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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Beth Ewen
October 2004

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Out of the box

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Attorneys move in and out of large firms, trying to make it alone

Adam Soffer and Steve Charbonnet started their own law firm, Soffer Charbonnet Law Group in Edina, in January.

They wanted to be more accessible to their small-business clients than perhaps their downtown office-tower counterparts are, Soffer says. “I want them to come to my office and visit with me. I want that more than anything.”

They’re also trying to keep expenses down by investing in office technology, such as cell phones and document scanners, rather than support personnel. And they’re trying to take the uncertainty out of legal bills by forecasting the time projects will take, setting an hourly rate based on the work involved, and presenting clients with an estimate of the final bill. Soffer says business clients, especially, don’t mind paying for high-quality legal work but hate not knowing the tab.

Another attorney, Andy Hall, left Mackall Crounse & Moore in May, after his mentor moved to a new firm as well. He started K. Andrew Hall & Associates in Minneapolis.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Hall says. “Running a law firm is no different from any other business.”

All three men are examples of a recurring phenomenon, in which attorneys in large firms, perhaps itching to run things their own way, try life as solo practitioners.

The moves usually go along with the economy. Hall notes that giant firms in the Twin Cities have been shedding attorneys in the last couple of years, and that’s the “push” factor, along with the pressure to rack up billable hours. The “pull” factor is the desire for flexibility and independence.

Also, the glory days are gone at major law firms, says Todd Taylor, who left Larkin Hoffman and ran his own firm for about a year, before joining yet another firm earlier this year.

Taylor remembers the day at Larkin Hoffman, right after the turn of the century, when every starting associate’s salary went up $20,000.  That kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore, he says.

He decided to join a firm again, Leonard, O’Brien, Spencer, Gale & Sayre in Minneapolis, after finding he disliked the administrative side of ownership.  Plus there was cash flow: “A client misses a payment, and it’s, what bill don’t I pay this month,” Taylor says.

Andy Hall, K. Andrew Hall & Associates: 612.349.9860; kah@kah-law.com. Adam Soffer, Soffer Charbonnet Law Group: 952.942.1073; asoffer@sofferlaw.com; www.sofferlaw.com. Todd Taylor, Leonard O’Brien: 612.332.1030; ttaylor@losgs.com; www. losgs.com.