For attorneys opening their own firm
You've never had to choose any of this. Now you do.
At a firm, someone else picked the billing system, the document tools, the security and the help desk. On your own, you pick all of it before your first matter.
Designed by Teila Garraway: paralegal, firm manager, software engineer.
What your old firm chose for you
Most attorneys leaving a firm have never selected a time-entry system, a trust account, a password policy or a phone line. Someone else did. You called the help desk and the bill went out. That is fine, and nothing is wrong with you. It means the decisions arrive all at once, in no order, from vendors who each want to be the first one you pick.
SourcePro Consultants helps attorneys opening their own firm choose and set up the systems a new firm needs: practice management and billing, document tools, security, domain and email, a business phone number, and training. Equipment, trust-account processors, research subscriptions and AI tools are researched and recommended, not sold. The path starts with a free 30-minute Legal Systems Health Check and a $597 Diagnostic credited toward implementation.
The ten decisions, in the order they bite
A lawyer starting a firm has ten setup decisions to make before the first client matter: entity and bank accounts, trust account, practice management and billing, document tools, security, domain and email, a business phone number, confidential AI, equipment, and training.
Entity, EIN and bank
ResearchForming the entity and filing for an EIN are the attorney's or their accountant's to do. SourcePro sends a checklist so nothing blocks the decisions that follow.
Trust account
ResearchWhether a practice needs one depends on the state. ABA Model Rule 1.15 requires client funds to be held apart from the lawyer's own, and states differ on the details. SourcePro summarizes the state's rules and compares processors. The attorney interprets the rules.
Practice management and billing
SPC buildsOne system, such as a Case Management System (CMS), usually holds the matters, the time entries and the invoices. SourcePro compares options by what a one-attorney firm actually pays, then connects the chosen one to accounting.
Document tools
ResearchKeep the ones you trust. Whether a vendor sells single licenses to a one-attorney firm differs by product, so SourcePro checks before you plan around it.
Security
SPC buildsMulti-factor sign-in, encryption, backups and a password manager. ABA Model Rule 1.6(c) requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to client information. Each item is priced separately so you can drop what you do not want.
Domain, email and a website
SPC buildsBranded email is the non-negotiable part. A one-page site that says who you are and how to book is often enough.
A business phone number
ResearchSo a personal cell is not on every engagement letter. SourcePro lays out the app-based and phone-system options and how each connects to the rest.
AI that keeps client data confidential
ResearchABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) addresses lawyers' duties when using generative AI. SourcePro compares tools by whether client documents stay out of training and out of public view.
Equipment
ResearchA business-grade laptop, and a scanner that is not the one built into the printer you never learned to use. SourcePro recommends and links. You buy.
Training
SPC buildsSetup is wasted if you cannot run it. That includes the Word features contract lawyers rely on, taught on your own documents, with screen-recorded walkthroughs to return to.
Items tagged Research are compared and linked in the Diagnostic. SourcePro does not sell or ship equipment or software, and does not buy anything on your behalf. Items tagged SPC builds are configured by SourcePro.
What SourcePro does not do
- It is not IT support. There is no help desk and no network management.
- It does not give legal advice on a state's trust-account rules. It summarizes them and you interpret them.
- It does not form the entity or file the EIN.
- It does not sell, ship or resell equipment, phone service or software.
The free Law Firm Startup Checklist
The business tasks you can start now, in the order they bite: entity, EIN, bank and trust accounts, insurance, licensing and ethics, taxes, and office. It works in any state, with blanks for your state’s rules, and it ends with the decisions only you can make.
An operations checklist, not legal advice. The systems work it leaves out is what a Diagnostic covers.
How it runs
It starts with a conversation, not a contract. Teila Garraway has been a paralegal, held every position in a law firm including managing one, and is now a software engineer, 15+ years in all. The same person who maps your decisions configures the systems, which is why they connect. More on how SourcePro works.
- 1Health CheckFree, 30 minutes
- 2Diagnostic$597, credited in full toward implementation if booked within 30 days
- 3ImplementationThe systems set up and you trained
- 4Optimization & OngoingMonthly, after launch, if wanted
Why starting from a blank slate is the easier case
It is cheaper to choose the stack once than to move it later. A new firm has no migration and no cleanup, so the decisions above get made in the right order the first time. The related work is covered on the Firm Operations Knowledge Hub and Optimization & Ongoing, and the rest is on the services overview.
Founder & Principal Consultant
15+ years of legal experience — Teila Garraway
I learned legal operations by auditing chaotic case management systems, interviewing frustrated paralegals, and tracking millions of dollars in stalled cases caused by poor workflow design.
Most law firms try to solve operational friction by purchasing new software. But technology cannot execute a process that hasn't been deliberately designed. I've engineered the internal architecture for dozens of firms, so their systems enforce accountability rather than obscure it.
My approach is systematic, direct, and heavily focused on process architecture. We build the engine before we turn the key.
Start with a conversation, not a contract
A free 30-minute Legal Systems Health Check. We talk through what you are opening, which of the ten decisions are already made, and what the Diagnostic would need to cover.