Intent to Solo Practice Forum

[itascot1992]

Has anyone went to law school intending to practice solo?
Or went to law school, went solo, and what was the outcome?

[Strangely Appealing]

The only people willing to hire an attorney with zero experience are people who have zero money to pay an attorney. Best outcome: Getting job inflating plastic packing inserts before boxes are sealed by more senior members of the staff at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Lebanon, Tennessee.

[itascot1992]

The only people willing to hire an attorney with zero experience are people who have zero money to pay an attorney. Best outcome: Getting job inflating plastic packing inserts before boxes are sealed by more senior members of the staff at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Lebanon, Tennessee.

I don't mean go solo right out of law school

[2014]

A lot of people do I'm sure, this site is just skewed heavily toward top schools and basically no one there does.

[Johann]

Yeah this site is pretty risk averse so no one goes solo. Depending on your business acumen and sociability and ability to sell yourself, going solo is very viable.

[Ron Don Volante]

Bro, the answer is to retake. We are not lying to you.

[Johann]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

[Ron Don Volante]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

OP had a choosing thread the other day. I've been PMing with him. He's trying to find ways to justify not retaking with his 3.9x.

[itascot1992]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

OP had a choosing thread the other day. I've been PMing with him. He's trying to find ways to justify not retaking with his 3.9x.

Yeah seeking general information. Not everyone sees working crazy hours at biglaw as their goal tho

[Johann]

why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9? are you still in undergrad?

[Ron Don Volante]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

OP had a choosing thread the other day. I've been PMing with him. He's trying to find ways to justify not retaking with his 3.9x.

Yeah seeking general information. Not everyone sees working crazy hours at biglaw as their goal tho

Sure, but you understand that opening a solo practice is going to require putting in more hours than biglaw for small fractions of the pay, right?

[Anonymous User]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

OP had a choosing thread the other day. I've been PMing with him. He's trying to find ways to justify not retaking with his 3.9x.

Just let him do it. Some people just want to make bad life choices, knowing full well that they are bad.

[Johann]

literally nothing takes more hours than biglaw. shut thefuck up you havent worked in either.

[itascot1992]

why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9? are you still in undergrad?

Yes senior undergrad and what do you mean by "why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9"

[ruski]

how can you know the answer without knowing any facts other than if its possible to go solo?

OP had a choosing thread the other day. I've been PMing with him. He's trying to find ways to justify not retaking with his 3.9x.

Yeah seeking general information. Not everyone sees working crazy hours at biglaw as their goal tho

Sure, but you understand that opening a solo practice is going to require putting in more hours than biglaw for small fractions of the pay, right?

don't you get it, its not about hours son, its about having control.

I've seen this done pretty successfully especially in immigrant communities or other niche markets where the lawyer has local ties of some sort

[Ron Don Volante]

literally nothing takes more hours than biglaw. shut thefuck up you havent worked in either.

Right, getting a small business off the ground and doing all of your own administrative work on top of your billing hours, without any capital, praying to collect enough to cover your living expenses and service > 100K of student loans is both an acceptable situation for a 0L to plan for and a commitment that requires less than 60 or 70 hours per week.

[Ron Don Volante]

don't you get it, its not about hours son, its about having control.

I've seen this done pretty successfully especially in immigrant communities or other niche markets where the lawyer has local ties of some sort

I do get it. Eventually going solo is pretty appealing to me, actually. OP said it was about hours, though.

[Johann]

why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9? are you still in undergrad?

Yes senior undergrad and what do you mean by "why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9"

I mean law sucks and you can prolly get a better job with a good gpa like that

[itascot1992]

why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9? are you still in undergrad?

Yes senior undergrad and what do you mean by "why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9"

I mean law sucks and you can prolly get a better job with a good gpa like that

ehhhh psychology and criminal justice majors tho

[itascot1992]

why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9? are you still in undergrad?

Yes senior undergrad and what do you mean by "why do you want to go to law school with a 3.9"

I mean law sucks and you can prolly get a better job with a good gpa like that

ehhhh psychology and criminal justice majors tho

And no, my interest is not derived from a "i don't have any other good options" theory

[LeDique]

i really don't think going solo after a few years of practice means more hours than big law. i'm going to tell you it depends on your area, your experience, your ability to hire support staff, etc. i'm afraid to give you any more since everything i know is based off a few people (and working for them), in my practice area, in my city, and i don't think that translates that well.

i also really don't know what you want to know either. obviously becoming a solo is a viable career route. contrary to tls, a very large percentage of people end up there, especially later in their career. do you want to know what you're going to make as a solo? lol, who knows. do you want to know what hours you're going to work? lol, who knows.

eta im also hesitant to say more because this thread seems geared at justifying a bad decision.

[Johann]

literally nothing takes more hours than biglaw. shut thefuck up you havent worked in either.

Right, getting a small business off the ground and doing all of your own administrative work on top of your billing hours, without any capital, praying to collect enough to cover your living expenses and service > 100K of student loans is both an acceptable situation for a 0L to plan for and a commitment that requires less than 60 or 70 hours per week.

this is still flame as fuck. ive seen multiple solos get up and running. they dont work hours more than people in biglaw. its not even close. the internet does a lot of your work for you - start a website with a phone number on it - boom advertising and clients. the firms that fail dont have the work to lead to more than 40 hour weeks. admin work is flame. there is no admin work. you answer your cell phone and talk to the client and get them a bill. you pay your office rent on auto check. with tech the way it is today youd be hardpressed to find shit to do after a 40 hour week in solo. unless you are busy as fuck and bringing over 150k a year, you are working 40 hour weeks.
its also an easy 40 hours because you are working on what you want to work on. yeah its risky and stressful but biglaw is stressful too and will be risky in years 2-3 when you are trying to exit out. prefectly reasonable to get your risk out of the way early on and coast the rest of your life.

[Johann]

OP - i still dont think you should go into law. but these clowns are just talking about whatever they want to about solo practice and its not a realistic view at all. opening your own practice is viable if you are good at selling yourself, business decisions, and being social. the problem is if you dont have these skills, youre gonna fail. if you do have them, you will do ridiculously well and live a pretty easy life.
taking a risk this big is just dumb until youve actually bounced around outside of undergrad in the real job world for a year or two. if things dont pan out there, then go to law school. also, the 2 years bouncing around will teach you some business skills most likely. its hard to imagine a k-jd who has any decent business or social skills at all.

[Johann]

And no, my interest is not derived from a "i don't have any other good options" theory

id actually give you more credit if your law school desire was because you didnt have any other good options rather than some naive idea that you would enjoy law.
law sucks. if you come in with naive hopes it will be even more damning. if you come in with your back against the wall knowing there were no other choices, you can live with yourself on a daily basis and understand you did what you had to.

[itascot1992]

And no, my interest is not derived from a "i don't have any other good options" theory

id actually give you more credit if your law school desire was because you didnt have any other good options rather than some naive idea that you would enjoy law.
law sucks. if you come in with naive hopes it will be even more damning. if you come in with your back against the wall knowing there were no other choices, you can live with yourself on a daily basis and understand you did what you had to.

I have worked in a law office already and have seen the type of work that goes on. The other good options don't appeal to me.