Meet new SPU columnist, Rachel Rodgers. I first met Rachel through social media.  Yes, she was getting her networking game on while she was doing her Clerkship (a practice I highly endorse) and connected with me through Twitter, then Facebook, then e-mail, then phone!  She will be joining Jack Whittington and Debra Bruce as part of our ever-growing group of monthly columnists. Rachel’s first column will appear Thursday, December 2nd and every first Thursday of the month thereafter in a series called, ‘Adventures of a Gen Y Solo Practitioner‘.

There are a few things you should know about Rachel and why she stands out for me. Rachel has wanted to be an attorney since she was eight years old. When she graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2009, she decided that she was not going to let her hefty law school debt and the troubled economy stop her from practicing law her way.

She is a newly minted solo who started Rachel Rodgers Law Office in
September 2010. Rachel is focusing her practice on providing legal counsel to young entrepreneurs and small
business owners. Her practice as she defines it is ‘ by Generation Y for Generation Y‘. Rachel uses techniques that have not been widely accepted among private law firms to gear her practice towards young business owners. Rachel uses upfront flat fees only, provides convenience to her clients by allowing them to work with her without leaving their offices (some of her clients have never met her in person!) and offers all potential clients free 30 minute consultations over the phone or via Skype.

Rachel started her practice after a year of planning during her clerkship with a trial judge in New Jersey Superior Court. What’s interesting about Rachel’s story is that even though she is a fairly new attorney and started her practice with very little start up funds, she had three clients lined up on the day she opened and her practice has two locations,
one in California, where she is currently residing, and one in New York, where she grew up and attended law school.

I find Rachel’s passion about living her personal dream infectious and she wants to encourage others to go after their dreams despite the risks. Rachel will share how she was able to hire an experienced attorney to serve as Of
Counsel to her practice, how she set up her practice to serve clients on both the west and east coasts, how she has used social media and networking to obtain clients and seek guidance from more experienced attorneys. Rachel has a can do attitude and hopes her column will inspire other new attorneys to start the law practice of their dreams.

So grab the RSS for the SPU blog and learn how she’s making it work.

You can also connect with Rachel here: