Solo Lawyers Advised on Starting ADR Practices

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Summary

• Before you do anything else, get any necessary training from a provider with an excellent reputation. Most jurisdictions and premier ADR services require neutrals to take specific training.
• It may take several years to build a full-time ADR practice. Getting there requires a solid business plan and adequate capital in reserve.
• Find a few discrete areas in which you have expertise and market yourself as a neutral for those particular cases. You will get better work and more of it.
• Not sure you want to dive into running your own ADR practice? Consider joining a panel of neutrals, particularly if you do not enjoy or have time for networking and marketing activities.

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Jump to:

• The Bare Minimum Isn’t Enough
• Have a Plan
• Define Your Niche
• Networking, Networking, and More Networking
• Preparing to Work
• Rates and Payment
• Create Community
• Consider Panels and Affiliations
• Create a Fulfilling and Flexible Career

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When I started my alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practice, I thought I was in great shape. I had done my training and many hours of volunteer mediating and had spoken to a few ADR practitioners about how they started their firms. I had a list of every trial attorney I knew, and I spread the word about my new practice among them. I built a website, found space, and printed business cards.

Naively, I expected the phone to ring. After a very few months, I realized I needed to do things differently. Ten years later, I am happily engaged in rewarding work. Here are some of the lessons I learned to save you some time in building your ADR practice.

The Bare Minimum Isn’t Enough

Before you do anything else, get any necessary training from a provider with an excellent reputation. Most jurisdictions and premier ADR services require neutrals to take specific training. Mediators usually need at least 30 hours of training, while the requirements for arbitrators vary more based on the type of arbitration work. Check the requirements for your state or preferred ADR service to make sure you know what you must do to be considered for cases. Without appropriate training, you won’t be eligible for court-appointed cases and cannot be listed as a panel member.

That initial training is just the start. While your legal knowledge can be an asset as a neutral, good advocates and good neutrals use different language and skill sets. Finding your way toward the language and skills that make you a good neutral takes time and repetition.

How can you get that experience? For mediators, I recommend a practicum program using a co-mediation model. These programs, offered by many training providers, allow you to mediate real cases with an experienced mediator who provides support and feedback. Also consider volunteering with a community dispute resolution provider or asking a more experienced mediator if you can co-mediate.

If you are interested in arbitrating, the required training provides you with an understanding of the rules and process but doesn’t involve participation in actual cases. To gain some experience before arbitrating yourself, consider asking someone with an active arbitration practice if you can shadow them. This requires permission from the parties but is a great way to observe the process.

Once you have done your basic training, you may want to consider advanced training specific to the types of cases you want to handle. Ongoing training on ethics issues is a must, as new issues arise all the time. Many jurisdictions and private panels also require ongoing training.

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Have a Plan

It takes time to develop a successful ADR practice. Most practitioners find it takes at least six months to a year to begin developing a pipeline of business. Unless you work within a unique niche, it may take several years to have a full-time ADR practice. Getting there requires a solid business plan and adequate capital in reserve.

If you want to add ADR services to an existing legal practice, you need to reserve time for your ADR work. This includes ADR work itself as well as the networking needed to generate that work. If you don’t carve out that time, your ADR practice will not succeed.

If you are looking to pivot exclusively to ADR work, you need to be realistic about your finances. Many ADR providers make very little during their first year or two. If you are your household’s primary breadwinner, have at least six months of routine expenses set aside in addition to your emergency reserves. While running an ADR practice isn’t particularly expensive, you should also have six months to a year’s worth of business expenses in hand ahead of time.

What expenses does a typical ADR practice incur? Rent, insurance, software licenses, networking and bar association memberships, website fees, and support services top the list. Many practitioners sublet conference room space or use office sharing to keep costs down. It is important to note that subletting space from a law firm may require you to disclose that relationship as a potential conflict of interest.

If this sounds overwhelming, you may want to work with a business coach. If you are adding ADR services to your existing business model, they can help you determine the best way to integrate them. If you are becoming a full-time neutral, they can help you create a business plan and adapt that plan as needed.

Define Your Niche

One of the biggest mistakes people make when developing an ADR practice is to try to do it all. The pressure to accept whatever work comes in the door when there are bills to pay is real. Doing so meets short-term goals but has long-term consequences. Instead of doing work you find rewarding, you will end up doing work you dislike or with which you are not comfortable. That carries through in your work product, which impacts your reputation.

Find a few discrete areas in which you have expertise and market yourself as a neutral for those particular cases. You will get better work and more of it. Brian Balconi of Balconi Mediation Services is a great example. He opened up a mediation practice specializing in mediations between franchisors and franchisees. Within months, he had a steady pipeline of work. In Brian’s words, “Having a niche (resolving franchise disputes, in my case) helps a mediator stand out by providing a clear, memorable hook when connecting with potential clients and referral sources.”

Identifying a niche like Brian did also helps in another critical area: networking.

Networking, Networking, and More Networking

After my slow start, I networked whenever I wasn’t mediating or arbitrating. I actively participated in a national networking organization, attended events where I might encounter trial lawyers, developed an active LinkedIn presence, and had lots of one-to-one conversations. At first, I was networking nearly 40 hours per week. Eventually, I spent less time networking and more time engaged in paid work. I still target 30 hours of networking activities per month to ensure a steady pipeline.

