Max Ng
Managing Director | Advocate & Solicitor
Law Firm
Talk a little bit about you.
I have been practicing law for more than 20 years, and I am currently the Managing Director of Gateway Law Corporation, which is based in Singapore.
We are a regional legal practice with offices and people in multiple countries in the region. My practice revolves around the commercialization of intellectual property, arbitration and other forms of litigation, general counselling and preparation of specific contracts in the areas of licensing, franchising and technology law.
What is the issues Lawyers need to aware of when they start their own firms? Challenges they May face and ways to resolve. Things that can helps new firm to grow faster and strongly (this will cover the use of technology in legal practice and HR issues and complain issues)
Starting your own firm can be daunting and exhausting at first because everything falls under your responsibility. But once you build up a good name for your practice and establish a good relationship with your clients, it gets a little easier.
The best advice that I can give is to pick a niche area and develop your business around it. I started Gateway around my core expertise area of Intellectual
Property (IP) Law, and now we are one of the most well-regarded legal practices for IP. Being confronted with practice-related issues that you have already worked on before gives you great advantage; it will also give you more time to work on the other aspects of practice such as human resource, business development, marketing, etc. As for other mundane things in the office like paperwork, filing, and collections, having an organized database that stores all relevant information would make the day-to-day administrative work a lot easier.
How to market a new firm? How to get client?
When it comes to marketing, word of mouth and referrals are a great way to start.
Since you have just started a new law firm, first impressions are very important.
Being responsive to clients and prospects is a great pitch, but making a good impression gets you close to a home run. By doing this, clients/prospects can put in a good word for you, and maybe even suggest your firm to other clients.
Getting acquainted with other lawyers would also be beneficial in the long run.
Knowing other lawyers inside and outside your niche area is a great way to get connected. You can also attend conferences and join
associations/organization’s to network and meet new people. In doing so, you try to make sure that every connection you make translates into referrals.