Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Truean]

Bad idea, never mind.

[ChairmanPoo]

For what my lawyer friends have told me, going alone is tough unless you build up a reputation, which is done by working in someone else's buffette and/or making contacts by becoming a state attorney.

Then again, my lawyer ex did set up her own firm last year out of nowhere....

Then again, she is likely getting lots of parental support....

[Aqizzar]

Just getting your name in the yellow-pages and maybe putting out an advertisement is a good start.  I know from experience that a lot of people don't know any lawyers or anyone who knows a lawyer.  So when they need a will or deed or minor criminal defense, they start thumbing through the yellow-pages and Google, and call around for a good offer.  Provided you offer a competitive price, and maybe have an alphabetically high-up name, you should get some amount of initial customers.  And y'know, tell everyone you know and get on all the lists and stuff.

Make sure you talk to the actual local people working in the city/county/state offices.  You have to know how to deal with them.  They probably won't respect you much just coming out of school, but you have to get your name out there.  See if you can get fliers or notices up around the local bail-bond shops too, you have to go where the business is.

All that being said, you're probably going to work for someone else's firm, or a corporation, or public offices.  Starting out is like that.

[Astramancer]

Remember, while Aardvark Plumbing is clever, Aardvark Law is questionable.  If you're trying to be first alphabetically, pick something that at least makes sense.

Also, the government employs an awful lot of lawyers, and not just for trials, so if things get tight, you might as well try for a government job.

[Grakelin]

man lawyers suck why would you want to be one

[Tsarwash]

Surely you need to work for a law firm for a few years before setting up your own. It doesn't make sense to start open up having never worked for one before. This applies to all professions.

[Vactor]

Also, the government employs an awful lot of lawyers, and not just for trials, so if things get tight, you might as well try for a government job.

This is true, many, many, many lawyers work for the government and its variety of departments.  There are legislative departments that draft legislation, advise legislators, and draft budget proposals.  Lawmakers never (that i've seen working for the WI senate) draft their own bills and amendments.  Working for a reference bureau somewhere might not be the most glorious work for an attorney, but it will get your feet on the ground.

There are also the administrative departments, like your state's natural resources, work force development, health and services, ag, transportation, commerce departments.

State level government would be a good place to start looking.  Once the economy picks up the private sector will start cherry picking young talent back out of government jobs.

[hemmingjay]

My brother-in-law is a lawyer and the only way he could make starting a firm viable was partnering with another lawyer. The downside is that eventually everyone always realizes their partner is a dick and you have a messy split.

Another thing he said was if you don't get an offer before leaving school you will have a hard time finding a good job at a firm. Apparently law firms use the idea that all good lawyers are already working for someone and are much less interested in hiring someone who finished law school last year.

Just some info from new england.

[Graebeard]

So, yeah, I'm also a third year law student.  The job market is totally hosed right now.  It sucks.  I'm lucky enough to be one of the 10% - 15% of my class that has a job right now, and it still sucks because all my friends are in the same boat as you.

I can't offer any specific advice about putting out your shingle, but I do have a friend who graduated from Lewis and Clark in Portland a few years back and started doing exactly what you're talking about.  I think he's managing to pay his bills and not starve by picking up business from friends/networking and hanging out around the courthouse. If you want to PM me I can see about getting you in touch for advice.

Also, don't give up on the job search just yet.  It's unlikely that you'll find a big firm job, but smaller and mid-sized firms don't make hiring decisions nearly as early as big firms do.  It's entirely likely that some of those firms will have more work than they're staffed for come graduation time.  Keep those resumes going out and keep networking like crazy.

Ultimately, I believe the requirements for success are the same regardless of which task you have in front of you: interest, commitment, and ability.  Anyone who can pass the bar has the ability.  Just make sure that you maintain the commitment and interest despite initial setbacks.

[Zangi]

Hard business to build up alone....

Money needs to come from somewhere to keep you afloat.... for the first 2-3 years...
I can suggest trying to get a secretary / someone other then yourself to do the money collection from clients.

[nenjin]

If you ever do get partners, and you guys name the firm "Dewey, Cheetum & Howe" I promise I will seek you guys out the first time I need legal representation. Just so I can hear that read off to the court reporter.

[ChairmanPoo]

No, name yourselves Wolfram&Heart instead.

[KaelGotDwarves]

My friend who graduated undergrad from Stanford law and was stuck at a shitty law firm temp job basically shuffling paper recently lucked out and got hired by Google law technical assistance and now works at their Mountain View corporate, which is pretty much everyone's dream workplace.

I think the key is even though the job market is completely hosed, to continue throwing yourself out there and padding your resume. Make ends meet any way you can until you can strike it big.

[Truean]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=73871.0