Even established, highly successful practitioners such as Jeff Kichaven make networking a priority. As Jeff says,

It’s always important to network, to be part of the community of lawyers you serve, to get to know them personally, and to understand the issues on their minds. The world never stops changing; we need to change with it, and networking is how we do it. There are always new lawyers entering our communities, and, often sadly, there are always lawyers leaving our communities as well. So, we always need to make new friends. Plus, as the economy and the law constantly change, we need to keep up to serve our clients at the highest level. We do all this by networking, by showing up to conferences, seminars, and rubber-chicken CLE lunches and dinners. If you love lawyers and you love the law, it’s not effort. It’s just part of who we are and what we do.
Be strategic about where you choose to network. Professional networking groups can be an excellent way of accessing people who may be good referral sources, but you need to make sure the people in the room are those who are likely to hire you. Neutrals who focus on employment, personal injury, and business want to network with lawyers who may have cases to bring to them. Neutrals who work with family matters may want to cast a broader net because the individuals themselves generally choose their neutral.

These considerations also matter when determining where to spend your time online. A website is a must, but you need not be present everywhere. If you are looking to work with lawyers, LinkedIn coupled with a newsletter may make the most sense. If you are working with consumers and families, you may want to use Facebook or Instagram. Create content that can be used across multiple channels and keep copies of it in case you are locked out of a platform. Megan Espinal, a social media marketing expert, also suggests using others’ platforms to get your name out there:

Guesting is also a smart strategy. Find podcasts, blogs, or newsletters that already exist in your industry and reach out about partnership or feature opportunities. Just make sure the partnership is mutually beneficial; be prepared to explain why you’d make a great add to their content, why their audience would be interested, and how the host will benefit from the eyes or ears of your audience, too.

Preparing to Work

Before you start taking cases, alert your insurance carrier and adjust your coverages. You should develop the documentation and processes that you will use for your work. If you work as a panel member of another organization, they may provide you with these items, but you probably will want to make adjustments to incorporate any additional policies and procedures that you chose to implement. Your documentation should comply with your jurisdiction’s statutes, regulations, and ethical rules. For example, some states’ statutes contain exceptions to the confidentiality usually afforded to mediations; your documents should reflect any such exceptions. I recommend that ADR professionals have a mediation or arbitration agreement, a fee agreement, general rules regarding conduct and communications, and pre-mediation or pre-hearing instructions outlining the preparation you expect of the parties.

Your processes must begin with a conflicts check. I ask the parties to disclose the names of the parties, their counsel, any potential witnesses, and any other persons in attendance at the event. If there is an actual conflict, you should decline the matter. If there may be a perceived conflict, it must be disclosed.

If there are no conflicts, you need to screen the case both with respect to subject matter and with respect to the stage of the case. As your practice develops, you’ll likely find that some matters are better referred out to others. As Scott Loring of Cooperative Coaching and Mediation says,

When we are new ADR professionals, we might think that we can help anyone in conflict with our skills. However, over time, we realize we are better suited to certain types of clients in certain situations. I learned over time that mediating marital divorces was not as enjoyable as mediating business disputes.

As I let others know my preferences, I received more business conflict cases, and I sent marital mediation cases to those who specialized in those matters. Eventually, I realized I preferred to work with business owners who were still hoping to work things out rather than settle their separation with an attorney by their side. I was then able to send clients that already had counsel to a mediator [who] preferred that, and I received referrals from that same mediator when she encountered potential clients that did not have legal representation.
Careful screening ensures you get the work you enjoy while best serving the interests of the parties involved.

Rates and Payment

Assuming there are no conflicts and you agree to take the case, how do you set your rates? Take a look at the websites of ADR professionals in your area who do the type of work that you would like to do, both with respect to cost and fee structure (hourly versus daily). Avoid offering significantly lower rates than those professionals. The value you place on your skills will be reflected in the nature of the work you get.

Be very clear in your fee agreement on what is and isn’t included in your pricing. If billing hourly, note that case preparation and communication with the parties constitute billed time. If billing daily, identify what is considered to be reasonable preparation and follow-up time and what your rate will be for work in excess of those time limits. Alternatively, consider charging a higher daily rate with no limitations on preparation.

Most importantly, collect your fee ahead of the mediation or issuance of the arbitration decision. Parties rarely pay after the fact!

Create Community

Being a solo ADR professional can be lonely. Connect with other ADR professionals to stay on top of your game. Those connections are invaluable resources on marketing, ethics, strategy, and emerging issues within the practice and are great referral sources.

Consider Panels and Affiliations

Not sure you want to dive into running your own ADR practice? You might want to consider joining a panel of neutrals, particularly if you do not enjoy or have time for networking and marketing activities. These panels exist through national organizations such as the American Arbitration Association or JAMS, or through more local and regional organizations.

Before you commit to working with an organization, consider the terms and conditions of affiliation. Are you limited to doing ADR work exclusively through that organization? What are the financial terms? What resources does the organization provide? In some instances, these organizations are a great way to establish an ADR practice with less effort and management required on your part.

Create a Fulfilling and Flexible Career

Working as an ADR professional can be incredibly rewarding. With adequate planning and preparation coupled with ongoing marketing and networking, you can create a fulfilling and flexible career.

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Author

Amy Cashore Mariani

Mariani Mediation LLC

For over twenty years, Amy represented individuals and businesses in employment, personal injury, and business disputes. Many of those cases went to trial, but Amy resolved many others through effective and creative...

View Bio →

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Author

Amy Cashore Mariani

Mariani Mediation LLC

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