The Dreams of a Solo

The Year in Review Before it Happens

The title of this post is an impossibility on its face, but considering the news and events in my little world during the first two months of 2008 I am comfortable characterizing the "new year" before it runs its course.  It also helps explain, at least to some degree, why I have not come close to reaching my posting frequency goals for this year so far.  You see 2008 came as if it were dressed as the month of March for Halloween.  In case that analogy is too cryptic I mean to say that the year came is as a Lion with news of imminent changes from all sides.  The first bit of news is in regards to the addition of my friend and fellow attorney to my firm.  The second bit of news is in regards to my wife's family, who currently live in the same city, Appleton, WI, as we do.  I say currently because the news in early 2008 is that my in-laws will be relocating to North Carolina this summer.  This is certainly not a unique development when viewed in a vacuum, but it is unique to me and my wife.  Especially considering that my wife is one of 11 children.  In fact she is the second oldest and five kids are still in high school or below.  That makes the move much more difficult for my wife and for me, since our decision to relocate to Appleton a couple of years ago was largely based on our desire to be closer and more involved in the younger children's lives. 

Putting all the emotional implications aside that brings me to the physical implications of moving.  The last month or so has seen many changes in preparation for the main task in the relocation process:  selling a house.  I was not blessed with a handyman upbringing and I will be the first to tell you that I am still not the most skilled craftsman around the house.  But, I owned and sold a house in Milwaukee and I currently own a house in Appleton.  I guess the joy of home ownership has allowed me to find time to explore various projects around each house over the last four years.   It also doesn't hurt that I truly enjoyed tinkering and working on these household projects.  So over the last four weeks I have painted three rooms, fixed some cedar siding, and patched a bit of drywall to help get the house in showing condition.  The good news is that the house is ready to show and it is listed for sale by owner as we speak.  I am not mentioning this to vent or to garner sympathy, because I do enjoy helping out, especially when it makes life easier for my family.  It has just been a busy start to 2008.

With all the non-business related developments taking up the lion's share (pun intended - see above) of this post, I would be remiss to not mention the law firm related developments that have also occupied a great deal of my time.  So far 2008 is shaping up to be right in line with if not exceeding expectations.  I had set a client and financial goal at the beginning of the year for the end of February in preparation for the addition of Nick to my firm.  I am happy to say that I have met both of those goals and we have started to transition him into the fold through a couple long-distance projects.  Being a numbers guys it helps me to maintain working budgets and financial models that I can routinely update and review.  That is also why I set goals relative to number and/or types of clients and finances. 

In the end I have no doubt that I will look back on 2008 just as the PGA Tour players look at Saturday during the Master's Tournament at Augusta National.  The players and the commentators call it "Moving Day."  I think it would be appropriate to rephrase it "Moving Year" in our case, but the meaning is still the same.  Life and my law firm have to keep moving forward even if it appears that chaos is everywhere.  I have found that the best compass during times where everything seems to be moving at a million miles and hour in different directions is a well-thought out business plan.  I have relied heavily on mine over the last three months and I anticipate that reliance continuing into the foreseeable future.  If nothing else it takes me back to a time when I could more easily separate the rational from the irrational.  Either way 2008 should be a great year.  And if my analogy is correct that would make next year Sunday at the Master's, which is where championships are ultimately won or lost.  It should be fun.

The Mind of a Solo Attorney

To be quite honest I wish that I could even partially deliver the pinnacle article in regards to the mind of a solo attorney, but I am no expert on the mind of all solos.  However, I like to think of myself of an expert of sorts in regards to my own mind.  Some may dispute that rather bold statement, but the reality is I have the stage and if you are reading this you have chosen to listen so I feel at liberty to speak my piece.

