The Dreams of a Solo

Lawyers Appreciate...Family

I have been tagged by Carolyn Elefant of MyShingle.com and author of the upcoming book, Solo by Choice, to participate in the Second Annual "Lawyers Appreciate" holiday meme.  It is always fun to add my two cents to the growing number of outstanding law related bloggers out there. 

My response to the Lawyers Appreciate question came almost instantly to me after reading Carolyn's post and the kickoff post on Life at the Bar.  I do everything that I can possibly do for family.  That is not just limited  to my family since I have focused my practice in areas that aim to help families plan for the certainties in life and to keep family money in the family.  With that being said, my main motivation and therefore the thing I appreciate the most day in and day out is the family to which I belong.  It is the reason that I decided to start my own law practice.  The ability to easily rearrange one's schedule and to handle a specific type of legal matter allow me to make time to enjoy family.  It is often said that we sometimes take certain things for granted and we fail to appreciate them until they are gone.  I would be lying if I said that was not true, at least to some degree, for me. 

It is easy to take a spouse, a sibling, a parent, or a child for granted because they are family and family is always there for you.  Well, the truth is always, by definition, does not apply to mortal beings such as you and I.  Each day is special because it is the here and now.  Our tendency is to worry about the future and dwell on the past, while we fail to appreciate the present.  I am an optimistic guy.  I can find the silver lining in almost any situation.  Yet, I have a tendency to get too wrapped up in what will happen a thousand tomorrows from today.  It is a byproduct of the whole planning mindset.   One thing that we can try and try to plan for is life.  It is a good idea if we can maintain a strong handle on the reigns, because if we do not the things right in front of us that we hold so dear will not receive the attention they deserve.

Thus, for me the things I appreciate the most are my family.  I could not do what I do without the love, support, and companionship of my wife, Karyn.  I cannot imagine life without my ten brother and sister-in-laws, my three siblings, my two sets of parents and my nieces and nephews.  The timing of this meme with the Christmas season is appropriate.   I know the main reason I as a Christian celebrate Christmas is because of the birth of Jesus, but in so many ways the Holidays are about family to me.  I had the opportunity to spend the Holidays with both sides of my family and I am very thankful for that.

To that end, I must fulfill the second part of the meme by tagging three other bloggers.  Those three bloggers are Michael Grossman at Practical Lawyering, Grant Griffiths at Home Office Lawyer, and  Long Duong  at Home Office Envy.  As Carolyn mentioned in her post, please feel free to jump in even if you haven't been tagged by posting on your blog or if you don't have a blog by posting a comment below.  Thanks and Happy New Year to all of you and your families.

Start implementing your plan for 2008

At the time of this blog post we have exactly 11 days left in 2007.  Most of us have spent the last couple months if not the last year laying out our plan for 2008.  Just as plans do not completely take shape over night, they are also not implemented automatically when the clock strikes midnight on January 1st.  That is probably a good thing since we would be caught a bit off guard in the middle of signing Auld Lang Syne and drinking champagne (or sparkling grape juice).  The fact remains that the best laid plans will be relegated to recycled paper if we do not implement our ideas.  While the plan may specifically pertain to things that happen in 2008, my advice would be not to wait that long to get started.

I always hear people say things like, "I'd like to hit the ground running" or "I'd like to get the ball rolling" in terms of business dealings, starting a law practice or business, changing jobs, and implementing plans.  It is natural to have the strong desire to eliminate the lag time between planning and implementation.  I know that I had that mindset myself earlier this year as I moved towards my July 1st launch date.  It would have been somewhat demoralizing to open the doors of my law firm and not to have any legal work to do.  Most plans are abandoned because of the demoralizing effect even a very short lag time between implementation and the desired results.  All I can say in that regard is that most if not all plans take hard-work and determination to see them through.  Just as the failure to plan is planning to fail, failure to work hard is like giving up. 

My biggest challenge in life is taking things from the idea stage to implementation.  Sometimes that is a good thing because I am an idea guy or to put it another way I am high in ideaphoria as discussed by Stephanie West Allen on idealawg in the post, "This is your lawyer brain on blogs."  If I implemented the majority of my ideas I would not have the time or energy to see any of them through to conclusion.  So we pick and chose our spots.  That is the point of this post.  To get all of us mentally ready to make 2008 our best year ever.  I have compiled my list of goals for 2008 and I have outlined the specific things that I will do to accomplish those goals.  My advice would be to limit the overall list to around 10 specific goals.  Maybe you have a revenue, expenses and profit goal.  Maybe you want to spend more time with family.  Maybe you want to establish a more regular blogging schedule.  Once you zero in on your specific goals take it a step farther and brainstorm ways you can accomplish them.  As always I will keep you posted as to my progress and I look forward to hearing from you as well.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or just Happy Holidays in general.  Here's to a great 2008!!      

Google Search: Why solo practices do not work

One of my favorite ways to brainstorm new topics for this blog is to look at my visitor stats to see the searches that those visitors are running that are leading them to this site.  When I was looking at search stats a few weeks ago I noticed that someone ran a search for "why solo practices do not work" (without the parenthesis) in Google.   This particular search struck me for a variety of reasons including the obvious objection that you can assume I have to that statement in the first place. 

