Do not go into solo practice if you see starting your own practice as biding time until ‘THE JOB’ comes along. This will actually harm you professionally as both potential clients and peers will be able to read your attitude immediately. You will be unattractive to clients and those who might have considered you for employment, partnership, referrals or other opportunities.

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Currently a suspended lawyer, Keith Anderson told the uncensored story of his slide into depression and the impact on his professional life in a special guest lecture at Solo Practice University®. A well respected lawyer in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Keith Anderson fell into an 11-year pattern of tears, insomnia, and self withdrawal after the death [...]

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There is a joke I heard recently from a small law firm who stopped renewing their ABA membership. The lawyer I spoke to said, “We get 13 things for our ABA dues – 12 nice magazines and a bill. Those are very expensive magazines.’ This is from someone who bought in to the idea, ‘graduate law school and join the ABA.’ No longer are students mindlessly joining an organization because it exists. Somewhere along the way any perception of value disappeared.

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It’s a trend that began after the economic downturn of the late 1980s, as many laid-off professionals became consultants. Then it seemed temporary, though, tied to bad times. Evidence now suggests that this is our new economic condition. Today, in fact, 20% to 23% of U.S. workers are operating as consultants, freelancers, free agents, contractors or micropreneurs. Current projections see the number only rising in coming years.

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There is a lot of discussion about unbundled legal services, the breaking down of a given legal process into ‘parts’. Each part can be delegated to a lawyer to handle and paid for by the client or the client can handle themselves based upon their desire and/or budget. A lawyer’s ability to offer unbundled services….

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No one, especially not the profession as a whole, law schools or even lawyers themselves, wants to fully acknowledge there is a big pink (or rather very gray) elephant in the room. And this elephant is depression and the fact a significant percentage of attorneys suffer severe and debilitating depression. Especially the solo.

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Jack Newton is Co-founder and President of Clio, a leading provider of web-based practice management software. He will give a teleseminar on February 9th discussing cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

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The word ‘goal’ is often overused and generally misunderstood. So, let’s define goals in the context of what you are trying to achieve, moving forward in your legal career, quite possibly building a solo practice.

What is a goal? It is a specific measurable event that is realistically attainable within a defined period of time.

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Many lawyers see the unbundling process as minimizing the value of their services and taking their profits. Still others see it as hampering a lawyer’s ability to do a thorough job if they are only offering counsel for one or two segments of the process. But is this really true?

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Jay Shepherd runs Shepherd Law Group, the Boston employer law firm that completely replaced the billable hour with fixed pricing. He will teach a course called “Fixing Your Fees, Fixing Your Practice” at Solo Practice University™.

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