Who can open legal services. The procedure for opening a legal advice office. Selection of premises for opening a similar business

Nowadays, universities produce a large number of lawyers. But there are not too many job offers for lawyers on the labor market. In addition, low wages are usually offered, although the profession is considered prestigious.

Many lawyers who are tired of working for someone else are thinking about how to open a law firm. The costs of such a business are not very high, since we are talking about the provision of services, so to speak, of an intellectual nature. Therefore, owning a law firm is a fairly attractive business for lawyers. The article will focus on opening a law firm when the initial capital is limited, and it is not possible to immediately open a large firm with many departments, employees and a wide range of services.

Any person can open such a firm, not necessarily a lawyer. Although, due to the specifics of the business, it will be easier for a person with a legal education to do this. A license is not required to open such a business (although the status of a lawyer is required to provide criminal justice services).

Activities can be carried out by both an individual entrepreneur and an organization. The best option would be a limited liability company. At least, in the eyes of clients, you will look more solid than if you acted as an individual entrepreneur. If you are going to open a business together with another person, then, all the more, you should open an LLC.

If you are planning a fairly wide business with renting premises, several employees, etc., then the best option with taxation is a simplified taxation with an “income minus expenses” object and a rate of 15%. If there are not so many expenses (for example, you have decided so far to provide services only in person and without renting a room), then you should choose a rate of 6%.

In the application for registration, it is necessary to indicate OKVED 74.1 as the main one: "Activities in the field of law ...".

Types of services in demand

It is not enough just to open a firm and start providing all legal services in a row. First you need to clearly outline all the types of services that you will provide. You need to have a good idea of who he is, your client. It depends on the development strategy of the company.

At the same time, you need to focus on what is profitable and on what you can do especially well. Moreover, if you decide to act alone for the time being, then all the more you should not be torn between different types of services. The list of services should be expanded gradually.

Usually, all law firms provide services for the registration of individual entrepreneurs and organizations, their re-registration and liquidation. There are even companies that specialize in this. This service is quite in demand, it does not require special qualifications to provide it. But we do not recommend that you focus on this type of service, as the competition is very fierce. Let registration services be just one type of service.

Drawing up documents and representing interests in court is also a popular and widespread service. It can be emphasized by those who act alone. Gradually, by winning trials, you can earn a name for yourself.

Reading time 10 minutes

and many entrepreneurs dream of bringing it to prosperity, but few succeed. The success of a business depends not only on the professional level of employees, but also on the organizational talent of the head of the company, the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and the ability to work with clients.

Below we will consider the specifics of the activities of law firms, assess the prospects for development in this market segment, and also give a detailed answer to the question: “What is needed to open a law firm?”.

Main activities

Law firms work in several areas:

Consulting for individuals. Individuals need both advice and representation in courts and other public institutions.
Irregular legal advice. Any company carries out its activities in the legal field of the state, therefore, at all stages of development, it needs legal support. Advice may relate to both issues of registration and obtaining permits, business relations with partners, interaction with government agencies and institutions.
Permanent service on the terms of contracts. The law firm regularly provides assistance in solving personnel issues, interaction with partners and government agencies.
Regular maintenance of individuals and enterprises under individual contracts. Legal support for VIP clients with special needs brings the most income.

Before opening a company, it is also necessary to determine the list of services in demand. Most often, law firms carry out:

private client consulting;
legal advice on registration issues;
representation of individuals and legal entities in state institutions;
drawing up contracts;
expertise and assistance in the preparation of various documents;
advice on all legal aspects of the company's activities;
protection of the interests of the client in court cases.

Business registration

The law does not prohibit an entrepreneur to freely choose the organizational and legal form, but an individual entrepreneur is of little use for a law firm. Therefore, the best option would be to register an LLC. Registration of a limited liability company is associated with the following costs:

authorized capital (from 10,000 rubles);
registration of a legal address (if it is impossible to rent a separate room (from 5,000 to 15,000 rubles);
certification of documents by a notary (about 1,300 rubles);
state duty (4,000 rubles);
production of a seal (1,000 rubles);
opening a bank account (up to 2,000 rubles).

