Re: Moving office into my house

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I agree.

Especially since one man just posted about a secretary. It's 8 years and
he's still carrying debt from law school.

Solo practice?

I have a friend who's a solo in a very poor county in southern NY. Yes,
he's well-established and makes good money. The new BK law doesn't affect
him much because this county is so damn poor most people pass the Means
test easily.

He grosses over $200,000 a year. He went over his P&L with me. But his
expenses are outrageous. Advertising alone is over $1000/mo. Rent ~ $500.
Insurance (malpractice) ~ 500 and it goes *up* every year, because you've
worked on more cases.

Etc. Phone/copy/fax. And notice I left out his health insurance and
Worker's Comp, etc.

Secretary.

He told me his breakeven in BK's is $4500/mo.

This is an *established* solo who's made it.

He is the exception, not the Rule.

I seriously doubt anyone on here is actually making any money. And by
that, I mean showing a "reasonable" profit vs. hours put in. If so, then
post some figures instead of: Helping the community is great, etc. No one
cares about anyone. What counts is money, being able to pay bills and to
eat. On top of that, after attending law school and racking up massive
debt for 3 years, I think it would be nice to be able to pay that down
and afford a reasonable semi-lower middle-class lifestyle. And I doubt
most of you can even do that.

One guy in my area just went solo after working for a firm as an
Associate making maybe $55-60K. Now, I'll bet he's lucky if he is
dargging in $600/wk on a steady basis. That's a big, big difference
between a regular paycheck. No rent. Expenses paid. And health insurance.

Lastly, If someone couldn't handle a bunch of idiot kids as a teacher,
what makes them think law will be any better, or less stressful? Couple
that with the debt and uncertainty of the profession.

L has been there. None of you, with few exceptions, are. Not even for 3
years. And to those that are established I, like The Man, challenge you
to honestly post your monthly NET.

On 7/27/06, The Man wrote:
> I'd like to see the tax returns for all of the solos who post here. I
> would bet that less than 10&37; made at least one penny in 2005.
>
>
> On 7/26/06, L wrote:
>> On 7/26/06, Carol wrote:
>>
>>> I'm not getting rich, but I'm doing something that I love (most
>>> days). In rural areas, there are no firms. There's one office in
>>> a nearby small city that actually has 5 attorneys in it, but in
>>> this area most are partners or solos. And there's plenty of work
>>> for all of us. It's hard, it doesn't pay real great but you can
>>> really make a difference and be part of the community.
>>
>> There are so many solo's even in small towns, I wonder who they all
>> make their living:
>>
>> http://www.abanet.org/soloseznet/threads/0504/quittingpractice.html
>>
>> What's the hassle for if you make less than a public school teacher?