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I am seeing it increasingly commonly – newly called lawyers who set up their own shingle without working for a law firm as an associate. In part, it’s due to the changes in the market which have left a scarcity of opportunities for young lawyers, or opportunities that are otherwise undesirable. But it’s also becoming a preferred option for a generation which values creativity, personal relationships, empowerment, self-determination and entrepreneurship.
Luz E. Herrera, who launched her own solo practice in 2002, described this phenomenon in the Denver University Law Review,
The Great Recession has caused many new attorneys to question their decisions to go to law school. The highly publicized decline in employment opportunities for lawyers has called into question the value of obtaining a law degree. The tightening of the economy has diminished the availability of entry-level jobs for law graduates across employment sectors. Large law firms are laying-off lawyers, bringing in smaller first year associate classes, hiring more contract and experienced lateral attorneys. Government entities and public interest organizations have suffered furloughs, and hiring freezes, and are relying more on volunteers than on new employees to get the work done. To complicate matters, the baby boomer generation of lawyers is retiring later and contributing to a lack of new job opportunities. As a result, a large number of recent law graduates are unemployed, under-employed, or are working in settings that do not require a bar license.…However, today’s solo practitioners are more sophisticated and diverse than the lawyers [of the past]. The solo bar includes a large percentage of women and experienced lawyers who choose solo practice because it offers greater flexibility and a better lifestyle than working in larger firms.
Business Insider has an article this week on Branigan Robertson, an example of a more sophisticated sole practitioner who founded his own practice in 2012 in Irvine, California soon after graduation. Robertson had firm experience working as a law clerk and summer associate in law firms, but he was otherwise newly minted from Chapman University School of Law.
Robertson identified a practice area early on and ensured clients in this area were more flexible around their choice of lawyers, typically what we are starting to refer to as public-facing law. He also adopted exclusively an alternative fee arrangement model, taking on contingency fee files only. Of course Robertson also recommends planning in advance, building a website immediately, joining legal organizations and list-serves, and developing a robust referral network.
The rest of Robertson’s advice is largely attitudinal. Even though many think that it’s insane, Robertson advises persistence,
Many attorneys are pessimists by nature and love to tell people what they can’t do. They never tried it so they don’t know. If you believe them, there is zero chance you’ll succeed.
Most importantly, clients do not care about any of the things that lawyers seem to care about like grades, class ranking, law review, or even how old you are. Clients care about competence and value.
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