Are You an Outlaw? Meet Peter Johnson

Who has redefined what it means to think outside the law (aka OUTLAW) and is helping each of us in the process?

Meet Peter Johnson. Peter is the founder of Law Practice Consultants, LLC, a legal consulting firm in Boston, Massachusetts serving clients across the country. Peter evaluates and assists law firms and lawyers in business development, client retention and management related issues. He brings a valuable combination of skill and experience in law firm management, sales, marketing and counseling.

In addition to direct consulting with firms and lawyers, Peter and his colleagues perform client interviews to evaluate client satisfaction and assess the existing and future needs of clients. This information is then used to design and implement client-based strategic planning and business development coaching programs for partners and associates.

Over the last few years Peter has developed coaching and business development training programs for lawyers of all levels of experience in firms of all different sizes. He has coached over 700 attorneys on a one-on-one basis.

Peter is a widely published author and speaker. He has conducted seminars and panel discussions for the Legal Marketing Association, Association of Legal Administrators, and multiple bar associations.

Prior to establishing Law Practice Consultants, Peter practiced law for seventeen years, concentrating on business litigation at a mid-size Boston firm where he was managing partner. He received his BA from Bates College, Boston University, where he earned two graduate degrees in counseling, and Boston College Law School.

We asked Peter a few questions, and his answers can be found below. Enjoy getting to know this Outlaw!

Q: What got you into working in the legal industry?
A: My career path has taken a few unexpected turns. I started in sales, then went to business school, and followed up with graduate degrees in both counseling and law. I needed an outlet to use all of this experience and it seemed helping people use the legal system might be it. After law school I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that I was finally done with pressure of counseling and sales and marketing. Naturally, I gravitated toward business development and legal marketing and starting legal consulting in 2001.

Q: What is your idea of happiness?
A: “Toes in the water, ass in the sand.” (With thanks to the Zac Brown Band.) That follows playing 18 holes of golf and shooting (net) par.

Q: Who is your favorite author?
A: Ernest Hemingway. I admire his way of using just a minimum number of words to create a clear and precise picture while still infusing it with passion.

Q: If I won the lottery tomorrow I would…
A: Become the largest client for each of the law firms with whom I work.

Q: What is your favorite virtue?
A: Honest and integrity, which are two virtues that go hand-in-hand. My second favorite virtue is loyalty, which often results when you embrace the first.

Q: If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
A: John Marshall. He is the most unknown and underrated of the Founding Fathers. Yet, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he almost singlehandedly created and shaped the legal system that is still in place in this country today. Marshall took huge risks and fought tenaciously to make the Judiciary an equal partner with the Executive and Legislative branches. He wrote over 1,000 opinions and almost all of them were unanimous during a period when the Supreme Court was even more politically charged than it is today.