The most evident characteristic of this solo's mind is the unending desire to be at the helm.  The main reason that I start my own law firm was that I wanted to control my own destiny.  To put it another way I wanted to have the ball in my hands as time ticked off the clock.  Maybe I tolerate risk better than most or maybe I am confident enough to transcend the doubt.  Whatever the reason may be I refuse to accept that anyone must accept employment when they can create their own opportunities.  Let us think about this for a second.  We have to admit that there comes a time when an employer's and an employee's interest somewhat part ways.  Truthfully, that may happen sooner as opposed to later.  If we view the development of the skills necessary to actually build a successful law practice, meaning the acquisition of and delivery of legal services to quality clients, as the promised land for up-and-coming attorneys, then we can more easily see why the employer's and the employee's interest disband.  Once the attorney learns that he or she can find paying clients and deliver results, the attorney no longer needs the "security" of the law firm job.  So why would the law firm properly train the attorney to reach the promised land if it meant that the attorney may wake up one day to realize all of this?  That's easy...they wouldn't.  So I decided to do it myself.

After reading that you may think that I am overconfident, naive, or just a rebellious youth.  Some of that may be true, but I only take offense to the naive characteristic because I do whatever I can to be informed and cognizant of the business of law.  I know enough to know that I don't know much.  That is why I spend as much time as I can improving, researching, and evolving.  Nothing makes me happier than to hear positive feedback from satisfied clients, but a close second would be when a client or a contact tells me that they are my clients because they trust me and because I routinely breakdown the stereotypes associated with attorneys.  I am just a guy that happens to get paid to provide legal services.  I don't refer or introduce myself as Attorney Nathan Dosch and I don't display my degrees and credentials on the wall.  As I've said before, I would put my work-product up against anyone, so this isn't meant to say that I take the provision of legal services lightly.  In fact, I take the legal profession very seriously and it is a privilege to practice every day.  I wish more attorneys looked at it this way.  If that was the case maybe we wouldn't be the butt of so many jokes.

If I could provide a window into my mind I most certainly would.  Better yet if I could boil the mind of a solo down to one post that would be something.  What I will say is that having my own firm is the best way for me to practice law.  I would also say that going solo is not a feasible option for all attorneys.  Some will not be able to stomach the risk.  Others will not be able to self-regulate their time.  Still others do not understand or enjoy building a practice as opposed to just doing the work.  In part it goes back to the idea that practicing law and the business of law are somehow mutually exclusive.  From my perspective, as the owner of a small business that provides legal services, I have a difficult time believing that they are anything but one and the same.

The Temptation of Opportunity

I have discussed this phenomenon in the past but it deserves another post as we begin the new year.  When I first graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2004 I was fortunate enough to have a job waiting for me.  There was one large problem with this job though.  The firm focused entirely on civil defense litigation.  That is a somewhat kinder way of saying insurance defense and worker's compensation defense.  My desired practice area has always been estate planning, tax law and business law so it was no surprise that the fit just could not last.  My friends, law school classmates, and an attorney friend from outside the firm all new that I wanted to concentrate in different areas and they offered their opinions on how I could make that happen.  I will never forget my discussions with my attorney friend because he had graduated from law school ten years earlier.  Two years prior to our conversations he had left BigLaw to set up his own small law firm in the Milwaukee area.  But the memorable part of our conversation did not involve his small law firm, it involved his recollection of legal recruiters once he hit the three years of experience mark.  He mentioned that when he started practicing in a smaller firm in the Milwaukee area and continued at that firm for three or four years.  Once he had been there for three years he started receiving calls and emails from legal recruiters looking to fill positions at the larger law firms, financial institutions, or corporations. 

At the time I was looking at the three year mark as being two decades into the future.  I understood where I wanted to go and having to stomach three years of something other than that was unimaginable.  I did my best to ride out my time as a litigator.  I also did my best to add the experience, education and skills to make the transition from litigation to the transactional side.  Unfortunately, I did not make it to the promised land.  I left the firm after about a year and half.  This started a series of events that bolstered both my exposure to my desired practice areas and the length of the Legal Experience section of my resume.

