MAKE IT YOUR OWN LAW FIRM

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Contents

Foreword.................................................................ixWhy I Wrote This Book....................................................xiiiAbout Me.................................................................xv1 Solo Practice: Do I Have the Right Stuff?..............................12 Leaving the Nest: Flying Solo from an Existing Job.....................213 Solo with Someone Else: Should You Have a Partner?.....................274 Now What? How, Where, and When Do I Start?.............................355 Staff : Hiring, Firing, When, Where, and How...........................376 The Office.............................................................577 Marketing: How to Get and Keep Clients.................................698 When Will I Know if I Have Made It?....................................819 Money and Things.......................................................8710 A Word about Staying Ethical..........................................9111 Staying Healthy.......................................................9712 Quitting..............................................................9913 Social Networking.....................................................10714 Every Lawyer Needs a Mentor...........................................11315 Final Thoughts and One More Golden Rule...............................117Appendix: Sample Partnership Agreement...................................119

Chapter One

Contrary to the advice of my editor, I am going to give you the number-one secret to success as a solo practitioner right here in the first paragraph of the first chapter. Once you know this secret, you might simply close the book and never buy it. But, here it is, and it's free: you have to really, really, really want to be a lawyer.

Most people I know went to law school because they could. They had the brains, the money, the time, no other option, no easier option, or were bored at their first jobs as teachers, accountants, or doctors. Few people I knew in law school, if anyone, had the foresight to know what exactly they were working so hard to become. Ask yourself the following questions and rate your score on a scale of 1–10; 1 = Don't Agree and 10 = Totally Agree:

1. I like to help people. ______

2. I like to spend hours reading. ______

3. I like to work in a very stressful environment. ______

4. I am willing to work night and day and weekends and holidays. ______

5. I like to be in contentious and adversarial relationships with people. ______

6. I like to work under deadlines. ______

7. I like to multitask. ______

8. I like to win. ______

9. I can handle losing without losing it. ______

10. I like to follow rules, even those I do not agree with. ______

While these ten questions are by no means an exhaustive list, I can assure you that there is probably not a law school in the country that has these questions on its application. If there is, please let me know. One reason for this is that the people who make the decision as to who should attend law school have never been lawyers, or they practiced so long ago that whatever they once knew has been erased by time and the reserved parking spaces given to law school administrators.

Let's take a minute to consider just the first statement. "I like to help people" might seem like a no-brainer and an obvious yes. Really, Spencer, how could you even ask such a dumb and obvious question? Okay, let's see how dumb it is. Get your pencil out and fill in the blanks below:

I have demonstrated that I like to help people in the following three ways in the last year:

1. I have _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

2. I have _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 3. I have _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

If you are struggling to complete just the first sentence honestly, then consider this: you can still be a lawyer and make a living—maybe even a great one and one far more lucrative than my own—but will you be happy?

Rosa Romero was my secretary for almost six years. I learned a lot from this lady, who had only a high school diploma and no legal skills when I hired her. She told me often, as I complained about this or that, that for me, being a lawyer was never really "work" since I loved doing it. And she was right. So if you are looking for work or a job or a get-rich-quick scheme, close this book now. I will not be offended. (In fact, I won't even know!)

I say this in seminars I give and see people squirm in their seats. I have seen them close their laptops and walk out. They are doing themselves and their clients a favor. If you were a client, would you rather have a lawyer who was brilliant but hated being a lawyer and did not care for you, or a lawyer with average smarts who loved being a lawyer and really cared for you?

Why does caring for people matter so much, anyway? What if you care only about money or watches or cars? If you care only about money or cars, you should be in the business of business, not the business of providing a legal service to people. For me, that is what being a lawyer has always meant. Being a lawyer means trying to help people who cannot help themselves for whatever reason. My practice has been limited almost from Day One to helping the injured (or those who at least thought or convinced me that they were injured). Most of my clients in Miami do not speak English, have little or no formal education, and just happened to be in the wrong place (at least, as far as I was concerned) at the wrong time.

The same applies to those charged with a crime, going through a divorce, or filing for bankruptcy. These people need to be cared for.

So you want to be a lawyer? There are many different types of attorneys. Do you know what type you want to be? First, do your homework. How many lawyers do you know, and what do they do? Answer the following questions:

I know a lawyer named ______________ who practices ______________ law.

I like/dislike this lawyer and do/do not want to live like him/her. (Circle as appropriate.)

Keep answering this question until you find a lawyer whose practice suits you.

I guess I was lucky that I found my calling, but many are not. The streets are lined with unhappy and unemployed law school graduates, and the towers of offices in our cities are filled with lawyers who feel stuck in their jobs. Once you have dependents like a spouse, partner, kids, and parents, the ability to get yourself out of your mistaken career choice is even harder, if not impossible.

This is your first case: figure out in which area of practice you want to work. If you have no idea, answer the following questions with either yes or no:

1. I would prefer to spend my day in the courtroom in front of a judge and jury battling it out. _________ 2. I would prefer to spend my day in the library, never seeing anyone but...