Open the Doors Right: A Florida Pre-Launch Checklist
What you'll learn: the registrations, accounts, and decisions to finish before the first inquiry, in the order that keeps intake from tripping over them.
This is a checklist, not legal or tax advice. Requirements change and vary by county and city; confirm each item with the agency named, an accountant, and your own counsel.
Bug #10: The Name on the Form Is Wrong
"I'll sort out the paperwork once clients start calling."
The bug: the paperwork shows up in intake. The firm name on the website does not match the registered name. The first payment has no trust account to go to. The phone number on the Bar listing is a personal cell. Each one is small, and each one is harder to fix after the first client has seen it.
The fix: finish this list before the first form goes live. Most of it takes an afternoon.
Week 0: the business
| Done | Item | Where |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Choose the entity. Many solos form a professional association (P.A.) or a professional limited liability company (PLLC); some practice as a sole proprietor. Ask an accountant which fits your taxes. | Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) |
| ☐ | Register the firm name. If you practice under a name other than your entity's or your own, register it as a fictitious name. | Sunbiz |
| ☐ | Get an EIN, even as a solo, so your Social Security number stays off forms. | IRS |
| ☐ | Local business tax receipts from the county and, where it applies, the city where the office is. Miami-Dade and many cities each issue one. | County and city tax collector |
| ☐ | Professional liability insurance. Florida does not require it, but many clients, courts, and referral partners expect it. Get quotes before launch. | Insurance broker; Florida Bar member resources |
Week 0: the name
Rule 4-7.21 governs firm names. The intake points:
- The name must not mislead. A sole practitioner may not use "and Associates" or "Group" in a way that implies lawyers who are not there.
- Use one name everywhere: Sunbiz, the Bar listing, the website, the Google Business Profile, every intake template, and every invoice. The firm name in every message (Chapter "Know the Rules Before You Market") only helps if it is the same name.
Week 0: the money
- Operating account for firm income and expenses.
- Trust account opened before the first signing, with IOTA set up for nominal or short-term funds and no overdraft protection (Chapter "Money In at Intake").
- A payment method that can send advances to trust and earned fees to operating.
Week 0: the Bar
- Your Bar record shows the firm's name, address, phone, and email. Prospective clients look you up there, and the Bar sends notices there. Use the firm's number, not a personal cell.
- Basic Skills Course and your CLE cycle, if you are newly admitted (Chapter "Tools and Resources").
- The Ethics Hotline number saved in your phone.
Week 0: the intake basics
- A business phone number that is not your personal cell, so it can be shared with staff later and texted from intake.
- Two-factor sign-in on email, banking, and every system holding client information. Confidentiality (Rule 4-1.6) includes keeping accounts from being taken over.
- The engagement agreement for each practice area, in English and in Spanish, ready before the first consult.
Key takeaways
- Entity, name, EIN, and local business tax receipts before the first inquiry.
- One firm name everywhere, and never one that implies lawyers who are not there.
- Operating and trust accounts open before the first signing.
- A business number and two-factor sign-in from day one.
- Agreements written in both languages before the first consult.
Do it in LegalCRM: your firm name, business number, and address go in the account settings once and fill every template. The first reply names the firm the same way the Bar record does. Your 90-day plan starts on the next page.
Next: your first 90 days, week by week.