In the end around the time I hit the three year mark I found myself plotting my escape from the job market entirely.  Then, out of the blue at a time which would make master conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone arise from a slumber, the prophesy came to be.  My phone rang and a couple of emails hit my inbox.  The recruiters had found me.  Opportunities appeared and continued to pop up for almost a year.  But I am done with that dog and pony show, right?  I planned to start a law firm and then I did start my law firm to get away from that stuff.  Unfortunately, opportunity has an interesting way of tempting my easily distracted mind.  I find myself routinely singing the lyrics from the band Squeeze's song Tempted, which go a little something like this, "Tempted by the fruit of another.  Tempted but the truth is discovered."   It is an easy trap to fall into when you contemplate starting and building a business.  The lure of a guaranteed income and greener pastures make a little click to attach a current copy of your resume to an outgoing email all the more easier. 

The best way around the temptation of opportunity in theory is to remain steadfast and dedicated to your solo law firm business plan.  In practice all it really takes is the fortitude to say "No thank you.  I'm not interested."  Viola, temptation averted.  Trust me as a solo attorney you will have enough to think about that is relevant to your business.  You do not need to occupy precious space in your mind with opportunities that you really do not want to think about in the first place.

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.

Traits and State of Mind of a Solo Attorney

There are a number of buzz words and catch phrases that one could use to sum up the essential personality traits and the required state of mind of a someone planning to open a solo law practice.  Some of those words or phrases that come to mind are self-motivated, a leader, energetic, hard-working, personable, confident, an outside-the-box thinker, a doer, resourceful, practical, motivated, etc.  I agree that most if not all of these traits can be rightly applied to a successful solo attorney.  But, like most things, words along are not going to make a person successful.  It is the act of doing and doing it well that will ultimately lead an attorney down the successful solo path.

As you can see from a few of my more recent posts I am currently in a stage where I am doing everything I can to understand the totality of a solo law practice.  More specifically, I feel the need and desire to understand the main things that make solo attorneys successful.  It is not so much what drives an attorney to open up his own law practice or what makes an attorney great at practicing law.  My focus is more on the traits and mental makeup of an solo entrepreneur.  My initial thought was to comment on the personality trait that I thought was the most essential tool in a solo's arsenal.  After spending some time thinking about that I still think that it is helpful to identify important traits, but it may be impossible to narrow it down to one or two.  If I could I would place confidence at the top of the list.  A close second would be a controlled sense of pride.  To some degree this traits run counter to one another from time to time.  However, I believe they can and must coexist. 

I have personally battled my entire life with the task of balancing these two traits.  I have always been confident in my abilities, but I have also been more hesitant to ask for help or to ask questions solely based on pride.  We do not want to look like are inept or unable to complete the task at hand.  At the same time being too proud can just create a very bad situation down the road.  It took me about six months after I graduated from law school to realize that I did not know anything about practicing law.  Sure I had a good start on thinking, reasoning, researching, and writing like at attorney, but the nuts and bolts of law practice were an absolute mystery to me.  I am not convinced that we ever truly get to a point where that is not the case to some degree.  After all we do call it the "practice of law," which carries the connotation that no one really masters the craft. 

People like to work with people that put their worries to rest.  Confidence plays a huge part in selling a person's abilities, qualifications and advice.  At the same time people do not like to work with people who are arrogant or stubborn.  My advice is to let your beliefs in yourself shine through.  Be confident in your ability to provide high quality legal services.  But do not be to proud and stubborn to admit that you may need help and that from time to time you may be wrong.  It turns out these are great traits to carry through to our everyday lives and relationships as well. 

Going Solo is Simple, It's Just not Easy

I borrowed the title of this post from a little wall decoration hanging in my kitchen that says "Life is simple, it's just not easy."  Boy that is the truth.  Life happens whether we are paying attention or not.  When you look at it that way it is not reasonable to analogize Life to Going Solo, but it is still an appropriate comparison for many reasons. 

The main reason I say Going Solo is simple is because all you need is a law license, a computer, a phone, a printer and an internet connection and you can open up your solo law firm.  When you look at what you actually need to buy, lease, or own to practice law the list is very short.  With that in mind I would say that all licensed attorneys already have the required assets to open a solo law practice.  The next and most important attribute is the desire and determination to make it successful. 

