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Where a New Chicago Law Firm’s First Clients Actually Come From

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An attorney who left a mid-sized firm to go out on her own told me she’d spent her first three weeks building a website.

She had a logo, a practice area page, a contact form, and a plan to start posting on LinkedIn. What she did not have was a client, and she was starting to worry about it.

I asked who knew she’d left.

There was a pause. She’d told her family and two close friends. She hadn’t told the twenty-odd attorneys she’d worked alongside for nine years, because — and this is the part I’ve heard a dozen times — she wanted to have everything in place first. The website, the firm name, the professional presentation. She didn’t want to announce before she looked ready.

By the time she did tell them, she’d lost six weeks.

Her first four clients came from three of those former colleagues. Not one came from the website.

In full disclosure: Amata provides a marketing service to our clients, so I have an interest in you thinking about this. Which is why I want to be straight about when marketing actually matters, and it isn’t month one.

Where do a new law firm’s first clients come from?

From people who already know you. Former colleagues, opposing counsel who respected how you handled a matter, past clients, and attorneys in practice areas adjacent to yours who get calls they can’t take. Almost never from a website in the first six months.

That isn’t an argument against having a website. It’s an argument about sequence.

The work you do in month one is telling people. The work that pays off in month twelve is marketing. Doing them in the wrong order costs you the first quarter.

Why do referrals dominate early?

Because hiring a lawyer is a high-trust decision made rarely, and most people solve it by asking someone they trust rather than searching. A person who needs an attorney asks a friend, an accountant, or another lawyer. Search usually comes later, to check out a name they’ve already been given.

That shapes what works.

If your name reaches someone through a person they trust, you’re being recommended. If it reaches them through a search result, you’re being compared. The first is a far shorter conversation.

It also explains why the first clients arrive faster than anyone expects, once people know. Your former colleagues have been turning away conflicts and small matters for years. The moment they know where to send them, some arrive.

Who should you tell, and how?

Everyone who has seen your work. Former colleagues first, then opposing counsel, then past clients where you’re permitted, then every attorney you know in an adjacent practice area. The message is one sentence about what you’re doing and what you take.

Do it before you feel ready. This is the single most common mistake and it costs the most.

Attorneys delay the announcement until the website is live, the logo is right, and the letterhead is printed — because announcing feels like asking, and asking feels better when you look established. But the people who matter here already know whether you’re good. They worked with you. They don’t need the website to decide.

What to actually say. You’ve started your own firm, here’s the practice area, here’s where you are, and you’d welcome anything that doesn’t fit where they are. That’s it. No pitch, no brochure.

And be specific about what you take. “Anything you’ve got” produces nothing. “Employment matters under about $250,000, and I’ll take the conflicts you can’t” produces a referral, because you’ve made the decision easy.

What about the Chicago legal community?

Chicago’s bar is smaller than it looks, and the paths into it are well worn. The Chicago Bar Association’s committees meet regularly and are genuinely open. The Illinois State Bar’s sections do the same. Both run solo and small firm programming.

Committee membership works where general networking doesn’t, because you see the same people repeatedly. Referrals require familiarity, and familiarity requires repetition. A single event produces nothing. A committee you attend for a year produces relationships.

There’s also the question of where you work. An attorney in a spare bedroom has no colleagues. An attorney in a building with other attorneys has people who hear about a case over coffee and remember it three weeks later when a conflict comes in. That’s not a marketing channel anyone can measure, and it’s how a meaningful share of work moves in this city.

When does marketing actually start mattering?

Around the time your network’s capacity to refer runs out, which for most practices is somewhere in the first year. Your former colleagues have a finite number of conflicts. Once you’ve absorbed those, growth has to come from people who don’t know you.

That’s when a website earns its keep, and when the rest of it — search, content, a Google Business Profile, directory presence — starts returning something.

Doing that work earlier isn’t wasted, since it takes months to produce results and the groundwork has to be laid. But treating it as the first priority is how attorneys spend month one on a logo instead of on the twenty people who could send them a case next week.

The Marketing Lab exists for the second phase. Our clients get it at no additional fee, and it is deliberately not the answer to “how do I get my first client.”

What doesn’t work early?

Paid search, directory subscriptions, and anything sold to you as lead generation in your first quarter. Not because these never work, but because they’re expensive, slow to tune, and compete against firms with years of data and budget you don’t have.

