A Few Things to Expect During Your First Year as a Solo Attorney

by Melanie Fischer on July 11, 2016

law-office-law-firm-300x225It can be difficult to precisely predict the exact direction your new solo law practice will take in the future. During your first few months or years in business, you might have specific ideas on how you want to run your practice, and you might envision the type of client that will want to retain you as their legal counsel. But despite thorough planning, you might ultimately decide to change the focus of your firm once it has been open for business for a short period of time.

Quite a few factors could influence the evolution of your solo law practice, and many such factors are out of your control. For example, a national economic crisis or a natural disaster can affect your law firm in both the short and the long term. Or, a more specific example: If your law firm focuses on real estate legal matters, and if the real estate market suddenly slows, your firm might have to shift its focus either temporarily or permanently.

On the other hand, many controllable factors can affect the direction your law firm takes. For example, your success at networking with your professional peers can influence your ability to retain a significant number of new clients during your first few months in business. Additionally, the effort you put forth with your firm’s marketing endeavors is controllable and can determine the early success of your firm.

No matter the level of success you achieve during your first year as a solo attorney, there is one thing that is certain: There is a learning curve.

Following are three things that you can expect during you first year as a solo attorney:

  1. It’s important to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. While it’s never a good idea to enter into a new business endeavor with a negative attitude, it’s important to understand that it might take quite a while to establish your solo law practice. Hence, it’s important to expect several slow months while you are getting started. Make sure to plan ahead for the possibility of a financial shortfall during your first year.
  2. You’re going to be busy, busy, busy. Even though you might not have as many new clients as you would like during your first year in solo practice, this does not mean there will be much downtime. A significant amount of time should be spent on professional networking, coming up with marketing strategies, developing your website, etc. All new business owners, no matter the industry, must “pay their dues” and work overtime to get new clients through the door – and a solo law practice is no exception.
  3. New clients might approach you with legal issues for which you have little knowledge or expertise. There is no such thing as a solo attorney who knows the answer to every single legal question that may be presented by a prospective or current client. As a solo attorney, you might have to seek guidance and advice from a mentor or another attorney who is knowledgeable in your legal area of expertise.

If you are a new solo attorney, or if you are thinking about opening a solo law practice in the near future, make sure to think things through before opening your firm’s doors for business. The more prepared you are for this venture, the better.

 

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