April 30, 2012

Short Takes

Posted by Bruce under Ramblings | Tags: , , |
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A New Office

The rural lawyer is going to be a bit discombobulated for the next couple of weeks as the ol’ law office gets packed up and moved across town – well, it’s really only about 17 blocks between locations, but out here, that’s across town. Small town office space is often hard to find and good locations (easy access, up to date facilities) can be expensive and it is often a seller’s market, so when a bargain appears it is often worth taking a look. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I came across a deal too good to pass up and am now hustling to move in, so be prepared for a week or two of spotty posts.

Moving From Big Law to Small Town

Speaking of moving, I came across this great blog post by Shane Penfield. Mr. Penfield discusses his return to his home town in rural South Dakota and the challenges of being a small town lawyer.

Right Place, Right Practice, Right Time

An often heard complaint about being a small town lawyer is that small town lawyers don’t handle interesting cases. Well, for most of us, that may be true as we muddle through the banal legal matters that only impact an individual client, but there are those small town lawyers like Lawrence Piergallini who just happen to have the right practice in the right place and the right time. Mr. Piergallini’s Tiltonsville, Ohio practice is smack in the middle of shale gas country and he has become a leading expert in shale gas leases – representing land owners as they negotiate leases with oil and gas companies.

 

April 5, 2012

Rural Transformation

Posted by Bruce under Ramblings, Rural Practice, Technology | Tags: , , , , |
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To Imagine, To Create, To LearnThrough out America, rural communities are changing, evolving, and transforming themselves as they work to reverse the effects of  a few decades of outmigration, youth drain, and the general malaise of the rural economy. Big ideas whether from the rush to alternative energy (nothing helps an agrarian economy like $9/bushel corn) or the information economy sweeping in as high-speed internet slowly but surely marches into small town USA.

ReImagine Rural  explores how people are building a new future for rural communities. I can across ReImagine Rural thanks to Bob Morris’s post: I Guess I’m A Rural Lawyer — Go Figure. A great essay on where a rural practice can take you, even if you don’t know you’re a rural lawyer. Sarah Larson’s post: Downtown to Small Town: A “City Girl’s” Transition to Rural Practice also speaks to me as her path to rural lawyerdom mirrors mine. 29 years ago, This city boy married his college sweetheart, a wonderful gal whose soul was drawn to rural and wild places, and learned to enjoy rural life.

 

March 27, 2012

Serendipity and the Wild Paradigm

Posted by Bruce under Marketing The Practice, Ramblings, Rural Practice | Tags: , , , , |
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Barn Fire

Barn + Hay + Match = DISASTER

March is well on its way to being written up as a decidedly odd month; strangely dry, unusually warm, and replete with eccentric client requests – law school really does not prepare one for the question: “where can I get a good medical kit for disasters?” Now, from a client’s viewpoint, I suppose that a lawyer’s stock in trade does center around disasters – after all, when the average client walks through the door looking to hire a lawyer something in their life has really blown up in a big way – though I am not sure that there is a 1 to 1 mapping between being able to resolve disasters of a legal kind and being able to handle disasters mother nature throws our way.

Now, my search for a good medical kit lead me through the highways and byways of the internet and along the way, serendipity re-acquainted me with Don Lancaster (or at least a Don Lancaster inspired “nickel generator”). For those of you unfamiliar with the geek world’s paleolithic era (the 1970′s), Don Lancaster was an advocate for the concept of micro-scale businesses (at that time the tech world’s solo practitioner) arguing that it was only this type of business that was agile enough to recognize and react to the coming (remember, this is the 70′s) paradigm shifts. (more…)

 

March 5, 2012

Dear Joseph

Posted by Bruce under Being Solo, Ramblings, Rural Practice, Small Town Life | Tags: , , , , |
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Dear Joseph,

I hope you don’t mind the informality, Mr. Flanders seems a bit stiff for this blog (it’s more Carharts & Red Wings than Brook’s Brothers & Edmund Allens around here). First, thanks for the comment to Beyond Our Field of View; I am always flattered to know that someone other than spammers peruse my miscellaneous ramblings on rural law and rural lawyering. Now, to address some of your questions.

I don’t have a good definition of what or, more precisely, who a rural lawyer is. The prototypical rural lawyer lives and practices in a small town, yet some live in small towns but have offices in larger cities, and some live in larger cities and practice in small towns. By the way, “large” and “small” are relative terms depending on the area of the country you live in (what’s “large” out here on the prairie would look pretty “small” were it plopped down by Los Angeles – my guess is that there are more people in one block of downtown LA than there are in the small town I live in). If you are serving small town clients, you are a rural lawyer in my book.

There is nothing wrong with having both city clients and country clients. Donald Landon in Law Careers and Community Context: A Comparison of Rural and Urban Experience noted that to meet the entrepreneurial imperative of building a practice while still making a living, it was not unusual for rural lawyers to arrange their practice so that they drew clients from small towns as well as metropolitan areas – this is what practicing at suburbia’s edge is all about. No matter what, if you are starting a law practice, you are starting a business and you have to think first in terms of being an entrepreneur – unless you are blessed with a remarkably large personal fortune and practicing law just happens to be your way to do that “charity thing”, the point of this exercise is to make money, so take on city clients, country clients, or clients from other worlds (just be sure to get that retainer up front). (more…)

 

March 1, 2012

Beyond Our Field of View

Posted by Bruce under Ramblings, Rural Practice, Solo Out Of School, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , |
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In reality, serendipity accounts for one percent of the blessings we receive in life, work and love. The other 99 percent is due to our efforts. — Peter McWilliams

In his March 14th, 2011 article in Forbes, Glenn Liopis talks about the concept of earning serendipity – that by actively seeking out unexpected good fortune it becomes easier to reach out and seize that life changing opportunity. Mr. Liopis points out that in a country of boundless possibilities, we have become myopic; unable to see the opportunities available simply because we are unwilling to pull our focus away from our narrow definition of a successful career path.

While Mr. Liopis writes in general terms about this shift in mindset, I was reminded of the opportunities that lie out there in the dark of the night sky - those opportunities that await the lawyers willing to broaden their field of view and look towards small towns and small firms for that great career opportunity.

Now, I will be the first to admit that rural living and a rural practice are not for everyone – this is not a “go rural young lawyer” call to action. But, perhaps, as you lift your eyes from the metropolitan law firm partner track and gaze out toward those small quiet places that interrupt the space between real cities you will discover that there are other opportunities, unexpected opportunities waiting.

 

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