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Erica Roman

@the.roman.co

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I turned 32 this weekend. A year ago I had just quit my corporate job and was finalizing the details of my move to Spain. Today I’m living here, running my own business, and rebuilding my life all on my own terms. There is so much I’m still learning and figuring out, and so much more self exploration I’m doing. The past year has been full of the most incredible memories, and some days where I questioned every decision I made to get here. But the biggest realization? If I hadn’t bet on myself and taken calculated risks, I would have never had any of it. New country, new friends, new food, new memories, new clients, new skills. I think that’s what I’d tell my 31 year old self. You don’t have to arrive anywhere before you get to enjoy exactly where you are. The thing that carried me this year was structure. The routine and the boring repeated decisions kept me going on the days motivation was nowhere to be found. Being here started with seeds I planted three and a half years ago, when I decided to finally put myself first. To pour love and energy into the woman I dreamed of being, and to set myself up so discipline and consistency became second nature. On the days things fall off or don’t go as expected, I know exactly how to center myself again. I’m so grateful to love the work I’m doing, because it allows me to keep building here. Taking all my experience, building my own systems, and learning to problem solve left and right is exactly what I love bringing to boutique law firm owners. I have been inspired by strong and courageous women my entire life, and I want to help more of them live out their own dreams and touch the lives of so many other people. I wouldn’t be here without support, and all I want is to give that support right back. I want to be that support on the hard days, when it feels like everything is falling apart and too much to hold together alone. To everyone who has supported me along the way, thank you. This year was only possible because of you. Here’s to the next chapter of life. What’s something you’re building toward this year? #fractionalcoo #entrepreneurship #womeninbusiness by @the.roman.co
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6 days ago
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Everyone talks about hiring, but no one talks about what a boutique law firm owner should have in place when someone leaves. Their work doesn't leave with them. It lands on whoever is nearest, and most of the time that's you. Tasks get assumed, roles get blurry, and nobody is sure who answers to who. A client email sits because everyone thought someone else had it. A deadline gets missed because it lived in one person's head. Your team starts asking you everything, because they don't know where else to look. Here's what a clean handoff covers. ➡️ Hand off everything that person managed, by name. Open matters, upcoming deadlines, recurring tasks, and who now owns each one, even if it's split across several people. ➡️ Talk through expectations for every role going forward. What each person is responsible for now, what changed, and what stayed the same. Never assume anyone knows. ➡️ Make reporting clear. Who each person reports to, for what, and how often they check in. ➡️ Point people to where answers live first. SOPs, documented processes, video tutorials, and example cases, so they look there before asking. ➡️ Move access over. Logins, shared inboxes, and email forwarding, so nobody is blocked on day one. ➡️ Tell clients and outside contacts who their new point of contact is, before they have to ask. ➡️ Check back in a few weeks later to see what slipped and who is carrying too much. Here's what that gives back. ✅ Your team knows exactly what's theirs, so the questions stop landing on your desk. ✅ Clients never feel the gap, because they already know who to reach. ✅ The people picking up extra work have clear direction instead of guessing and burning out. ✅ You get your focus back for the cases that need you, instead of covering an empty seat. ✅ The next person who joins steps into a clear setup on day one. If your firm could use this kind of clarity, book a discovery call to see if or how I can help. Link in my bio. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #legaloperations #lawfirmowner #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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11 days ago
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If you're a boutique law firm owner trying to run your firm more efficiently, here's the part you're probably skipping. Across the businesses I've worked with, it's never been about owners not knowing what needs fixing. It's having the actual time. The ones who get stuck are the ones who know onboarding needs a real process instead of living in their head, but never find the time to build it. The ones who know they should be looking at their real numbers instead of setting compensation and budgets off a gut feeling, but the deep dive keeps getting pushed. Or the ones constantly pulled out of billable work to handle admin, so neither one gets their full attention. So many boutique law firm owners already know exactly where the gap is. What's missing is protected time to close it before the next urgent thing takes over. Here's how you close that gap: 1️⃣ Evaluate your top priority, the one gap actually costing you the most right now, not the longest item on the list. 2️⃣ Ask yourself honestly if you have two real hours a week to build it. If yes, protect that time the same way you'd protect a client deadline. 3️⃣ If the honest answer is no, delegate it. Outline what needs to happen, hand it to the person who owns it, and let it go. When that one gap closes, you finally have a finished product to better your firm. That's a case that gets your full attention instead of half of it, an evening that actually ends on time so you can eat dinner with the family, and a firm that runs the same way whether you're in the office or not. What's the one thing you'd actually tackle if this week handed you two free hours? #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #legaloperations #lawfirmowner #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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12 days ago
