You never know what life is going to give you. So just as I was in the beginning stages to opening my own solo practice, I was offered an associate attorney position with a law firm. I was excited and really starting to get into the details with my firm, but the position was to good to turn down. I'll be practicing mostly criminal and family law, but also have the chance to handle a few worker's compensation and civil litigation cases. My long term goal is still to open and run my own practice, but in the short term this is a position that will allow me to gain really good litigation experience and also start earning and saving more capital to later invest in my law firm.
So where does that leave my blog? It is a blog about specifically opening a law firm. I've been thinking and I'm going to still maintain a blog, but maybe shift its focus. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to focus on... maybe blog advice and ideas for attorneys with law firms based on what I see here in LA. I also thought about blogging legal tips and useful info I learn and come across working at the firm. The best thing may to let my blog organically grow and go into whatever direction it ends up going in. I'm going to post a new entry once a week. Hopefully I don't get to busy to stop.
Solo attorney one year out of law school last week and associate attorney at firm this week. Life is good. Thanks for all the views. I hope to still keep people interested in reading as I go into a new direction.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Choosing a Practice Area: Finding your Niche
Deciding on a practice area? It's harder than it sounds. I was tempted to go with a general practice and offer services for a variety of areas (family, probate, criminal, traffic). It seems like the fastest and easiest way to find and obtain clients. It's even more tempting to do this when you're fresh out of law school. Good idea? Wrong.
Every attorney I've talked to, every book I've read on the starting a law firm and pretty much every blog I've read on the topic all recommend practicing only one area of law and most importantly finding your niche. By niche, I mean what it is that your law firm is known for being good at? What do people associate your firm with? What pops in your mind when you think of your firm?
So for the past few months, I've been thinking and debating what I wanted my law firm to be known for and associated with. I considered probate law, divorces, general family law, criminal law, and even bankruptcy law. All of these areas were based on some experience I had in the past, but mostly on the idea that I could obtain the most clients in each of area. And then I started reading, researching and working on my website (which I'm still doing now) and ended up changing my practice area multiple times in the process. I was beginning to get frustrated. Why can't I find and stick with one area?
And then it finally clicked for me. See what's important to realize is that your firm should of course be based on prior experience and an area that would be profitable, but most importantly your area of law should be one that you ENJOY practicing. After working on my website, struggling and constantly changing my practice area, I realized that it would make everything easier to chose an area that I was interest me and I felt passionate about.
So that narrowed my options down significantly. For me it was easy choosing criminal law. I really enjoy criminal defense and the majority of my experience has been in criminal law (public defense). I then decided it was best to narrow my practice area down even further to specifically DUI cases. Don't get me wrong, I would love to take on felony drug, robbery, murder cases and more. But right is not the time for me to open a criminal law firm and take on those type of cases. It's important to be wise and humble enough to admit what you're ready for and what you're not ready for in your career.
With that said, I decided to make DUIs my practice area and niche because I feel comfortable and confident representing clients charged with DUIs. For me it is as simple as that. I have experience with criminal courts and know a few attorneys that I could talk to if I needed any guidance with a DUI case (having good mentors will be another post). I also see DUI representation as a legal service that will always be needed and is pretty much recession proof (yay!). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a correlation between increased DUI arrests during economic recessions. There were over 36,000 DUI arrests in Los Angeles County alone last year... 14,000 of them being in Los Angeles City! The clients are definitely out there for the taking.
Finding my niche took a few months, tons of research, and even more inner debating. I highly recommend attempting to write, blog, research and discuss whatever practice area you're considering for a few months before you make a final decision. You'll find that's much easier to immerse yourself in an area, which you'll eventually have to do in your firm, when you genuinely enjoy and find the area interesting.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Starting a Law Firm: Start Up Necessities Pt. 1
The are some must have items that any attorney needs to start their own law firm. Thankfully the list is short. Each attorney’s list will probably vary. For example, I didn’t include any practice software in my budget. For me it isn’t a must have, but something I can get later down the line. I really tried to limit the list to things you MUST have if you’re going to practice as a successful solo attorney. Here it goes:
1. Phone
This is pretty obvious. Without a phone you can’t communicate with clients and without clients you’re going to starve. I added a business line to my current cell phone plan. It’s around $20, but it gives me a line solely for work and allows me to take calls anywhere. Landlines are cool and fancy, but unless you have a secretary to answer and take your calls, it’s useless. It costs me around $120 month for my current plan and the business plan.
2. Computer
Computer prices vary. Personally I'm a Mac user. A standard 13 inch Macbook Pro starts at $1,199. When you add up all the software and accessories you're probably going to spend around $1,300 easily.
But...
If you have computer (even the old one you used in law school like mine) and it’s still functioning effectively, I say use it. You can save tons of money by using your old computer. I contemplated getting a brand new shiny Macbook for work, but decided against it which will save me $1,200. Later in the year when my cash flow increases, I will think about getting a new computer.
But...
If you have computer (even the old one you used in law school like mine) and it’s still functioning effectively, I say use it. You can save tons of money by using your old computer. I contemplated getting a brand new shiny Macbook for work, but decided against it which will save me $1,200. Later in the year when my cash flow increases, I will think about getting a new computer.
