I participated in the swearing-in ceremony for the Western District of Oklahoma on Thursday. This was a great experience, and a great opportunity to reconnect with folks I hadn't seen since graduation. What struck me the most out of this whole event was the number of my classmates who have "hung their shingle."
As this report, this report, and this report in law.com show, associate layoffs are certainly going to be a trend in this new economy. One of my colleagues faced a similar situation with his "Big Law" job, when he discovered that his firm was "imploding." Suddenly his seemingly strong and stable job turned into mush. He's now struggling, 3 months after becoming an attorney, to begin operation.
Other folks I'd graduated with told similar stories of having to fend for themselves without any guidance. This isn't a trend that will quickly disappear. Big firms, and even some smaller firms, are seeing that they cannot handle these $130,000-plus salaries, and still support their big law models. There is a strong argument from these reports that even the small firms must evaluate their own business models in order to stay competitive - that's another post all together.
What everyone should be concerned about is the sudden influx of attorneys into solo practice who know nothing about the actual practice, and business, of law. If you're one of them, here's some suggestions:
1. Purchase Jay Foonberg and Carolyn Elefant's books.
2. Sign up for Solo Practice University.
3. Talk to your Bar's law practice/solo and small firm section leader.
4. Don't mock the solos (we know you did), because, now you're one of them. Amazing how quickly situations change, isn't it?
As this report, this report, and this report in law.com show, associate layoffs are certainly going to be a trend in this new economy. One of my colleagues faced a similar situation with his "Big Law" job, when he discovered that his firm was "imploding." Suddenly his seemingly strong and stable job turned into mush. He's now struggling, 3 months after becoming an attorney, to begin operation.
Other folks I'd graduated with told similar stories of having to fend for themselves without any guidance. This isn't a trend that will quickly disappear. Big firms, and even some smaller firms, are seeing that they cannot handle these $130,000-plus salaries, and still support their big law models. There is a strong argument from these reports that even the small firms must evaluate their own business models in order to stay competitive - that's another post all together.
What everyone should be concerned about is the sudden influx of attorneys into solo practice who know nothing about the actual practice, and business, of law. If you're one of them, here's some suggestions:
1. Purchase Jay Foonberg and Carolyn Elefant's books.
2. Sign up for Solo Practice University.
3. Talk to your Bar's law practice/solo and small firm section leader.
4. Don't mock the solos (we know you did), because, now you're one of them. Amazing how quickly situations change, isn't it?
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