What type of law should a new attorney practice?

T

Texas JD

< 25 Posts
I am a recent law school graduate and will be hanging out my shingle in San Antonio soon. My plan is to open a general practice and take whatever work I can get that isn't abhorrent. In time, however, I would like to focus my practice on transactional work (estate planning, real estate, corporate/partnerships, etc...). I am not particularly keen on litigation and criminal law, but realize that as a young attorney beggars can't be choosers.

For all you seasoned solo/small firm attorneys out there, what types of law do you find the most enjoyable/rewarding/lucrative to practice? In those fields, how difficult/long does it take to become moderately proficient in that type of work?

Thanks for your input.
 
Wow, I am an old guy and feel for someone just starting out. Be sure to keep your overhead low. You really don't have to spend a mint on furniture, your clients won't care. Avoid being locked into long term real estate leases.

Family law is the easiest to get started into, but you will get sick of the nastiness.

Be sure to have engagement letters with each client, so it is clear what you will and won't be doing for them, and what you charge. Funny how people remember things differently.

Get on the "ad litem" lists, like for mental health commitments and missing heirs, as that is easy work though it doesn't pay much. But starting off you have extra time anyway and it helps pay the bills.

Find a mentor to bounce things off of. that's my 2 cents.
 
"Bring money in the door today." - a drunk millionaire's brother i met.

Point of it is, do what you can to make money to keep the lights on, increase your network and profile, and help you figure out what you want to do.

Neither the rich drunk nor his brother were attorneys, but the point is valid.

Good luck.
 
This has been my 21 month whirlwind of a legal career

- I graduated law school in May 2006

- went to work for a plaintiff's firm in Austin

- was blown away at the "its not rocket science" ease at which these guys made tens of millions

- realized that you won't make money unless you're name is on the letterhead and take a risk

- in July 2007 I partnered up with my supervising atty at the Austin plaintiff's firm and opened up shop

- have hired 3 employees in a 7 month period (learning how to manage people has been the most difficult)

- take all your estimated income and cut it by a 1/3, take all your estimated expenses and increase them by a 1/3

- balance your books everyday

- be married. be married to woman with a great deal of patience and a high earning capacity (this has been my saving grace)

- outside of the 4 days of contract deposition work I do every month, I intend to finally pay myself from my own pocket in June or July (almost one year later and it won't be much)

My personal recommendation - do plaintiff's work. There is nothing more beautiful and capitalistic than the contingency fee. If you have the drive and like the risk, it is exciting as hell.

I love it.
 
I did the solo thing for a few years in Tyler right out of law school back in '98. It was about 60-40 criminal defense/family law. My best "war stories" are from my criminal defense days. If I could make a living doing that I would. It gets you into court a lot where you'll meet lots of other attorneys, judges, and their staff. And criminal clients are pretty easy to manage, since most have been in the system before and have realistic expectations. Get yourself on the appointment list for the county courts at law. Once you get some first chair trials under your belt, get on the district court appointment lists if you like it. There's also always lots of family law work out there too. Those clients are high maintenance and a pain in the *** sometimes, and someone may want to shoot you at some point in the future, but it's work. And all of my cute clients were soon-to-be-divorced young ladies. (Note - don't sleep with a client until her case is concluded.)
 
Got out in '98, licensed in '99, spent 10 months in a small plaintiff's boutique firm that sent me packing b/c the managing partner owed the IRS $885,000 in back due taxes.

Three days after being sent out the door, we found out my wife was preggers with our first child. So I went and introduced myself to the Dist. Judge and the CC@L judge and asked them for every court appt. case they could get me. For a while I didn't have the capital to open an office, so I worked out of a briefcase filled with supplies, and a O'Conners Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure. I'd meet my clients either at the courthouse, the jail, or for lunch to cover the fact that I didn't have an actual office. Had to print my business cards from the home PC...serrated edges and everything.

