St. Louis Solo

Susan Cartier Liebel has an intersting post on whether law schools are adequately preparing their graduates to market themselves and develop their practice.

I have only been to one law school so my experience is somewhat limited. From that limited experience, however, I can state unequivocally that my law school made absolutely no attempt to offer classes aimed at marketing or practice development. I remember one seminar on starting one’s own practice, mentioned earlier. While the presenters were terrific at this seminar, given the format, the requisite depth needed to explore the large topic of marketing could not be developed.

So, not to complain too much, but I am six months from opening my own practice and am frantically trying to figure out how to hit the ground with both feet running. This includes reading marketing books, approaching other solos (both over the Internet and in real life), and contemplating the larger purchase of consulting services. I think this is disappointing considering that I spent three years and approximately $100,000.00 on an education that was woefully lacking in what I now consider to be fundamental aspects of the practice of the business of law.

I’m not bitter, though. Really.

Filed under: Marketing on November 13th, 2007 | 3 Comments »

Dreams of a Solo has another terrific post up this week asking readers when they decided they wanted to go solo.  I am looking forward to all the comments he will be receiving.  The thread has been kicked off my Carolyn Elefant, solo practitioner and blogger extraordinaire, who blogs regulary at My Shingle.

As for me, I have known that I wanted to go solo since second year in law school.  I can honestly say that when I went into law school, I had visions of big law dancing in my head.  Those dreams were quickly kicked to the curb for several reasons:  first, my GPA, while respectable, did not put me in the class of applicants the Silk Stocking Firms were intereted in, and second, I learned more about the concept of billable hours and other accoutrement of big law culture.  Also, the fact that everyone who was interviewing at those firms dressed like a mortician didn’t endear the lifestyle to me either.

So, second year I attended a seminar on starting one own’s law firm.  To my memory, there weren’t many people there but it was enough to plant the spark inside of me.  As the school year wore on, I looked up Foonberg’s book on opening one’s own firm and for the first time realized that opening my own firm, even upon passing the bar exam, was something achievable.

By the end of second year, I had taken a job as a clerk at an area firm for “experience.”  This job lasted through the summer and into my third year.  I had made my intentions of starting my own firm out of law school known to several partners at my workplace but despite this, I was offered a job as an associate attorney.  I took the job, stamping down my own entrepreneurial feelings for several reasons:  first, I really liked the place I was working and the people I was working with; second, the money was good; third, I gave in to my own self-doubt about the reality of opening a solo law practice upon passing the bar.  (If only I had access to some of the blogs that I regularly read now, then.)

Anyway, as time passed, I realized that I still really, really wanted to go out on my own.  As I said, I love the place I work and the people I work with, but this itch is NOT going away.  And that is where I stand now, approximately six months from opening day. 

Filed under: About Me, Questions on November 7th, 2007 | 1 Comment »

As I take the intial steps toward opening my own law practice, I am often dizzied by the huge array of marketing ideas, concepts and plans that everyone seems to be pushing.  Of particular interest to me is Ben Glass’ great legal marketing system.Jonathan Stein, over at The Practice, has a post telling of Glass’ newest plan to jumpstart practitioners as 2008 begins, titled, appropriately enough, Jumpstart 2008.

I would be very interested in hearing about any one’s experiences with Ben Glass and his programs.  From his website and the information I have read about him and his plans, he seems to be genuinely interested in helping, not only his clients and potential clients, but in helping the legal profession as a whole escape the stereotypes of “ambulance chasers.”  That is admirable.

If anyone has experience with these programs, please contact me through comments or email and let me know how and why they work for you.  Since I will intitially be starting out on a shoestring budget, I would also be very interested in knowing how the cost of the programs corresponds with the increase in business your firm experienced.

Filed under: Help for Solos, Marketing, Questions on November 5th, 2007 | No Comments »

Solo Dreamer over at The Dreams of a Solo has a terrific post on his path into the solo world.  Of particular interest to me is Dreamer’s musings about choosing the solo path and his reasons for doing so.

