Is there a non-compete law blog for your state?
Texas Attorneys Ashley Barr (@legalbarr) of the the McKinney Law Firm and Joe Virene of Looper Reed & McGraw both commented today on the rise in litigation regarding covenants not to compete in blog posts here and here. Both posts drew upon an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled ‘Litigation Over Noncompete Clauses Is Rising.’
First thought of mine? Is their a good non-compete law blog or two in each state. And if not, why not?
I have been telling lawyers for years to go niche. I constantly use the example of a non-compete law blog. Rather than go Missouri Employment Law as an up and coming lawyer, why not go non-compete law for your blog.
Why not become the go-to lawyer in your state on a niche that everyone from dentists to engineers to chiropractors to venture capitalists may need a lawyer for?
I am not encouraging lawyers to hitch their wagon to an area of the law they have no interest in. But I did a fair number of non-compete cases in my day. And they were pretty fun, especially when on the side of the employee being unreasonably constrained. Most also ended on a motion for a temporary restraining order.
I would encourage you as a lawyer to go after areas of the law that have more future than past. Think about going where there is little or no competition, as opposed to trying to become the ‘go to’ lawyer in general business litigation.
Read my post on Moneyball, where a senior lawyer told his team that they do things that other law firms do not. “We look for practice areas, industries, and niches for which there is no competition.”
Read business publications, read blogs covering innovation, and listen to today’s business leaders. They’ll leave clues as to an opening for you.
Maybe covenant not to compete law is not for you. That’s okay. There’s lot of other niches.
Is it a little scary going after a niche, as opposed to being a generalist. Perhaps.
But how many guys were crazy enough to blog about how lawyers ought to use blogs to build a reputation and grow their business? More than one lawyer asked me what I was going to write about next week. That was 10 years ago.