My perspective can be traced back to the period of time in my life that I found myself "technically" unemployed after the solo practitioner boss decided to close up shop after I had been working with him for two month.  At the time I had been out of law school for a year and a half and I was eager to make the transition from a larger litigation firm to an established small estate planning practice.  Needless to say things didn't work out for those plans since the solo attorney decided he wanted to return to his true solo roots.  For the next month I did what any self-respecting product of today's law school career service centers would do, I updated and sent out resumes and cover letters.  I was also taking classes towards my Master's degree in Taxation during that Fall semester.  It did not take long for me to realize that resumes and cover letters were sucking the life out of me.  On top of that I was constantly reminded by friends and family about my unemployed status.  Then it donned on me.  I was a licensed attorney, right?  I had a computer, a printer, and most importantly the time to practice law.  What then separated me from actually practicing law as a solo attorney?  Technically nothing separated me other than my own reluctance to take the plunge.  So instead of answering people's questions about my job hunt or perceived unemployment, I began telling people "Licensed attorneys are never technically unemployed as long as are willing and able to provide legal services."  With those words I unknowingly began my journey into solo law practice.  So armed with my new found confidence, my law license, and my home office equipped with a two year old laptop and an inkjet printer, I decided to take on a few small estate planning matters.  All told my first experience as a solo attorney was great.  But as it is often the case in life, irony decided to peer its ugly head.   After a few weeks out on my own I received a call back from a firm I had previously submitted a resume.  They were very interested and the kicker was it was back in my wife's hometown, Appleton, where we had always planned to move when she was done with school.  The prospect of a full-time job was very appealing to us as our situation at the time consisted of me finishing up my master's of taxation part-time and my wife finishing up her doctorate of physical therapy full-time.  We had a mortgage, student loans and no health insurance.  The call back and the next month and a half effectively quashed my solo dreams.  Life is simple, but the decisions we make are anything but easy.

I retreated from my original foray into solo practice for about 18 months.  That year and a half was filled with great opportunities, great people and great experiences.  On more than one occasion I thought about my one month of solo practice in the Fall of 2005.  In the end the voice in my head became too loud to ignore any longer.  Now I am going into my fifth month of solo practice.  Once again going solo was simple, but it is not easy.  It is a lot of work to build and run a solo law firm.  As the owner and managing attorney you are the face and driving force of the firm. 

If you look at a solo practice as the easy way to practice law or the easy way to make money, I would ask you to think again.  There is nothing easy about the practice of law or about making money.  If it were easy than logic would tell us more people would do it and be successful at it.  It is still work.  Most times it is a lot of work.  However, in my brief experiences as a solo attorney I have found that it is a more rewarding type of work than that of an employed attorney.  There is something to be said about building something with your own blood, sweat and tears.  There is also something about seeing your thoughts, actions and advice flying under the flag of your own law firm.

At the end of the day you just have to decide upon one of the many paths that are present at the proverbial fork in the road and then you have to stick with it.  I am convinced that life is whatever we desire it to be.  I asked a wish woman once what one thing she hoped to achieve during her lifetime.  Her answer has intrigued and baffled me for over 5 years including 3 years of marriage.  She said all she hoped for was to be content.  I asked why she didn't say that she wanted to be happy, since that is typically what everyone says.  She said that being content encompassed happiness and avoided the emotional roller coaster associated with never appreciating what you have.  When you decide upon a path and you dedicate yourself to following that path you may just be content with your pursuits.  It also helps you appreciate the things you have so that you don't take them for granted. 

If you are asking yourself if you can start your own solo law practice, then my answer would be that you definitely can.  But, do it because you have decided, wholeheartedly to take that path in life.  Also do yourself a favor and keep it as simple as you can.  Believe me you will be happy you did.