I think that sometimes we find ourselves on the path of least resistance because that is what we perceive ourselves as “supposed to be doing.”I am reminded of a commercial I saw recently featuring thousands of people all running toward, and jumping into, a giant whole in the ground.  Eventually, one of the runners decides that something is off and decides to turn around and go against the crowd.  I sometimes feel that the decision to take the solo path is like this.  Especially in law school, but even among your more traditionally employed colleagues and your friends and family, no one can understand why you would forgo the steady paycheck, prestige and “security” of a traditional law job.  It takes guts and maybe a little bit of craziness to stop in the middle of the herd, turn around, and begin walking the other way.  But, I think the vast majority of the time, it is only by turning the other way and risking it all that you will find what compliments you as a person and gives you the freedom and opportunity to do a job in a way that only you can.

Solo Dreamer took that chance and it is paying off in spades.  I hope to follow his example. 

Filed under: Inspiration on November 4th, 2007 | 1 Comment »

Susan Cartier Liebel is the author of this terrific blawg designed for “newly minted or well-seasoned” attorneys and “teaching you how to create and grow your legal practice.”  The blawg is a terrific resource and I can honestly state that I have spent hours and hours reading as much of it as possible and there is a LOT. Of particular note is the “Passed the Bar, Hung a Shingle“ category.  This category features those brave souls who started their own law firm within 18 months of passing the bar. Unfortunately, I will miss this classification by 6 months.

This is definitely a blawg worth checking out whether you are planning on starting your own law firm or not.  It is full of valuable information that can be used by any practicing attorney and law student.   

Filed under: Help for Solos, Inspiration on November 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »

Six months from today, I will be opening my own law office as a solo practitioner. Where am I at in the process?

What have I done? I have gathered as much information as I can from new solos and friends and colleagues who have made similar transitions. I have also read and reread some of the great solo blawgs out there. Check out my blawgroll for a few of these great minds’ sites. Practically, I am in the process of getting my websites up and running, including this blawg and I have registered all the domain names that I feel are necessary. Remember, you can never have just one!

What is left to do? So much! Also, I will soon be meeting with my accountant and reviewing the various options I have for organizing my new adventure. I have yet to decide on whether I will be operating on Macs or PCs. I now there are strenghts to both platforms but I have to admit that I am a Mac user at home. The lack of practice management software is a concern of mine, however. Also, I have not yet checked into prices of the various online research systems or even decided whether or not online research is absolutely necessary or whether I can limp by on using the free access at the local law library 25 minutes away or the books and practice guides at my alma mater.

Office space is another major concern although I am feeling increasingly confident in following my gut feeling of operating out of a home office. I have space to meet clients in my town and in a nearby major metropolitan area. My home office is cheap, tax deductible, and close.

Am I forgetting anything? Most definitely, but that is what is on my mind at the moment. Another update in two weeks!

Filed under: Opening Day on November 1st, 2007 | No Comments »

I am a fairly new attorney practicing in and around St. Louis, Missouri, the Gateway to the West. I am choosing to remain anonymous now, however. My identity will be revealed in good time!

I am practicing at a great firm with great attorneys, all of whom have been terrifically patient with my newbie questions and have also been great legal minds to learn from. I know, however, that I have to start my own firm. Since about the second year of law school, I have recongized that as my ultimate goal, however, for various reasons, I chose not to act on it. To be completely honest, I didn’t think I would be jumping into the solo world so quickly but as Morgan Freeman’s character put it in The Shawshank Redemption, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

As I told my wife, who has been wonderfully supportive, and who is slowly being driven insane by my incessant chatter about my new law firm: this might be the biggest mistake of my life, but it is a mistake that I absolutely have to make and, as my father likes to remind me, they can’t take away my birthday.

However, I know this is not a mistake. I am going to enter the solo world with my eyes wide open to the uncertainty and doubt that it contains, but also excited at the freedom and control that it will allow me. I know that I will succeed…

Filed under: About Me on November 1st, 2007 | No Comments »