Re: Startup costs of my own practice are not the problem, bu

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Carl,

Check out solosez and myshingle.com for more inspiring messages and persons
more positive about solo practice (and I swear I have nothing to do with
these sites - solosez is through the aba and myshingle.com is a blog that
has been around for 4 years by Carolyn Elefant - not me).

BTW - I think it is a great question that has not been adequately addressed
lately.

-Kris

On 12/01/06, rrr wrote:
> On 11/30/06, Carl Jackson wrote:
>> Okay, consider me somewhat scared away from the prospect of a solo or
>> small practice with a friend. I consider myself to be in a niche area
>> of law where there aren't a lot of attorneys doing it (although there
>> are a lot of attorneys in general where I live). But the thought of
>> burning through my savings and credit scares me. I wonder if it is
>> all possible to do it the way you are doing it - teach or have some
>> other full-time or part-time job so you have regular income, then take
>> on clients gradually?
>
> Yes and no. Depends on your niche. Many practicing attorneys teach as
> part-time adjuncts at various schools. They see it as a profitable form
> of advertisement and resume builder. You get paid to meet clients and
> potential client referrals. (Beat that you filthy vendors...lol)
> Unfortunately Adjunct pay isn't always very good. I've seen rates as low
> as $20 per credit hour (Fort Collins, CO--- yeah that Masters Degree
> really paid off there), but you can swing up to $50 a credit hour in some
> situations. The payoff is that you meet and create credibility quickly
> with many people. The downside... teaching sucks and most of them are
> poor. As for being a full-time college instructor, a full time schedule
> makes practicing law on the side difficult. But if you hustle you can
> make $60K a year with Friday, Sat, and Sundays off, so if you have a
> Niche that can be handled working Fridays/Sats only, then yeah teaching
> while practice building is possible. Do you have a niche where your
> clients are willing to hire a part-time attorney?
>
> Let me guess... you looked at your Rolodex and realized... "oops, I don't
> really have any potential clients".