If you're still billing hourly like most lawyers, you're working long days that are made even longer because of the time it takes to accurately track and calculate your hours. And you might be dreading sending another invoice that your client will resent.
Or maybe you're one of the lawyers that ditched hourly billing for flat fees, but your flat fees are too low. And your low flat fees continue to create a massive time debt that leaves you struggling to deliver high quality outcomes for your clients while barely staying afloat financially.
Sometimes it might seem impossible to escape the never ending cycle of stress, frustration, and burnout.
But what if there was a better way?
The secret to building a successful law business that gives you complete freedom with your schedule, fulfillment in knowing you’re providing a truly meaningful service, and the resources to create whatever lifestyle you desire is having a high value service that's priced and packaged in a way that makes it easy for clients to say 'yes' to it.
Today, I will share with you how hourly billing and too low flat fees are holding you back and why learning how to charge affordable premium fees is a key component in creating a high value service that makes it possible to have a life and law business you love.
Many lawyers undercharge because they don't think clients will pay more. They assume the less they charge, the more clients they'll get. I know that many of these lawyers have a sneaking suspicion that their services aren't actually worth it. We call this lawyer shame, and I had it too. I had a real fear that my services weren't really worth it because I didn't know how to charge for a service that was really worth it.
And when you charge too low of flat fees, you cannot deliver on a truly meaningful service that is going to work. And that's why you don't feel like your services are good enough to charge more. It's a vicious cycle. But let me tell you, if your fees are too low, it's not your fault. We were never taught any other way.
That's why I created a New Law Business Model to help lawyers escape the cycle of lawyer shame and undercharging and feel good about charging what they need to provide a meaningful service they love to deliver.
I know you want to be the most affordable option for your clients but you also need to charge enough to be able to take the time necessary to provide a quality service you believe in. We call this “the affordability paradox” and it’s important to understand if you want to be affordable to your clients without sacrificing your quality of life or the quality of your services. After investing $20,000 for expert advice from the best consultants on pricing professional services, I created a pricing model that will allow you to have the support you need to deliver meaningful outcomes for your clients without being overworked and underpaid.
I've heard from lawyers who are hesitant to charge affordable premium fees because they feel uncomfortable being "salesy" or they think they are asking for too much. I hear things like, "Oh, those Personal Family Lawyers, they're charging so much money. I could never do that in my community." But let me tell you, affordable premium fees are based on what your clients actually need and want.
When you charge affordable premium fees for a high value service you believe in, you don't have to be "salsey" or try to convince clients of anything. You connect with them from a place of service for a meeting called a Family Wealth Planning Session, where you help them clarify their goals for their family, lay out their options, and let them choose their own fee based on what level of support they want.
During a Family Wealth Planning Session, you are helping your clients choose the most affordable fee for them, which is critically important based on what it would cost them if they did nothing. So you need to base the value of your fees on the alternative cost of not hiring you.
And if you price your services right, it is actually more affordable to hire you than it is for them to go it alone. It's more affordable for them to hire you and have you do it right instead of ending up in court and conflict or with their loved ones unable to find their assets once they're gone.
Charging affordable premium fees instead of hourly billing or too low flat fees allow you to provide a meaningful high value service that you and your clients love while having the support and the resources to live whatever lifestyle you want.
Learning to charge affordable premium fees transformed member lawyer Amy Hsiao's life and law practice. When she first joined us her average fee was only $950 per engagement. But after going through our program, including our training and coaching around mindset and creating a high converting client intake system, Amy's average fee increased to $5,000, and her client engagement rate increased to 90%. Now she makes 6-figures a year and she has the freedom to travel 2-3 months out of the year.
These are the transformations we help our lawyers achieve. If you become a Personal Family Lawyer (PFL), you'll discover how to offer a high value service with a better pricing model, better engagement strategies, and a more fulfilling way to practice law. The great news is once you choose to make this transformation, you're going to love your life and law practice a whole lot more. It will help you become the lawyer you dreamed of being when you decided to go to law school in the first place. And, you'll discover a way to be a lawyer that is truly fulfilling financially, emotionally, and spiritually and makes you proud of the lawyer you've become. If you would love to build your law practice into a business using Life & Legacy Planning as a Personal Family Lawyer…
You can apply to speak with a Law Business Advisor (LBA). Please note: since our LBAs are extremely full due to high demand, and we want to make sure you get the most value from your call with them, we're moving to an application system:
As you continue to explore if our program is a good fit, you're also invited to join our free Facebook community. The Lifestyle Lawyers' Club is our exclusive, lawyers-only Facebook community of like-minded entrepreneurial lawyers. (It's literally like having access to thousands of helpful senior lawyers who've already been where you are.)