Hanging the Shingle: A Young Lawyer’s Experiences in Opening and Developing a Solo Law Practice
(Part One of a Series)
By Brian Annino
Earlier this year, I accomplished a longstanding
professional goal in opening up my own solo law practice.
It has been a very rewarding experience as I have been
able to connect with my clients on a new level and further
develop my passion for practice of law. As is customary
in starting a new professional initiative, I have learned
many lessons along the way.
This article is the first of a series of
articles that will discuss my initial experiences and
offer ideas for you to consider in starting a new solo
practice or analyzing your current practice. In this
article, I discuss considerations in choosing when to
start your own practice, the importance of budgeting,
and how networking is crucial to developing a solo practice.
Future articles will discuss additional ideas, opinions,
and lessons learned from my own practice.
Choosing the Right Time to “Go
Solo.” Between graduating law school
in 2003 and taking the bar exam, I wrote down my professional
goals that I hoped to accomplish. One of my top goals
was opening my own practice. I discussed this goal
with a solo practitioner whom I clerked with while
in law school, and he gave me the valuable advice of
putting that goal on hold until I had a few years of
law firm experience under my belt. He suggested that
in addition to gaining legal experience at law firms,
I would also learn the administrative side of practicing
law, including such tasks as managing files, billing,
and client development.
I have since had the opportunity to work
as an associate for two well-respected midsize law firms
and also as in-house counsel for a corporation. The legal
and administrative experience I gained at each position
has been invaluable toward effectively developing my
practice, and I am convinced that my solo experience
would be much more difficult without my prior experience.
I recognize that many attorneys (particularly
in this economic climate) do not have the opportunity
to gain law firm experience prior to opening up a solo
practice. I know several solo practitioners that “hung
a shingle” immediately after being sworn into the
bar. In my experience, the most successful of these solo
practitioners developed a mentor-mentee relationship
with other solo practitioners to help gain knowledge
regarding the legal and administrative aspects of solo
practice life. Regardless, I assert that an attorney
must be comfortable in handling the legal and administrative
sides of being a solo practitioner, and much of that
comfort level comes from experience.
Plan a Budget, Adhere to the Budget,
Revisit the Budget. If we learn nothing else
from the current economic downturn, it is the value
of budgeting. This is particularly important in starting
your own practice. Prior to making the decision to
go out on my own, I sat down with my wife at the dining
room table and, after a couple hours of asking “What
if?” questions regarding our personal and professional
lives, we developed a budget for my law practice that
made sense and also reworked our personal budget to
make suitable accommodations.
In formulating the law practice budget,
we were careful to focus on the essentials, such as legal
research costs, bar association dues, office supplies,
and client development costs. After much consideration,
we concluded that I would operate out of the home for
the first couple months prior to seeking office space.
This enabled me additional freedom to devote additional
cash to other areas in my budget and provided me time
to “test the waters” prior to signing an
office lease. I ultimately moved into an office in April,
but still enjoy the flexibility of working out of the
home when convenient.
A budget is useless if it is ignored. I
sit down at the end of each week and measure my weekly
expenses against my budget. If my expenses are on track
to exceed the budgeted allotment, I make necessary adjustments
and reduce future spending. If there is a particular
type of expense that consistently exceeds the budget,
I revisit and rework my budget so that it matches up
with my reasonable expectations.
I also consider how the products and services
I have purchased within my budget match up with my expectations.
If an item or service does not match up favorably, I
consider the benefits and costs to my practice and budget
in returning the item or cancelling the service. For
example, I purchased expensive law office management
software within a week of opening my practice. Within
the thirty-day trial period, I determined that the software
did not meet my expectations and would not be cost effective
in the long-term to maintain. Therefore, I returned the
software and applied a portion of the financial outlay
to a more pressing budgetary need and the remainder went
into cash reserves.
As income from the law practice increases,
it is important to revisit the budget to factor in your
salary or draws and to consider if the income should
be reinvested in the law practice. In my initial months
of starting the practice, I have reinvested much of the
firm income back into the firm. As the firm income continues
to increase, I will continue to revisit my budget and
assess how much of the income I can take as a salary
or draw.
I am frequently asked by other attorneys
how much money should be set aside in order to start
a solo practice. In my opinion, this amount will be different
for every solo practitioner. What I suggest is to carefully
consider your realistic monthly family and law practice
expenses for the first six months of your solo practice
and to have this amount (at a minimum) saved. Of course,
the more you have saved, the better off you will be.
