My Shingle

Questions & Advice

Yes, You Can Be A Part Time Shingler

December 11, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Solo Wannabee wonders whether you can start a law practice part time.  Surprisingly, the conventional wisdom on this question is no, that solo practice demands full time commitment to make it and that client demands are full time.  But that’s not my view.  As I’ve said before, there are as many right ways to hang [...]

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Some FAQ on Solo Practice

September 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Below, a reader writes in with advice on some frequently asked questions related to solo practice.  The reader’s questions and our answers are interspersed below.  Readers, since I’ve only started one practice, after all, I’m the first to admit that I’m not an authority on all ways to go solo.  What I’ve learned from blogging [...]

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Say Nay To the Naysayers

September 19, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Editor’s Note:  Recently, I’ve been receiving a number of inquiries seeking advice on starting a practice.  I’m going to try to address as many as I can, as quickly as I can, in what will hopefully be a regular "Questions & Advice" column.  If you send me an email with a question, try to eliminate [...]

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Leaving A Law Firm: Some Resources and a Request

August 15, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

A reader who’s currently employed but actively planning to start a firm recently posed the following question to MyShingle: How do I announce to my current employer my intentions to start a firm and leave on friendly terms but still take the clients whom I’d like to take with me (assuming the client wants to [...]

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Is It Ever Too Soon to Go Solo?

July 26, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Ann Israel, a biglaw recruitment attorney who writes a column for New York Lawyer typically responds to questions about how to make partner or what’s the best law school to choose.  It’s rare that she gets a question like  this one from an attorney wondering whether he should go solo after his first year out [...]

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This One Ought to Be A No Brainer

April 19, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Gee, what should  this advice seeker and recent grad (at NY Lawyer) do here?  Work for $19 an hour doing document review at a large firm in hopes of getting some experience?  Or continue to look for a more challenging permanent position?  Uh, what about the most obvious option:  working for yourself.   Even if you [...]

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What Do You Call Yourself?

April 12, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

The Greatest American Lawyer ponders a fascinating question:  what should we call practitioners who are not in a partnership based law firm, if not solo practitioners?. GAL writes: As many of you already know, I have taken issue with the term “solo” for practitioners who do not practice in a partnership setting. Solo has the negative [...]

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New shingler Scheherazade Fowler (who’s

April 1, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

New shingler Scheherazade Fowler (who’s in great company with other blogger-turned solos Dennis Kennedy, Kevin Heller and Howard Bashman, to name a distinguished few) publicly ponders whether she should keep her Massachusetts bar status active when she’s set up shop in Maine.  No question, regardless of cost, a solo should never, ever, ever let go [...]

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More on Going Solo After Law School

February 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

David Swanner,  a South Carolina  solo weighs in with some good advice about starting a practice out of law school over here at his web log, South Carolina Trial Law.  David knows about going solo after law school first hand – because he’s done it successfully.

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Going Solo Right After Law School

February 7, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

One of our readers writes: I graduated law school last year and am finishing up another graduate degree…and am taking the bar this summer.  For law students with little “real world” legal training (some law clerking), any advice on going solo out of law school? I read on your site about attorneys getting $40/hr court [...]

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