Avvo, Martindale, Justia and FindLaw all sell premium placements. Some practices get real value from them eventually. None of them beats a former colleague picking up the phone.

Be particularly careful with anyone selling exclusive leads in your first six months. You have no baseline, no way to judge quality, and no leverage. Wait until you know what a client is worth to you.

Frequently asked questions

From people who already know your work — former colleagues, opposing counsel, past clients where permitted, and attorneys in adjacent practice areas who receive calls they cannot take. Almost never from a website in the first six months, regardless of how good the website is.

One sentence about what you are doing and what you take, sent to everyone who has seen your work. Do it before you feel ready. Attorneys routinely delay the announcement until a website and logo are finished, and that delay costs weeks of referrals.

Be specific. “Anything you’ve got” produces nothing, because it asks the other person to do the thinking. Naming a practice area, a rough matter size, and a willingness to take conflicts makes the referral decision easy and produces actual calls.

Around the point where your existing network’s capacity to refer is exhausted, typically within the first year. Groundwork can begin earlier since search takes months to produce results, but treating marketing as the month-one priority displaces the work that actually produces early clients.

Eventually, yes. Not urgently. A website matters when people who do not know you start looking you up, which happens after referrals have carried the early months. Build it, but do not let building it delay telling people you have launched.

Through repetition rather than through events. Chicago Bar Association and Illinois State Bar committees meet regularly and are generally open to join. Referrals require familiarity, and familiarity requires seeing the same people repeatedly, which no single networking event can produce.

Paid search, premium directory placements, and purchased leads in the first quarter. These are expensive, slow to tune, and compete against firms with years of data. Without a baseline you cannot judge lead quality or what a client is worth to you.

Often faster than expected once people know. Former colleagues have been turning away conflicts and smaller matters for years, and some arrive as soon as they know where to send them. The delay is almost always in the telling, not in the responding.

Six weeks

I think about that attorney’s six weeks fairly often, because the mistake was so reasonable.

She wasn’t lazy or avoiding the work. She was doing what felt like the professional thing — getting her house in order before announcing herself. Every instinct she’d built in nine years at a firm told her that you don’t present something unfinished.

But the people she needed to tell weren’t evaluating her presentation. They’d sat across a table from her. They already knew what she could do, and the only new information she had to give them was an address and a sentence about what she wanted.

That took one email. She spent six weeks on a website instead.

If you’re about to do this, write that email first. Before the logo, before the site, before the business cards. It is the highest-return hour of work in the entire launch, and it costs nothing.

Questions about any of this? 312.924.0200 or [email protected].

Ron Bockstahler is the founder and CEO of Amata Law Office Suites, a vendor member of the Chicago Bar Association, supporting Chicago-area law firms since 2002. He co-hosts The 1958 Lawyer podcast.

Amata Law Office Suites is not a law firm and does not provide legal services to the general public. This article is general information, not legal or marketing advice. Attorneys should confirm that any client communication complies with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rules 7.1 through 7.3 on communications and solicitation.

Title Curative Services: What Title Companies Actually Outsource

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The title business has a staffing problem that almost nobody outside it understands, and it isn't about finding good people.

It's that the volume moves faster than any organization can hire and fire responsibly.

When rates drop, order volume can double in a quarter. Everyone hires — processors, curative staff, post-closing — and pays over market to do it, because every other agency in the market is hiring the same week. Then rates move the other way, volume falls off a cliff, and the same companies are carrying payroll against orders that aren't coming.

Anyone who worked through 2021 and then 2023 knows exactly what that cycle costs. Severance, institutional knowledge walking out the door, and then the scramble to rehire eighteen months later when the people you let go have found other work.

In full disclosure: Amata provides support staff to law firms and to legal-adjacent businesses, and a title company is one of our long-standing clients in the Loop. So we have a stake in how you think about this. What follows is mostly about the work.

What are title curative services?

Title curative services are the work of clearing exceptions found during examination so a file can close — obtaining releases for satisfied mortgages, resolving name and legal description discrepancies, addressing gaps in the chain of title, clearing judgments and liens, and documenting each cure for the file. It is correspondence, follow-up, and persistence rather than analysis.

It's also the most commonly outsourced function in the title business, and for a straightforward reason: it's labor-intensive, it doesn't scale with technology as well as search does, and the counterparty is never in a hurry.

