You also need to set yourself up. I mean, while you might think you don't need an office, you will recieve snail mail. A PO box isn't going to cut it if you want a paperless office, right? You still need someone to scan all the incoming mail and shred it.
If there are so many lawyers down on their luck, why not start a law firm with a few of your buddies who can pull their own weight? You all pool your resources for office expenses, refer cases to each other if it's outside your specialty, etc. Sure you rely on each other, and you aren't absolutely free to do whatever you want, but it sounds more secure than going it alone.
Are you confident you know enough about running a law firm to do it yourself?
Well, I will certainly need an office and am already looking into that a year ahead of time with furnishings etc. So far I'm going for cheap rent. You want a lawyer or a place with a six story waterfall in the lobby? 'Cause don't think you're not paying those inflated fees for that waterfall....
Keyphrase: "who can pull their own weight?" Many unfortunately can't and believe it or not, it's usually the ones with GOOD grades who can't.... I spent four years of law school working for a lawyer, researching/writing/filing his motions. How're those alcohol catered socials and law library setup working for you other law student? Any clients in there? I mean seriously they do not know where the courthouse IS, much less what to do when they get in there. I had to literally tell them directions for a trail ad final exam in the court. You have to know which offices to go to in what order and what you're doing there, because the clerks will just look at your like the idiot you are if you're a lawyer and you don't know.... They do not teach court procedures in law school and you are sunk without that.
I am specifically worried that these other students will be behind me in practicality and knowing how to do things.
However, that said, I'd LOVE to find a decent lawyer to partner with. It is hard to do everything all at once and scheduling conflicts will inevitably arise. I simply can't be in two courtrooms at once. Also all the office expense splitting stuff you mentioned, but partners are like room mates. Simply, good ones are great, bad ones SUCK. If I can find the good one, then awesome. Otherwise, eh....
As far as core competencies, I have 'em. Criminal defense, wills, probate, real estate, family law-- been doing that for four years now as a clerk. Yeah, there are some things I' not as good at as my boss, but there you are.... He's been doing this for... we stopped counting after 30 years, hence the retirement.
Flat Fees: I dunno. This kind of works for me personally and I think it's a good idea for numerous reasons. First and foremost, the client knows exactly what to expect upfront, which is when I get paid, also good. It gives clients and myself more predictability. Well defined service contract means I determine the scope of the work beforehand and we agree to it. That way they tend not to feel cheated, because they knew what they were getting into (including the uncertainties of law) from the get go.
As an additional bonus to the client, it rewards my efficiency. Lawyers are crafty and who the crap are we kidding, not ethical really. Let's see, some dude comes into the office and is being sued. Now, he can handle this with a letter, but on an hourly billing schedule, that's what $200-$300? Yeah, or he could say, "investigate" a few more options to make sure nothing bad could happen and charge for 5 billable hours. That's $200 or $1000, which do you think the smart lawyer's gonna take? Keep in mind this is all perfectly legal for him to do. That's right, billable hours screw over the client. Also, I can do the work at the hour of the day I feel like it. Translation, more flexibility for me.
That said, I need to manage the risk of this. Lots of up front information is required. The scope of the services also needs to be defined. If I dig around and discover that your "simple real estate job" is the project from hell, guess what, the contract doesn't cover that. If I have to spend 30 hours digging around for records in the county archives to clear a 70 year old title problem, guess who's paying extra for that? That's right, and it's that way cause it wasn't part of the original contract. It's kind of like a change order in a construction contract.
I'm even cool with contingent fees, but the customer has to realize they personally bear certain risks in any legal setting. I get paid no matter what in criminal defense and it is ILLEGAL AS HELL to set up a contingency contract where the lawyer only gets paid if you get out of it. Lawyer gets disbarred and both lawyer and client might go to jail in this jurisdiction. Yeah....
It's a question of finances, operations, marketing and risk management.
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Topic: How to charge/bill in a new law firm? (Read 2883 times)