On June 4, 2018, Sajid Islam interviewed France Hoang and Tom Craig of Chisel.  

Chisel is a slang term for lawyers.  Accordingly, Chisel is a coworking space specifically for lawyers built within a law firm, FH+H.

Finding a Niche

France and Tom were partners together on the law firm, FH+H.  Fh+H is a very entrepreneurial law firm. Part of what differentiates FH+H from other firms is that the Lawyers are also entrepreneurial.  The firm itself is always looking for new entrepreneurial ventures and ways to do business.

When the firm moved to a new space they wanted to get a larger space than they needed so that they would have room to grow.  With the extra space, they were left with the question of how to monetize it which is when they thought of coworking. As a part of the firm’s space, France and Tom thought about catering to lawyers.  Lawyers have different needs than typical coworkers.  This is because they are subject to legal and ethical guidelines and have greater need for client confidentiality and handling of private documents.

Getting Started

France and Tom noticed that coworking spaces are becoming specialized.  To better understand how to create the most effective space, the two surveyed all the coworking spaces they could find that catered to lawyers across the US which only about five or six spaces.  They looked at their models then other models from other spaces in DC, a meca for coworking spaces. Although located near DC, Chisel provides lawyers from northern Virginia a better commute and more flexible work place to go to.

Luckily, France and Tom were planning the space at the same time they were planning the move and building out of the law firm.  As a result, everything was built from the ground up with coworking in mind.

Catering to Lawyers

The two had to think about how to use the extra space in their firm in a way that would not be disruptive to the other people already working there.  Unfortunately, Lawyers are slow to turn to coworking. This is because they need a certain amount of security and confidence that the people working around them have similar ethical obligations.  So, they had to think about what they could that cannot be found in another space.

What Chisel does is provide members with the knowledge that everyone who works there is a lawyer.  This gives a host of professional responsibility that makes lawyers more comfortable in the space. They also provided smaller services like: secure shredding in which documents were kept in a locked box and shredded by another provider, secure printing that did not allow a document to print until someone walks to the printer and types in their code, and conference spaces and private phone booths so that even if you are working at a shared desk you can have a private conversation.

Events and Networking

Chisel has multiple areas that can be used to host events.  This space uses events as venues to invite current and potential members to come and check out what they are doing.  The physical and logistical support Chisel provides is only part of the equation. Chisel also provides the opportunity to attend events, access the chisel network, and develop professional relationships.

The networking aspect of coworking has been essential to Chisel.  Everyone in the space knows that they are all lawyers.  Thus, they can talk to each other about what is going on in the industry.  Members are also able to cross-refer clients because of the diverse group of lawyers with expertise in different areas. However, Chisel is careful not to provide the kind of services that would result in lawyers of Chisel being affiliated with the law firm, FH+H, itself.  They make it very clear each lawyer is their own individual entity.

Future of Chisel

Chisel started as a way to monetize space that was not immediately needed.  This gave France and Tom flexibility.  They did not really need Chisel to bring in a lot of revenue to be financially worth the venture.  It was just monetizing excess space.

They do have the option to expand.  However, they want to nail down the model in their current location before they branch out.  Currently, they are experimenting with membership plans and features to see what best meets the needs of the community.

Watch the full interview below.