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Friendly Lawyers Association | About
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History

The Friendly Lawyers Association developed as a happy accident, when one friend called three other friends and asked them to join her for happy hour to talk about the mechanics of running a law practice. It was 2007 and the legal industry was in a state of tremendous flux. Law graduates were not getting jobs, and attorneys with decades of experience were getting laid off. In between those categories were lawyers who were working but unhappy with their careers and desired more control over their professional direction. For the most part, lawyers were trained and experienced with remarkable focus on lawyering but there weren’t many resources available to learn how to run a law practice.

This foursome started meeting monthly to discuss all things related to law practice management and business development. Soon after, friends of the foursome asked if they could join in. Over the next 10 years of monthly meetings, the group list grew by word of mouth into 200+ lawyers who wanted to know when we would hold our meetings! These attorneys were based out of Chicago and nearby suburbs.

In 2017, an association was organized to lead the group through its next growth cycle. A small team of board members form an advisory council, which works with the CEO to discuss the future of the association and come up with ideas that support, teach, and help lawyers running micro law firms to thrive in running their practices.

Demographics

F/T Attorney Firm Size

  • Single Attorney

  • 2 to 5 Attorneys

  • 6 to 10 Attorneys

Years in Practice

  • Less than 5

  • 5 to 9

  • 10 to 14

  • 15 years or more

Geography

  • Chicago Office

  • Suburbar Office

*This is 2018 data

Administration Makeup

The Association is a registered non-profit with the state of Illinois and has applied for federal non-profit status. There is an advisory board of Friendly Directors who meet from time to time to discuss best practices and short-term goals. The association is led by its Founder and CEO, Dana Zivkovich, who gets help from an administrative assistant, and a crew of awesome volunteers.

Conference Planning Committee

A separate, dedicated team of volunteers spend countless hours meeting, designing, and organizing a full day conference for attendees to feel motivated and equipped to take on the challenges of running a micro law office. They are committed to putting together an inspiring event aimed at supporting small firm lawyers. They have fun doing it too!

The Chicago Friendly Lawyers Conference is an annual event held on the final
Friday in February. The planning committee has its first meeting in June each
year with a daytime retreat to brainstorm big ideas for the event. Subsequent
meetings are held monthly or more frequently as needed. If you are interested in
volunteering for the conference planning committee, please contact us.