Re: Starting hourly pay?

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It's a low offer, but I would go with it. What do you have to
lose? The practical experience will be worth it. Try it for 6
months.

On 3/17/06, Kristi wrote:
> Thanks to those who responded (especially Carol) w/o getting
> into a fight with LawGuru.
>
> As a follow up: I met with the attorney in question, and she
is
> offering $20 per hour for 24 hours a week for p/t employmet
with
> the potential of profit-sharing down the road. I think I would
> learn a lot in her field (estate planning/probate
> administration) - but unfortunately have no idea what the local
> rates are around here for comparison.
>
> My goal is to open a solo practice. I'm confident that I'm
> smart enough to do it, and I have some financial reserves
> (though not $50K!). Is it worthwhile to work with this solo
for
> a while to see how a practice is run, and get some client
> contact and experience (of which I have zilch), or should I
> decline the offer and continue with my plan to open up a
limited
> practice in September? For those of you who have worked with a
> small firm, or have gone straight out and formed your own
> practice, what would you advise?
>
> (BTW-I want to work p/t since I have a 3 year old at home, and
> really don't want to work f/t yet. He'll be in school soon
enough).
>
> Thanks again for any advice!!
>
> kristi
>
>
> On 3/15/06, Carol wrote:
>> On 3/14/06, Kristi wrote:
>>> My question to the more positive members of this group ---
>>> (i.e., those not going into investment banking at the first
>>> opportunity or lamenting his decision to go to law school).
>>>
>>> I may be working for a solo practioner in the
>>> bankruptcy/probate admin./estate planning field in a
>>> relatively small town (~70,000).
>>>
>>> What is a realistic hourly rate for a part-time attorney?
>>> What about part-time independent contract work? I'm not
>>> totally new (lots of research & writing experience, but no
>>> client experience and new to these fields). I'm thinking
>>> $25-$35 for the contract rate, but not sure about p/t
>>> employment rate.
>>>
>>> Thanks in Advance for any advice!
>> I guess it depends on what part of the country your small
>> city is in. The area I practice is very economically
>> depressed and consequently pay rates are much lower than
>> those in areas that are more affluent. Does the part time
>> carry any benefits? What exactly is the IC work? If you're
>> doing it as an attorney I would think that it should be
>> close to the going hourly rate of the local attorneys. The
>> solo may not be able to pay that though and so if you really
>> want the work you may have to decide to opt for less than
>> you're really worth. I think $25-$35 (is that hourly for
>> attorney work) on the one hand sounds pretty cheap, but
>> that's where many new attorneys start out in a firm aorund
>> here. So actually that's pretty reasonable.