Why does curative work get outsourced more than anything else?

Because it's the function where volume and staffing are hardest to match. Curative demand tracks order volume, but the work arrives unevenly — a clean file needs almost none, a problem file can consume hours across weeks — and you cannot forecast which is which at intake.

That mismatch is why an established vendor market exists. Companies like reQuire, PropLogix, and ProTitleUSA sell curative capacity to agents precisely because agents would rather buy it than carry it.

The trade-off with those vendors is usually the same. You get capacity, and you give up continuity — the person working your file this week may not be the person who worked it last week, and none of them knows your underwriter's preferences or the quirks of your recorder.

That's a real cost on complex files, and it's the reason some agencies keep curative in-house despite the staffing pain.

What else do title companies outsource?

Post-closing and policy follow-up, recording tracking, order intake and scheduling, payoff requests, prior policy retrieval, and document preparation. Most share curative's profile — necessary, procedural, labor-intensive, and badly matched to a fixed headcount that cannot flex when order volume moves.

Post-closing. Confirming recording, tracking down documents that didn't record cleanly, and moving files toward policy issuance. Backlogs here are invisible until an underwriter audit or a claim.

Recording follow-up. Watching what was submitted, catching rejections, and resubmitting. County practice varies enough that local knowledge matters.

Order intake and scheduling. Opening files, ordering searches, and coordinating closings across parties who all have constraints.

Payoff requests. Requesting, chasing, and watching good-through dates.

Prior policy retrieval. Chasing prior policies from other agencies and underwriters, which is exactly as slow as it sounds.

Document preparation. Assembling closing packages to the agency's templates.

What shouldn't be outsourced casually

Title examination and search require specific training, and in some states licensing or underwriter approval. They are not the same as curative or post-closing work, and a provider who treats them as interchangeable is telling you something about their understanding of the business.

Two other things worth keeping close:

Underwriter communication and risk decisions. Whether an exception can be insured over, what an underwriter will accept, when to escalate — those sit with people who carry the relationship and the accountability.

Anything requiring physical presence. In-person closings, original document handling, and recording where e-recording isn't available.

Amata provides the curative, post-closing, and processing work described above. We are not title examiners, we are not an agency, and we don't make underwriting decisions. Being clear about that boundary matters more than it might in another industry, because in title the line between support and risk is where the money is.

Why fractional staffing fits a cyclical business

Because the alternative is hiring for peak volume and then carrying that cost through the trough. Fractional support scales with order volume rather than against a fixed payroll commitment, which is precisely the problem the rate cycle creates for an agency that cannot forecast six months out.

The arithmetic is uncomfortable but simple. If you staff for the volume you have in a strong quarter, you carry that cost when volume falls, and title volume falls quickly. If you staff for the trough, you're turning away orders or delivering badly during the peak — and in a referral business where agents and lenders choose based on turn time, delivering badly during a boom costs relationships that don't come back.

Fractional hours sit between those. A base of permanent staff for the work that never stops, plus capacity that expands and contracts with orders.

That isn't a new idea in most industries. It's simply not how the title business has historically staffed, which is why the same hiring and layoff cycle repeats every time rates move.

What should you look for in an outsourced curative provider?

Continuity first, then local recorder knowledge, then honesty about scope. Capacity is the easy part and several vendors sell it. What is harder to buy is the same person working your files month after month, learning your underwriter's preferences and the quirks of your counties.

Four things worth asking:

Will the same people work our files, or is it a pool? This is the main difference between a staffing arrangement and a transactional vendor, and it determines whether anyone ever learns your business.

Which counties have they actually worked? Recorder practice and curative routes vary. Someone who has worked your counties saves weeks over someone learning them.

Which systems can they work in? Title runs on production software, and staff who cannot work inside your system are of limited use. Ask directly.

What do they consider out of scope? A provider who claims they can do examination, curative, post-closing, and underwriting decisions is a provider who hasn't thought about it carefully.

Frequently asked questions

The work of clearing exceptions found during title examination so a file can close — obtaining releases for satisfied mortgages, resolving name and legal description discrepancies, addressing chain of title gaps, clearing judgments and liens, and documenting each cure. It is correspondence and persistence rather than analysis.

