Don't reduce your fee to get clients!!!

There will be a time when a potential client will come to you and ask you to change your fee structure to get their work. Here is my advice: DO NOT DO IT!!

I will share a personal story. I had a potential client call me two weeks ago. She had a premises liability case with good damages. However, the statute of limitations ran in 1 week. I told her that my policy is when a client comes to me with less than 30 days before the statute of limitations, I will take the case, but I require the client to advance costs. (My basic philosophy is that I will not have time to work up the case the way I want to prior to the statute running. But that is another post!)

She talked to her husband, and had him call me. I spoke with him and explained the same thing. She called me the next day and told me that she had spoken to several other attorneys. None of those attorneys would take her case, but they all told her that I should front the costs of the case. I explained to her that I do not change my policy and that if someone else thought that the attorney should advance the costs, then she should hire that attorney.

Clients who start off the relationship wanting you to change your fee structure are going to be problems. It should be a red flag. There are times when you may want to change your structure. But you should do it on your terms - not theirs. If a Fortune 500 company comes to you and wants you to do work for them, you may want to change your fees. But, that would be your decision - not the client's decision. Once you let the client dictate to you how you run your practice, you become a slave to the client.

Stick by your guns and the work will come. You will be happier and your practice will thrive.