3. Scanner/Printer
Attorneys definitely need a scanner and printer or least easy access to both. The office space that I'm hoping to share with another attorney has both. I recommend getting both a scanner and printer. In my experience the combos don't work as well and tend to malfunction.
Scanner's come in different prices. If you can pay the extra money and get a really good scanner. But if not, get one that will last you until you purchase something fancy. If I had to purchase one, I'd opt for the Fujitsu ScanSnap 1300. It's somewhat pricey compared to others, but has great reviews. It is cheaper than it's fancy cousin the Fujitsu ScanSnap 1500.
Printers like scanner come in different prices and quality. If you're looking for a good and inexpensive printer I recommend the Espon Workforce 645. I've had one for about 6 months now and it's been great. It's easy to setup, never malfunctions and changing cartridges is easy. I use it to print all kinds of documents including tons of court forms so for $100 I think it's a good deal.
4. Office Space
Some attorneys see office space as a requirement while others believe home offices or virtual offices are fine when your beginning your practice. It really depends on whether you have reliable space to meet a client when necessary. If you have a friend who doesn’t mind loaning out his/her conference room whenever you need it, then take it. But if you don’t then the next question is how comfortable are you meeting a client in Starbucks or a public library. I personally see an office as a must have. It provides you with a guaranteed place to meet with clients and you get an office address to use.
I'm looking for shared office space with another attorney where I can pay reduced rent for a small office with another attorney. So far I've come across spaces around $200 to $300 a month which I think is reasonable. My goal is to stay under $300. I'll post an update once I find a space.
5. Fax
Some attorneys see office space as a requirement while others believe home offices or virtual offices are fine when your beginning your practice. It really depends on whether you have reliable space to meet a client when necessary. If you have a friend who doesn’t mind loaning out his/her conference room whenever you need it, then take it. But if you don’t then the next question is how comfortable are you meeting a client in Starbucks or a public library. I personally see an office as a must have. It provides you with a guaranteed place to meet with clients and you get an office address to use.
I'm looking for shared office space with another attorney where I can pay reduced rent for a small office with another attorney. So far I've come across spaces around $200 to $300 a month which I think is reasonable. My goal is to stay under $300. I'll post an update once I find a space.
5. Fax
Access to fax is pretty essential for an attorney. Some days you really will appreciate your client faxing that document instead of dropping it off. It saves everyone time. Luckily, my office space comes with a fax machine. If you don’t have access to a fax machine, I recommend getting an online fax account. From what I’ve seen, you can get an account for a year for around $25.
6. Office Supplies
Paper, pens, folders, highlighters, sticky notes. Whatever you need to work efficiently, buy it. Don’t be that attorney walking from person to person in the hallway courthouse asking for a pen. It’s embarrassing. Spend $20 a month and that should suffice.
7. Practice Materials
If you’re a newly licensed attorney like myself, I recommend buying one or two practice guides on whatever area of law you plan on practicing. Try to get a guide with sample motions, etc that way you have some guidance in drafting documents. I plan on buying California Drunk Driving by Paul Burglin, Barry Simons, and Ed Kuwat. It’s $130 on amazon.com which is pricy, but I think it’s well worth the cost. The guide is known as the DUI Bible in California and that’s all I needed to hear. Spend the extra money and a really comprehensive and helpful practice guide. I think it'll save you some trouble in the long run.
TOTAL
The total cost for my start up expenses plus what it would cost me to run my law firm for 3 months is $3,205. This total based on the products and numbers I used above and assuming the rent for my office space is $300 a month. I'm pretty content with spending $3,205 in initial costs knowing that it will also cover me for 3 months in expenses. I'm hoping 3 months is enough time to find clients and generate income. We shall see!
Coming Soon... Costs of other expenses to start a law firm (Part 2). For now these are the basics of what an attorney needs.
The total cost for my start up expenses plus what it would cost me to run my law firm for 3 months is $3,205. This total based on the products and numbers I used above and assuming the rent for my office space is $300 a month. I'm pretty content with spending $3,205 in initial costs knowing that it will also cover me for 3 months in expenses. I'm hoping 3 months is enough time to find clients and generate income. We shall see!
My Decision to Start a Law Firm
After much debate, I finally decided to open up my own law practice. I debated going solo for almost a year and then I decided what the heck, I’m going to start a law firm. This definitely wasn’t in my five year plan, however, right now I feel confident and brave enough to hang my own shingle and jump into the solo waters.
I’m starting this blog for the obvious reasons (traffic to my webpage, of course) and also because I think it will be helpful and pretty therapeutic to be able to rant, vent and share all the good things I learn during my solo journey. I’ve found quite a few solo blogs pretty helpful and my goal is to spread all the knowledge I come across.
I will be honest and admit I am scared and more than one disaster has gone through my head, but above all I am excited. I know from talking to other attorneys that starting a practice from the ground up is not an easy feat in the least. And I realize I’ll probably be working nonstop for the next five years. But none of that deters me. On top of working hard, I really believe it takes the right attitude and mindset to succeed as a solo attorney. My goal is always keep a positive outlook even when things don’t according to plan. When things go south and you can feel that feeling of fear creeping, work HARDER. Muscle and Hustle. That's what it will take plain and simple.
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