Just dumping a bunch of numbers on you won’t be very helpful, so in order to provide some context for the data, here’s a little information about my practice:
I live and practice in a place that has a somewhat lower cost-of-living than you might associate with Florida (in other words, I’m not in downtown Miami or anything like that). My practice area isn’t oversaturated with other attorneys; instead, my competition comes from a small number of very established attorneys who have been doing these types of law in this area for many years. I rent office space from a two attorney firm that recently bought a large, restored Victorian-style house to serve as their new office building. My rent gets me the following: 18’ by 20’ office, internet, utilities, phone, use of the two conference rooms, kitchen, their huge copier/scanner, and their downstairs receptionist does the welcoming routine (greets my clients, shows them to a conference room, gets them drinks, etc.).
With that out of the way, here’s the breakdown.
January
Clients
- Clients brought over from previous firm: 3
- New clients in January: 5
- Total clients: 8
Expenses
- Bar dues/membership fees: $426.64
- Malpractice insurance: $254 deposit, $76/month
- Office supplies (including paper/pens/etc., furniture, business card, letterhead, postage, computer, scanner and so on): $2,189.54
- Rent: $350 (jumps to $550/month starting in February)
- Fee-sharing with other attorneys: $500
- Court costs and associated fees: $642
- Other assorted junk: $400
- Total expenses: (roughly) $3,700
Income
- Earned: $7,000
- Retainer: nothing
- Net income: approx. $3,300
February
Clients
- Family: 1
- Referrals from local bar’s lawyer referral service: 2
- Referrals from other attorneys: 2
- Referrals from other professional sources: 1
- Total new clients: 6
Expenses
- Malpractice insurance: $78
- Office supplies (including payments to business credit card): $470
- Rent: $550
- CLE: $140
- Court costs and associated fees: $377
- Website expenses: $20
- Other assorted junk: $140
- Total expenses: (roughly) $1,430
Income
- Earned: $3,675
- Retainer: none
- Net income: approx. $2,245
Paychecks
- 3 paychecks @ $1,000 each: $3,000
March
Clients
- Referrals from other attorneys: 3
- Referrals from other professional sources: 2
- Came after hearing me at a speaking engagement: 1
- Total new clients: 6
Expenses
- Advertising: $30
- Office supplies (including payments to business credit card): $320
- Rent: $550
- Court costs and associated fees: $67
- Lawyer Referral Service referral fee: $200
- Other assorted junk: $17
- Tax withholding (goes into a separate savings account): $1,800
- Total expenses: (roughly) $2,984
Income
- Earned: $11,900
- Retainer: none
- Net income: approx. $8,916
Paychecks
- Two paychecks @ $1,500 each: $3,000
[divider]
In summary, my first quarter led to approx. $22,575 of income and $8,114 of expenses, netting me approx. $14,461. I’ve taken $6,000 of that as paychecks, leaving my firm with nearly $8,500 in the bank. I know that might not seem like much to a lot of you, but after all the doom and gloom I read before starting out, I’m actually ahead of where I thought I would be at the moment. I’m still networking my tail off to increase my exposure and I know I need to be withholding more money to pay my taxes, but I think things have gone okay so far.
As always, feel free to leave your questions or comments below, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to hearing from you, and I’ll see you again in May.
