Practicing Law Part-Time Forum

[Bimmerfan]

Just curious if there’s anyone out there who work a non-law 9-5 job (e.g., consulting, compliance, etc.), and practice law on evenings and weekends.

I would consider starting my own practice, and wouldn’t want to give up FT income, but would want to start slow and build the practice before committing to it FT.

[1styearlateral]

Practicing law is a full time job. I just don't see how it would be viable to put law on the backburner if you have any meaningful business.

[SFSpartan]

Practicing law really isn't something you can do part time - law school doesn't teach you much, if anything, about how to practice law, so you'll most likely need to work for someone else at first (or risk committing malpractice on a massive level). Since you're likely stuck working for someone else, I don't see how practicing part time is really a viable option. As well, clients are often demanding and/or have time sensitive matters. This also doesn't bode well for part time practice.

[Bimmerfan]

Op here.

I’m currently practicing law FT (litigation) at a smaller-medium firm and wouldn’t be starting from the bottom in terms of experience.

The PT idea was to start off slow and see what kind of business I can get, since I am considering leaving my current firm and getting a non-law FT job for steady income.

[albanach]

Practicing law is a full time job. I just don't see how it would be viable to put law on the backburner if you have any meaningful business.

I don't think OP was asking about whether a viable legal business can operate part time. Rather, can they build up their business by working two jobs so they're not relying on a startup form with no clients for their income stream.

Plenty of lawyers work two jobs. You'll find lawyers driving for Uber, etc. Similarly, plenty of older lawyers are semi-retired and practicing part time as a result. So it can be done.

One thing to watch for are the ethics rules around related businesses (particularly since OP's talking about consultancy work). You might want to pay an ethics attorney in your state for some guidance and perhaps a framework you can use to navigate issues if a client from one side want to use you on the other.

[1styearlateral]

Then to answer OP's direct question about "seeing what kind of business he can get," I think that it's highly improbable for any business with meaningful work that needs to be done that would retain a "part time" attorney when they could just go hire a full time attorney that they know they can call up 24/7/365. In an already competitive field, I just don't see how you'll be attractive to any potential clients as a part timer.

As for the claim that there are many attorneys with second jobs... I've never once met an attorney that had one. In NYC, at least, it's all-encompassing and requires complete devotion. Maybe attorneys in Montana or other midwest states have second jobs because there's just not enough work to go around.

[albanach]

Then to answer OP's direct question about "seeing what kind of business he can get," I think that it's highly improbable for any business with meaningful work that needs to be done that would retain a "part time" attorney when they could just go hire a full time attorney that they know they can call up 24/7/365. In an already competitive field, I just don't see how you'll be attractive to any potential clients as a part timer.

As for the claim that there are many attorneys with second jobs... I've never once met an attorney that had one. In NYC, at least, it's all-encompassing and requires complete devotion. Maybe attorneys in Montana or other midwest states have second jobs because there's just not enough work to go around.

I think you're maybe thinking about this differently. If you're talking about established corporations, sure few would ditch a law firm for a part time solo.

However, if you're talking about a 1-5 employee startup needing a set of T&Cs for their new product, or someone needing a will, or a small manufacturer that wants someone to review terms they're being offered from a wholesaler, those are things with price sensitivity and less pressure of time. Now, I don't know if any of that matches OPs goals, as they're not stated. However they're plausible.

As for New York, I'm sure there's plenty of part time attorneys their. Your firm might have some that are of counsel. Michael Cohen has seen a fair bit of publicity about his non-legal work, including property management/development and taxi medallions. Others are likely doing stuff like I mentioned above. Look at the bimodal salary distribution graphs - those lawyers taking in $40k are often going to be supplementing their income somehow.

If you still doubt, The Google is your friend

[Anonymous User]

One of my career counselors was a former associate who is pretty active in a particular pro bono area (and seems to give talks and write articles along those lines). That might be a possibility you can look into?

[yost]

I think this is possible in certain practice areas that have short, well-defined projects. Wills and trusts comes to mind, and I'm sure there are others.

But probably not in litigation.

[Anonymous User]

You could probably do contract work. I think this depends on how you define part-time, whether you mean like just a side gig or minimum 18-20 hour a week.

I think the former would be possible, with contract work coming in on irregular intervals. You could probably reject/accept contract work or potential clients depending on how swamped you are at real work. But time managing all this would be difficult, especially if you decide to do court appearances.

I know people who have non-legal jobs at Fortune 500 companies, so they're working 40-50 hour weeks but do pro bono on the side.

It also depends on how hard working you are. There was a thread about biglaw hours and taking care of toddlers, and people made it look like some sort of gargantuan task like they were trying to launch a spaceship to mars. But thousands of people work long hours and take care of the toddlers. Or that it was somehow a monumental achievement if an attorney could have kids, work, and hangout with friends once a week, when there are CEOs that founded and run billion dollar companies that manage to do this.

I'm sure if you're willing to work hard enough you could make it happen. Stranger things have happened.