One benefit to my making the move to Australia over the winter holidays is that it is already typically a slow period for my law practice, with my small business-owning clients finishing up the holiday shipping rush and then celebrating with their own families.  I had already informed all of my current clients about my move and that I should be back in contact by the beginning of the new year.

And then I had to part with my Blackberry, as it was not compatible with the Australian mobile phone system.  For any of you out there, like me, who have become accustomed to reading emails the minute (no, the second) they come in, you’ll understand that it was a bit of an adjustment at first to be out of contact.  Totally unplugged.  The weaning process was made easier by the fact that my family and I first flew to Fiji, where we spent three nights doing a village homestay in a small Fijian village on the Coral Coast.  This unique experience living simply in the warm, friendly Fijian village of Namatakula was both humbling and soul-altering for everyone in my family.  We spent our days playing with the children, learning how to open coconuts, hunting for octopus, harvesting seaweed, and hiking to waterfalls; emails were the furthest thing from my mind.

My youngest son holding a sea cucumber during our octopus hunt

The hike to the waterfall had a refreshing reward

Connecting With Clients

Once in Australia, I was admittedly anxious to have internet and mobile phone access.  The iPhone I bought has made sending emails on the go a breeze, and the Skype app works so well I haven’t felt the need to explore some of the other available options.  Some of my clients already have Skype, and for those who don’t, I use Skype to call their landline or mobile for a nominal fee that I absorb in lieu of asking clients to download it.  Because phone calls are not a daily part of my practice—I typically have an initial phone call and then only on occasion if necessary to discuss or explain a matter—a telephone plan giving me a U.S. number hasn’t been necessary. 

 It’s important to me to make sure clients aren’t inconvenienced by my location, so I work around their schedules.  I haven’t yet had to wake up in the middle of the night for a phone call, but I wouldn’t mind doing so in order to make this U.S. career abroad work.  I also don’t ask clients to do anything they wouldn’t do when working with a local attorney; thus far, scanning/emailing documents and paying fees by credit card has gone smoothly just as it had when I was based in the States.

With a mobile law practice and Skype, I have spoken with my U.S. clients from my apartment in New South Wales, a tourist park in Philip Island before watching the fairy penguins come ashore, and a campground with kangaroos at Murramarang National Park.

Offering some beach grass to a resident kangaroo at Murramarang National Park

What I’ve Learned So Far

My law practice is as busy as the effort I put into it–and this can be a positive or a negative.  During our first couple of months in Australia, work was slow.  My attention was more on planning and executing our first big road trip, getting my three children settled into a school routine, and—I have to admit this—lounging on the beach on a couple of days that should have been work days.  A slow solo practice can be seen as a negative, as there is no traditional law firm paycheck direct-deposited every two weeks.  But a traditional law firm would not allow for making the kind of life choices like I’ve made, and I don’t begrudge the decision to walk away from the traditional law firm (and the accompanying lifestyle, or lack thereof) in the slightest.  I’m grateful that at this point my practice has allowed for my workload to ebb and flow depending on the circumstances of my life.  And now that life is stable here (and I’ve gotten the urge to lie on a beach out of my system), I am eager to spend more time working on growing my practice.

As a result, I’ve obtained 4 new clients just in the last week.  My current location always comes up when scheduling the initial phone call, and I have never yet lost a potential client because of it. For me, who had been operating a virtual law practice while in the States, it hasn’t been that much more of a leap to go abroad. Sure, clients do wait a bit longer to have actual paper documents such as trademark registration certificates in hand, but as with the phone calls, I have never had a client express frustration as a result.

Next Steps

Unfortunately, I have never been a goal-setter, but I can see its benefits, especially when it comes to running my own law practice.  Self-motivation is key for a successful solo practitioner.  So, now I am beginning to set goals—not in monetary terms per se—but practice goals such as increasing my participation in forums that could lead to future clients, and hours a day working on current matters vs. client development, continuing education and business matters.  I look forward to implementing these and balancing work and life abroad while my practice trends upward.