Law Office-Auto Shop? Some Hybrid Firm Ideas Unlikely To Succeed

Could combining a law firm with another business increase business and client retention? It seems to work for some hybrid offices, such as estate attorneys doubling as financial planners, or tax attorney/CPAs using their combined skills during tax season. But a law firm/bakery, or a law firm/clothing store – both ideas that attorney Shannon Achimalbe says she has heard proposed – is unlikely to succeed, she writes for Above The Law. If you take on the burden of understanding two separate business plans and the overhead that comes with them it can’t help but detract from the quality of the law firm, she says, and it’s unlikely other lawyers will send clients to you via referral. Most people seeking legal advice prefer someone who practices 100 percent of the time.