The Problem:
Many good lawyer websites will still have tremendous search engine value long after the attorney has retired. How will the retired lawyer monetize those websites?
The Business
The lawyer can do a number of things to monetize the website, depending upon how valuable the site is and how much involvement he or she would like to have.
The lawyer can:
- Sell the site as part of the sale of the practice
- Transition out of the practice, giving the firm to a junior person and having an earn-out arrangement
- Sell the website without selling the practice
- Begin monetizing the website through ads
- Sell leads from the website
or the lawyer can share responsibility with another attorney. The other attorney is the “primary responsibility attorney.”
Therefore, this business idea provides the following services for a variety of quasi-retired lawyers/law firms:
- Call tracking and case intake
- Finding primary responsibility attorneys
- Making sure the relationship and paperwork complies with the rules of professional conduct
- Monitoring the case throughout the relationship including conversations with the client
- Confirming the receipt of payment upon settlement or verdict
It is essentially automation for referral based law firms.
Doableness
There is a lot more to the above business idea than meets the eye. If you were to handle everything above start to finish, you would need law firm consultants who understood all law firm retirement models. You’d also need each step of the referral based law firm automation process. That means a call center, attorney relationship managers and case/client relationship managers, and accounting. You would also need a sales and marketing team to find the retiring attorneys.
Getting attorneys on board might be the most difficult part. The practice of law is still regarded by many attorneys as a calling, not a profession (and certainly not a business). Even modern lawyers with websites/practices that would lend themselves well to this concept might have a problem with this idea.
I know there are lawyers who certainly have no problem with this idea, however. Witness this guy.
My Thoughts
This business best serves lawyers who serve individuals, as opposed to lawyers who serve businesses. Examples include injury lawyers, criminal lawyers, bankruptcy lawyers, and the like. Business lawyers’ brands are themselves in a way that’s less true of attorneys for individuals.