“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.”  Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher and writer

There is nothing new about lawyers representing small businesses on a retainer basis. It is a good deal for business owners and for lawyers. Businesses get a certain amount of their lawyer’s time involving specified services, and the attorney receives a steady income that s/he can count on.

The problem comes in convincing clients that it is a favorable deal for them, and worth their doing. That “is the challenge” according to solo David Feldman in Connecticut, who has 10 retainer clients that pay him $1500 per month for legal advice. What caught my eye is how he markets his practice. First, he calls it “preventive law;” and then sells it by focusing his pitch on telling horror stories about business that could have prevented costly legal troubles, if only they had run their business decisions by a lawyer in advance. And as part of the deal, he gives his retainer clients a 25% discount on his hourly rate, should litigation raise its ugly head.

Read more about Feldman’s preventive law practice and how he helps small businesses which appears in today’s Small Firm Business.

Better that clients run their business looking forward, rather than look back at what they could have prevented had they sought legal help up front. Your challenge is to convince them of that.