My Shingle

Should I Solo?

The First Week of Going Solo

September 14, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant

The following is a guest post by Carl, a New Jersey Divorce Attorney who recently hung a shingle. The First Week of Going Solo Day 1 The first few weeks of hanging a shingle and starting a law practice are a blurry, fear-inducing yet simultaneously exciting tightrope walk along the edge of hope and fear. [...]

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Accidental Entrepreneurs

May 17, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant

Can you start your own firm if you’re not entrepreneurially inclined? A few months back, I said yes. And now, as added confirmation, here’s an article from CNN about accidental entrepreneurs – folks who never intended to start their own businesses but wound up succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. Take the story of Terri Urbash, [...]

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Solo Practice May Be “S**tlaw.” But It Happens.

January 1, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

[Update - January 2, 2010 - I have edited the nasty language from my post in response to one of the commenters.  I've been responding to posts like the one at BigDebt for years now and nothing seems to make a dent, so I thought that by using offensive language, I might get the attention [...]

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PartTime Shingle Ebook and Recording Ready for Release!

October 6, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Julie Tower-Pierce and I are happy to announce that we’ve finally completed our 50 page ebook, The Part Time Shingle:  Why Starting a Part Time Practice Can Be Done and How to Make It Work.  Here’s some of the topics that the e-book covers: -Is starting a part time shingle really feasible? [p. 2-3] -Will [...]

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A Happy Ending to the $50K Question, Should I Solo Now?

October 5, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

In May 2008, I discussed a tantalizing question posed by reader who at the time was employed in a federal clerkship, after having spent two years at biglaw.  He asked  do I go solo now and forfeit the $50,000 clerkship signing bonus from a large firm, or take the leap into solo practice immediately after [...]

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The Solo Bandwagon Marches On…

June 22, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

This week’s news brings a handful of law firm start up stories.  First, the Las Vegas Sun profiles two young female lawyers, Tara Young and Elizabeth Sorokac who lost their jobs in February and have already started their own practices.  Both had been practicing for only a few years and never expected to start a [...]

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How David Beats Goliath Is the Story of How Solos Thrive

May 8, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

How is that solo and small firm lawyers are thriving at a time when biglaw is crumbling?  Why does the the spirit of optimism still prevail among most solos even as our large firm colleagues experience hopelessness and panic? Over the past few months, I’ve pondered these questions, but I’ve never seen the answers articulated [...]

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The Economy Scares Me Too, But I Know Something You Don’t

February 1, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

If you are a lawyer at a large firm, I know that you are terrified right now.   The carnage at AmLaw 200 is growing:  858 layoffs last week alone, according to Lawshucks.com, for a total of 1528 for the month and 3290 since January 2008.  And even if you’re just a law student, we [...]

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The Contract Lawyer Conundrum

January 15, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

[Some edits as of 1/16/09] Over at her blog, Legal Research and Writing Pro, my friend Lisa Solomon summarizes the recent spurt of posts round the blogosphere on the grim life of contract attorneys, who endure low wages, intolerable working conditions and frequently, degrading treatment from other lawyers.  Lisa suggests that these lawyers consider starting [...]

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Two Years: The Reason Why You Should Not Leave the Law Now

November 5, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

With the economy tanking and the number of legal jobs declining, now may seem like a good time to leave the law.  Whether you graduated from law school last May and still haven’t found a job or whether you’re one of the growing number of biglaw casualties or a victim of a law firm’s forced [...]

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