Editor's Note: Sometimes solo practice doesn't work out.
In this week's edition of Things I Wish I Knew, New York solo lawyer Joleena Louis gives her top tips to make sure your solo practice doesn't look incompetent.
Prior to retiring in 2014, Mr. Tatlock was in
solo practice doing business as Law Office of...
Not exact matches
But he's often operating alone and
practicing by himself, as he
did this week during Monday's
practice round, going
solo and watching one hole behind the madness of a Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, and Justin Thomas trio.
A lot of the later comments keep going on about a
solo birth, and to quote one «Some cultures
do practice birth alone and consider it to be a badge of courage, so to speak.
The difference however, is that this
practice works within an environment that offers peer regulation, which
solo homebirth practitioners often
do not.
Dr. Kass is a
solo practitioner and
does not share on - call services with other
practices.
It is usually performed to music and may be
practiced in a group setting led by an instructor (fitness professional), although it can be
done solo and without musical accompaniment.
Besides taking the brief tutorial and playing a few
practice modes, there really isn't anything to
do solo.
It's pretty safe but still
practice basic rules when traveling
solo: don't walk alone at night, meet and go out with fellow travelers, drink in moderation, say no and walk away if you need to, and if you need help walk up to the nearest woman.
Note that examples submitted to the Good Children: Open Call need only be representative of your work or
practice and if you are chosen for the
solo show don't necessarily have to be the pieces exhibited at Good Children.
Meanwhile, Franco certainly has a lot of learning to
do in terms of art's «best
practices» (yes, they
do exist): his 2011
solo show at Terence Koh's Asia Song Society Gallery closed after a few days because of issues regarding «unresolved licensing agreements» (according to the gallery) between Franco and artists whose work he «reinterpreted» in the show.
Hiro just opened a
solo show, Oh Yes We
Did, at The Gallery in Morris / Lakeside, Connecticut, and had a studio visit documentary filmed about his
practice.
«It's an absolutely insane way to work that most people wouldn't
do,» explains Sarah Cain of her painting
practice in the week leading up to her
solo exhibition, «The Imaginary Architecture of Love,» on view at the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh in North Carolina.
Lincoln had a
solo practice and he
did quite well for himself.
They were meant as quick, short, off - the - cuff advice for other listserve participants — and don't reflect the sophistication with which many
solo and small - firm lawyers market our
practices.
Here's how: Elefant eyeballs each bar's Web site so you don't have to, looking for and hot - linking specific research, law
practice management and ethics tools that can save
solos and small firms time and money.
Ann Israel, Elefant writes, «is biased against
solo practice, so predictably, she advised against the move — but I was surprised to find that I don't disagree with all of her advice.
If you run a small
practice, or are a
solo attorney, you know firsthand how hard it can be to stay focused and get work
done.
But when I'm
doing everything I can to keep my
solo practice afloat and stocked with clients, drafting documents solely for myself falls to the bottom of the list pretty quickly.
Nonetheless, if you stick with it you'll likely earn at least as much in
solo practice as you
did working for a firm.
If you
do not have access to an established mentor program, you can create your own «mentoring» opportunities by contacting old classmates, law school faculty and staff, or other peers in
solo practice.
Marketing is a vital part of operating a law firm or a successful
solo law
practice, but the way in which marketing is
done has changed.
Do you know someone that runs a
solo practice, or more than one?
I don't know any
solo attorneys who
practice that way.
If you want to spend 99 % of your time reading cases, arguing things, and
doing «law - talkin»» stuff, you should not start a
solo practice.
I've been operating a paperless office for nearly ten years, ever since I realized a couple of months into my
solo practice that I
did not want to fill my basement or garage with closed client files.
By that point I had considered becoming either... Working at big law or a medium - sized firm and I also had considered
doing a
solo practice.
But as a
solo practitioner
practicing mainly contract law, I was surprised by both the dollar amount and the fact that it regarded collaborative divorce, which is something I have never
done.
