I'm a lawyer, and here are 7 ways attorneys think about money that everyone should emulate

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In our society, certain professions enjoy a general perception of affluence (if not the reality). After all, who hasn’t heard the well-meaning parent urging their child to “become a doctor or lawyer,” so they can live a rich life and enjoy success?

Why is it that lawyers are considered to be one of the wealthier professions? After all, most attorneys don’t make annual salaries in the mid-six figures like movies and television might have you believe.

In actuality, conservative estimates such as Payscale.com peg median attorney salaries in the range of $46,517 – $152,887. Yet, according to Dr. Thomas Stanley’s The Millionaire Next Door, over 8% of millionaire households are headed by a lawyer.

If lawyers aren’t all raking in the dough and relying on oversized salaries to pad their bank account, how is their profession so strongly synonymous with wealth? Perhaps it has more to do with the way they work and earn their money than the paycheck itself — which means that you and I can follow their lead.

Know the value of your time

Telephone call from client regarding issues arising from **insert legal issue** =  $50 (.2 hours @ $250/hr)

“$50 for a phone call? But I only talked to the guy for 12 minutes! What gives?”

Chances are, if you have ever had to hire an attorney (or know someone who has), the scenario above sounds pretty familiar.

The truth is, nobody likes paying their attorney bills, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from them.

Attorneys know what their time is worth and aren’t afraid to charge for it. When it comes down to it, everybody’s time has value. Most of us have to work for a living, and whenever we perform work for someone else, we are accepting a certain value for our time.

But what is your time worth? When we first start out in our careers, our time is generally valued less than someone with more experience or education. We usually begin our working lives by letting other people tell us what our time is worth, whether that’s $11 per hour, $50,000 per year, and so on. As time goes on, and as we develop our talents and skills, our time becomes more valuable.

Regardless of your job, there are ways of helping you get an idea of what your time is really worth. Websites such as Glassdoor or Salary.com can be useful tools to gauge what other people with similar jobs and skills are earning. Joining trade associations or industry social groups may give you an opportunity to form relationships with others in your field, allowing you the chance to get a feel for going pay rates in your industry.

For freelancers and entrepreneurs, another way to determine the value of your time is good old supply and demand. Say you are a freelance wedding photographer and you charge couples $300 for a 2-hour engagement photo session. If you have so many appointments that you are constantly rushing from session to session, it may be that you are charging too little.

Try raising your rate and gauging whether you book more or fewer appointments, so you can get an idea of how much people are willing to pay for your time. Then, you can adjust your rate up or down as warranted. Coincidentally, this is how many attorneys set their hourly rate.

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Attorneys keep track of their time. Many attorneys, myself included, work on the traditional hourly billing system. This means attorneys will usually bill their time in fractional-hour increments. For most, this means increments of one-tenth of an hour (hence the .2 hours example above).

Sixty minute hours, of course, means that .1hr is equal to six minutes. Yes, most attorneys will keep track of their workdays in six-minute increments.

While I don’t necessarily recommend that you keep such close tabs on time spent at work, I think everyone could benefit from some increased conscientiousness about how they spend their day. After all, most fiscally responsible people track their money in some form or fashion, whether by budgeting every dollar or just checking their bank statements for a few minutes every month. Why not do the same with your time?

Know when to delegate

Attorneys know which tasks to complete themselves, and which to delegate. In fact, there is a whole profession (paralegal) which is largely devoted to assisting attorneys with completing tasks, scheduling meetings, filing documents, and much more.

A lot of people, professionals and entrepreneurs in particular, tend to struggle with delegation. They might think, “I don’t need help” or “I can do that better or faster.” It can be hard to let go. But delegation is more about knowing how to make the best use of your time. It can free up your time to focus on more important tasks, or even just give you space to relax or get some distance and perspective.

Advocate and negotiate (for yourself)

Attorneys argue. Your attorney argues on your behalf, and has a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. If the ads on late night television and bus benches are any indication, some lawyers even go so far as to “fight for you.”

Most people tend to avoid conflict in most aspects of their lives. This is doubly true when it comes to money issues. Examples of this abound: employees afraid to ask for a well-deserved raise, spouses hesitant to address household budget issues, and would-be investors too timid to question an advisor’s fee structure.

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Learning to advocate on your own behalf can lead to a considerable increase in your financial well-being over the course of your lifetime. Failing to do so, likewise, can cost you.

Conflict can be intimidating. As with any skill, however, it gets easier with practice. There are a few basic starting points for effectively advocating for yourself:

• Know what you want
• Believe in yourself (speak with confidence)
• State the facts
• Be firm and persistent.

While preparing, it can sometimes be helpful to imagine that instead of advocating for yourself, you are doing it on behalf of a close friend or family member. Often times, people feel more comfortable standing up for others.