Because curative demand tracks order volume but arrives unevenly, and cannot be forecast at intake. A clean file needs almost none; a problem file consumes hours across weeks. That mismatch makes it the function hardest to match to fixed headcount, which is why a vendor market exists.

Post-closing and policy follow-up, recording tracking, order intake and scheduling, payoff requests, prior policy retrieval, and document preparation. Most share curative's profile — necessary, procedural, labor-intensive, and poorly matched to a fixed headcount that cannot flex when order volume moves.

Title examination and search require specific training, and in some states licensing or underwriter approval. They are not interchangeable with curative or post-closing work. Amata provides curative, post-closing, and processing support, and does not perform examination or make underwriting decisions.

A base of permanent staff covers work that never stops, and fractional hours expand and contract with order volume. That avoids both staffing for peak and carrying the cost through a trough — the specific problem the rate cycle creates for title agencies.

Whether the same people work your files or it is a pool, which counties they have actually worked, which production systems they can work inside, and what they consider out of scope. A provider claiming they can do everything including underwriting decisions has not thought carefully.

That is the right question to ask any provider, and the answer determines whether the arrangement is workable. Title production software varies by agency, and staff who cannot operate inside your system are of limited practical use regardless of their experience.

The counterparty is never in a hurry. A lender releasing a mortgage satisfied fourteen years ago has no urgency about it, a recorder's office moves at its own pace, and an heir who needs to sign lives elsewhere. The work is persistence rather than skill.

The cycle nobody plans for

I've watched this from an unusual angle. Amata has served a title company in the Loop for years — conference rooms, space, reception — and I've had a front-row seat to what the rate cycle does to an operating business.

What strikes me is that everyone in the industry knows the cycle exists. Nobody talks about it as a staffing strategy problem. It gets treated as weather — something that happens to you, that you endure, that you rebuild from.

But the cost isn't really the down cycle. It's the rebuild. The people you let go found other jobs, the ones you hire in the next boom cost more and know less, and the institutional knowledge about your counties and your underwriter left with the person who had it.

Staffing that flexes doesn't eliminate the cycle. It just means you're not rebuilding from zero every time rates move.

Worth a conversation: 312.924.0200 or [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).

Ron Bockstahler is the founder and CEO of Amata Law Office Suites, supporting Chicago-area law firms and legal-adjacent businesses since 2002. He co-hosts The 1958 Lawyer podcast.

Amata Law Office Suites is not a law firm, not a title agency, and not an underwriter. Amata provides support staff working under the direction of the client organization. This article is general information about operations and staffing, not legal or underwriting advice.

Tips for July 2018 Mandatory E-Filing – Circuit Court of Cook County

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Tips for July 2018 Mandatory E-Filing – Circuit Court of Cook County

Tips for July 2018 Mandatory E-Filing – Circuit Court of Cook County

Remember how everyone thought the world was going to end on January 1st, 2000? Well, it’s 2018 and we are still here. Just like that daunting day, July 1st, 2018 has come and gone, and everyone is getting used to the Circuit Court of Cook County’s mandatory e-filing system. All jokes aside, after working with Amata members on their e-filing, and thanks to the assistance of various clerks offices, I have gathered some e-filing tips and tricks.

What you need to know before e-filing for the first time.

The Basics

  • Each Division has free stations with computers & scanners available to assist with e-filing. My favorite is Law Division.
  • All files must be in PDF format. Most documents can be saved in a PDF format from Microsoft word.
  • For those who do not have access to Word, visit www.freepdfconvert.com. The site can convert text or image documents for free.
  • Many easy to use court forms are also available in PDF at www.illinoiscourts.gov/Forms/approved
  • Save changes after each section you enter information.
  • If you are trying to print case files from a docket but the clerk’s printer is down, check with another division or even a different floor; they may be able to print the same documents.

Small tricks that will help you e-file with ease

The Nitty-Gritty

  • When searching for a case to file into, use the full year. For example: 17 CH 12345 should be searched as 2017CH12345.
  • The case number you are filing into should match the case number on the documents you are e-filing.
  • Your attorney code should be entered in Case Cross Reference Number.
  • If you know there is a fee for your e-filing make sure it says, fee populates at the bottom of your screen.
  • All documents should be filed “non-confidential” unless filed under seal.
  • If filing under seal, your 1st lead document should be an agreed order from the Judge on the case granting leave to file under seal.