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This month I helped a client finalize three of their leave policies and it wasn't just one person's job. It took three distinct pieces working together, building it all from scratch. ➡️ The firm's own CPO wrote the actual policies. The people and culture side, what the firm wanted these benefits to actually say, how generous the accrual should be, what tone the language should take, what values the firm wanted reflected. ➡️ I reviewed every single one for compliance. Checking exact accrual rates against state and city requirements, minimum notice periods, whatever that specific jurisdiction actually mandates. ➡️ As soon as each one was approved, it went straight into how the firm actually runs. Set up inside the HR system so accrual tracks itself. Given to every employee to review and sign off on, so they actually acknowledge it, understand it, and know what to do. This isn't just about avoiding a legal problem down the road. Real leave policies, actually built to be used, are what create genuine work life balance instead of just talking about it. They're what makes a culture feel transparent and trustworthy, because people can see in writing exactly what they're entitled to instead of quietly wondering if asking for time off will be held against them. A policy that only exists as a document depends on someone remembering to apply it correctly every single time. A policy built into the actual systems runs the same way automatically, for every person, whether anyone's thinking about it that day or not. If this is something you need built out in your firm, comment "POLICY" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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23 days ago
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This is what working with me actually looks like, and why my clients say it's the relief they didn't know they needed. You went to law school to learn how to practice law. That never included how to actually run a law firm. When you build your own firm, you can't keep running every single part of the business, not if you actually want to scale, grow, become a better lawyer, be a more present family member, and finally be the CEO of your own firm instead of just its owner. This is what peace of mind actually looks like with a Fractional COO. ➡️ Defined SOPs and repeatable processes, so everyone on your team knows what to do at all times, and the same questions stop getting asked over and over. ➡️ Real financial oversight, on hiring decisions, where revenue can grow, where costs can come down. ➡️ Vendor and outside partner coordination, so you actually get the time back to focus on the law. ➡️ Onboarding and team structure that lets you build an amazing workplace culture, clear expectations, clear instructions, and momentum from day one. ➡️ A strategic thought partner you actually think through the tough decisions with, instead of carrying every one alone. And guess what you can finally get back in return? ✨ Sitting down for dinner and actually being there, no call to take, no chat notification pulling you back onto your laptop. ✨ Making a real decision about your firm's future with someone in your corner instead of guessing alone at midnight. ✨ Showing up to court, to your kid's game, to your own life, as the version of you who built this firm to give you freedom, not take it away. If you're ready for step into a new season, comment "CEO" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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24 days ago
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For a boutique law firm owner, getting consistently busy is real information. Most owners just push through it instead of using it. Here's what actually signals it's time to raise your rates. ➡️ You're consistently booked three to four weeks out or more, structurally at capacity every week, not just having an occasional busy stretch. ➡️ You're declining inquiries regularly because there's genuinely no time left to take them on. ➡️ When you track hours against revenue by case type, certain matters clearly take disproportionately longer relative to what they bring in, while others move efficiently because you've handled so many of them. That last one is the real signal. Your time on the work you've done a lot of is worth more than it used to be. Everything else is quietly costing you capacity you could be spending there instead. Raise your rates on the work you're now genuinely great at. Get more selective about taking on the rest. That's not turning away business, it's recognizing where your value actually is now. If you're seeing these signals in your own firm, comment "PRICING" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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25 days ago
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Hiring decisions for a boutique law firm owner can sometimes get made off “vibes”. What feels fair, what a friend's firm is paying, what sounds competitive, instead of what the firm's actual numbers can support. That's how firms end up either taking on debt to cover payroll or squeezing cash flow dangerously thin in the months right after a new hire starts. Here's what actually keeps that from happening. ➡️ Use the Rule of Thirds as a real benchmark. Roughly a third of collected revenue goes to compensation, a third to overhead, a third to profit. For solo and small firms specifically, revenue per attorney typically needs to run 2 to 3 times their salary to stay healthy. ➡️ Measure collected revenue, not billed hours. Realization and collection rates usually run under 90%, so a firm billing $400,000 might only be collecting $350,000, which changes what compensation is actually sustainable. ➡️ Calculate the full cost of the hire, not just the salary number. Benefits, payroll taxes, bar dues, CLE, all of it typically adds another 20 to 30% on top of base pay. Doing this changes what a hiring decision actually feels like. Instead of extending an offer and hoping revenue eventually catches up to justify it, you already know it's affordable before the offer goes out. Cash flow stays steady because payroll was never bigger than what the firm is actually collecting. And a slower month becomes something you can absorb, not something that turns into a real financial scramble. If your hiring decisions have been based more on feel than real numbers, comment "HIRE" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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Everyone talks about growing a boutique law firm. No one talks about what a small oversight in your systems can cost you. Firms end up paying real penalties and fees because something in a payroll system wasn't properly checked. That's more common than people realize. For law firms specifically, the IOLTA account raises the stakes even higher. The Bar is exceptionally cautious about it, and if you're ever audited, you want every single thing already accurate, not something you're scrambling to reconstruct after the fact. Here's what actually protects you. ➡️ Have someone who actually understands payroll and trust accounting review your payroll system regularly. ➡️ Compare the numbers in Clio and QuickBooks side by side, so every payment, deposit, and transfer matches exactly in both places. ➡️ Run billing and IOLTA transfers on the same day every week or every month. ➡️ Take a photo of every check the moment it comes in and upload it right away. Being this meticulous changes three real things. 