking care of allocating additional space for the hallway, in which you can place a small sofa for visitors and a table at which the secretary will sit.

Regarding the location, it is worth knowing that this also does not matter much. You can locate the office both in the center and in a residential area. Most often, this does not affect the number of potential clients. Many businessmen prefer to first organize their activities somewhere on the outskirts, and then move closer to the central areas.

It is worth noting that if you plan to provide services to legal entities, it would be right to start a legal business in some residential area.

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Purchasing the necessary equipment for conducting legal business

The next thing you will need to take care of is the purchase of equipment that will be needed in order to organize a legal business. A standard set of office equipment includes:

• computer (desktop or laptop);
• telephone (landline and mobile);
• Fax;
• copying equipment (copier);
• printer (inkjet or laser, depending on the amount of available funds to start a business);
• safe (for storing cash and valuables);
• various furniture that will be needed (tables, chairs, sofas, shelves, cabinets, etc.).

It is necessary to take care in advance about purchasing consumables and office supplies.

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Selecting the right employees that will be needed

Regarding employees, it is worth knowing that you should not immediately try to hire experienced lawyers who will demand a lot of money. Workers' responsibilities will be minimal at first. Therefore, even law students can cope with them. It makes sense to look at graduates who have a high average score in their diploma and, accordingly, may have perseverance, responsibility and attentiveness.

You will need a secretary who will form a queue of clients and answer incoming calls. In addition, he will be able to answer the most common simple questions that relate to the legal field.

It makes sense to think about an accountant who will keep records. It is worth noting that you can try to agree with this employee on payment based on the amount of work completed. This is necessary in order to save some of your monthly expenses.

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List of legal services

Most law firms in Russia specialize in providing services for liquidation, registration, and re-registration of legal entities. This is due to the fact that this is one of the most popular services. In addition, such activities have a low threshold for entry into this market. Such work does not require the qualifications of a lawyer, therefore, personnel costs will be minimal. In order to organize such a company, 2 people may be enough. Moreover, they do not even have to have a higher education. However, this type of activity is becoming less and less profitable every day. This is because there is a lot of competition here.

Accordingly, we can conclude that narrow specialization imposes great limitations. That is why a serious law firm must provide a wide range of services, in which company registration is just one of the types of possible services.

The most interesting and highly profitable area of ​​activity is “Business to Business” (b2b) - servicing legal entities. The competition here is much lower, especially in the small business sector. Large businessmen prefer to use foreign consulting companies.

Therefore, before opening a company, it is necessary to think over the list of services that will be provided to potential clients. Based on this, it will be possible to select personnel with appropriate qualifications.

Practice shows that most law firms are trying in every possible way to expand the list of services provided. You should know that it is much easier to implement something like this in stages than to provide a large number of services from the very beginning. This is due to significant financial investments, which may not exist.