Comments on: What Role Does Your Spouse or Partner Play in the Success of Your Solo Practice? https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/ The 'Practice of Law' School Tue, 25 Apr 2023 12:23:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.21 By: Thawing New Englander https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1838 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:25:24 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1838 There’s another side to this story, of course: the consequences of going solo without buy-in from your spouse/partner.

The more-than-inconvenient truth for those contemplating or pursuing solo practice is that the absence of spousal support makes the process far more difficult than it has to be. Working on developing a business isn’t made easier when the athmosphere at home includes:

repeated questioning of long and short-term priorities;

direct or indirect reliance on a banker/cosigner who demands a return on any investment faster and greater than any commercial lender

“requests” for time away from your “real” job regardless of consequences (and as a home office Dad I stand in awe of the good grace with which Military Underdog carries on with his family in circumstances far more trying than my own).

Reality is that many of us enter solo practice under less than optimal business and family circumstances. Full spousal buy-in would be ideal–but it’s also necessary to acknowledge that there are times when it is neither prudent or possible to avoid the potentially most negative person near you.

Don’t get me wrong. My wife and I are both solo professionals who prefer the life they have to that of the power couples that we know who live like the subjects of this Valentine’s Day article (http://bit.ly/fx0VVP). Your partner likely knows you better than anyone else. It would be foolhardy to ignore their observations and suggestions. There are certainly times that one’s family responsibilities (either financial or in terms of work/life balance) properly dictate changes in career management. The truth remains that one is better off (in lawyer’s terms) working from a presumption of success within the family unit. The burden that its absence imposes on the new solo can be crushing.

Some time back Bruce Allen’s Marketing Catalyst blog published a letter he drafted for a BigLaw attorney’s spouse describing the new commitments he/she would have to undertake in support of a rainmaking campaign and asking for support for the effort (http://bit.ly/eLXjJa). It provides a good start on a checklist for the sort of discussion which should take within the family before the start of any solo venture. It’s something I wish I had worked tthrough at my house before going out on my own.

]]> By: Chuck Newton https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1837 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:47:49 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1837 My wife (a/k/a “Girlfriend”) practices the law I practice. She keeps me in line. She is also very aggravating. She is so detail oriented that back in the old days I accused her of proof reading the Xerox copies. I, on the other hand, am a little more abstract. Well okay, a lot more abstract. We support each other, and it works out well — even though she is aggravating. :-)

]]> By: Susan Cartier Liebel https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1836 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:29:30 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1836 Matt,

I know quite a few solos who’s spouses are in other firms. It’s nice they understand the work and both of you realizing a solo’s practice is really a ‘family business’!!

]]> By: Susan Cartier Liebel https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1835 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:28:25 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1835 Chris, I’ve always said the only people who should be intimately involved your decision to go solo are your immediate family as they can make or break your experience. So glad it’s working out so well!

]]> By: matthewcrider https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1833 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:35:03 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1833 My wife is an attorney, and is invaluable in supporting me and my firm. Although she is not practicing in my firm, it truly is a “family business” in that every decision I make impacts my life and my family’s life. So I consult with her frequently.

]]> By: Christopher G. Hill https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1832 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:32:18 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1832 Susan,

This is all so true. I could not have moved from firm to solo practice without the great support of my wife and kids. This has been a family undertaking in every way.

]]> By: Rachel Rodgers https://solopracticeuniversity.com/2011/02/15/what-role-does-your-spouse-or-partner-play-in-the-success-of-your-solo-practice/#comment-1831 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:53:08 +0000 http://solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=2005#comment-1831 I agree that there is a negotiation and re-negotiation that goes on between spouses when navigating the entrepreneurial life. My husband is totally on board with me building a practice but there was a point when he became annoyed about me constantly working (you feel like its necessary to work that much in the beginning but it probably isn’t). We worked out time frames of when we’d spend time together and we’re so much happier for it. Frequent, honest and open communication seem to resolve any issues that come up.

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