Mary Quinn is a Tampa divorce attorney that has her own law firm called Quinn and Lynch, P.A. and has been around for over 20 years. She is a board-certified, family law attorney and was one of the founding members of her practice. Currently, her client work revolves around things like marriage-based litigation that include all of the following:
- Dissolution of marriage
- Mediations
- Asset distributions
- Alimony
Additionally, she has worked on countless cases involving premarital agreements, domestic violence, and even paternity actions. Thus, finding a more knowledgeable and well-versed Tampa divorce attorney may be impossible.
Ms. Quinn obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1991 from the University of South Florida. Her focus of study at that time was English. After that, she went to St. Thomas School of Law in Miami. This is where she graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 1996. Her academic achievements helped her reach an honors-level performance.
Although she specializes in helping clients surrounding Tampa area, she is certified to practice before the Supreme Court of Florida and even the Supreme Court of the United States. Moreover, she continues to be a fruitful member of the Florida and Hillsborough Associations of Women Lawyers. Those who had the pleasure of working with her describe her as a reliable counselor who is able to work on some of the most challenging cases by utilizing her expertise in the area of research. This is how she has been able to win a large number of cases from her portfolio.
How did you get started in this business? What inspired you to start this business?
After obtaining my law degree, I knew that I wanted to work in the field of family law. Doing so has been my dream ever since entering laws school at St. Thomas. So, once I had my Bar certification, I saw no reason to not go through with my long-lasting objective. Soon afterward, I formed a partnership and Quinn and Lynch, P.A. was born.
How do you make money?
We make money by working with clients who are in need of legal assistance during the family-based disputes. This is where we negotiate different compensation plans ranging from up-front hourly fees all the way to contingent earnings based on the outcome of some case. So, we either make money by charging clients for the work we perform for them before the case is resolved or by keeping a portion of their winnings if the verdict of the case if favorable.
How long did it take for you to become profitable?
Starting a law firm is quite expensive as one must cover a lot of fixed expenses. These include everything from the office expense that normally comes in form of a long-term lease to full-time employees’ salaries. Well, since a lot of such expenditures have to be paid out before people actually become our clients, we were not profitable for about a year in the beginning. After a while, however, we started getting inquiries from a lot of individuals who heard about us through the word-of-mouth referrals. Expectedly, our earnings increased and we started making a profit.
When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?
To be honest, not that I can recall. Although I knew that it would be difficult, I never doubted our firm or saw a reason to panic.
How did you get your first customer?
We did some paper advertisements in form of mailing campaigns as well as posts in the local newspapers. After some time, people eventually started calling us and a few clients even came by to see if we can work on their cases.
What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?
As I said, paper-based marketing was very successful for us in the past. Nowadays, however, we are slowly turning to high-profile campaigns that are based on social media platforms. In fact, we are slowly trying to completely switch to digital marketing as our primary means for acquiring customers. Doing so has proven to be much cheaper and more successful in terms of how many individuals we are able to turn into long-term clients.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
There have been a few cases where we had to weight our options between settling and going to court very carefully. In those situations, making the wrong call could be devastating for the client. For instance, if you go to court instead of settling, they might lose the case and be liable to pay. In the vice-versa scenario, however, you may settle for an amount that is only a fraction of what the court would have awarded to the client. So, choosing which route to go has been quite challenging for two or three cases we recently had.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
We all work as a team and trust each other to handle our portion of the job. I know that people who I rely on will always get their tasks completed long before the deadline. That type of trust is very hard to build and the fact that we have it is the reason why our firm operates so efficiently.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Frankly speaking, every time that we win a case for our client or reach a very favorable settlement is satisfying. Not just because it means that the client is going to be paid, but because it reinforces the fact that we knew how to handle the law the right way.
What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?
Right now, there are subtle talks of slow expansion. In fact, we have been planning to hire another attorney to our practice and see if we can eventually promote them to a partner. Doing so would make it easy to handle the workload that is getting quite difficult to manage with only two partners. Additionally, our expansion would mean another office or two around Florida where we would be able to serve individuals who may not be in a position to hire us due to our location in Tampa.
What business books have inspired you?
Well, I tend to enjoy reading books that are somehow connected to my field of expertise. John Grisham’s “A Time To Kill” remains my all-time favorite book ever written. Even with a few discrepancies between how the law was depicted in the book and film and how it is in real life, it is still an outstanding depiction of the U.S. justice system. Additionally, I really like “Licensed to Lie” by Sidney Powell and the “Anonymous Lawyer” by Jeremy Blachman.
What is a recent purchase you have made that’s helped with your business?
We recently bought some noise-canceling headphones that have been put around our office. This has been a really good purchase because it is helping all of us do our work much more efficiently without getting distracted. I will say, however, this was definitely one of those items that you do not realize you need until you obtain it.
Do you have any advice for aspiring attorneys?
Be ready to spend a few years working harder than you ever have. After that, know that you will face one of the three most challenging professional exams on the planet. Nevertheless, when you complete both of those requirements, you will enter an industry where people thrive and change lives. So, all of your hard work will be well worth it!