Comments on: Yes, You Can Be A Part Time Shingler

By: Dave Rakowski

Dave Rakowski — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:30:21 +0000

Hi Carolyn:
Don’t know if you saw this article from the NY Times on Friday, but to me its further proof (as if we needed any!) of the power of solos.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/business/16legal.html
Hope all is well.
Dave Rakowski
Allentown, PA

By: Dave Rakowski

Dave Rakowski — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:30:00 +0000

By: Nicole Black

Nicole Black — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:19:04 +0000

Thanks for all of the replies, (and your e-mail Ms. Elefant). It’s good to know that p/t practice can be managed.

By: Nicole Black

Nicole Black — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:19:00 +0000

Thanks for all of the replies, (and your e-mail Ms. Elefant). It’s good to know that p/t practice can be managed.

By: lawmom

lawmom — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 09:00:40 +0000

I am a part-time solo practicioner in a mid-size metropolitan market. I practice from home.
After 8 years of practice, I left my mid-size firm and stopped practicing for a year after my first child was born. That was partly because I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and partly because of burn-out and disillusionment with the profession.
Then a friend who had taken an in-house position needed some assistance in my area of expertise. I was able to control my schedule so that I worked at the client’s offices while my son was at “mother’s day out”,in which he was already enrolled. I started out working just 6 hours per week. My friend left the in-house position, but I am still working for this client between 4-6 hours per week. It has been about 3 years. I also began consulting for another former client who found out I was practicing again, and I have handled a couple of litigation matters. I only do one litigation case at a time. I work less than 20 hours per week, and I have the luxury to do that thanks to my husband’s steady income. When I had my second child, I took 6 weeks off, and then hired a sitter once per week. I have a relationship with a nanny service that provides last minute care when I need it, but otherwise, my kids attend a pre-school program a couple of days per week and are with me the rest of the time. I am available for phone consultation any time, and I work during nap time, in the evenings, while the kids are at school, or other random times as needed.
I do not market other than by keeping in touch with former collegues and letting them know I am available for some work. I set my own limits now, and again, I have the luxury to work as little or as much as I want thanks to my husband. I plan to begin marketing and taking on more work as my children get older. But I will work part time until they are grown.

By: lawmom

lawmom — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 09:00:00 +0000

By: laura slenzak

laura slenzak — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 06:50:39 +0000

I have been oftened quoted as saying these past nearly twenty years (yikes!) that patent work lends itself well to flexibility. “I could write a patent application sitting on a flag pole” is the exact quote. Meaning, as long as you have a place to concentrate on what you are doing, there is really no need for the traditional trappings of “an office” for performing patent “prep and pross” as it is often called.

By: laura slenzak

laura slenzak — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 06:50:00 +0000

By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:26:01 +0000

I certainly did not mean to imply that contract work is the only option. I handled a good number of appellate matters when I was part time because they also lend themselves to a part time practice: the court establishes a fixed schedule and there are few surprises. Likewise, I continued my FERC regulatory practice because with the exception of occasional hearings, most work could be filed electronically. I even handled one or two litigation matters which was manageable.
I think that many practice areas will work for a part time practice. For instance, you could probably manage one or two longer litigation matters, so long as there aren’t any emergency hearings or unexpected surprises. Practice areas like criminal law and family law, I think, require you to be “on call” more so unless you have back up, I would steer away from those. Wills, estate planning and ordinary corporate matters will work as well.
In addition, if you’re part time, consider that you can make yourself available when other lawyers aren’t. For instance, if you can clear some time on weekends, why not hold office hours and attract the folks who can’t get in to see a lawyer during the week? You could do the same with a night shift.
No doubt, a part timer will have some limitations, which as I noted, is also part of the frustration. You simply can’t expect to work 25 hours a week (with as many as 10 devoted to marketing and admin) and get the same experience or handle the same workload as an associate who’s in the office 50 hours if not more. But if the choice is cutting back to accomodate your family or other dreams in the short run, you may decide it’s worth it.

By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:26:00 +0000