My Shingle

Biglaw to Solo

Why Does the Trade Press Focus on Biglaw Attorneys Turned Solo Who Don’t Succeed?

August 5, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Not all lawyers who start their own firm experience wild success.  This month’s American Lawyer focuses on three who did not.  I don’t take issue with the story’s spin because I believe that it’s important to impress the challenges of starting a practice.  Too many of the new crop of opportunist start-a-firm gurus blithely gloss [...]

Read more Biglaw Practice and Issues 0 comments

It’s Not Your Imagination…More Lawyers Are Starting Their Own Practice

February 26, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Over the past few months, it seems to me that the number of lawyers starting their own practice is on the rise.  My perception is based largely on anecdotal evidence, from increased traffic to this site (both direct hits and from search terms like “starting a law practice,”) a bump in sales of Solo by [...]

Read more Biglaw to Solo 0 comments

Oh, Biglaw: Why Pay $60k for Lawyers to Do Non-Profit Work When You Could Pay Them To Build A Lucrative Practice?

February 20, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Update – please see the comments, as they are very informative.  I think perhaps my position may be too extreme – funding a couple of non-profit positions or funding indigent criminal defense prgrams may not, on further reflection, be a bad idea (although in many instances, solo and small firm lawyers handle these kinds of [...]

Read more Biglaw Practice and Issues 9 comments

Alexis Martin Neely – Why What I’m Doing With My Law Degree Matters

January 22, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

I went to law school to make a difference and really help people.   I graduated from law school in 1999, when the economy was having a party and law firms were fighting for the top law school graduates.  By the time I graduated, starting salaries had crept up to $135,000 per year and I graduated [...]

Read more Biglaw to Solo 0 comments

Announcements: ENCORE Tele-seminar of From Biglaw to Yourlaw; Solo By Choice Sells Out

January 6, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Last week’s Biglaw to Yourlaw Teleseminar was a great success, but folks still continue to download the free e-book.  I had hoped to make a tape of the call available, but somehow managed to botch the recording.  Since I need to re-tape anyway, I’m going to do a second round of the call – this time [...]

Read more Announcements 2 comments

Free E-book From Biglaw to Yourlaw & Free Teleconference, December 30, 2008

December 28, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

UPDATE – ENCORE TELECONFERENCE from Biglaw to Yourlaw – JANUARY 9, 2009 (Thursday) at 3 pm EST. Sign up below.  IF YOU HAVE  ALREADY SIGNED UP YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE INFORMATION ON THE CALL VIA EMAIL. Given that 1762 lawyers lost their jobs in 2008 according to the Law Shucks Layoff Tracker, I decided to release a new e-book entitled From Biglaw to Yourlaw. You’ve always believed starting a firm was a [...]

Read more Announcements 0 comments

No Security Beats False Security Any Day: Free Teleseminar on Why Biglaw Lawyers Should Start A Firm

December 23, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

And so, another biglaw firm — this time, 150 year-old New York based Thacher, Profitt — comes tumbling down.  But though the names may change (think Heller, Ehrman, Thelen and Brobeck.com) the circumstances are virtually identical: Step 1:  Each firm suffers some kind of economic crisis. Step 2:  Rainmaking partners panic and begin to jump [...]

Read more Biglaw to Solo 0 comments

From Biglaw to Yourlaw

October 28, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Law may be governed by precedent, but oh how soon we forget.  Once upon, the behemoth law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom was just a trio of fellows named Marshall, John and Les who had the crazy idea to hang out their own shingle.  Yet now, forty years later, as the economy tanks and [...]

Read more Big Law/Small Law 0 comments

Laid Off By Cadwalader? Why Not Solo by Choice?

July 30, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

This post is for the 96 Cadwalader attorneys who were pink slipped today.   Let me be blunt:  consider starting a law firm.  No, don’t do it now while you’re still nursing your wounds; getting axed is never pleasant even when it’s not your fault (and hey, we all know that it’s economics pure and simple).  [...]

Read more Biglaw Practice and Issues 4 comments

Why You Can Succeed In Starting A Firm Even If You Floundered At Your Job or In Law School

May 20, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Some lawyers want to start law firms, but fear that they’ll fail either because they floundered at their previous place of employment or performed poorly in law school. If that’s where you find yourself, worry no more. According to new research, a lack of control in a job situation has a fundamental effect on one’s [...]

Read more Biglaw to Solo 2 comments

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →