There are many reasons why an attorney should think about adding additional practice areas to their law firm offerings—it helps improve your client experience, having multiple streams of income protects your business from market volatility, and it increases your bottom line! However, adding another practice area can be a big ask for you, your office staff, and your budget.
Whether or not you should seriously contemplate adding another practice area to your law firm depends heavily on a few factors, such as your resources and the level of need among prospective clients, and in your community. Ask yourself: Am I referring clients to outside counsel more often than I would like to? Is there a need in the market (are there any attorneys offering this service in my community)? Do I have any untapped, in-office talent (like my paralegal, John, who previously worked for an estate planning attorney)? Do I have current clients who would benefit from additional legal services? Am I experiencing professional dissatisfaction or wanting a better work-life balance?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions then it might be time to consider adding another practice area to your law firm. Below are a few additional practice areas to consider:
Business planning: With more than 29 million small businesses in the U.S., you probably already have clients who are business owners that need legal assistance. Additionally, businesses have been greatly impacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—from the creation of new tax brackets to changes to choice of entity considerations and tax-deductible expenses—business owners need professional advice on reworking their business planning strategies.
Estate Planning: Despite the common misconception that estate planning is only for the wealthy or elderly, just about every adult could stand to benefit from having a comprehensive estate plan in place. Of the roughly 250 million adults in the US today, 60% do not have an estate plan in place. With such a large market of potential clients, the odds are that many (if not all) of your existing clients need estate planning. And because estate planning can offer practitioners a better work-life balance and more positive interactions with clients, adding or transitioning to this practice area might be a good option for attorneys facing burnout or professional dissatisfaction.
Trust Administration: Trust Administration is a complementary practice area to any estate planning practice, as the trusts you design, draft, and execute will inevitably have to be administered. In addition, your referral sources need an attorney to refer clients, families, and friends to when someone passes away. Attorneys are often hesitant to add this deadline and task-driven practice area, as doing so requires juggling many moving parts and having solid systems in place. Despite the real and imagined obstacles, this practice area can greatly improve client satisfaction and increase your revenue potential.
Getting there - The WealthCounsel Advantage
A WealthCounsel membership can help you expand your law firm’s practice areas. Whether you need help drafting legal documents, learning new legal strategies and staying on top of current developments in the law, maintaining your CLE requirements, creating marketing content to set you apart as an expert in your community, or receiving support from a network of legal professionals around the country, we have all of your needs covered. WealthCounsel aims to be the one resource you need to grow and maintain a thriving law practice.
A WealthCounsel membership means having access to:
Intelligent, automated drafting software. Draft complex documents in a matter of minutes—whether its related to business planning, trust administration, or estate planning—we’ve got brilliant solutions to help you automate your drafting process.
On-demand webinars and other educational resources. Practical learning resources with our 24-hour library, live events, on-demand webinars, CLE eligible courses, and informative articles and insight briefs.A supportive professional community. Grow your professional relationships with WealthCounsel’s nationwide network of thousands of estate planning and business law attorneys.
Learn more about the benefits of a WealthCounsel membership and how we can help you add or change your law firm's practice area by scheduling a demo today.
