Page 26 - Minnesota Vol 8 No 3

Why Lawyers Make the Worst
Millionaires
BY CHRIS JARVIS, MBA, CFP
Why Does this Truth When research- ing my latest book,
“Six Secrets to Le- veraging Success — A Guide for Entrepreneurs, Family O ces, and eir Trusted Advisors,” it was no surprise that for the top 1 percent of earners in America, the number one indicator of success was education. Inside that segment, I looked at people who made it to the top 0.1% and earned a minimum of $800,000 a
year.
When you study those elite
earners, you o en nd that they had little or no formal education.
For the average American, there is no doubt that education is the number one indicator for success—up to a certain point. But once you get into that top one percent of the top one percent, on average those earners have much less education. Why is that?
I’ve been asking this question for the last three years. I’ve asked business owners, salespeople, - nancial advisors, doctors, and attorneys. No one had the right answer, until last month.
I was at the University of Rhode Island, lecturing to various classes in the College of Business Ad- ministration. “Why do the very top earners in this country have the least formal education?” I asked, expecting to hear the same answers.
One of the students raised their hand and stated matter-of-factly, “Because they have to.”
Bingo. Without formal educa- tion, how could you possibly bill hundreds of dollars per hour or land a job earning hundreds of thousands of dollars per year? You can’t.
e only way people without formal education can earn hun- dreds of thousands of dollars is by creating a business that will earn it for them.
Some of these people launch something so disruptive and
amazing that it generates mil- lions, or billions, of dollars.
Why Does this Truth Work Against You as a Lawyer?
You start out at $200 per hour and gradually raise your rates to $300, then $400, then $500 per hour. But, can you really bill cli- ents $3,000 per hour? Maybe once.
Your best path is to work really hard to build credibility and put in tons of hours. Stick with what got you this far.
You worked long nights and weekends in college to get good grades. You took the LSAT prep course so you could earn high scores and have a great GPA so you could get into a good law school.
Once at your desk, you be- came determined to be the hard- est worker in your new associate class so you could someday be a partner.
How do you get to be partner? ree guesses. You make partner by working really hard, putting in long hours, and billing, billing, billing.
You’ve been educated all right ... just in the wrong school. Sure, you’re billing triple your starting rate, but all you’ve learned how to do is work harder. Here’s a test: WhatHappensWhenYou’re FacedwithaCareerChallenge?
You go with what you’ve trained yourself to do: work harder and longer. It’s the natural, re exive response. It did get you this far, but now it’s limiting you— - nancially and creatively. It’s your Achilles heel.
Do the Math: You Have a Problem
e problem with billing for your time is very simple; you’re eventually going to run out of time. ere is no next level for those whose only strategy is “work harder.”
You may burn out or you may top out, but those are your two obvious outcomes.
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA· VOL. 8 NO. 3 26