The name of the enterprise should contain information in a short form about the organizational and legal form and, in some cases, about the direction of activity.

You can get a legal address using one of three options:

rent or purchase of premises;
buy a legal address from another company that provides such LLC services;
registration of an LLC at the home address of the founder.

After that, you must specify the OKEVD codes of the enterprise. For a law firm, this is 74.1 Legal, accounting and auditing activities. Then, we solve the issue with the authorized capital. The authorized capital in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 66.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation of September 2014 can only be paid in cash.

After that, it is necessary to hold a meeting of the founders and prepare a document on the decision to create an LLC, or prepare a decision of the sole founder. After that, you should draw up the charter of the company and go directly to the following steps of registration:

draw up an application for registration in the form P11001;
we pay the state duty;
choose a taxation system (the best option would be the simplified tax system with a rate of 15%);
we submit the collected documents.

Premises and equipment

Despite the fact that it is possible to open a law firm without renting premises, the presence of an office will undoubtedly affect the prestige of the enterprise. Since the provision of legal services is not associated with any material and technological processes, a small room of about 50-100 sq. m will suffice.

Since the office of the company becomes its face, it is necessary to take seriously its interior. Beautiful office furniture, an elegant negotiating table and a comfortable place to wait in line for a consultation - all these seemingly insignificant little things together will create a positive impression for visitors. Locations should also be chosen carefully. The presence of transport interchanges and junctions near the office can play a decisive role in choosing a law firm. To get started, a few sets of office furniture and a full repair are enough.

Company employees

If the founders of the company have a legal education, then at first they can provide services on their own, but as the business develops, it is necessary to staff the staff with the following positions:

highly qualified lawyer;
lawyer working with individuals;
lawyer working with legal entities;
secretary;
legal consultant;
courier;
accountant.

The position of a courier does not require full employment, so students can be hired.

To conduct notarial and advocacy activities, it is necessary to hire employees with the appropriate status and licenses (part 3 of the Federal Law “On Notaries”, the Federal Law “On Advocacy and Advocacy in the Russian Federation” and the Federal Law “On Licensing Certain Types of Activities”).

How to set up a company

In such cases, step-by-step instructions would be useful, but since the success of legal activity depends on many specific circumstances, only general recommendations can be given. There are many promising areas in the world of legal services, but in the current socio-political situation, only some of them are of particular relevance.

Today, the following services are of particular interest:

consultations and support of enforcement proceedings;
consultations and assistance in the field of organization and execution of construction works;
compulsion to pay debts by legal methods;
advising foreign citizens;
legal assistance in obtaining a work permit, residence permit and citizenship;
assistance in appealing decisions of law enforcement agencies.

It is necessary to develop the company's activities gradually. First, you should determine the circle of potential customers that will allow you to gain momentum and reach an acceptable level of income for the enterprise. Most entrepreneurs would like to immediately reach the level of cooperation with VIP clients, but, as a rule, this niche is already occupied, and it is very difficult to break into such a market. Therefore, it is better to start activities with legal services to individuals, and as the business develops, increase the staff and diversify the range of services. In any case, success will require a thorough study of the legal services market and the experience of competitors.

Hours of operation are best set based on the schedule of other companies. The comfort of visitors is no less important than the professionalism of the company's employees, so it is necessary to ensure that visitors do not get bored while waiting for their turn.

Client search and advertising campaign

After resolving the main issues related to registration, equipment of office space, recruitment of staff and organization of the company's activities, it is necessary to start looking for clients. Forming a customer base in a highly competitive environment is one of the most difficult tasks that a novice entrepreneur faces. In such cases, it is advised to start by actively offering your own services to potential clients among legal entities, as well as disseminate information among acquaintances.

