Today we are exploring in more detail the experience of Bonnie Faucett, a former general practitioner who spent 5 years working tirelessly in her law practice, but not getting anywhere.
Within six months of transitioning to practicing law with NLBM, Bonnie reduced her working hours by 50% and increased her revenue by 900%—and by the end of year two with NLBM, Bonnie had increased her revenue to $400,000 annually.
Struggling in her solo law practice, Bonnie realized that being a General Practitioner was a dead-end...
Bonnie graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University and received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law and then worked in a large litigation firm for a year before starting her own law practice in 2008.
To get the ball rolling, Bonnie served as a general practitioner and handled cases across a broad spectrum including family law, real estate, corporate, contract, and litigation.
Five years in, as the due date of her first child was drawing near, Bonnie was working long hours for litigation clients and found that this work left her physically and mentally exhausted.
“Before NLBM, I would let my client decide how they would work with me. My clients were calling the shots, from how many meetings we had, to when they would sign the documents I prepared... It was a mess, and I wasn’t able to serve them as comprehensively as I wanted to because I was subject to their timetable instead of operating on my own schedule. This was really hard to track, and an inefficient use of my time.”
She realized that she could not continue her practice this way, especially as she started her family, and needed to make a shift away from the high-anxiety nature of how she was practicing law.
Bonnie knew she needed a way to move from endless hourly billing, courtrooms, conflict, opposing counsel, and demanding clients if she was going to create a thriving solo law practice.
Just a few days before Bonnie had her first daughter, she found the solution she was looking for with New Law Business Model.
She started her membership with NLBM and immediately began implementing the systems and processes that allowed her to turn a complete 180° in the effectiveness of her solo law practice. Bonnie focused her efforts and transitioned to serving only estate planning clients.
Making this shift, Bonnie dramatically reduced her levels of stress, and she reduced her working hours by 50%.
Working with NLBM, Bonnie learned how to offer, from start to finish, a way of estate planning that takes her clients' true needs and most valuable assets into consideration, and how to systemize every step in the process in order to make the most of her time and energy.
“Before NLBM, I was having a really, really hard time engaging clients. The clients I was engaging did not honor my time and treated everything as an emergency - often making outlandish requests outside of business hours - and on top of that, they were reluctant to pay.
I had no leverage, was never getting any traction, and was constantly having to put in more hours to make more money.
Once I was able to systemize my practice's operations using the NLBM resources and guidance, and put into place the meeting structure to engage clients, everything changed.
I upped my game in serving my clients, while at the same time cutting in half how much time I had been haphazardly spending on each estate plan up until that point.
My time commitment became predictable, and so did my clients’ payments!”
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In just 6 months, Bonnie was engaging 50% more clients than ever before in her solo law practice—and she increased her revenue by 900%. Bonnie was finally experiencing the clients she served being respectful of her time, and genuinely appreciative of the value in her services.
“If you tell clients exactly how to work with you, that’s how they will work with you. If you establish the ground rules, they will respond and work with you within that framework.
Before NLBM, I didn’t realize that was possible. Now I have a business that serves me, and my clients, in a meaningful, very helpful, and predictable way. Ultimately I am giving them an estate plan that is leaps and bounds better and more tailored than anything they could ever get with a cheaper option.”
Bonnie discovered that clients were much more willing to pay premium fees for a service they understood and received the value of, than they may pay the lawyer who may charge a cheaper rate, but provide a service of far less value.
“Clients are willing to pay the higher fees for what they are receiving the NLBM way. NLBM taught me exactly how to systemize this higher level of service for my clients, making it easier to serve clients at this level than I ever thought possible.”
After implementing all systems from NLBM into her solo law practice, Bonnie started engaging 99% of the clients she met with, at the average fee of $4,500.
“At my fingertips, by joining NLBM and being an NLBM attorney, I have a transformational way to serve my clients beyond typical interactions and beyond documents-focused type service. That changed everything. It transformed my law practice, and my life.”
As a result of transforming her solo law practice with the support of New Law Business Model, Bonnie:
- Gained complete control over her schedule
- Raised her average fee to $4,500
- Increased client engagement to 99%
- Decreased working hours by 50%
- Took her revenue from next-to-nothing to $400,000+ annually
And, during the first 4 years of practicing the NLBM way, Bonnie’s solo law practice generated over $3,000,000.
After struggling and being unsatisfied as a general practitioner for 5 years, Bonnie quickly turned things around to build a lucrative and fulfilling solo law practice that focuses on lasting and meaningful relationships with clients. Over 4 years, Bonnie became the mother of 4 children AND created the flexibility in her law practice to enjoy time with her family, life outside the office, and even vacations.
Are you a general practitioner who is unsatisfied, spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere?
Book a free 45-minute call with NLBM and discover how we can help transform your practice to achieve your specific goals, just as we’ve helped over 3,030 other attorneys. All personalized, for you.