What type of infomation would i need to know in order to start a law practice?

Question

I recently passed the bar in two states and I am not finding a job easily so im considering starting my own firm. So what type of things would i need to know in order to start one?

Answer 1

It is a tough road, unfortunately, law school and the bar exam does not teach you about the practice of law. Also, as you are finding out the job market is ultra-competitive, even for low paying crap law jobs, just too many law schools and lawyers, unlike doctors, dentists and most of the health care sector where there is a shortage, good pay, and plentiful opportunities for professionals with those type of skills.
So basically you are green, because you have little or no practical experience, and you are an industry that is oversaturated. When you start your practice you will compete with experienced attorneys, make minimal or negative money after expenses, and you will be lucky if you don't commit malpractice. OK, having said all this I will give you some practical tips.
You probably are cash strapped after law school, so you will have to move in with your parents, unless you come from a wealthy family or you have a rich wife. You need to gain experience. You can always do legal aid for free helping poor people in such areas as landlord/tenant, family law, and bankruptcy. They usually set you up with a mentor, a seasoned attorney, and you can ask a lot of questions. Try to go to some continuing legal education courses, unlike law school these courses teach the actual how to of different areas of law and it gives you more mentor contacts from the lawyers giving the seminars. In my state they give a week long boot camp on like 12 different subjects a general practice lawyer might come across. It is good to have a broad exposure to the law, but I highly believe in specialization. Pick one or two areas of the law that you like, in the beginning you may not even know what to concentrate on just try to get as much experience as possible and do not worry about money. I actually had to spend money, on travel, cell phones, paper, faxes, etc. to gain experience. My first year revenue was like under 4K, but after expenses it was negative. Contact temp agencies, give them your resume, and see if they have any doc review jobs. It is not great legal experience but it is something to build your resume and you can make around $20-$30 looking through piles of docs looking for privledged docs. Canvass your neighbors and family for any lawyer contacts. Even if they are not hiring ask if you can meet them to talk about the practice of law, at the end of the meeting ask them if you could contact them if you had a question. You can also pick up overflow work from other lawyers, it could be in an area they do not practice or low pay grunt work, in my state you have to kick back a third of fees earned to the referring attorney, some states don't allow kick backs so be sure. A guy I know that started his practice would just go to law firms invited or not and ask to speak with attorneys and tell them he was looking for overflow work and would give them a third of anything referred. Once you do a certain area, like divorces, a few times then you will be on your way, but there is a steep learning curve in the beginning and a certain amount faking it until you make it in the practice of law. Good luck, you will need it.

Answer 2

If you start your own law practice, you must market yourself. You can be the smartest lawyer in the world, but if no one knows about you, you will not make money.

You should know that if someone dislikes you, and you have a solo practice, they can destroy your practice by starting a negative false rumor about you.

If you practice in a small community, for every client that you help, there will be the adversary that you "beat". This is a source of false rumors.

For every case in the courthouse, most litigants believe they will win (otherwise they would not prosecute or defend their positions). That means that approximately 50% of people who believe they have a winning position, will lose. That makes the losing party angry enought to circulate a false rumor about your abilities or practice.

If you do divorce cases, and you are successful, many losing parties are emotional and angry, and they will stop at nothing to get what they believe to be EVEN.

Just some thoughts based on my solo general practice experience.

Answer 3

The internet is an inherently decentralized medium so no attempt to centralize it will ever succeed. There will always be ways to evade the "censors." If these major sites do shut down, the free flow of information will still circulate itself to different locations. With that said (or typed), both sides of the issue are spinning out hyperbole (as evidenced by the above quote from Wikipedia). On the one hand, there should be restrictions imposed on websites that infringe on copyright laws because it isn't entirely fair to the content-owners and content-producers. On the other hand, the bill needs serious revision: since it will not only censor free-speech and convenient user-friendly-sites, but it will also abolish privacy rights. SOPA and PIPA, in truth, scares me a little bit.

Answer 4

you need experience before you start your own practice. work for the d.a.'s office, law clerk for the court, etc... if you started your own practice, where are you going to find clients...usually a new lawyer works for a established law firm, gain experience, and obtain loyal clients that will follow you to your own practice..... you also need how to manage office staff, and other needed things for your practice. while you are working for a firm, you will also meet many other lawyers, some tha you might bring to your practice.. you need at least 5 years learning how things are supposed to be....

Answer 5

Geez. didn't they ever talk about that in law school?

Many lawyers are in private practice.