Sooner or later, the understanding comes that it is almost impossible to achieve success in this business without a well-thought-out advertising campaign. Therefore, when answering the question about the cost of opening a law firm, it is necessary to take into account the cost of advertising, which can sometimes significantly exceed all other initial costs.

In the age of information technology development, an extremely important component of any business activity is a thoughtful presentation of the company in the Internet space. A pleasant and functional website will become a key element of promotion on the Internet. For promotion, tools such as SEO-optimization of the site and contextual advertising are used.

SEO-optimization of the site allows you to increase its position in the search results by increasing the degree of compliance of the site materials with search queries, as well as improving the functionality of the site. After carrying out these works, the site will be easier to find for potential customers.

Contextual advertising services Google Adwords and Yandex Direct allow you to conduct effective advertising campaigns in partner networks. The undoubted advantage of contextual advertising is the ability to show an ad only to the target audience, as well as pay not for the process, but for the result of the campaign. A noticeable increase in the flow of new customers can be seen already at the end of the first month.

Another way to attract new customers- Participation in the work of free legal advice services. The specialists involved in the work of the service can leave their contact details to users who may later become customers of the company.

A good result is the organization of trainings and seminars for legal entities. Managers and heads of departments willingly take part in various promotions that help to improve the qualification level. Professional presentation and profitable presentation of its services allows you to gain regular customers.

To expand the client base, they also use the tactics of "cold calls". The size of many companies does not allow you to open your own legal department, but the need for consulting in the course of business does not disappear from this. This type of service can be provided according to the contract, or in exchange for advertising among business partners. At the beginning of the activity, such methods allow you to quickly acquire a new clientele.

And, of course, a significant factor in the promotion of the company is the high quality of the services provided. Satisfied customers will make free advertising among friends.

Business plan

The question most often asked by business start-ups is: « how much does it cost to open a law firm from scratch? Having drawn up a clear business plan, you can foresee the financial costs and income in the first months of the company's operation.

So, Start-up costs will consist of three components:

registration costs (about 20,000 rubles);
equipment and office rental costs (10,000-70,000 rubles);
payroll fund (depending on the skill level and number of employees and is about 300,000-400,000 rubles, and 0 if you start working alone);
the cost of an advertising campaign (from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles and more, and 200-1000 rubles - if you start working through an affiliate program).

Thus, the starting costs for the implementation of this business project are in the range of 30,000-100,000 rubles. Profit will depend on the number of customers, salaries of employees, as well as the cost of services.

question how to start a law firm are usually asked by lawyers who are tired of working for hire. Although in order to open such a firm, it is not necessary to be a lawyer. This activity is not licensed and any person can register a company. The exception is defense services in criminal proceedings - this requires the status of a lawyer.

For the stable operation of a law firm, the manager must first of all be a successful businessman, and he may not be a lawyer. The manager must be able to attract clients and recruit qualified staff of lawyers.

Organizations providing legal services are entitled to apply the simplified taxation system (STS). Let me remind you that with such a taxation system there can be two rates:

6% if the object of taxation is income,

15% if the object of taxation is income reduced by the amount of expenses.

Most law firms in our country specialize in providing services for the registration, re-registration and liquidation of legal entities. This is explained not only by the fact that this is one of the most popular services, but also by the low thresholds for entering the market. This work does not require legal qualifications and, accordingly, personnel costs are minimal. For the operation of such a company, two people are enough, even without higher education. But this type of activity is becoming less and less profitable due to fierce competition and dumping by large players like Registrar.

Narrow specialization provides some advantages, but also imposes serious limitations. In my opinion, a more competent legal business should be based on a wide range of services, where the registration of firms would be only one of the types of services. The most interesting area of activity in terms of income is b2b (Business to Business) - servicing legal entities. Here the competition is already lower, especially in the field of small business. Big business prefers to use the services of foreign consulting companies.

Therefore, before you open a law firm, you need to have a plan for the future, decide on a strategy. If we focus on the growth and expansion of the list of legal services, then this already requires qualified lawyers. Many company registration firms have realized that they have reached the ceiling within the narrow specialization and are expanding the range of services. This is easier to implement than starting from scratch, immediately offering a wide range of legal services, which requires significant investments.

