…By old fashion, I mean traditional paper books.  When I started my law practice 3 years ago, I didn’t read real books to learn the how-tos – I used the internet and listservs and forums to get the information I need.  However, there are those that like a book in hand.  Here are two of the leading books on the topic of starting a law firm and how to succeed.

Carolyn Elefant’s book “Solo by Choice: How to be the lawyer you always wanted to be” is cited often as the modern Foonberg (next on the list) book.  I’ve had the pleasure of having her donate a copy to me for the Mass Bar and I read through it.  It is very informative, of course – but what surprises me is that she lays out more than one road to success.  That makes sense because not every lawyer wants to build a large firm and multi-million dollar corporate book of business.  There should be different options for different types of lawyers.

Next is the classic Jay Foonberg “How to Start & Build a Law Practice”, which has been a staple since the first edition back in the ’70s.  I admit that I do not have this book and I’ve never read it.  However, it’s been highly recommended and so I recommend it to you as a good physical resource for starting a law practice.

Even though there are lots of other books you can get on places such as Amazon that “teaches” you how to build a law practice, these two are the best.  However, don’t limit yourself to only those resources that teach lawyers.  Building a law practice is not so different from building a lot of other types of businesses, so take inspiration from other businesses.  Here are other non-legal books I recommend:

Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” teaches how to build relationships and how to network.

Henry Beckwith talks about “Selling the Invisible” – services, not products off a shelf.

Robert Kiyosaki’s claim to fame book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is a great read.  Though some has criticized his marketing strategies after the hit book and his over-reliance on real estate investment, learning the fundamentals of how to build wealth is still valuable in and of itself.