Now I don't know the context in which the searcher was conducting his or her search, but I can imagine what that context might be.  The searcher may have been investigating the possibility of opening her own law firm and she wanted to research the main issues that solo practitioners faced with the intent that she would address these issues upfront.  The alternative and more pessimistic interpretation may be that the searcher was framing her search to fit her preconceived notion that solo practice were destined for failure.  If the latter was the case then I suspect this searcher was not one I would include in my "aspiring solo," "solo dreamer" or "soon-to-be solo" category.  But let us assume that she ran the search as part of her planning to start her own law practice.  I think that is an excellent idea.  Any new business owner should address the known issues that other similarly situation owners have faced in the past.   

My take is that solo law practices are not destined for failure, but then again I am a bit biased in that regard.  Starting you own law firm is not an easy task, but it is also not impossible.  It is different than working in an established firm with other attorneys.  Often times you will have many more responsibilities as a solo attorney than you did as an associate or partner.  Again, that way be different but it isn't anything you cannot overcome.  All I can say in closure is that I hope she found what she was looking for and I hope that she continued to lay the foundation for her solo practice. 

The Mitchell Report is Out: What a bad day for Baseball

This is not the latest breaking news but Major League Baseball has received and published the contents of Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's report regarding steroid use in baseball.  A PDF version of the report can be found on ESPN.com by following this link:  Mitchell Report.  The report is gigantic (409 pages including exhibits and attachments).  Senator Mitchell was assisted by the law firm of DLP Piper US LLP.  The commissioner's office and Major League Baseball were represented by the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP.  The Mitchell Report names a ton of past and present MLB players.  I have not personally tallied the results but the early estimates put that number somewhere between 60 and 90 players.

I understand that this is not a story that each and every person or even every baseball fan cares about.  But it is a big deal in my opinion.  I am a baseball fan and I have been my whole life.  I am also a stickler for rules and laws.  The truth is that many, many players cheated and broke the law to enhance their physiques or to recover more quickly from injuries.  It will be very interesting to see how the chips fall at the end of the day.

The one law related question that I have at this time is how much do you think the two law firms were paid for their representation and assistance in this matter?  I cannot even imagine what those legal bills look like.  It is too bad that Commissioner Selig or Senator Mitchell did not call me to retain my services.  I would have been happy to help out. 

My Lessons from The 4-Hour Work Week

There are a couple of reasons for my lengthy absence from this blog during the middle of November that I have not shared with all of you.  One is that I have been very busy actually practicing law.  Second, me and the in laws took a family vacation over the Thanksgiving holiday.  The vacation covered three important events.  The first event was a birthday celebration for my brother-in-laws girlfriend, Courtney.  The second event was my birthday (29 in case you cared).  The third was Thanksgiving.  The reason I mention this is because I received Timothy Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Workweek from my mother-in-law for my birthday.   I have to give you a strong word of warning to those of you happy and content with your current job or business:  DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU WANT TO QUIT YOUR CURRENT JOB.   I do not believe that I am saying anything that Mr. Ferriss would object to.  After all he basically says the same thing in his disclaimer on the back of the book.  In any event, I read the book.  Actually I read the book faster than any book I have ever read before.  I have not been as interested in the subject matter of a book in my entire life.  Much of the book will drive you crazy as Mr. Ferriss discusses how he created a business and lifestyle that affords him extraordinary luxuries all around the world while working very few hours in a day or week.  I for one applaud his effort.  As my father-in-law would say "Good for him." 

The point of this post is not only to draw attention to this book, but to take Mr. Ferriss' thoughts and apply them to my real-world law practice.  It became evident to me today at around lunch time that I needed to take the next step or two in the growth of my law practice.  There is no doubt in my mind that what I am about to say may not be received with unanimous approval.  But that does not mean it should not be said.  I have reached a point, actually I reached this point a few weeks ago, where I need to make a couple of decisions about the direction of my firm.  I need to bring on someone to help me with the administrative and business/accounting/tax related tasks that a business needs to complete so I can focus almost exclusively on billable work.  The overwhelming theme bouncing around my head is the idea of
outsourcing and I trace that back to my recent read of Mr. Ferris' book.  There comes a time in the business cycle of any growing business where the principal needs to take his or her hands out of every project and delegate.  Otherwise I am looking at the prospect of performing additional work without being able to bill and collect revenue for it.  Many solo bloggers that I frequently read have decided to remain what I call a "true solo", meaning they do not have any employees.  That may work for some, but it does not work for me.  I know, I know, I'm just creating the same type of machine with the same type of overhead as the other more traditional law firms.  Maybe.  I see it as being more involved than that.  I need someone else to assist me with the growing volume of my practice.  I also need someone to help me with the payroll and bookkeeping that will come with an additional employee and additional income.  It is a good problem to have this early into solo practice.  Now it just a matter of running financial projections and to decide on a course of action.  By the beginning of 2008 I will have a part-time assistant and I will have retained a CPA firm to assist me with the bookkeeping and accounting matters.  I anticipate that this will free up almost 10 hours a week of my time.  I cannot argue with those opportunity cost projections.