It is easier for a lawyer in this regard. He has the opportunity to start a legal business from scratch and without investments. As I did with partners, having built up a client base, while working for hire, and only then opened an official account and registered a company. But I started by providing services only for individuals and individual entrepreneurs. And only after the official opening began to focus on legal entities.

What expenses are required to get started? I will reveal the figures for my office, although this is far from an indicator.

The initial costs were as follows (prices in Moscow):

There was already a registered LLC, so there were no expenses under this item. And so the registration of an LLC will cost an average of 20-30 thousand rubles, of which 10,000 - 15,000 rubles is the legal address. If you register yourself, you can save about 10,000 rubles.

Furniture and office equipment - 50-60 thousand rubles.

Rent and repair - 60 thousand rubles.

Other expenses (telephone, Internet, software) - 30-40 thousand rubles.

In our case, there was no need to hire lawyers, since the specialists themselves. And so it should be expected that the minimum salary for a lawyer in Moscow is 30-40 thousand rubles (the level of qualification is a separate issue).

We also need a secretary, but for the first couple of months we did not bother. And then they hired a person who worked at home: received calls and kept an appointment. When they were in the office, sometimes they switched the phone to themselves and received calls themselves. It's technically easy to organize. You can, of course, rent a professional call center, but this is necessary when there is really a flurry of calls, otherwise a self-organized virtual secretary is not inferior in quality if everything is done correctly. The price of the issue is 7,000 rubles per month. Call-center services - 11,000 rubles at a time and 9,000 rubles monthly, i.е. it is still two to three times cheaper than hiring a secretary in the office and organizing a workplace.

It’s not even worth talking about an accountant - definitely outsourcing (an incoming accountant). We have a simplified taxation system and, accordingly, simple accounting. Services cost 2500-5000 rubles per quarter, depending on the amount of work.

In total, about 200 thousand rubles were spent at the start in the first month. We reached the break-even point in the second month, but this is due to the already existing customer base and current orders.

It should be borne in mind that we have applied a non-classical company organization scheme, which allows us to significantly reduce costs, which will be discussed below. Therefore, when calculating a regular business plan, these figures must be multiplied three times, and when the company reaches payback depends on the skill of the manager.

The scheme of work implemented by us is as follows. Initially, the orders were carried out completely by ourselves. Over time, the list of services was expanded due to the partner network. This is a criminal lawyer, realtor, auditor, registrar and others. The hardest thing is to find a conscientious specialist who provides quality customer service, otherwise your reputation may suffer. And you can always agree on a partnership, because this is a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Of course, this is one possible way to implement order fulfillment. I only describe my personal experience and my way of organizing an office.

This arrangement provides the following benefits:

Minimum costs (rent, salary, etc.);

High quality of services, control over which is not required, since each partner cares about his reputation;

Revenues are proportional to expenses, resistance to seasonal lull;

Mobility and flexibility in the choice of premises.

The main advantage of this approach is that the best price / quality ratio of the service is established.

The classic version of the work of a law firm involves renting a solid premises and a staff of lawyers with assistants. In this option, I see serious disadvantages:

Significant rental costs (especially relevant in Moscow);

More stringent conditions in the choice of premises;

Constant high salary costs, regardless of seasonality;

Other costs also increase significantly (organization and maintenance of workplaces, more complex accounting,

It is more difficult to find staff than a partner, since an employee is a dark horse, and a private specialist or company has an established reputation. In addition, it is more difficult to change an employee than a partner;

Less stability in work due to staff turnover;

The quality of services is worse, in-house lawyers do not care about reputation;

The time and effort spent on monitoring performance and working with staff.

We will come to this option with time anyway. But in order to maintain the level of quality at such costs, it will be necessary to significantly increase prices, which means entering into tougher competition. Or you need a huge number of orders, which will allow you to maintain the level of price / quality due to a decrease in marginality.