Reflecting on my First 6 Months of Blogging

This post is not as timely as I would have liked, but it is the best I can do to reflect upon my first six months of blogging. The picture to your right is supposedly a depiction of an ancient Mayan calendar. I am by no means an expert in Mayan history so I cannot confirm its authenticity. I chose that image because the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world as we know it on December 21, 2012 and I find that intriguing. I am not sure what the future holds, but I can be more certain in where we have been over the last six months. For instance, in March of this year under the cover of anonymity I started this blog to chronicle my journey into solo practice. It has been one heck of a run thus far.  The truth is I started this blog so I would have a forum for my thoughts, plans, difficulties, etc during the start up phase.  In addition to the benefit of keeping this journal, I also had the opportunity to learn and experience the blogging process.  I had read various blogs for months prior, but I had not commented much nor had I even thought about writing my own.  I hope to relay some of the things I have learned through my experiences with the Dreams of a Solo blog so you do not have to reinvent the wheel when you start blogging.

One of my first lessons came very early on in the process.  At the time I had what seemed like a million things to write about.  That hasn't changed by the way.  I still have a number of ideas for topics, but now I find it increasingly more difficult to find the time.  I quickly came to appreciate how much time it takes to maintain a regularly updated blog.  It was easier for me at the outset because I blogged about the things I was thinking about as opposed to blog topics that required additional research.  But at some point you will find the need and desire to provide links to the sources of useful information and your topics will inevitably require research.  The good news is that it will require you to get a head start on creating a time-management system.  When you run your own law firm like I do as a pure solo, it is your responsibility to do everything.  That means I have to maximize the number of available hours in the day in order to get everything done.  To this point I have made the law practice a priority, which it will always be, but that has come at the expense of this blog.  I am hoping to strike a balance that will allow for both going forward.

The second thing that I have learned is that other solo or law related bloggers are a great source of support and insight.  I have made a number of friends since I started blogging and most of those people I have never met nor spoken to in person.  My wife initially got a big kick out of the small community that the solo and law practice related bloggers have.  She thought it was like a little club.  To some degree it is, but I have not noticed that it is a private club with strict membership rules.  In fact it is just the opposite.  I cannot speak for any other solo or law practice bloggers, but I can say that I am always willing to answer your comments and emails.  I have even spoken with a few folks over the phone or met them in person.  I really just want everyone who aspires to be a solo attorney or build their own law firm to have the resources that need available to them.  I know I am not the most seasoned solo attorney in the world, but sometimes a different perspective is all you need to get going.

The third thing is how much different it has been since I decided to reveal my identity.  It was much more difficult than I thought it would be.  The cloak of anonymity provided another layer of protection.   As Solo Dreamer I felt more able to write anything, even my innermost thoughts and dreams.  I was just a bit too scared to allow myself to be so open.  The problem with my mindset is that I haven't been able to really articulate my thoughts, feels and goals and that has left me without a forum.  I hope to improve upon this in the future.  I enjoyed blogging about the ups and downs, although admittedly I enjoy blogging about the ups much more.  But the truth is for this information to be helpful it cannot be simply one sided.  It shouldn't paint a picture that is skewed by too much sunshine and roses.  Going solo is hard, but it is also very rewarding.

There are many more things I have learned about blogging and about myself in the last six months, but I believe it to be prudent to stop there for now.  All told it has been a great experience.  One that I would recommend to anyone, in any industry or way or life.  Give it a try and see for yourself.

Back in the Office Swing

I have good news.  I'm back in the swing of being productive while working out of my leased office space.  It is not a huge surprise to me.  Sometimes all you need is a little change of scenery to clear your mind and refocus on the task(s) at hand.  Speaking of the task at hand, I am developing the plan that I will begin to implement in over the next two months that will keep my law firm moving ahead.

One of the major developments is moving offices.  I am not talking about changing a physical address or anything.  Instead I am talking about literally moving offices in the same office suite.  One of the three solos that currently occupy our office will be moving out at the end of this month.  While it is never great news to see people part way, in this case it will certainly benefit the two of us remaining because it will allow us to once again have a dedicated conference room.

