Starting a Law Practice - Naming Your Law Firm

The thing about law firms and other business that depend on the reputation of the faces of the business (vs. a Wal-Mart for instance) is that naming your business should be relatively easy - your name followed by attorney at law or the law offices of your name or some similar variation. And it's true that generally it is that easy.

For example, when I decided I was going to start a law practice the name was pretty much set in stone. It would be the Law Offices of my name. That way people would know who's law office it was, would know that it was a law office, and would be able to recognize the name that I was planning on making a household word. The problem I see with this, though, is that naming your law practice carries more than that.

As with any service business, you want your law firm name to create a feeling of respect, discipline, and an overall sense of quality. Sometimes your name, by its very nature, just won't do that (imagine being named Joe Bob Clementine - doesn't exactly spark a feeling of comfort). Is there anything else you can do to overcome that?

One possible solution is to name your law firm after what you do. For instance, if you are a criminal defense attorney you could have the Defense Institute or the Liberty Project - names that cannote a sense of justice and freedom. I think you get my point. Remember, however, that some jurisdictions do not allow a law firm name of this type (they are genearlly very uptight, for whatever reason). Whatever the rules are, remember that your name carries with it more than just your name. It should at the very least not invoke images of destruction (unless your business specializes in that).

Another problem you may find is with your website name (you should have a web site - without one you might as well not even show up). In the law firm realm, the typical website is the name of the firm, the initials of the firm, or the name of the firm followed by the words "law," "law offices," "law practice," or some variation. What you may find, however, is that many of these domain names have been scooped up either by other attorneys or by domain scavengers (they actually do exist). So here you may actually have to get creative. In this case, remember that nearly every state bar restricts websites that evoke a feeling that winning is more or less likely. This means you can't be bulldoglaw.com or bestpersonalinjuryattorney.com - they are likely to be perceived as violating the ethical rules of your jurisdiction (although each is different, so check on your own).

In the end, I think you'll find that naming your law firm and law firm website, although challenging, may help to further define your message and practice area, two things are definitely helpful in the long run. Its a great step in starting your law practice.