Anybody can hang out a shingle and start a small law firm, but the attorneys who will succeed must invariably learn something about the business of law.

There are, in theory, so many resources available that one might think it would be hard to fail at this endeavor.

Bar associations provide law firm startup kits.

An abundance of blogs and books and videos and webinars flood the internet.

In a country where tens of thousands of lawyers open a new law firm every year, the opportunity to learn from others is plentiful.

But starting a law firm is just step one, though, isn’t it?

Once you start your law firm, you have to sustain it. Then you have to choose whether to grow it.

And if you are really good, you may want to scale it. I call these the 4 stages of law firm growth:

Stage 1: Start
Stage 2: Sustain
Stage 3: Grow
Stage 4: Scale

Those last 3 phases of growth command the least attention from the legal community.

Perhaps lawyers are too guarded about how they become successful.

After all, success in the law is often financial, and lawyers are notoriously uncomfortable discussing finances.

A good portion of this is a "shame" element - somewhere along the way, it became tacky or shameful for lawyers to make a good living. A doctor can get rich in just a couple years because she helps people get healthy....but a lawyer who protects a client from personal, financial, or criminal ruin?

Well, they're just greedy.

We know this to be the stereotype among judges - 5 years ago (in 2012), a judge at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims wrote this rhyme painting attorneys as money grubbers in a case involving the extent of the court's jurisdiction - there has been neither apology nor retraction (click here for the full poem at page 19-21):

The majority wets the vets' ammunition

by retarding their right to petition.

The undeniable effect,

a barrier they erect

to obtaining relief with expedition.

Oh, yes, I have read their tome.

But well enough should be left alone.

Precedent was not heeded,

a final decision once was needed,

but now it need not be shown.

For some the case is of import;

over the din, their voices report

lawyers shouting with glee: "We can now charge a fee

when before we would come up short!" (Emphasis Added)

We all remember from law school how competitive the practice of law is, too.

We all remember the law student classmate that sent everyone an email saying, “Hey, I found Professor Smith’s study guide for his property exam, would y’all like to share it with me?”

Actually, none of us remember that. That law student didn’t exist.

So in this category of my blog, I will work to show you how to start, sustain, grow and scale a law firm.

In a phrase, I will work to teach you everything I've learned about the business of law, experience gained from 13+ years of trying and failing and trying and succeeding.

What makes me qualified to teach the Business of Veterans Law?

13+ years of experience.

Since 2006, I have grown my veterans' law firm from a small office I built into my garage in Dallas (all great businesses start in a garage, I was told) into a nationally recognized brand in the veterans advocacy community.

I’ve learned the business of veterans law from my success: I found ways to shorten the cash flow cycle for lawyers representing veterans, and grew my firm to include offices, attorneys and staff in 4 states.

Where most accredited VA attorneys were struggling to get decisions in 3-5 years, our firm was able to shorten our cash flow cycle to an average of 11 months.

I’ve learned even more about the business of veterans law from my failures, too: fast growth is unstable growth.

Not every practice area can or should be scaled to a national level.

Since 2006, through all the success and the failure, I have come up with a business model I now use in my own practice to grow my firm each and every year.

The formula for success in the business of veterans law, simply said, is this:

Create a clear vision of what I want to build, then leverage relationships to build and scale my brand through calculated, methodical and unrelenting progress.

I am going to teach you what I’ve learned about the business of law along the way.

* Are you tired of winning cases for free? I'll show you how I found solutions to that common problem.

* Need more predictability in your cash flow and revenue stream? I’ll share with you the lessons I've learned about profitability verse cash flow.

* Are you ready to eliminate inefficiencies in your prospect and intake process and start finding the clients you WANT to work with? That’s going to be a recurring theme on this blog, to be sure.

I will talk about marketing your firm to get the clients you want and the cases that will sustain your firm.

I will talk about how to grow your firm, and how to build a team that can help you grow.

I will explore the newest technology available to lawyers out there - and how the internet and the cloud have leveled the playing field for solos and small firms trying to compete with the big veterans law mills.

Together, we will meet some of the leading experts helping lawyers to build sustainable law practices: how to practice law while putting YOU, the attorney, and your well being first.

I will review some of my favorite business and productivity guides and books, and share the resources that have enabled me to build a sustained law practice representing veterans without having to surrender my sanity, my soul, or my family time.

Whatever stage of growth your veterans law firm is in, I hope you benefit from the knowledge I share with you about the business of veterans law.

Sign up below and receive every post on the VA Form 21 Blog, including the Business of Law & Lawyer Wellness.