However, having substantial financial resources should
never replace the discipline that comes from sound budgeting.
Network in the Real and Virtual
Worlds. Our profession is one that is built
on a cornerstone of trust. In my experience, face-to-face
meetings are crucial for developing trust among potential
and current clients. Also, face-to-face meetings with
other attorneys and business professionals are important
for developing relationships that can lead to client
referrals. As such, real world networking has been
essential to the initial development and growth of
my practice.
I frequently attend events sponsored by
my state and local bar associations and various business
associations. Local bar association events offer excellent
networking opportunities to become connected with other
attorneys, thereby leading to valuable information exchanges
and client referrals. Local business associations (including
my local chamber of commerce) offer excellent programs
and events that connect businesses and professionals.
I have been fortunate to receive many very good clients
from these functions.
I also utilize opportunities generated
through my “favorite network”: my family
and friends. I have been very fortunate to have the enthusiastic
support from my family and friends in opening my practice.
Through their support, my family and friends have referred
excellent clients to me and have an eagerness to continue
to send me clients. I strongly urge that you do not underestimate
the support that your own “favorite network” can
provide you in building your law practice.
Virtual networking has also played a role
in the growth of my practice. Although it does not take
the place of the trust-building face-to-face meetings,
virtual networking allows attorneys and other professionals
to freely provide and exchange information and connect
to potential clients and colleagues. In my experience,
these connections and information exchanges lead to trust-building
fact-to-face meetings that result in valuable business
for my practice.
Two particular internet networking tools
that I utilize at no cost are LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
and Twitter (www.twitter.com).
LinkedIn is a business networking website that is analogous
to Facebook, but geared to professionals. Twitter is
a “microblogging” site that allows you to
share ideas with other attorneys and professionals. It
is built on the concept of discussing what you are working
on, thinking of, and doing in real time. I discuss below
the basic mechanics of establishing an account and using
each networking tool. Although much more can be written
about each website, my discussion of each is simply geared
toward providing you information to join each site and
to begin making your own networking path.
I utilize LinkedIn to exchange information
with my clients and colleagues and set up the important
face-to-face meetings that lead to growth of my practice.
In order to utilize the benefits of LinkedIn, you must
first join and set-up a free account. From LinkedIn’s
main page (www.linkedin.com),
click the “Join Today” link in the top-right
hand corner. The next page will request basic information
about you, including your name, location, email address,
and name of your firm. You will also need to select and
input a password. As with other password-protected websites,
the quality of your password will help determine the
security of the information you post to the website.
After you enter the information, click
the “Join LinkedIn” button at the bottom
of the webpage. At the next page, you may select how
you will utilize LinkedIn and inform others how or why
you wish to be contacted through LinkedIn by selecting
from such options as reconnecting with former colleagues
and accepting deal proposals. Upon clicking the “Save
Settings” button at the bottom of the page, you
will arrive at your very own LinkedIn webpage.
My favorite aspect of LinkedIn is the ability
to create a free profile that allows you to discuss your
practice areas and experience. This profile is searchable
through the Google search engine (www.google.com)
and accessible to the online public (even to those who
are not members of LinkedIn). Potential clients and referral
sources can use your profile as a resource in finding
out important information about your practice. You have
control over what information appears in the profile,
and you can tailor it to fit your needs. My profile contains
information about my practice areas, my photo (to help
add a human element to the website), and a link to my
firm’s website. In order to put your best foot
forward, I recommend that you tailor your profile to
meet your needs prior to connecting to people or groups
on LinkedIn.
From your LinkedIn webpage, you can begin
searching for friends and colleagues that already have
a LinkedIn account and add them to your network. You
may accomplish this by using the search engine located
at the top right-hand corner of the webpage (wherein
you can search for people and companies) or by utilizing
a LinkedIn application that scans your email contacts
for possible LinkedIn connections. This application can
scan contacts in a web-based email account (such as Yahoo!,
MSN, or Gmail) or your Outlook or Apple Mail. Once you
locate an individual you wish to add as a contact, you
can click the “Add to network” link. You
will be asked to verify how you know the contact (which
must be confirmed by the contact) before the contact
is added to your network and you are added to your contact’s
network. Likewise, when a prospective contact makes the
initial step to add you to their network, they will have
to provide how they know you and such information would
have to be confirmed by you prior to being added to your
network. In my opinion, the contact verification process
offers a good level of protection from preventing unwanted
individuals joining your network.