The second development is the presence of signage bearing the name of my firm in our building's lobby, inside and immediately outside of our office.  That probably comes as a shock to many of you since I have been in business at this location for three months and change, but we had not updated the signage.  Why?  Well, it has something to do with how quickly our landlord responds to our requests and partly because of the looming change involving the third solo.  It is hard to update a large sign when you do not know for sure which firms are going to be included.  In any event, the signage should be updated by the end of the month.

The third and final bit of news I have to share at this point is my plan to add a part time legal assistant / paralegal in the middle of November.  The woman I am bringing on board was an assistant with a firm I previously worked for.  She has since decided to go back to school in the area, so she is not seeking full-time employment after leaving the firm two months ago.  That works perfectly for me since I am only looking for 15 hours or so a week and she is already familiar with my practice.

I am looking forward to seeing these three developments in final form over the next two months.  All three will contribute in different ways to enable me to continue growing my practice.  It may be worthwhile to revisit each development in turn over the next month as they fully take shape, so I will share my observations at that time.

What would I do if another law firm offered me a job right now?

I asked myself this question just a few minutes ago as I was winding down another work day.  This is clearly a hypothetical for me right now, other than a few off the cuff comments I have heard from colleagues currently practicing as solos or looking to leave their current firms.  However, it is not outside the realm of possibility and I am quite confident that many solo attorney have had reason to ask himself or herself the same question.   Initially when I posed the question I didn't immediately yell out an answer, but as I thought about it more the answer was crystal clear.  I'm not going anywhere.  Why would I?  I love practicing law as a solo.  I am able to observe, explore and capitalize on opportunities much more quickly than even 3 or 4 attorney firms in my area.  Work-life balance is a realistic possibility in my world.  Direct client contact is an everyday occurrence.  Earning and income potential is only limited by my desire to work, or more specifically my desire to maintain an acceptable life balance.  The trade-off, or course, is foregoing the "security" of a regular paycheck.  However, after only two months of practice that trade-off is already as close to a non-issue as possible.  I can only imagine how inconsequential that will become as we move forward.  The moral of this story is simple:  If you have a dream and a passion for that dream, do not allow insecurity to stand in your way.   

Refocusing on the Task at Hand

After a less than dedicated couple of months in regards to this blog and to some degree failing to fully focus on the next steps in growing a law practice, I am using this weekend to reevaluate the overall situation.  The last part of this week has been very important for both my wife and me.  First off, she took her Physical Therapy Board Exam, which carries the same weight in her profession as a Bar Exam does in the legal profession.  So needless to say it is a really big deal.  When I wrote my introduction post yesterday I did so while sitting at a coffee shop in a Milwaukee suburb while she was taking her 5 hour exam.  I am guessing that I was more nervous and anxious during those 5 hours as I thought about my wife's test than she was.  I know I was more nervous and anxious about her test than about discarding my cloak of anonymity.

It is amazing what a day of reflection will do to help put things in perspective.  I had the opportunity to get out of the office and to take stock of the progress of Dosch Law Firm after 7 weeks.  My reason for continuing this blog without using the Solo Dreamer persona is two-fold.  First, this blog served the very important purpose of focusing my efforts during the planning process and I believe it important to extend that purpose to the ongoing and building stage of the process.  Second, if this blog can help even one soon-t0-be solo to set up or build a solo law practice, than it is well worth the time and effort.

With that I look forward to refocusing on the main task at hand, which will involve an increased blogging presence both here and on my practice related blog, Planning for Life's Certainties: Death and Taxes.  I would also like to thank fellow blogger, Grant Griffiths, for his advice and comments recently.  For those law office Mac users out there, if you have not already done so, join Grant's and Ben Stevens' Google Group, Macs In Law Offices (MILO).  With the quality of members in MILO including, Grant (The Home Office Lawyer), Ben (The Mac Lawyer), Sheryl Sisk Schelin (The Inspired Solo), and Finis Price (TechnoEsq) the sky is the limit as far as the resource that MILO is and will continue to be.  My apologies to the other 250 plus members that I have left off.  Each member and each contribution is important and that is why the MILO group will continue to assist those of us using Macs in our law practices.