Reddit reviews How to Start & Build a Law Practice (Career Series / American Bar Association)

Congratulations on striking out on your own!

Pick up a copy of Jay Foonberg's How to Start and Build a Law Practice. Foonberg's old and some of the information is outdated, but it's a pretty big book with a wealth of info for new solos. There's also Carolyn Elefant's Solo by Choice, and blogs such as Elefant's My Shingle, Lawyerist, and /u/KeithRLee's Associate's Mind.

I think standard advice for new solos is that networking is king. Your best business as a new solo comes from referrals from other attorneys. Build relationships early. Also, make connections with strong mentors in every area you practice in, especially if you have limited experience in that practice area.

If you haven't made an office-space decision yet, read up on the benefits/downsides of virtual offices (i.e. working out of home and meeting clients in Starbucks) or of office sharing (you don't have to partner up with another lawyer; just rent an underused corner of a larger office to save on rent).

Also, join/post on /r/lawyers. It gets more traffic than /r/lawfirm.

(NOTE: I'm a Law Student, not an attorney.... so of course that means I know everything)

A filler course I had to take this last semester was on opening your own practice. The main assignment was to write up a business plan hitting the main points with a 1 year and 5 year budget (the budget being the really important part).

We used this text, which the professor liked but I found to be a tad out of date. Still, it hits the high notes and what you should at least be considering. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590312473


Insurance is cheap. I was quoted a rough number of $800 for the first year and about a 20% increase for the next few years capping at around $2500 by the fifth or six year. This was a generic practice and different disciplines might vary a bit. Also consider insurance for your office (as in, clients might slip and fall on ice or the rug). And don't forget about health insurance for yourself. Working for yourself means no sick days, so access to a good doctor will be useful.


Check for local bars in addition to the state bar. The local bar in my area is only another $150/year and has enough free CLE's to cover the bulk of what my state requires every year, if not all. Your state may be similar.

For my class, I argued that using public law libraries and fastcase (Free subscription with bar membership in my state) was enough to start until I figure out if I need Westlaw or Lexis Nexis. But that's another cost to remember.


Filing cabinet's, office equipment, and storage concerns should be considered as you'll have paperwork that you need to hold onto long term until you shred everything.


Consider separate banks for your business, iolta, and personal accounts for safety reasons.


Postage will be a bitch. Be sure to budget for stamps and envelopes (consider a postage meter). Don't forget that you may need access to a fax machine. Also, you may need a beast of a printer and lots of toner.


Virtual Receptionists (eg: Ruby Receptionists) are actually pretty reasonably priced and can add a decent professional polish.


Get some templates for intake forms, retainer forms, and related. Lawyer Mutual has some templates online you can work from.


Skimming over what I submitted, those were the main points the professor was hammering. You'll be a Sole Proprietorship at first, but S Corp might be reasonable after a few years.

It really is all about Foonberg.

I really like this one. There may be a newer edition. Plus, it's fun to say Foonberg

https://www.amazon.com/Start-Practice-Career-American-Association/dp/1590312473/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WP4PV3DP7NLO&keywords=start+law+firm&qid=1565391183&s=books&sprefix=start+law+%2Cstripbooks%2C162&sr=1-1

Haven't yet seen anyone recommend this book. For many this is an indispensable resource for someone starting a solo practice.

FWIW, the author of this book says the best time to go solo is directly out of law school.

Couple things then. First of all, the market is absolute garbage. That will affect you both as a solo practitioner and as an attorney. Secondly, you will not be able to practice until the bar results come back in October.

In the interim, buy this book first and consider other similar books after that. That book is simply the bible to running your own solo practice. You can find it on half.com and sometimes eBay for cheaper so look around. I think I paid $25.00 for my copy and it was worth triple that in returns on investment.

Keep applying for jobs. I cannot emphasize this enough. The best thing you can do is spend a week thinking of exactly the area(s) of law that interest you the most, tailor a resume to each of those areas and then write a cover letter for each of those areas. Make 2-3 short paragraphs about why you love that area and what experience(s) you have in that area of law. The topmost paragraph will be directed specifically to the firm/company you send it to.

If you did not go to a tier one law school or clerk for a federal judge avoid BCG Attorney Search, LawCrossing, GCC consulting, or basically any other consulting company who posts a job. They cannot help you and operate as a resume farm. You are far better off, sending cold resumes to law firms. Check, double check and triple check your spelling, sentence structure and length of both your resume and your cover letter. The resume you send will be bounced immediately by HR or the partner if you do not.

I found much more success with sending cold resumes than email. Emails get deleted, snail mail gets put in a pile or at least looked at. If you know the practice area you want to be in and there is a partner who runs that division, even at a small firm, if you address it to his/her attention it will be read. I cannot say that it will get you an interview or even a call but half the time you will at least get a letter back. Those rejection letters feel much better than wondering why you aren't hearing anything from anyone.

Now then, back to solo practice. It sucks. I mean it is really difficult both on your pocketbook, your ego and your pride. I am not sure where you are living but you want to go outside of the major cities if you want to start your practice imho. The reason for this is that the bar size shrinks considerably and the competition isn't quite so vicious. Depending on what areas you want to focus on, you can often find a few older attorneys willing to help you out and kick you a few cases if you are willing to give them back a referral fee (check your state rules) and do some cases they don't like/don't have time for. You will only succeed if you work your ass off and have a good reputation as an attorney. You MUST be a decent businessman to be a successful solo attorney. You can be a superstar in the courtroom, a legend of transactional work and still close up shop in under a year if you fail to bill clients, for the right amount, at the right times and continue to generate new business. This is the tightrope walk of the first few years and this will make or break you as an attorney.

