Starting a Law Firm to Serve Corporations and Individuals Alike with Sara Erskine

Sara Erskine, Partner at Weintraub Erskine Huang LLP, is my guest on the podcast this week. Sara discusses starting her own firm, the type of cases they will handle, and her vision for it over the coming years. She also shares details about their marketing strategy to attract new business, the systems and processes she’s developed, what an average day and week look like for her, and how they charge their clients.

The current challenges facing the legal profession, Sara’s advice for new lawyers, her financial planning and income saving, investing, and protection are also addressed, and our conversation concludes with Sara’s definition of financial independence. Armed with extensive professional knowledge and familiarity with the entrepreneurial experience of starting her own firm, Sara has so much to offer listeners here today.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST – DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The combination of the impending retirement of a senior partner and mentor at her previous firm and the changes brought about by COVID formed the impetus for Sara to start her own firm.
• The way her firm charges clients depends a lot upon the client and their needs, and is based on an hourly fee.
• Sara’s advice to new lawyers is to soak up all of the experiences that they are offered, to learn their profession and their craft, and seek out great mentors to help them learn both the profession of law and the business side of law.
• Sara saves a base amount of her income each year and works with a financial advisor for her investments and her financial planning for her future.
• Her definition of financial independence involves the ability to work if she wants to, but not have to work to be able to sustain her family’s modest lifestyle.

QUOTES:

“You’re not going to have to pay for one of the large national firms but you’ll get the same level of service from us.”
“If you’re an individual client going to speak to a lawyer, it’s intimidating. And I think that you would feel more comfortable going and speaking to a lawyer that you can look across the table at, and they look like you, and they understand the challenges and the difficulties you face, and can help you, versus just being a cookie cutter corporate lawyer that doesn’t have that same feel.”
“I still am quite risk averse when it comes to my own money. I don’t even buy lottery tickets because I think I’m just throwing money away, even though I might win millions of dollars one day.”
“To be able to live our lifestyle, which I find to be a comfortable lifestyle, be able to enjoy time with my husband, for us to be able to take trips and explore the world and enjoy spending time together without feeling that we are missing out, that we did not plan enough for our future so that we are unable to enjoy our retirement.”