Opening your own company is the desire of many experienced lawyers. But they ask questions: “How to open a law firm from scratch?” or “How to attract customers?”. Despite the higher legal education and great zeal, for this you still need to have a certain knowledge of the fundamental rules, the observance of which will help you achieve your goal. How to start your own legal business from scratch?

Starting your own business in the legal field entails many advantages, but, as in any business, unfortunately, you cannot do without disadvantages.

Having your own business has the following advantages:

- The absence of a boss. You are the head of your own company, which means you are free to make your own decisions.
- Profitability will depend on you - the entrepreneur, earnings can be impressive or quite low.
- Flexible schedule. In the future, by hiring staff, you can not work at all, but only manage your employees.
- As the founder of the company, you will receive the greatest profit, unlike an ordinary employee.

Having your own business is prestigious.

Minuses:

Risk. If you choose the wrong business strategy, then your business may fail, in which case financial problems cannot be avoided. Approach this issue with all seriousness.
At the initial stage, a lot of investment, effort and time will be required.
No matter how trite it may sound, but business is always stressful, be prepared for the fact that, most likely, not everything will work out easily for you.

If the waste of energy and risk did not scare you, then you can move on to those aspects that will reveal in detail the topic of how to open a legal consultation.

How to open a law firm from scratch - instructions

Registration, permits, documents

Let us examine in more detail the question of how to open a law firm from scratch. In order to open your own law firm, you do not need to receive the appropriate education, it can be opened by an individual or legal entity.

However, you need to register with the proper state tax authority and choose the form of taxation in order to function legally.

A company can be registered as an individual entrepreneur or as an LLC for several individuals.

It is better to arrange the taxation system according to the “subtract expenses from income” scheme. A convenient option - simplified tax system with a rate of 15% - is more profitable.

How to open a law firm with the necessary permits? The answer is pretty simple. It turns out that, as the current legislation says, special permits and licenses are not required to open a private law firm.

The following documents will be required:

Passport, its photocopies.
Confirmation of payment of state duty.
Application for registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC.
Selection of the type of activity according to OKVED codes.

Important! As soon as you receive a certificate of incorporation, immediately begin to develop a business strategy and promote your company.

Choice of premises and equipment

An important task when opening a law firm is the choice of premises. The best option for the location of your office would be the city center, because there is better infrastructure, it will be more convenient for the client to get to you and find you.

Not bad if your office is located on the first floor and from the side of the street, for the same reason listed above.

You also need to take care of the availability of the necessary equipment.

The design of the premises is best done in the form of an office. To do this, you will need to purchase special furniture (armchairs, tables, comfortable lockers, etc.) and computer equipment (computer or laptop, printer, scanner, etc.), and you also need to take care of stationery (paper, pencils, pens, etc.) .).

Prepare for the fact that several clients can come to you at once, arrange objects in the space for them as comfortably and conveniently as possible.

Recruitment

For the first time, the activities of a law firm, it is better to start with a partner and not hire employees.

After time, when the business will rise and develop, you can think about hiring additional staff.

It is necessary to hire: three qualified workers who will work with all kinds of services; courier. Financial issues can be resolved with the help of an incoming accountant.

Attention! When recruiting your own professional staff, you must use labor exchanges, place ads in newspapers, and relevant Internet resources.

There will be many candidates, they can be both yesterday's students and experienced professionals, of course, it would be preferable to use the services of the latter, but it's up to you.

As your business expands, you may need staff.

Approximate composition of a mid-level law firm:

highly qualified lawyer;
legal consultant;
lawyer for working with individuals;
lawyer for work with legal entities;
legal assistant;
secretary referent;
accountant.

Business process organization

How to promote a law firm? First of all, you need to decide on the specialization of the law firm, as well as take care of the quality of the services provided.

To do this, you need to create your own corporate identity, an appropriate image, and maintain a good reputation. All this will determine the success of your business in the future.

You need to start with a small number of legal services, and as your business expands, increase the range of services provided.

