Going Solo

A Letter to a 1L

/ Bruce Cameron

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your e-mail. It is quite heartening to know that there are other souls out there with an interest in practicing in rural communities. There is no one way or single resource that will best prepare you for a career as a rural lawyer – based on my conversations with rural lawyers from across the country, I am coming to the conclusion that each rural lawyer’s career is unique to that lawyer and to the community they serve. What I can offer are some general observations intertwined with a smattering of  “were I to do it over agains” .

Since you had a few questions about business management, I assume that you are considering embarking on a career as a rural solo (though don’t discount the value being well versed in business management will have to a existing small rural practice). There are a number of fine books out there that cover going solo from the lawyer’s perspective (Jay Foonberg’s How to Start and Build a Law Practice and Carolyn Elefant’s Solo by Choice spring to mind) but if you want to learn about the ins and outs of running a business get in touch with SCORE – they offer mentoring, webinars, newletters, guides and live classes all designed to help you start and grow a business; all provided at little to no cost by SCORE volunteers (working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders). I wish I had connected with SCORE about 12 months before I opened my practice rather than 12 months after. Continue reading →

Leaving Baby Behind

/ Bruce Cameron / 1 Comment

When it comes to commercial airline travel, I’d just as soon fly myself, but a business trip with strict time requirements in the middle of winter is not conducive to travel by light aircraft – so I find myself at an airport waiting to be crammed into a large aluminum tube that will, hopefully, transport me across the country with all the comfort of your average city bus. What makes this trip unique is that this is the first trip where I’m leaving my practice behind.

This trip was scheduled several months ago, so preparations have been fairly relaxed and the advanced notice made it possible to schedule around the few week days I will be away. My answering service has been briefed on how to manage client calls, there are no deadlines to be concerned with and I have every confidence that things will go smoothly. The problem is, I’m leaving my practice behind – this is not a day trip up to the city for a CLE or a few days off to catch up on farm chores; this is being a 1000 miles away with no easy way back – totally reliant on that thin digital umbilical cord of cell phone and internet to sustain operations.

Sure, I have a back-up attorney in case the unexpected would happen and I have every confidence that should an emergency arise he would be able to handle it; but we’re in new parent territory here – this is the first trip away from baby. I know the sitter is fully qualified, that all the emergency contact information is pinned to the refrigerator and that all will be well. Unfortunately, knowing and feeling are two different things and right now, the later is running roughshod over the former.

I had thought that it would be the stress of missing work, of losing revenue that would be the hardest part of traveling – after all being way over there means that I’m missing potential income right here. But no, I’m sitting here stressing over simple separation anxiety.

An Accident in the Heartland

/ Bruce Cameron

This weekend there was an accident in our community. It was one of those events where we learn yet again that there is a fine line between urgency and carelessness and where we are shown that the human body is no match for horsepower, physics and heavy machinery. It was also one of those events that brings a rural community together – when the calls of concern and the offers of help arrive on the heels of the emergency vehicles. Neighbors, friends and strangers band together to see that the crops are brought in, the chores are done and the injured are cared for. And it was one of those events where one senses a wave of palpable relief sweep through the community when the word comes through that, this time, there were no life threatening injuries, no serious trauma and the only injuries are those cured by time and rest.

Now that the moment has past, I am left contemplating my fragility, the wholly unpleasant thought of emergency planning for my practice, and asking if my ICE file (in case of emergency) will be adequate for the occasion of my injury. The very nature of being a solo means that, unless prior plans are made, no one will be there to care for my clients. So, I am spending some time reviewing plans made and thinking about what new plans need to be made.

Continue reading →

The Rural Lawyer’s Imperative

/ Bruce Cameron / 1 Comment

Dear Thomas,

Your comment touches on the essential imperative of the rural lawyer’s (in fact any solo lawyer’s) career – the need to earn a living while building a practice. It is a career in which one trades security for autonomy and where survival is based as much on  ingenuity and enterprise as it is legal expertise. It is also a career that does not, necessarily, have to be done solo.

So, you need to ask yourself – do you really want to go rural solo or are you simply looking for a legal career in a rural area? While it may take some leg-work and a bit of networking to track them down, there are small rural law firms out there that are looking to hire new associates. These are the kinds of jobs you find through a friend of a friend of a friend or discover through a one-line classified ad on a state bar’s web site. These are also the kinds of jobs that will expect you to be somewhat productive from day one (so as a 2L, you may want to start volunteering at your local legal aid office).

If you are planning on going solo be prepared for hard work and little else. During the first few years of a solo career, 80% of your time is going to be spent on marketing your practice, 15% practicing law, and 5% on administrative tedium. During the first 6 months almost 100% of your time is going to be spent on marketing. Going solo out of school adds an additional layer of complexity to the mix – you have to learn the practice of law along with the business of law. Going rural solo is yet another step up on the complexity scale. A rural lawyer’s key relationships are those with people who can send him/her clients and building these community relationships takes time. With the exception of the rural kid returning to practice in his/her home town, start-up rural lawyers often locate their homes in rural communities and their practices at the edge of suburbia – think of this as “working on the edge looking out”. The thinking behind this type of mixed-clientele (rural + city) practice is that the resources of the big city (large potential client base, availability of mentors, etc) help sustain the practice and the practitioner thus providing time to build a rural referral network.

It is possible to go solo, it is possible to go solo out of school, it is possible to go rural solo out of school – just be prepared and go in with your eyes wide open and have a plan – know who your perfect client is, how you are going to reach that perfect client, what you will offer that perfect client, why that client should hire you, and where you differ from all the other lawyers out there.  Don’t be surprised to find that it will take a couple of years before you can meet both parts of the rural lawyer’s imperative – but don’t be surprised when you turn around one day and find that it sneaking up on you.

There is a need and opportunity out there in the night sky, even for the debt-ridden, newly fledged lawyer. The key is to be innovative, be enterprising, and think like an entrepreneur. There are options and resources out there to help you manage your debt, find mentors, set up a cost-effective, low-cost law practice, to do find free or low-cost legal research, to learn both the business and practice of law. It is within reach, it has its risks, it is possible, and if you can make that initial leap of faith you can do it.

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