The Rise of The Legal Entrepreneur

In recent years, a growing number of lawyers have chosen to break away from the traditional legal career path towards partnership and have followed their ambition to establish their own law firms. These legal entrepreneurs share a common desire for autonomy, innovation, and a departure from the hierarchical structures that have long defined the legal profession. Over the past decade, Excello Law has collaborated with entrepreneurial lawyers who opted to build their own firms, and together, we have formed seven unique law practices.

Three lawyers who recently embarked on this journey with Excello Law— Richard Preston of Preston Law, Katie McCann of Lowry Legal and Nathan Lapsley of 458 Law —have shared their motivations and experiences.

The Rise of Legal Entrepreneurs

The traditional legal career trajectory is a well-trodden path – lawyers start as junior lawyers, and then work their way up the hierarchy to secure a coveted partnership position. While partnership offers stability and prestige, it often comes at the cost of long working hours, politics, increased bureaucracy and limited control over one’s practice. In today’s legal landscape, frustrations with established processes and workflows within traditional law firms have led many lawyers to consider building their own law firms.

Legal entrepreneurs are redefining success in the legal industry. Rather than following the traditional career path, these dynamic and ambitious lawyers are choosing to set up their own practices. For these lawyers, they will be rewarded with the ability to control their practice, set fee structures, and make decisions about which clients and legal work to undertake. However, not every lawyer can or will want to be a legal entrepreneur. Forming one’s own law firm requires someone who is willing to take risks, put in significant work, and possess the capacity, and the confidence, to build the firm’s client base.

Specialised Practice Area

One of the greatest benefits outlined by the legal entrepreneurs we have seen at Excello Law is that they can tailor their services to meet the specific needs of clients in niche legal markets. This specialisation allows for a deeper understanding of the law in these specific practice areas and positions legal entrepreneurs as experts in their chosen fields, attracting clients seeking highly specialised advice.

Nathan Lapsley, Founder of 458 Law, a specialist corporate firm for ecommerce mergers and acquisitions, says: “I had cultivated extensive experience in the ecommerce sector and was passionate about growing this specific area of legal expertise. Over my career, I had built a strong client base, enjoyed forging new deals, and nurtured strong relationships. I wanted to build up my own specialised team to provide exceptional and tailored service for clients, with a focus on ecommerce mergers and acquisitions.”

Richard Preston of Preston Law, a specialist dispute resolution and insolvency firm, shared a similar sentiment: “It has always been my vision to offer the best-in-class service to clients and be the law firm of choice. I had previously existed as a service within larger firms and wanted to establish myself as a specialised service for clients.”

Autonomy and Flexibility

Many lawyers are motivated to build their own legal practice in the pursuit of greater autonomy and control over the way they work. By establishing their own practices, lawyers can set their own schedules, choose their clients, and work on cases that align with their passions and expertise.

Richard stated: “I have always been ambitious and saw the opportunity to build my own firm where I had control of the clients I took on, the work that I did, and how I operated. I didn’t want to be subject to targets and billable hours that exist within a traditional law firm. I wanted to build my own practice where I could spend time with my clients and focus on their specific legal needs.”

Nathan expressed his realisation in his previous role: “I enjoyed my life as a lawyer; however, I was working extremely long hours and there came a point where there was a huge disconnect between the inputs I was making and the outputs that were generated for my family. The desire to create something different – something that aligned with my values and allowed me to focus on value for clients rather than hitting fee targets – became the driving force behind 458 Law. I wanted to break free from the limitations I experienced in a traditional firm and create a business that prioritised client satisfaction, efficiency, affordability, and mutual success, which I defined in part as being able to watch my children grow up.”

A Client-Centric Approach

Legal entrepreneurs who prioritise personalised client service often choose to start their own law firms. This enables them to establish closer relationships with clients, provide tailored legal solutions, and offer a more hands-on approach.

For Katie McCann, a specialist family lawyer who set up Lowry Legal, her personalised service has been key to her success: “The happiness of our clients is at the heart of everything we do. Having control over my own firm has given me the opportunity to look at clients’ entire journey and bring in our specialisms and creative solutions to help them every step of the way. I feel in control of my own direction.”

Nathan emphasised: “I wanted to provide an extensive service for my clients, beyond what I could provide within a traditional firm. With the nature of the work I do, I need to scale up on transactions and pull in a lot of different expertise. When forming my own firm, it was crucial that I would be able to scale up teams or pass work to colleagues, ensuring the client has a frictionless turn-key service.”

How to Make Starting a Law Firm a Success

Going it alone as a legal entrepreneur requires immense hard work to grow your practice. Katie McCann stresses: “Be realistic. This is not just a job role; this will take over your entire life. Do you have the time to devote to this? Do you have a growth mindset as opposed to recoiling every time there is an issue? Can you lead others and understand that a firm is not solely about you, but about the people that come to work with you?”

Success in starting a law firm requires time, effort, and networking. Nathan advises: “Really, it’s not rocket science – but you need to invest time and energy into your practice- network, create content, be very good at what you do, provide exceptional client service, and people will follow you.”

All of our lawyers stress that, in the end, it is all worth it. Katie says ‘Being able to create something from the ground up and watch it develop, change, and grow is exhilarating. I am so proud of what we have achieved”. Lowry Legal is now a Legal 500 listed firm, and Katie was listed in the CityWealth Magic Circle Awards 2024 for Family Lawyer of the Year.

Challenges for Legal Entrepreneurs

While the rise of legal entrepreneurs presents exciting opportunities, it is not without its challenges. Setting up and managing a legal practice comes with its own set of responsibilities, from business development and marketing to administrative tasks. Lawyers setting up their own law firms need to consider finance, registration with the SRA and companies house, Professional Indemnity Insurance, office space, any software or IT compliance issues, payroll, and marketing. It takes a lot of hard work to get the firm off the ground, and all our lawyers reported putting in significant time. Nathan shared his challenge: “The main challenge was juggling family – I had a 2-year-old and a newborn at home – with exceptional client delivery and business development.” Katie added: “The hours needed to get things off the ground are immense! Branding, web development, building a team – do not underestimate the time this will take.”

Build a Law Firm with Excello Law

One route to forming your law firm is with Excello Law. We manage the setup and internal infrastructure of the firm, including Professional Indemnity Insurance and compliance, taking away the burden of law firm management so that lawyers can focus on their client work and building their practice. Under the umbrella of Excello Law, we provide everything legal entrepreneurs need to start their law firm, as well as start-up capital.

Richard shared his experience: “Building my brand as a trading name of Excello Law within a regulated environment not only allowed me to maintain control, but also provided the comfort of insurance and compliance being taken care of. I have been able to focus on building and growing my practice by focussing on my clients”.

Most importantly for Nathan was the benefit that being part of Excello Law’s collaborative network of over 200 experienced partner-level lawyers would provide to his clients. He adds that ‘being part of Excello allows me and the team at 458 Law to access specialist advice and support across the Excello network of lawyers. This includes real estate, employment, disputes, restructuring and insolvency, commercial and IP. This has meant that we have been able to scale up teams or pass work to colleagues as required so the client has a frictionless service.”

The surge in legal entrepreneurs in the UK marks a significant shift in the legal profession’s dynamics. By choosing to bypass the traditional route to partnership and establishing their practices, lawyers, with the support of Excello Law, are redefining success on their terms. This trend reflects a broader cultural shift towards autonomy, innovation, and a more personalised approach to legal services.