Mark Atkinson, director of the Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation, describes the services and benefits this now-statewide nonprofit offers attorneys looking to launch their own practice.
A Legal Incubator Update: Durham’s Incubator is Now North Carolina’s Incubator
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As lawyers, we learn “the law” in law school, but we are rarely, if ever, taught how to run a business. Starting, running and sustaining a law firm — like it or not — is running a business. To address this reality, legal incubators have sprouted up to provide business support, training and mentoring for participants to launch their own sustainable solo or small law firm.
As described in the Summer 2021 issue of the North Carolina State Bar Journal, a new legal incubator was established in Durham to “equip entrepreneurial lawyers with practical and substantive business and legal training to launch innovative, socially conscious and financially sustainable law practices that address the access to justice gap.” This new legal incubator was originally called the Durham Opportunity and Justice Incubator. The early planning for the incubator was prepandemic, and the intent was to focus on Durham attorneys and Durham needs. However, the reality of the pandemic created the need to pivot to a virtual presence so that the incubator could serve attorneys across the state.
With that broader reach, the incubator’s name was changed to the Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation. Over the past two years, ILPI has supported attorneys across the state (and beyond) in starting and running their law firms, including lawyers in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Bunn, Fayetteville and Raeford (as well as Maryland, Tennessee and Nevada).
The Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation exists to improve access to justice by training entrepreneurial attorneys to be innovative and financially savvy.
Though the name has changed to ILPI, the mission of the incubator has not changed. ILPI exists to improve access to justice by training entrepreneurial attorneys to be innovative and financially savvy. The 12-month incubator program typically starts with a two-day boot camp that provides a quick immersion in the business aspects of starting a law firm: budgeting, accounting, finding clients, client billing and payment, designing websites, innovative uses of AI, evaluating options for practice management software, exploring alternative billing strategies and learning from successful solo and small firm attorneys.
After the boot camp, ILPI’s programs shift into “accelerator mode” with a cycle of regular “lunch-n-learn” sessions to learn more (and reinforce) best business practices, hear stories of how other attorneys built their successful businesses, connect with important vendors and consultants (IT, marketing, and accounting professionals) and learn from each other.
In addition to the training program, ILPI participants have access to both business coaching and powerful resources through our generous partners. Business coaching is available for participants to get feedback on their various law firm management (business) ideas and strategies, while partners such as Lexis, Practicing Law Institute, and Clio provide access to their material for the benefit of the participants. That access includes legal research, analytical tools, templates, checklists, CLEs, and free or reduced pricing for practicing management software. Participants do pay a monthly ILPI membership fee, but for every $1 of fees, they receive $8-10 in benefits.
Attorneys who have participated in the 12-month incubator program include Cameron Redd and Michelle Schalliol of RS Legal Group as well as Reatter Neal and Erin Edgar, both solo practitioners.
Two cohorts of attorneys have already completed the 12-month cycle, and a third cohort is nearly complete. These three groups have supported 21 attorneys in their entrepreneurial journey. A fourth cohort will launch in September 2023.
If interested, check out innovationlegal.org for more information.
Mark Atkinson is an attorney and a 2020 graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law. Prior to law school, he was a principal at Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of the North Carolina State Bar Journal and has been lightly edited for style.