We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Reatter Neal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Reatter, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?

I still consider myself in my early days of my legal career. I graduated and passed the bar in 2021 and opened up shop in 2022. Originally, I wanted to work under someone before opening up my own firm because I was honestly scared of being solo. Luckily for me, things just started falling into place so that I was able to open up my own firm and make a living. I joined the Legal Incubator and that helped me tremendously with making sure my business was legally set up and that helped provide me with business education like taxes, marketing, and other important components of running a law firm other than being a good lawyer.

My advice to young professionals who are considering starting their own firm is to network. Do not be afraid to put yourself out there because you never know who may be an asset later in your career.

Reatter, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a small town woman who went back home to practice law in Franklin County, NC. I was born and raised in Bunn, NC and never had plans of returning. Life happened (Covid-19) while I was finishing up law school so it just made sense to come home and save money. While at home, I recognized the desperate need of lawyers so I decided to try and make a difference. Specifically there were no lawyers around my age of 25 at the time. I mainly practice criminal law and a small portion of family law. The main thing I want all my clients (past/present/future) to know about my brand is that I am here to assist them in navigating the legal field and to make sure they are well informed about the consequences of their decisions. Also, I am there to zealously advocate on their behalf. Sometimes advocacy also includes the hard truth to my clients and I am not one to blow smoke. I am honest.
I am most proud of the work I have done with helping people get their drivers license reinstated. So many people in my district have suspended licenses because of an old ticket.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The fees are what they are. Do not fall for every sad story because we all have stories. I have heard some of my colleagues prices and I know people pay those fees. As a young lawyer, in the beginning people would try to haggle with me on my prices and I typically would give in. One day it just hit me why would am I lowering my fees when my work is quality like my counterparts? I would often get calls saying well this person quoted me this amount and that’s when I knew this person was not the client for me. I take into account my years of practicing and experience in the law but my fees are just that, my fees.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth has been the best source of new clients. It helps that I grew up in the community but I also get court appointed clients, Typically they tell a friend about me or end up hiring later because they liked the way I handled their case.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.reatterlaw.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reatterlaw?igsh=MTJ2aXZxa3RkNWt6MQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reatter-neal?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

Image Credits

Captured by Camm