After I named Saul Goodman, the savvy-but-sleazy lawyer on Breaking Bad, one of my favorite TV lawyers, I am back to sing his praises again, this time for his character on the Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul.
Simply put, Better Call Saul “gets” lawyers, especially those starting a solo practice. On the show, newly minted lawyer Jimmy McGill (aka Saul) struggles to make ends meet as he tries to get his firm off the ground. He doesn’t have seed money. Every new client counts. Sound familiar?
I’m sure we can all identify with Jimmy’s struggles as he launches his solo practice. Surprisingly, Jimmy actually does some pretty practical things to get his practice off to the right start.
Here are a few solo startup tips from Better Call Saul:
1. Start small. Jimmy started out with what you would generously call a “lean” business model. He operated mainly out of his beat-up car with a cell phone. His “office” was in the maintenance closet of a nail salon, so he met clients at restaurants and in their homes.
Jimmy is "working remotely." (Photo credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC)
2.Tailor your marketing strategy to your ideal client. When public defender work wasn’t paying the bills, Jimmy decided to move into the
increasingly popular field of estate planning and elder law. He’s really thoughtful about marketing, stepping into the shoes of his potential clients. He changes the way he dresses (hilariously taking fashion cues from Matlock). He sponsors a Bingo night at the local senior center. He
even has sponsored jello cups for potential customers!
"Bingo!" Photo credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC
3. Listen to your clients. Working with seniors isn’t always easy for Jimmy, but he demonstrates incredible patience with an elderly estate planning client, first as she comes downstairs in her chairlift, and then as she talks about who would get each of her Hummel figurines. I don’t know about you, but I can relate to working with clients on a “Hummel issue,” where the painstaking disposition of near-valueless sentimental assets takes up a lot of the client meeting. Sometimes letting your client talk about a "Hummel issue" gives you an invaluable understanding of family dynamics. In the end, it’s all about really listening to your client, and Jimmy excels at this. His active listening skills ultimately uncover facts that lead to a class action lawsuit against the housing company for systematically overcharging.
Jimmy gathers information from his elderly clients. (Photo credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC)
At the beginning of his career, Jimmy's doing all the right things to build his practice. Obviously, Jimmy ends up taking a less-than-legal turn over the course of the show, but the in-the-know lawyer humor still rings true. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out!