1️⃣ Your books stay consistently reconciled. Nothing piles up into a mess someone has to untangle six months from now, guessing at what happened based on scattered records. 2️⃣ Your bookkeeper actually gets to do their job. Instead of spending time chasing down missing documentation or reconstructing what should have already been logged, they can focus on analyzing your numbers and flagging real issues early. That means their time goes toward real value for your firm, not cleanup, and any savings there can go right back into growing the business. 3️⃣ You're genuinely prepared if you're ever audited. Every transfer, every check, every reconciled entry is already documented, so there's nothing to scramble for and nothing that turns into a serious consequence you could have avoided entirely. If your systems haven't had a real review like this in a while, comment "SYSTEM" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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Everyone talks about staying compliant. No one talks about building leave policies that actually fit your boutique law firm's culture. Creating leave policies for a firm is a lot more important than people think. It sets the tone for the firm's culture. This month, I've been building out sick leave, maternity leave, and unlimited PTO with a client's CPO, and the goal was never just legal compliance. It was making sure the policy actually reflects how this specific firm wants to treat its people. Here's what that actually looked like. ➡️ Compliant with the specific state and city requirements. Exact accrual rates, minimum notice periods, whatever that jurisdiction actually requires, met in full. ➡️ Built directly into the HR system. Sick leave and vacation leave get set up for automatic tracking in a platform like ADP or Gusto, so accrual updates on its own instead of living on a spreadsheet someone has to remember to maintain. ➡️ Woven into onboarding. A new hire sees exactly what benefits they get from day one, right in the onboarding binder, so it's clear before they even start. Here's what that actually gives back. ✅ Someone walks in already knowing how things work for them, whether that's a new parent, someone managing an illness, or anyone with a life happening outside the office. ✅ It's one less thing sitting on their mind, because it's already built into the system instead of something they have to track or ask about on the side. ✅ The firm stays protected too, everything already meets what the state and city require, built in from the start instead of pieced together later. If your firm's policies feel more generic than built for your actual culture, comment "POLICY" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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I'm looking for 3 boutique law firm owners who want to increase revenue without burnout in the next 90 days. 🙌 Yes, this includes solo practitioners too. You must be someone who is: ✅ Growing, but feeling the growing pains ✅ Ready to actually delegate, not just say you will ✅ Serious about building real structure behind your firm If this is you, comment "READY" below and I'll reach out with some questions. 💜👇 #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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For a boutique law firm owner, the difference between SOPs that actually work and ones that just exist comes down to whether anyone's actually checked them against reality lately. A real audit means comparing every process against how the work is actually happening today, matching each document to reality instead of assuming it's still accurate. Last month, I reviewed 29 existing SOPs for a client, and had the paralegal record Loom videos of how each process actually runs today, and comparing that against what's written. ➡️ Some just needed matching to reality. ➡️ Some needed small updates. ➡️ A few needed a full overhaul. ➡️ And going through it surfaced entirely new SOPs that were never written at all. You genuinely don't realize how many tasks a team is doing until it's all documented. That's a lot for anyone to keep in their head, let alone someone new stepping into the role for the first time. 🎥 The Loom videos ended up being a goldmine for that. Being able to see and hear the explanation, not just read a static document, is what actually makes something easy to follow and understand. Staying on top of this matters for more than just onboarding too. It's what keeps a firm compliant and up to date, not running on processes that quietly went stale months ago. Here's the honest part. ⏳ This kind of audit takes real time. And when every hour is billable, it's one of the easiest things to keep pushing off, even though it's exactly the kind of work that protects everything else. If your SOPs haven't been audited against reality in a while, comment "AUDIT" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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Let's break down what gets a boutique law firm owner fluent in any new system fast. Part of this role means constantly stepping into systems I've never used before. A new HR system, a different banking platform, whatever tool a client's firm already runs on. Every firm operates differently, and there's rarely time to slowly learn each one. Here's how I get fluent fast, and how any firm owner can too. ➡️ Use the chat box built into almost every platform before doing anything else. It gets you an actual answer in minutes instead of an hour of guessing. ➡️ If that doesn't cut it, deep dive the help docs, or genuinely just YouTube it. Someone's usually already figured out the exact thing you're stuck on. ➡️ Then go beyond what you need in the moment. Click into settings you don't need yet. Explore and research what the system can actually do, not just what you're currently using it for. That last step is where the real value shows up. Most firms are only using a fraction of what the systems they already pay for can actually do, automations sitting unused, features nobody's ever explored, efficiencies hiding in plain sight. Getting genuinely curious about a new system isn't just about learning it fast. It's how a task that used to take 20 minutes turns into something that runs in two clicks. It's how you free up hours you didn't know were sitting right there, in tools you were already paying for the whole time. If you've been paying for a system without exploring what it can actually do, comment "EXPLORE" and I'll reach out to see if or how I can help. #fractionalcoo #boutiquelawfirm #lawfirmowner #legaloperations #lawfirmgrowth by @the.roman.co
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a month ago
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