I’m 28 years old.  When I started my law firm, I was 25 years old.  Not only was I very green behind the ears, I could’ve passed for an 18 year old.  For some people, I suppose that’s a blessing but for an attorney just starting out and desperately trying to get business, it’s a curse.

Many times when I meet a client in person, I was asked, “You look young.  How old are you?”  In fact, I still get asked that question today, but a lot less often (I’ll tell you why later).  When I was first asked this question, I was at a loss for words.  A million things ran through my head: Do I actually tell them how old I am?  They’re gonna think that 25 is way too young.  These people have kids older than me!

What I eventually came to realize is that I shouldn’t be afraid to tell them how old I am.  And if I do my job right from the start, they’ll ask less about how old I am.  What I ultimately realized was that they don’t really care how old I am.  What they really want to know is “Do you have the necessary skill and experience to handle my case?”  But instead of asking that question which could be rude and embarrassing to the client to ask, they ask me how old I am instead and they use my age as a yardstick to gauge my level of expertise.

The reason why 3 years later, I get a lot less first-time clients asking me about  my age is because I’ve developed a system of extensive and lengthy intake before I actually meet with the client in person.  We talk about their case and the law and the fees all before they come into the office to see me for the first time.  So that by the time they actually come in, they’re ready to sign on with me with retainer check in hand.  Because of this extensive intake, most of them no longer is suspicious whether or not I have the level of expertise to help them with their case because I’ve already shown them my grasp of the law during the intake process.  And because they no longer worry about my skills and experience, they don’t need to ask me about  my age.

I still get a few “How old are you?” questions from clients sometimes but the tone is entirely different now.  They ask it as a point of making conversation and not something that hinges on whether or not they’ll engage my firm.  I also have no reservations about telling them proudly that I’m 28 years old and yes I own my own small firm with associate and support staff.