Originally published on March 21, 2011 in our free SmallLaw newsletter. Instead of reading SmallLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.
Operating a law firm from your home is not for everybody. Two basic prerequisites exist for successfully setting up a home office.
First, if you enjoy day-to-day contact with colleagues, you may find yourself going stir crazy. On the other hand, if you just like to hole up and get your work done, it can be an ideal situation.
Second, you need to be reasonably computer literate. When working from home you will not have any onsite support. You can waste a tremendous amount of time trying to find a solution on the Web. After 14 years of working from my home office, I have many tips for lawyers considering this path. Below you'll find the five most important.
1. Use an Actual Room With a Door That Closes
Especially if you have kids, you need actual office space. You need to be able to leave all your papers and go have lunch and not have to clear off the dining room table. You need an "office environment" and avoid giving the impression that since you are "home" you can be interrupted at any time. If you have kids, you may actually want to post "office hours" on the door of your office.
2. Clients and Home Offices Don't Mix
Do you need to meet clients in your office? Obviously, if you plan to meet clients in a home office, you need to set it up much differently. Most people will have neither the space nor the desire to meet clients at home (and your clients probably feel the same way). You're better off renting an executive suite from companies such as Regus or subleasing unused office space in a local law firm. If you don't have many meetings, you can work from home and use an executive suite as a virtual office for its conference rooms and perhaps its call answering service as well.
3. Get a Virtual Assistant (Secretarial and/or Paralegal)
Investigate using online secretarial and paralegal services. They're widely available and frequently locally. Used in combination with Web-based collaboration tools such as Box.net you can easily share, edit, revise, and track documents. You upload documents to a secure shared space for editing. You receive an email message about any changes, etc. This arrangement is much more efficient than sending documents via email.
In a recent issue of BigLaw, Escape From the AmLaw 100, former Latham & Watkins partner Joshua Stein extolled the virtues of his virtual assistant when he set up a solo practice (though he leases office space and does not work from home).
4. Comfort First, Looks Second
Law office furniture is usually designed for show, not for functionality. Buy ergonomic and computer-friendly equipment. The ideal height for a computer keyboard is about 2" lower than the standard desk height. The "under the desk" drawers for keyboards are often flimsy and unproductive. Humanscale makes some of the most highly-rated keyboard systems.
Buy a good computer chair. TechnoLawyer publisher Neil Squillante (who does not work in a home office) uses a Herman Miller Embody chair (pictured above — the chair, not Neil), which he describes as "expensive but worth every Benjamin." He purchased it with a few non-standard options for $957 from WB Wood, a local office furniture dealership. While online stores often offer the best deals, that's not true for Herman Miller chairs according to Neil. He suggests finding a local authorized dealer.
My fellow SmallLaw columnist Yvonne Renfrew used to sit on a Herman Miller chair in her home office, but praises her new Verte Chair in her recent column, Under the Technology: Desk and Chair Recommendations for Small Offices.
Some work is better suited for other chairs so in addition to a computer chair, consider buying a comfortable armchair for reading final drafts, using your iPad, or simply taking a break. Finally, don't miss Marin Feldman's evergreen BigLaw column, Top Five Ergonomic Problems at Large Law Firms, which applies equally to home offices.
5. Reliable, Secure Telephone Service
Consider me old-fashioned, but I still find landlines the way to go. About 75% of the time I can tell if someone is using a cell phone or even VoIP by the quality of the call. A crackly line, dead spots of a second or two, a call that sounds under water, etc. makes you seem and literally "sound" unprofessional. So I stick with my cordless Plantronics telephone and headset and nationwide calling plan. That said, many other options cost less.
Vonage is the leading VoIP company. VoIP services have the advantage of call hunting — ringing your smartphone and other phones when you're not in your home office. If you make a lot of international calls, Skype can save you a lot of money. I have used Skype for technical support and demonstrations with people in Egypt, India, and Vietnam. Given that the calls are free, the quality was perfectly acceptable. Lastly Google's Google Voice offers an array of services plus you can now port your Google Voice number to your smartphone. Yvonne covered these and other services in more detail her SmallLaw column, Everything Law Firms Need to Know About Switching to VoIP Telephone Service.
A variety of answering services exist — at a price. Decide what functionality you need before spending money on such services. Your practice may require nothing fancier than voicemail.
A related issue concerns the question of a fax line. With the importance of faxes declining rapidly, you probably will be better off with a scanner and an email/fax solution such as MyFax. I pay $10 a month and have yet to exceed the page limit. That's much less costly than a dedicated fax line.
Conclusion
As for everything else you need, don't skimp. When you hear yourself thinking "I can manage without that," stop. Within a very short period of time you will discover you can't manage. For example, you can't have a law practice today without a Web site. For email on the go, a smartphone is essential. Buy a dedicated laser printer and scanner rather than a multifunction inkjet printer. You get the idea. Considering what you'll save on rent, go for the best when it comes to the rest of what you need.
Written by John Heckman of Heckman Consulting.
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