'Smartphone lawyering' is the key to success

Elise Buie runs a 40-person firm from her phone and explains how you can too.

Attorney Elise Buie runs a 40-person law firm from her smartphone.

Whether she’s at home in Seattle or traveling the world, she manages her entire operation from a pocket-sized device.

That’s not luck. That’s proper delegation.

The bottleneck problem

Most solo lawyers are trapped by one belief: “Nobody can do it as good as me.”

Law school trained you for perfectionism. But perfectionism limits your growth.

Every email, task, and decision flows through you. You’re not running a business—you’re owning an expensive job.

The mindset shift

Stop asking “How can I get this done?”

Start asking “Who can do this for me?”

Elise didn’t start by delegating complex legal work. She started with cupcakes.

She had someone else handle school emails and deliver treats to her kid’s class party. Why? Because delegation is a muscle. Build confidence on small, low-stakes tasks first.

The four paths to help

When you’re ready to hire virtual help, you have four options:

1. Recruiters - Low effort, high cost. They find candidates for you.

2. Talent marketplaces - High effort, low cost. Think ​OnlineJobs.ph​.

3. Gig platforms - Ideal for one-off projects. Fiverr, Upwork.

4. Agencies - Enterprise-level. Only for massive hiring.

Most lawyers use option 2: direct hiring from talent marketplaces.

The security question

“What about confidentiality?”

Elise sums it up: “I don’t care if you’re in the Philippines or Seattle. I got the same security issues, no matter what.”

The risk isn’t about location—it’s about process.

A local employee can be a massive security threat if you have bad systems. The goal is to build secure systems that protect your firm regardless of where team members work.

The systems solution

“I don’t have time to create processes—that’s why I need help!”

Here’s the secret: You don’t create the processes. The VAs do.

Hire someone smart. Their first job is documenting everything you show them to build the instruction manual while learning.

This ensures they understand the work and creates a valuable training asset for your firm.

The freedom goal

Elise went from bottleneck to visionary.

Forty employees. One smartphone. Complete freedom.

That’s not just delegation—that’s transformation.

Start small

Don’t plan to hire a whole team.

Pick one small task to get off your plate today.

Build that delegation muscle.

Want to learn how other lawyers are doing this? In my ​Inner Circle​, we’ve had five detailed sessions on outsourcing—sharing real experiences from lawyers who’ve cracked the code.

;-)

Ernie

P.S. Elise’s story isn’t unique anymore. More ​Inner Circle​ lawyers are building “smartphone practices.” Want to see how? ​Click here​ to join the conversation.

And if you want to see a good summary of five sessions we’ve done on outsourcing (including Elise Buie’s presentation) watch this 6-minute video (created by Google’s NotebookLM).