If you're a bootstrapping entrepreneurial lawyer like me who is thinking about starting a
solo practice, what to
do about your first office location is probably on your mind.
While Lorenzo enjoyed his colleagues and the work he was
doing, he knew that he wanted the freedom that comes with
solo practice, «I really like the flexibility to control my own schedule,» he says, «For example, if I want to take my kids to the zoo, I can just
do it.
As she explains, a
solo practice with a family law focus was right up her alley: «I got into family law because, although I enjoyed being a DA, I didn't think that the system was entirely fair.
Public interest work
does not include: • Government work (even if unpaid), which includes clerking for a judge, or working for a district attorney's office, a public defender's office, or an administrative agency; • Work for a law firm (even if it represents a non-profit organization); •
Solo practice (even if it encompasses non-profit work); • Pro bono work that is neither non-profit nor charitable in nature.
So no lawyer, whether they're a
solo practitioner in a family law
practice in a medium size or small city in the United States or somebody who
does the most sophisticated mergers and acquisitions around the globe, no lawyer should think that their
practices are unaffected by these large scale forces that are reshaping the entire economy and they ought to be looking for ways that they can use these forces or participate in these broader trends to make their
practices more effective, to make the service they provide their clients better, and to make their own lives better.
What
do you
do as a small
solo who has a kind of cool niche
practice, but can kind of step outside of it for business development and what have you learned in
doing that?
And, this week I'd like to showcase how a few other lawyers have used social media effectively, including: 1) how a law student created a name for himself online and continues to
do so as he builds a
solo practice from the ground up, 2) how one personal injury attorney successfully created a blog that stands out from the crowd, and 3) how a BigLaw attorney has created a very successful niche using social media.
Before we get started, I
do want to say a thank you to our sponsors Answer and
Solo Practice University.
I will gladly suffer the slings and arrows of
solo practice over zillions of hours so someone else can earn 20 times as much as I
do.
Now that I've entered
solo practice I can't help but wonder if I could have
done it after all.
Of Washington's three law schools, SU produces not only the largest number of new lawyers who go directly into a
solo practice, but has
done so historically, with a high of 21
solos from the 2010 graduating class.
Sam Glover: I didn't stop to ask you, but you went
solo after
practicing for awhile at another firm, right?
In a world plagued by access to justice issues, these regulations add to the cost of operating a virtual law
practice and can make it economically unfeasible to
do so, particularly for
solos.
Solo practitioners, did you enter solo practice directly after passing the
Solo practitioners,
did you enter
solo practice directly after passing the
solo practice directly after passing the bar?
Anyone who's been particularly completely
solo, no staff support, anything, knows how much of a grind that is and it can be really really lonely in the legal business and then family law in particular, which is what I
practice, so custody and divorce, it's dealing with peoples emotions all day long and their crappy situations all day long and
doing that as a
solo wasn't very fulfilling.
First, for newbie lawyers (under 5 years out of school) who don't have the $ 160k large firm option,
solo practice either matches or exceeds the salaries that these lawyers would earn at a small firm or working for a prosecutor or public defender.
He was recognized as being a thought leader or whatever and he was up at the
solo small convention in Minnesota and I went up to him afterwards and just felt like I finally met a kindred spirit who really had some neat, cool ideas about law
practice but really useful, effective ones for
doing it differently and he was reassuring me that I'm not crazy for wanting to
do things differently and that it could work.
And these
solos must embrace the DIY ethic, as they must
do everything required to
practice law, and they must
do it alone.
If each
solo attorney is going to wholly own her own
practice, then it requires a lot of thought around what resources to share and which ones to keep separate... Sharing resources isn't easy, but if the lawyers approach it with a belief that more can be
done together than apart, that there is an abundance of resources and clients, and have a clear conflict resolution mechanism — then the effort is well worth it.»
In what areas
do most
solo and small firm lawyers
practice?
Elefant writes: «The bars» law
practice management offices are one of the best developments that I've seen to assist
solo and small - firm lawyers; those offices either didn't exist or were not as robust back in 1993 when I went
solo.»