The Legal Skills Prof Blog has two (here and here) great stories updating the world on programs that two law schools are implementing/have implemented to help students and new grads wishing to enter solo practice. These are great projects, and should receive tremendous support from alumni and the schools.
My first question then after reading about these programs, is why don't more schools have these types of programs for their students. After all, by some estimates, 26 percent of lawyers are either employed in solo or small firm practice. That's a pretty significant number of the graduating class that's working alone or in another small firm (i.e. 1 in 4 gradutates).
So, why don't schools do more?
First, I know believe schools cater to BigLaw. All Most of the professors and law school deans "practiced" in BigLaw firms. There's the "cultivate" BigLaw lawyers mentality that is permeating through the law schools. Law schools like their alumnae pedigree to read like a "who's who" of law firms, rather than a smattering of "Law offices of John Doe, esq."
Second, many, if not all, older lawyers believe that you cannot or should not, start your own law firm straight out of law school. "With so many 'pitfalls' to cause you problems" they'll tell you, "you must gain experience at a firm." The simple truth is, lawyering isn't rocket science with traumatic consequences for minor miscalculations. The problem is, many young lawyers, especially those entering solo/small firm practice, have to juggle business management and legal management requirements without substantial training in either field.
Note too, the first and second reasons also contain the often thought, but rarely quoted reason of, "why would anybody really want to open their own law firm?"
Third, there's rarely faculty in the law school who have access/knowledge to supervise/mentor graduates in these particular programs. That means that you must dedicate funds to the solo/small firm incubator projects, and not to faculty salaries or the new law school wing. Unfortunately, too many graduates leave their schools lacking fundamental skills that will make them effective attorneys (e.g. what a Complaint looks like, and how to file it in District Court). When schools attempt to "teach" legal practice skills, they often screw it up.
For instance, in my third year of Tier 3 law school, I took a course designed to introduce students to "legal practice" in a small firm, taught by two professors, one of which is a partner of one of the biggest firms in OKC, and the other is a federal court law clerk. My first thought was "what will these two teach me about solo/small firm practice?" From day 1, I set my expectations low.
The problem with my law school's philosophy was that these individuals would have a pulse on the small firm/solo concerns. Clearly, neither professor did, and that drastically affected the outcome and negated any benefits of the class. Other classmates expressed a similar disappointment.
One counterpoint many schools offer is that they provide legal clinics to help "cultivate" and "enrich" their students' learning. These clinics give students hands-on experience with representing and assisting under-served portions of the community. In truth however, these courses are limited to a minor amount of students.
Fourth, money is the root of all "evil." Unfortunately for many solo/small firms, the amounts their owners and members contribute back to their schools pales in comparison to their BigLaw counterparts (I guess we're too busy providing reasonably priced legal services than exorbitant hourly rates). It's easy to feed the BigLaw beast where the little mouse barely squeaks. Perhaps is solo and small firm attorneys put more pressure on their law schools to provide "incubator" programs, the schools would more reasonably respond.
Fifth, state bar associations often fail to address these similar needs. With so many additional needs of the state bar, addressing particular concerns like these on a single, case-by-case basis is too much. While many bar associations, including Oklahoma, have commendable practice assistance programs, there's still too great of a disconnect between the legal education and actual legal practice.
Solo and small firm practices provide a great resource to communities to help provide individual and low-cost legal representation. It's important to provide these lawyers and firms with the skills and resources necessary to tackle their problems.
Don't forget that law students themselves are often fixated on biglaw - it's the lure of the six figure starting salary that often draws them to law school, so they may not even notice the absence of focus on solo practitioners.
ReplyDeleteJodi, I don't know that it's so much a focus, as it is many students don't realize or know the option is there. I think you're right that too many students buy the biglaw hype.
ReplyDeleteYou earned the law degree and passed a state bar exam, and you are ABSOLUTELY capable of competently representing clients on day one. Before I launched my own solo practice six months after becoming an admitted attorney, I read article after article stating that new attorneys were ill-prepared to competently represent clients, and therefore should not start a solo law practice after law school. Why should anyone that spends thousands of education dollars and thousands of education hours pursuing the goal of becoming an attorney not take their career in the direction they truly desire?
ReplyDeleteJoseph,
ReplyDeleteI whole-heartedly agree. However, I believe many students' fear comes because they aren't given the tools to handle the tasks or make the significant choices. I think it's too many old attorneys that discourage the young ones from handling the solo lifestyle.
I tell people that law isn't an exact science, and to experiment profusely. Most of the law clerks I hire are too afraid they'll screw up to take chances. One even told me that he believed if he made a mistake that it might jeopardize my ability to practice.