Eventually, I borrowed $15,000 from my own parents, went to Staples and bought a desk, my uncle worked for Dell so he got my a good tower, and rented a one room office that cost $400.00/month. But it was mine, and I finally got to hang my own shingle.

The first client that "retained " eventually paid me with 5 lbs. of pecans he picked up from a local park. I still have one of those pecans encased in glass as a reminder of where I once was.

You are going to take some lumps, so just get ready. But do not back down if you're in an adversarial situation. I'd advise finding you a mentor as well, and hang around them as much as you possible can...pick their brain, watch how the handle their clients and their hearings, etc...and do it exactly as they do it.

You're going to do family law b/c that's what comes in the door more than any other case. Most of the time your clients are going to want a $20,000.00 divorce on a $2,000.00 retainer. Outside of the retainer, you can hardly expect to be paid on your billing, so keep that in mind when your client decides to go to the mat over the geranium or some such ****.

If you want to do transactional work, I'd suggest you go to every title company and every bank and introduce yourself to whoever is in charge of that area of business. Take 'em to lunch, whatever. If it's a lawyer, make it clear that you're not there to cut in on anyone else's business. That's what they want to hear...that you're respectful of others. They're not going to retain you for a while, and you'll have to do some work before you get their confidence. I'd suggest that you offer yourself up for some contract work....doing little things for $100/hr. It'll help...trust me.

And go to the courthouse and introduce yourself to the clerks, assistant clerks, judge's secretaries, court coordinator, and the judges. Make time for each one of them...it's the people behind the scenes, the asst. clerks, the secretaries, the coordinators, etc. that will butter your bread. As often as you can make time to sit and visit with them about whatever's on their mind. If you've got a probate hearing, go 30 mins. early so you can catch up with what's going on.

And say hello and thanks for their hard work to the janitorial staff.

What I'm telling is don't come off as cock of the walk simply because you're now a barrister. You're not special...not by any stretch of the imagination. Doing your job correctly depends on an awful lot of people doing their job, and if you come off superior to them they can make your practice utter hell and eventually drive you out of business.

The sooner you can get staff, the sooner you will be consider legitimate by the business community and your clients. Answering your own phone during business hours is a dead giveaway that you're broke, and that'll be interpreted primarily as you not having the capital to finish up your cases correctly (eg. you'll get outspent).

For the forms and stuff, contact the Law Office Management Institute of the SBOT. They have some very good stuff for very cheap and are a great resource....they can even audit your firm and show you were you're losing money on expenses, time, etc.

As for how long it takes to get it rolling, I'd say 5 years or so. Learn to enjoy blackeyes, sausage, and rice for dinner....we ate a lot of that. Myself, at year 3 I got very lucky and had a client come in with questions about how her mother died in a nursing home. The case had been turned away by no less than 7 previous firms from Dallas down to Houston (I'm in East Texas)...what we call an "orphan." But I took it anyway. I was very, very hungry and brought in a lawyer in the venue county as local counsel who could easily afford the expenses, so we JV'd the case. 14 months later it settled for $3.25 mil. Since that time, I've had 5 other cases go for over 7 figures and not a one of them came to me first...all had been rejected by other firms. I have no idea why...can't figure it out.

At first you're going to be shoved around a bit and threatened with "setting it for trial." Never, EVER back down from a trial or a hearing. NEVER. Set that sonuvabitch yourself and tee it up. The sooner those around you learn you won't back down, the quicker you'll gain respect. That respect goes a long, long way in helping your clients get things done correctly.

If you make a threat, you better follow up and make good on it. For example, if you give someone a deadline to accept an offer or you'll have to set it for hearing and they miss the deadline, you better set it for a hearing and follow through. Being known for pushing empty threats is not the reputation you want or need. Ask anyone.

