Each week, the ABA e-report has been featuring some of the runner up entries in its Ross Essay Contest. One of this week’s essays, Opening My Mouth by Elizabeth Streit caught my eye. Streit doesn’t write about solo practice; she’s a government litigator. But what she’s written about how government practice transformed her life as
Inspiration & Encouragement
Making the Legal Profession Better, One Solo at a Time
You don’t have to join an organized pro bono program or set a grand mission like getting rid of the billable hour to improve the practice of law. Jennifer Sawday of the California Estate Planning Blog is changing the practice of law just by being in practice, by charging fair rates and doing a good…
Ten Ways to Get Motivated
Fellow blogger Allison Shields of Legalease Consulting wrote this article in this month’s ABA Law Practice Management magazine on ten ways to get motivated. Suffice it to say that the article worked well enough to get me to put up this post!
You Deserve to Be A Happy Lawyer
Maybe, we can’t all be as happy as this lawyer. But we shouldn’t give up on finding happiness in our profession and this week, a couple of bloggers have some suggestions on how to make that happen. First up, Dave Swanner offers a post, Do You Enjoy Practicing Law? where he gives som ideas on…
A Public Interest Law Firm Solo
So, you want to work in public interest, but can’t find a position or afford to take one? Why not start your own firm instead, with a public interest firm on the side? That’s what Scott Levine of Aegis Professional Services did as reported in this article, Scott Levine Fulfills dream of starting public interest…
I Have Been Crazy-Busy
This past month has been crazy-busy, but busy in a good way. Many new opportunities have come my way and I’m optimistic about what’s ahead. But I’ll be the first to tell you that my practice has not always been this way. I’ve had slow months when I felt frustrated enough about earning the equivalent…
Do What You Love
Via Stay of Execution and Rob Hyndman comes this link to a great piece by Paul Graham on
How to Do What You Love. Because after all, that advice to “do what you love” is easy, it’s finding what you love and figuring out how to do it that’s a life work.
If Williston Could Wobble Back, Maybe There’s Hope for All of Us
Someone on the Solosez listserve posted a link to this article from the Harvard magazine on Samuel Williston, 20th century legal scholar, Harvard law professor and author of an authoratative contracts treatise. But though Williston worked late into his life, he suffered a nervous breakdown in his mid thirties that almost derailed his career. The…
A Forty Year Small Firm Career
This article, Lincoln Lawyer Balances Business, Passion (12/25/05 – Lincoln Journal Star) profiles Lincoln, Nebraska lawyer Herb Friedman’s forty years of small firm practice, which included arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court and pioneering television advertising in his state. Now 70, Friedman has no plans to retire and reflects on his career…
Are You Desperate Enough to Succeed As A Solo?
Desperation isn’t the greatest trait to display if you’re trying to meet a mate. But if you want to succeed in starting a law firm, desperation, or more accurately, the willingness to do something absolutely desperate to bail out a case or save your firm can serve you well. I was reminded of the power…