This is not to say that you will not have time for a social life, but imagine if first year grades were the difference between eating and not eating and you can see why the solo practitioner is under more pressure than his big law friends. No one will be telling you what to do, when to do it, how to do it right. You will screw up a few (hopefully minor) things but the best advice I can give you is these few tips:

• You will not become rich as a solo practitioner. If done correctly, you will be paying your bills the first few years and get a little extra to invest internally on the side. Marketing will eat 25% of your operating budget and will be the hardest part because ROI (return on investment) is so hard to track until you really get a few years in.
  
• Do not hire anyone until you absolutely have needed to do so for a few years. This will bankrupt you when it gets slow. You will know when the time is right.
  
• Never, ever, ever, start a practice as two young attorneys and think that you are "Partners". It simply is the legal equivalent of giving yourself a handicap. There probably are not enough cases for both of you to be doing and it will result in fights and other problems. Keep this in mind because those special titles you give yourself are hollow. You are just two young attorneys who share office space. Keep it that way and de-link your names. Check your local rules on advertising.
  
• Buy things before you need them and probably in bulk (Costco, Sams Club) whenever possible. This is your normal office supplies, think toner, ink, paper, folders, etc. Those are things you will always use but do not go too crazy. As for office furniture, go on Craigslist or get some scratch and dent at the office surplus places around you. NEVER pay for the furniture at full price, unless you are already loaded but even then a fool and his money...
  
• Look for an office space with other solo practioners. Ask around and someone will know someone with an empty office in their building. These are usually around the courthouse in more rural areas but can be anywhere if you are in the city. You will be grateful for the advice you can get and if they have overflow or cases they don't do you can pick a few up with a modest referral fee (again check NY rules).
  
• Join your local bar association, get involved in the committee you practice in and attend any social events. This is where you make connections and get help the fastest. Attorneys in smaller areas want to talk about themselves and help you out in the process. Take advantage of the Lawyer Referral Service. Do be careful/wary of any advice given to you though and talk with other attorneys about the reputation the person giving you the advice has. Sometimes really friendly attorneys are bad attorneys and you don't want to misfile something because of bad advice.
  
• Lastly, never take any work for which you are not getting paid unless it is pro bono and you have the time/money to cover it. This also goes for getting underpaid. You can starve because you spend all day giving free advice to people who call you. No money, no call back. Make sure you understand this above all else. Also make sure you send non-representation letters, etc. according to the rules.
  
  Hope this helps and GO STUDY FOR THE BAR There will be plenty of time after the bar to worry about what you are going to do with that newly minted license but you first need to take the test. Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.
  
  Just to cover the bases, you should already know that this is not legal advice and do not follow it as such. As a JD I am pretty sure you already know this but since this is a reply I didn't want anyone to think that this was intended as such.

I would also read this timeless classic on the subject (you can get it used) - how to start and grow a law firm.
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Practice-Career-American-Association/dp/1590312473/ref=asc_df_1590312473/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312186864233&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12525881901966854658&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007489&hvtargid=pla-680690022672&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=62860525100&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312186864233&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12525881901966854658&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007489&hvtargid=pla-680690022672

I did this. Of the things you listed, West/Lexis subscriptions are not necessary at the beginning, and they're actually pretty expensive. Your local Bar association probably has a free legal database that you can access for free as a member of the Bar. They are not quite as comprehensive as West or Lexis, but they definitely get the job done. I think the most common one is called Casemaker. You can also use Google Scholar, too. Obviously Google Scholar can't Shepardize a case for you or anything like that, but in the actual practice of law you aren't going to be researching the hell out of every little point of law like you did in Legal Research and Writing, unless you're doing appellate work.

Biggest piece of advice I can give you at the beginning is to keep your overhead as low as possible. Many cities have "executive suite" type setups for rent. Essentially, you're renting a personal office and your rent is pooled with other attorneys to pay for common amenities like conference rooms, a main receptionist who routes all the phone calls, access to copy/fax machines, Internet service, telephone service, etc.

Other than that, obviously you need clients. Where will you get them? Start networking (I hate that term) with other established attorneys who probably have overflow work they can refer to you, or refer you clients who can't afford their rates, but can afford yours. Draft a retainer agreement to use. Know your jurisdiction's Rules of Professional Conduct on trust accounts, representation agreements, etc. Get an established attorney to be a mentor to you... no matter if you got an A in Property or Family Law or whatever else, once you get your first case, you will probably immediately say, "Oh shit, what the fuck do I do?!" You need someone who can show you the ropes of actually practicing law, which is nothing like reading 100 pages in your Con Law book and then answering theoretical questions on the Commerce Clause for an hour.

There are all kinds of other considerations, but you should buy this book, or check it out at a library: How to Start and Build a Law Practice, 5th ed. by Jay Foonberg. It's a classic, and it covers everything. Some of the information in it is a little outdated, but the overarching concepts are sound and it is packed full of great advice.