Re: Going Solo

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On 11/06/06, Carol wrote:
> On 11/03/06, Kristi wrote:
>> On 10/24/06, Carol wrote:
>>> Probate is good money and
>>> fairly easy, but you put a lot of work into it before you see the attorney fees
>>> on the other end.
>>
>> Just to throw out a slightly different view....
>>
>> When I worked for a local solo, she actually got an advanced fee on the probate
> work
>> of $1500.00 up front before she did any work. Conveniently, she never returned any
>> of it (even if she had to "inflate" her bills - one of the reasons I left). Of
>> course, we don't get a percentage of the estate here, just hourly fees.
>>
>> Also, she did mostly consumer work (bankruptcy, estate planning, probate, elder
>> law), and got quite a bit of clients from her advertisement in the YP. She also
>> advertised in the local freebie paper (like a giant nickel) with some success.
>>
>> I'll be opening my practice in January to coincide with the phonebook coming out.
>> Wish me luck!
>>
> Interesting about the probate. in my state you can't get attorney fees on a probate
> case without the court's permission. I guess the YP is a matter of opinion. if you
> live in an area of large population then they may not be worth it, but if it's a
> small city or rural, just having your name under the attorney listing has got to get
> some business. if it's word of mouth, they have to be able to find your name
> somewhere. good luck with your practice, and don't let the naysayers here get you
> down. some of us can make it on our own and just because they couldn't doesn't make
> it true for everyone in the field.

Thanks Carol!

Washington has a pretty easy probate procedure - if the probate is non-intervention
(I've never seen an intervention probate - not that I've been doing this long), then,
the only court filings on a probate is starting the process through the petition, oath
and order (usually ex parte), and finalizing it through the declaration of completion.
Probably hurts the revocable living trust industry, through.

Hopefully YP will pay off - we're in a relatively small area here (not like Seattle).
Guess I have to wait and see.

Kristi