So, our first question is: “If I plan to sell my law practice within the next one to two years, what do you recommend?” Great question. Most lawyers are thinking to themselves that they don't want to sell the law practice within just a couple of months. Often, they are thinking a year or two ahead. So, what we're showing here is really four major items to be considering when you're thinking 12 to 24 months ahead in terms of selling your law practice.

First and foremost, your most valuable asset of your law practice is your Book of Business. It's your Client List.

And, so many lawyers, year in, year out, we think to ourselves, “OK, who's the next client? Who's the next client?”

I’m trying to bring in business.

Some of us are doing a decent job at marketing and staying in touch with our clients. But, as you're thinking about selling your practice . . .very, very, very important.

So, those were three very’s, right? On updating the Client List in terms of updating the addresses of your clients; the e-mail addresses of your clients; phone numbers; and very importantly, cell phone numbers. Right? We're all texting with our clients today, or many of us are texting with our clients, and having their cell phone numbers is certainly important.
So, first and foremost, please update the address information for the clients within your Book of Business, which consists, of course, of your Client List and also your Referral Sources. What is their contact information?

Secondly, is please update your website. So many of us think to ourselves, like, OK, I'll do it next month. I'll do it next year.

When you're thinking of selling your law firm, it doesn't need to be, you know, the best website out there. But, certainly sprucing it up.
By comparison, if you're thinking of selling the home that you lived in for a generation. Before you sell your home, you very well may paint the outside; update a bathroom; update other parts of your house.

So, similarly, your website, please consider updating your bios; adding new pictures; adding new content. Maybe the last time that you updated your website, you didn't include certain practice areas.

Because any buyer . . . the first thing that they're going to be looking at when they're considering purchasing your law practice - they're going to go straight to your website. You don't want your website to be the 2012 version of what you are now.

Third, is social media. It could be daunting. OK. We understand there's so many aspects of social media today. So, we here recommend a minimum and an ideal.

On a minimum basis, considering you've got 12 to 24 months as you're considering to sell your law firm - is please update your LinkedIn profile.
Just as people are going to your website to check you out, they also are going to check you out on LinkedIn. So, that picture of yourself from like 10 years ago, just please, go out, get a professional photo done. It doesn't cost that much. It doesn't take too much time. Add that to your LinkedIn profile; expand please on your on your bio what it is that you do.

Please also try to increase the number of contacts. I can just tell you as someone that looks at a lot of LinkedIn profiles, when I see someone that has 40 connections, or even 150 connections. I just think to myself, “Boy, this person is really not that connected with all that many people. They're not so focused on networking.”

Even from a Seller’ standpoint, I mean you've grown your business I recognize by a lot of Word-of-Mouth. But, getting up to 500 connections is really not that difficult. You know a lot of people, and updating that LinkedIn profile is very important because people, buyers are going to be looking at your website and your LinkedIn profile.

The ideal is to also just start dibbling and dabbling, or maybe expanding if you're already, if you've already dibbled and dabbled with additional social media. That is, Facebook posts, Facebook Groups, Threads, Twitter, which is now X, Instagram - is starting to do social media because would be buyers and also would be clients are looking for you on social media today as well.

And, then, with that 12 to 24 month ramp that you've got, please start reviewing important contracts, right? Like your lease. When is the lease set to renew? OK. And, please consider if your lease is set to renew within that one to two year period, do you really want to extend it for five years? Perhaps you extend it for less time with more options, just to give yourself flexibility. And, just not to be caught off guard with certain term contracts, like your legal research contract, even that website contract that you have; your benefits packages, and certainly, your malpractice insurance. It’s is important to look at what it is that you have for your policy term in terms of, well, of course, they're annual, but in terms of what that aggregate amount is and what a tail policy costs would be when you look at the malpractice insurance.

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