After all, it will be very difficult both to open a law firm from scratch and to control it.

It is also necessary to identify the main audience of the clientele, and based on this, organize the workflow.

For example, if you are going to provide services in solving business problems, then the best option would be to organize work activities from 8:00 to 19:00, so that it would not be difficult for the client to establish contact with you during his working day.

A good option would be if one employee from your staff begins to work on duty on weekends at least until noon.

Business strategy

Organizing a business plan for a law firm, just like starting a law firm from scratch, is not an easy task.

Research the market in this area in detail, approach your competitors with attention, identify their advantages and disadvantages. This will help to make fewer mistakes in the organization of the business plan.

Develop an acceptable pricing policy, this is especially important at the initial stage.

Promising directions at the moment:

Legal support in the field of real estate and construction.
Support for migrants. For example, assistance in getting a job, obtaining citizenship, etc.
Control of financial and economic activities of companies.
Protests related to illegal law enforcement activities.

Finding Clients

Aspects in the search for clients:

Use the internet. First of all, take care of creating a company website, it is advisable to hire a specialist, since there are enough of them on the Internet, so there should be no problems with this.
Advertising can be placed on various websites, in mobile applications.
Traditional methods of information dissemination. These are: leaflets, word of mouth, organization of exhibitions, seminars and conferences.
It would be useful to place an ad in the newspaper, where you can briefly tell about the services you provide, the location of the company, and prices.
It will also be effective to place signs on the streets, you can fork out for advertising on television.

Attention! For the best result in finding clients, you need to use the services of a qualified specialist - a PR manager.

How to get guaranteed clients for a lawyer?

The most difficult stage for all organizations is the start-up and the law firm is no exception. Not always the money invested in advertising and marketing can return as ready-made customers. Thus, money can be wasted. And when there are so few of them, it creates additional problems and increases the cost of the company.

However, there is one solution that will ensure that the money invested will generate ready-made customers. Currently, due to the globalization of the Internet, clients are looking for lawyers there. But how can you get customers without spending extra money? Very simple - for this there are special intermediary firms that can provide you with customers.

Attention! If you only want to pay for clients and don't want to waste money, then you can start partnering with lead generation firms. This is by no means the main source of customers, but it is a constant one. Especially useful at the initial stage. Click on the banner above and read the terms and conditions.

Costs and profits

Approximate start-up costs:

Expenses	When to pay	Amount, thousand rubles
Registration and acquisition of a legal address	At the initial stage	30,0
Furniture and equipment	At the initial stage	50-60
Communication and software costs	Monthly	40,0
Office rental, renovation (10-15 sq. m.)	Monthly	130,0
Salary per person	Monthly	30-40
Transport	Monthly	10,0
office	At the initial stage	5,0

The profit will depend primarily on the number of customers and the quality of the services you provide.

The average cost of providing legal services in Moscow is:

oral consultation - 1000-2000 thousand rubles per hour;
one-time written consultation on legal issues - 3000 rubles;
registration of a person as an individual entrepreneur not including the state. duties - 4500 rubles;
registration of an LLC without state duty - 1100 rubles;
writing a statement with a claim - 9000 rubles;
liquidation of a legal entity - 60,000 rubles;
representation of interests in court - 40,000 rubles.

Let's say that in 30 days four of your employees served 20 clients, the approximate price of the service is 10 thousand rubles, if everything is organized correctly, then with the range of services assigned earlier, we get the following numbers:

4*20*10000=800000 rubles

The tax amount is 20%, which means:

800000*0.2=116000 rubles

By simple calculations, we find out the net profit:

800000.0 - 119000.0 - 315000.0 = 369000.0 rubles.

At the first stage, getting a large number of customers is a rare occurrence, but with the right approach after a few months it becomes quite achievable.

As a result, with a successful scenario, payback is achieved in 1-3 months.

Opening your own law office is a rather risky business that requires a lot of effort, but with a skillful approach, it can bring significant profit.