Solo Practice

Solo Practice May Be "Shitlaw." But Shit Happens.

By Carolyn Elefant

So, the guy who writes Big Debt, Small Law has yet another post bashing solo practice.  And not surprisingly, many commenters at Above the Law, which picked up the post, agree. 

Guess what? I do too.  Solo practice is shitlaw.  You heard me right.  Solos and small firms routinely encounter clients who don't pay their bills.  Who have phantom documents that will prove millions in damages that oh, shucks, are locked up in storage and the client lost the key.  Who promise to send you dozens of referrals if you'll just do them the favor of cutting your rates to nothing for this particular matter.  Who ask for free advice on phone calls then use it to fill out pro se forms on their own.  Who gripe about paying a consultation fee that costs the equivalent of a nice manicure.  If you're a solo, you know the drill.

If anything, the Big Debt, Small Law post doesn't go far enough.  The post doesn't talk about how very hard the practice of law can be.  No mention of big law firms who poach your clients by undercutting their rates or promising utterly unrealistic results.  Nasty, unreasonable opposing counsel who set motions hearings when they know you'll be on vacation and refuse to cut you any slack in granting  extensions. Judges who show up late or lecture you in front of your clients.  Grievance committees that want you to file copies of every blog post because they don't view blogging any differently from a Yellow Pages ad.  Ad infinitum, as we say in legal parlance.

I don't post much about the pitfalls of solo practice, nor do many of my blogging solo colleagues because frankly, they're nothing new.  Few lawyers march lockstep into solo practice without an extensive understanding of the obstacles they'll face, courtesy of  law school and other lawyers who drum that message into their heads.  Indeed, that's the very reason that I started MyShingle seven years ago:  to dispel the prevailing image of the solo as a hapless, bumbling loser.   

Still, I'll agree with Big Debt, Small Law that in this down economy, solo practice may be the shittiest option available.  So what?  In life, shit happens.   We can't escape shit nor would we if we could.  My beloved daughters came with two years worth of diaper duty a piece and I scoop my puppy's poop three times a day but I wouldn't ever give them up.  

If you don't want to put up with shit, then do what Big Debt, Small Law advises: run as fast and as far as you can from the law.   But if you're committed to practicing law -- not because you want to be an entrepreneur or earn gobs of money or work a four hour work week -- but because you still believe that you can make a difference, then buy yourself some toilet paper.   And remember that if you're willing to put up with the shit that comes with solo practice, you just might find that something wonderful might eventually bloom in its place.  

Full post as published by My Shingle.com on January 01, 2010 (boomark / email).