Finally, NEVER lie to anyone. Not yourself, not your client, not opposing counsel, not the clerk, not the court coordinator and certainly not the judge. And be a man of your word....if you enter into a verbal agreement that is not followed up by a Rule 11, then by God honor that agreement come hell or high water. If you get burned by adverse counsel, then so be it....just mark it down and don't do business like that anymore with them.
 
no clue about law or lawyering but that was one of the best posts ive ever seen on here. that's up there with all of ncaafbrox posts on roofing for information and sincerity. hook'em
 
My plan is to open a general practice and take whatever work I can get that isn't abhorrent.


Wow. Such is the state of the legal profession?

And good post, Kyrie.
 
KE has an immense amount of valuable experience doing what he does. I'd read what he wrote every day and every night for a month so it all sinks in. Some of the things he says about not thinking you're a big deal and being honest without exception used to be part of the essence of being a lawyer.
 
Some of the things he says about not thinking you're a big deal and being honest without exception used to be part of the essence of being a lawyer.

Back when law was considered by most to be a profession and not a business.
 
Perham hit the nail on the head.

One of the things I've tried to do is look at my work as a lawyer as being my vocation (from the Latin vocare - "to call"...as in, "Being a lawyer is my calling in life" or "I'm called by God to be a lawyer.").

I'll say this, too...Lawyering is still one of the few professions out there where you get to immerse yourself in a practice (praxis). You come to acquire your skill set through doing, not reading or memorizing. To me, with my theology and philosophy background, I don't think there's a better fit for my personality and my preference for Aristotle/St. Thomas than to be a lawyer.

I had an old lawyer tell my not long before he died that the courtroom is the last place in America where one can have a geniune, civil conversation.

What he's referring to is a trial.

That's about as perfect a summation as there is.

And thanks for the kind words. But I'm merely the product of those who came before me, so all credit should go to them, not me.
 
Help everyone that you can even if they are not your client.

I have been licensed for just over six months. My first true word client today. (That is not a friend)

Turns out he knows a friend of a friend that I helped out with some child support questions. The original guy already had a lawyer but could not get them on the phone. I answered every question that he had. He has probably called me 6 or 7 times. Never paid me a dime. That effort turned into a decent fee today.
 
Check out this blog. Susan not only has a wealth of experience advising people like you, she gets lots of input from old hands as well as people just starting out. I'd say every week or so, she'll receive something that she'll post under "Passed the bar-- hung a shingle."

You should also subscribe to the ABA's Solosez listserv. Read the protocols about joining, introduce yourself to the group, and then (and only then) repeat the question you've posted here, if only to get a larger sample set of responses.
 
Have you been practicing at all yet?

I would highly reccomend getting at least a year or 2 of experience first. You simpy CAN'T be a good lawyer right out of the bag. Practice is nothing like law school. If you went to Baylor you will be better prepared than most but still..... I would think about it.
 
There's a lot to be said for Texan's insights. I was pretty much forced out on my on, but if you've got the opportunity to work with someone or do contract work, you need to consider it.

And he's right about Baylor, too...IF you're going to do trial law. The law school I graduated from (Mercer Univ. in Macon, GA) marketed itself as being able to produce a lawyer who was ready to practice in 3 to 4 years instead 6 to 7 years.

Had no idea what that meant until I started busting rocks on my own, but I know now.

Frankly, I don't think I could have gone to a better school given my circumstances....if you took the trial law route, you had to have 5 sems. of legal writing, 4 sems. of evidence, 4 sems. of trial practice, and you had to sit 2nd chair by special order of the GA S.Ct. in at least 3 jury trials b4 you graduated.

Almost everyday for the first 3 years I would find myself saying "So that's why we did that."
 
Am I allowed to fraternize with you lawyer types? We could even start a (separate) thread on physician-lawyer relations, even if it's destined to become a blood bath in 2 pages.
 
KE, to answer your question, I have practiced in a public defenders office for about a year so I am comfortable in a courtroom, with trials, and with criminal law. However, while I will of course continue doing criminal law, I would like to transition into civil law areas so that I am not tied to the courthouse. I know that if I devote my time principally to criminal law I will by necessity spend the majority of my time in the courthouse and will not have time to really learn and develop as a civil attorney.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top