 

DIANA GARCIA, PARALEGAL WITH AMATA LAW OFFICE SUITES

Diana Garcia, Paralegal with Amata Law Office Suites

Diana began with the company in 2010 as a Client Consultant and moved up to Paralegal in 2016 after attending DePaul University’s Paralegal Studies Certificate Program. In addition to being a Paralegal, she works as a translator for Amata members working with Spanish-speaking clients. Diana holds a BA in Public Relations also from DePaul University.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil Tasting

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Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil Tasting

How refined is your palate? Can you taste the difference between an olive oil produced by the Greek Koroneiki Tree and that of the aromatic, dark brown fruit of the Arbequina cultivar? Our Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil Tasting gives you the chance to find out.

You’ll discover the complexity of an 18‐year balsamic and the nuances between single‐varietal olive oils with Olive & Well, a gourmet olive oil and balsamic vinegar store in Oak Park, IL. Accompany owner of Olive & Well, Kay Kuhlman, at her tasting table and learn about the life of balsamic vinegars and olive oils, or simply enjoy the flavors and mingle with the other guests throughout the evening.

Amata’s very own Ron Bockstahler will be making the homemade artisan breads that will accompany the tasting!

Olive & Well oils come fresh from small‐batch groves and producers throughout the world. They hand‐select their olives and follow them from pick to press, with just hours passing between the two for their premium varietals. Their emphasis is not only on taste, but on health. Their oils are high in antioxidant polyphenols, and their balsamics are all natural, with no added sugars or colors.

Join your fellow tenants for a guided tasting of 10 balsamic vinegars and oils. Our tasting table will be available for you and your coworkers to mix and match. We will be voting on our favorites throughout the night, and breads will be served with an 18-year aged balsamic and an assortment of infused and Single Varietal Extra Virgin Olive Oils. Accompanying snacks such as olives, cured meats, and cheeses will also be offered.

When: Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Where: 150 N Michigan Ave, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60601

RSVP to the event either on the Amata Community ‘Events’ page or via email, at [email protected].

 

DELGADO ROMPF BRUEN LLC

Ownership and management of Olive & Well is Kay’s second “career.” She served for almost 30 years as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce, at U.S. Embassies in Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland and Canada, assisting U.S. companies in promoting and exporting their products and services to foreign markets.

Retiring in 2007 with her husband, also a career diplomat, they settled in Oak Park. Walking to the library one day, she passed by Olive & Well and read the sign on the door: “Looking for part‐ time help. Must be a foodie, must love to cook, and must have retail experience.” Check, check, and check.

For five years, this part‐time work was her “fun retirement job.” When, in 2014, the original owner tired of Chicago winters and moved to Florida, Kay bought the store, introducing new products and marketing strategies. She has made Olive & Well not just a retail operation but also an experience in healthy eating. Her motto for the store is: “Where healthy tastes great.”

Check out all the photos from this fun-filled and informative event!

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8 Healthy Foods to Stock-up on for the Office

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Does the thought of healthy eating exhaust you? It may sound like a lot of pre-work; researching new and unknown foods, exploring uncharted grocery aisles, finding new recipes. Finding the time for this in the midst of our busy schedules can seem impossible. But it’s not.

Just like any life commitment, it takes dedication. And this one is worth it, especially if you’re confined to an office all day. It can be so easy to just grab snacks from the vending machine, like chips and a pop, and lunch from the local fast food joint or restaurant. But when you give up control of what you eat, you are not only stressing out your body, but your brain as well. Food fuels your brain too. If you are prone to feeling your energy and focus levels draining at work, you may be a culprit of feeding your brain too much junk.

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The Schedule That Can Save The Office Worker’s Life

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Interactive daily routine schedule in a coworking space for legal professionals, highlighting health-conscious breaks for increased productivity and wellness.

Some people dream of a job where they can sit on their bum all day. Obviously, these people don’t work behind a desk.

It’s no secret that sitting all day can be bad for our bodies, but do you know just how bad? Recent research has shown that being sedentary for long periods of time is literally killing us. Our chances are greatly increased for practically all ailments; heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc.  And that’s not all. Sitting at a desk all day can cause major spine and alignment issues, shoulder pain, eye strain and migraines if you stare at a computer, and wrist problems if using a keyboard.

The scary part is that even those who are physically active are still at “high risk.” So if regular exercise can’t combat this serious problem, what will?

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