Another of my favorite LinkedIn features
allows you to join discussion and networking groups.
For example, I am a member of bar association groups,
professional groups, and alumni groups. You can search
for groups via the search engine in the top right hand
corner of your LinkedIn webpage. Participation in these
groups is a great way to reconnect with former colleagues
and discuss items of interest to your practice. Participation
in these groups generally involves group bulletin board
postings and exchange of direct messages between group
members.
I utilize Twitter to exchange ideas and
legal news with attorneys and other professionals. As
a solo practitioner, I miss the exchange of ideas and
information that takes place within a law firm, corporate,
or government environment. Therefore, Twitter helps fill
this role for me by allowing me to exchange ideas and
news with people of my choosing. Of course, Twitter does
not replace the value of face-to-face meetings. As such,
I use this in conjunction with attending local bar events
and business association meetings rather than in place
of attending such events.
In order to join Twitter, go to the Twitter
main page (www.twitter.com)
and select the green “Get Started – Join!” icon
in the middle of the page. The next page will prompt
you to enter your full name and select a username. As
Twitter continues its meteoric rise in popularity, desired
usernames will be more difficult to obtain (as witnessed
during AOL’s usage surge in the 1990s). You will
also need to select a password which will be entered
along with your username in order to log-in to Twitter.
Finally, you will have to retype two words that appear
in a white box. This is a type of verification process
that is common when signing up for a new email account
or making an online purchase. Upon entering all of the
information, click the “Create my account” green
arrow. Thereafter, you may have Twitter scan your online
email account for contacts already on Twitter or you
may select the blue “skip this step” link.
You will then be directed to your new Twitter home page.
From here, you may enter your first “tweet” by
answering the question “What are you doing?” As
you will note, your “tweet” must be 140 characters
or less. You should also complete your Twitter profile
at this stage. This can be done by selecting the “Settings” link
in the top right-hand corner of the page and completing
the information on the “Account” tab on this
page. As you will note, your profile is very brief and
consists of a brief bio (160 characters or less), your
location, and a link to your website.
At this stage, you should begin to locate
people that you wish to “follow” on Twitter.
Also, people may seek to “follow” you on
Twitter. Be mindful that the default setting on Twitter
allows the online public to “follow” you
and see your “tweets” without requiring your
permission. You may change this setting and require your
permission prior to being “followed” by checking
the “Protect my updates” box on the bottom
of the page. Therefore, this feature helps you control
the amount and type of interaction you want to have on
Twitter.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of Twitter is
the ability to share links to news articles, blog postings,
and other websites. You may be wondering how this is
possible within the context of the 140 character “tweet” limit
considering the length of some website links. However,
you may utilize a free web service such as TinyURL (www.TinyURL.com)
that will shrink a lengthy URL by creating an alias URL.
For example, the URL to the Winter 2009 edition of SOLO
is http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/solo/2009/vol15no1/vol15no1.pdf.
Utilizing TinyURL, the same issue can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/cq84xb (a
shortening of 40 characters). In fact, if you post a
website link into your “tweet,” it will automatically
use TinyURL to shorten the length of the link. This generally
allows you to post a link to a website while leaving
enough characters to make a short comment about it. Once
you start doing this, you are really on your way to discovering
the value of “microblogging!”
Regardless of the virtual networking tools
you utilize, you should take great care to maintain the
decorum and professionalism you would exhibit in a client
meeting or in the courtroom. It would be detrimental
to your practice if you refer potential clients or colleagues
to your Twitter or Facebook page wherein they can see
pictures of you at a party excessively celebrating your
alma mater’s recent football championship.
This wraps up my first article in this
series. I look forward to drafting future articles that
discuss my experiences in starting and building my solo
law practice. In the meantime, I welcome ideas from your
own practice and perspective. Please feel free to contact
me at brian@anninolawfirm.com or
connect with me via LinkedIn or Twitter.
Brian Annino is a solo practitioner with Annino Law Firm, LLC, based in Marietta, Georgia. His practice focuses on estate planning, business law, and real property law. Mr. Annino is admitted to practice law in South Carolina, Georgia, and Massachusetts, and has been published in the ABA Journal.
© Copyright 2009, American
Bar Association.
