I’ve been getting lots of questions lately about hiring. Mostly, solo practitioners are asking me whether they’re ready to add the overhead of a staff person or second attorney.
It’s a tough question to answer because the answer depends on a variety of factors. We all know that the same numbers mean something different in different parts of the United States (I’m focusing on the United States because I understand U.S. money. If you’re in another part of the world—and I know lots of you are—you’re going to have to extrapolate). Dollars in a big city don’t go as far as they go in some small towns and vice-versa. However, we are more alike than we are different (the McDonald’s dollar menu is nationwide), and we can tweak these numbers as necessary.
My answer to this question is based on revenue. It’s important, however, not to become overly distracted by the revenue number. Revenue is the second most important number. Profit is the most important number. Generating lots of revenue without generating a profit isn’t sustainable. While I’m focusing on revenue to answer this question, you should be very careful to keep your eye on your personal profit.
I think you should run your operation by yourself with no other personnel until you generate about $25,000 per month in revenue. When you hit that number, then it’s fine to add assistance. Don’t add people until you’re consistently in that zone. You should be able to pay for some assistance prior to hitting $25,000 in revenue, but do it using outsourced and virtual services like an answering service, bookkeeping service, IT help desk, etc. Don’t commit to a salary for your help.
When you hit $25,000 monthly, you’re collecting a bit over $1,000 for each workday. At $200 per hour, that’s about five billed hours a day (although I’m not big on billing hourly). That’s a reasonable amount of billing, and you can manage that along with the other tasks of running your office. As you get close to $25,000, you might want to add a bit of part-time help—maybe a courier service, a virtual assistant, or a virtual paralegal if you’re able to take home a big chunk of that $25,000 each month. If you’re generating close to $25,000 and you’re not taking half of it home, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and see where the money is going.
There are lots of reasons that my number can miss the mark in your practice. Of course, I have the most experience in family law. If you’re practicing in another area, my number might not be relevant. If you’re spending big dollars on marketing (25%+), my number might not work. You might also have objectives regarding family time (but I think you can achieve that by taking fewer clients more easily than by hiring someone). I’m answering this question because I’m being asked for an answer, and it’s tough to answer without being very specific.
Some of you won’t like my number. You’ll complain that your working like crazy and can’t get things done without help even though your revenue is substantially below $25,000. I’d suggest that the problem isn’t a lack of assistance. It’s more likely a failure to charge and collect appropriate fees, an organizational issue or some other problem. If you correct the underlying issue you won’t be on overload and you won’t need the help.
If, however, you’re like most of the family law practitioners that I talk to, then my number probably makes good sense. You should be very hesitant to add people to your payroll until you’ve exceeded $25,000 per month in revenue.
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Lee Rosen has practiced family law for more than twenty years. With three offices, 
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