We are so excited! On Thursday, July 15th, the first official Solo Practice University Meetup took place in New York City.  Present were six of our students.  In the first picture, from left to right, Jennifer Hope Bernstein, Ony Okoro, Paul Jeff Perez, Tracie Robinson, and Elizabeth Meyer Aquino, a brand new SPU student who literally just enrolled the day before the meetup!

Tracie, the winner of our Solo Practice University ‘Proud To Be Solo ‘ contest, had this to say:

The group discussed a wide range of topics and shared information and experiences about fee setting, office space, resources for sample forms, dealing with difficult clients, networking opportunities, and even where to get all-you-can eat mussels on a Wednesday night–all very relevant topics. Everyone had something to contribute.

Lurie Daniel Favors, pictured with Ony Okoro, writes several great blogs including The Race and Law Report and Starting Over Financial Blog: Moving From Financial Crisis to Financial Empowerment.

Lurie shared her thoughts about the SPU Meetup:

“.. conversation dealt more with classes each of us found most useful (and why).

So for example, when discussing how to get clients and charge the correct fee – the conversation tended to steer towards the class on “Fixing Your Fees and Fixing Your Practice”. Or when someone asked about what they should blog about or how to draft a certain corporate document – someone else would mention the class on blogging or the class on M&A practice or the Outsourced General Business Counsel course. The references to the classes were often sprinkled with words of “wisdom” from some of the “older” attorneys – .. it tended to be a really positive and informative conversation.

Paul Jeff Perez, the only (lucky) male present, is taking the bar this week and has been planning for solo practice all during law school. He’s been with SPU since its inception and had this to say:

Mostly we spoke about the difficulties of going solo, since all were in the beginning stages of their solo career (Lurie and Ony seemed to be the most established).  We talked about what SPU classes we’ve been “attending”, challenges with clients and friends who don’t want to pay, how to use social networking sites like facebook, the cost and benefits of virtual office vs. office sharing, and studying for the bar.  We also discussed different resources for obtaining forms.

I think it was successful in that we were able to share challenges and give each other advice and encouragement. I’m excited for the potential of the group.

These solos and Solo Practice University students met through the SPU community in the SPU Metro New York group, one of our more than 100 ‘groups’ at SPU, all created by students who wanted to reach out to others similarly situated through either demographics or practice area interests. This is the beauty of providing a forum for education and professional networking within a community, a concept and execution unique to Solo Practice University.

If you are interested in learning about going solo, but don’t want to go it alone, Solo Practice University can provide exactly what you need when you need it 24/7.

All have said, ‘we hope to do this at least once a month.’ Can there be a better testimonial?