The reality of the traditional legal industry is this: you will earn far more for the law firm that employs you than you will ever earn for yourself. Now for most of you that will not come as a surprise. That’s just the way it is, you’ll say. That’s how the legal world works. You might even argue that it’s fair. Afterall, the law firm you work for provides the vital indemnity insurance for you to practise, and the firm also provides the back-office support that’s so important to you to do your job. You say: why shouldn’t they get a much bigger cut of your earnings?
I’m glad you asked. What if I told you there was another, very different reality? A reality where it was possible to provide indemnity insurance and all the back-office support a lawyer could possibly need, and yet allow those same lawyers to earn far more for themselves than they earn for their firm. A reality where those that put in the hard work building relationships with clients and delivering legal services that keep them coming back for more, are the ones that see the rewards. A reality where a law firm is structured around its lawyers, not its senior partners. A reality where you earn more money, whilst at the same time having a happier, more fulfilling, less stressful life.
The truth is this reality does exist. And you can experience it by working as a consultant at Setfords Solicitors.
We offer indemnity insurance, a 50-strong support team, and a fee-share structure based around reward. The more you achieve the greater the remuneration. Our fee share structure is a split of between 50 – 80% depending on how much you’re billing. For example if you billed £300,000 your fee share would be £210,000. To make that same level of income in a traditional firm it’s likely you’d have to bill more like £600,000. Imagine how long that would take and the level of stress that would bring.
Now you might be thinking that’s all very well, but I’m only 10 years PQE and I haven’t got a massive following of clients yet, so yes, I could earn more, but aren’t I taking a risk?
To a degree that’s true – this way of working is geared towards those with both entrepreneurial spirit and a realistic confidence that they can generate their own income by building on a loyal client-base. However, you aren’t completely on your own. We help mitigate that risk by having a business development team whose purpose is to generate business for you. In the past 3 years we have generated millions of pounds in business for our consultants through innovative approaches to lead generation, so innovative in fact we’ve been shortlisted for the innovation in client acquisition award run by the Lawyer. And the Setfords brand is becoming ever-more familiar. This year we employed a PR consultancy to help raise the profile of the firm and our marketing team are using cutting edge techniques to generate further leads.
So you are earning more money, but what other costs might you expect. None. There are no hidden costs. Our support package covers everything you could need from secretarial support to technical support, from scanning to compliance. All you need is a talented legal mind, a few clients to get you going, and a belief that you can be a success. And trust me, you can. I’ve seen it. Time and time and time again. We now have over 160 lawyers who work as consultants at Setfords. You could be one of them.
To find out more about becoming a consultant lawyer at Setfords go to www.consultantsolicitor.co.uk
Chris Setford
CEO, Setfords Solicitors
Next week : Reasons to become a Setfords consultant lawyer… #4 You’ll eat more healthily