30 True Confessions of a Happy Lawyer

I, being duly sworn at, solemnly confess the following:
1. That I am happy in my work;
2. That I am not the smartest – I’ve never been first in my class and I’m usually not the smartest person in the room;
3. That I don’t have all the answers – I don’t even know all the questions;
4. That I would rather spend time counseling people than drafting documents;
5. That I suck at spelling and the rules of grammar confuse me;
6. That I do not drive a sporty car – I live in the mountains and drive a bright (when it’s not covered in mud) yellow pick-up truck;
7. That I don’t often wear dressy cloths – my clients would think they were paying me too much if I was in a suit all the time;
8. That I went bankrupt trying to make the hourly billing model work for my entrepreneurial clients;
9. That going through bankruptcy humbled me and taught me some hard lessons–especially that I need to be cash-flow-positive all the time, because credit can be a trap;
10. That a lower, regularly-paid “relationship” with a client over longer time is generally worth more than a larger one-time “project”;
11. That my flat monthly fee model brought me from the brink of depression back to my core optimism, changing my life almost overnight;
12. That a law “practice” means wondering how you’ll pay the bills next MONTH and a law “business” means wondering how you’ll pay the bills next YEAR;
13. That most of the time I’d rather hang out socially with my clients than other lawyers (sorry);
14. That I do sincerely enjoy learning more about how my peers and clients have found their own successes and uncovered their personal genius;
15. That most CLE sessions are relatively boring, but would real potential if everyone would just relax and not try to be the smartest person in the room;
16. That I’m more pleased helping people find their own personal power and happiness than helping them make money;
17. That I would rather get paid for the advice I share than for the documents I produce;
18. That it’s better to avoid a problem, than win a battle;
19. That I hated Civil Procedure class and have only had to be in court once, and that was just to help a buddy adopt his step-kids;
20. That I get a large portion of my new clients directly from the time I invest in blogging, Facebook, and Twitter;
21. That I would rather inform a large group of entrepreneurs about a topic via a free lecture than one-at-a-time for a fee;
22. That I have made poor business deals and decisions;
23. That I get frustrated when people think IP attorneys all write patent applications;
24. That I get frustrated when I hear small business people tell me they received a $3,000+ bill from a law firm for a $1,000 project;
25. That I get sad when passionate young people have their dreams and ideals beaten out of them in law school;
26. That I’m still a dreamer;
27. That I get sad when I hear lawyers talk about wanting to go solo or start a small firm with a friend, but they’re trapped in golden handcuffs;
28. That I get sad when I hear about lawyers who hate the type of work they do, but it was where their firm put them after law school and now it’s all they know;
29. That other attorneys ask me all the time about my flat-fee-billing model and I love to share what I’ve learned; and
30. That I hope to stay gainfully unemployed and helping others achieve personal and spiritual freedom until they dump me in a hole.

Kevin E. Houchin is the founder of Houchin & Associates, P.C. and The Space Between Center, LLC, and the author of Fuel The Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life. You can learn more about his practice model by visiting The Space Between Center Website.

Helping Creative People & Businesses
http://www.houchinlaw.com
http://www.spacebetweencenter.com
http://www.sitecompliant.com

Houchin & Associates, P.C.
201 South College • Suite 200
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Office: 970.493.1070
Cell: 970.214.6808
Fax: 888.524.8248

Author: Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life
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