My Shingle

Should I Solo?

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).  [...]

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Should I Turn Down A $50k Bonus Clerkship Bonus To Start My Own Practice?

May 26, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Here’s a question from a reader of this site and Solo by Choice: I spent two years at a large law firm and now clerk for a federal district court judge.  I want to start my own practice after my clerkship concludes, but if I do, I’ll be turning down the $50k starting bonuses that [...]

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Start a Law Firm…In North Carolina?

February 27, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Go east, young lawyer if you want to start a law firm.  As this article reports, a recent study released by the Pope Center for Higher Education shows that North Carolina needs more lawyer in light of recent population growth and a strong economy.  The catch – only graduates of accredited ABA law schools qualify [...]

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The best time to start….

November 14, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

Seth Godin has some great advice on the best time to start a firm:  maybe last year, maybe never.  But the second best time is now.  So go for it (and read Godin’s entire post).

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Ivy League Solos

November 12, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

Whether you like Harvard Law School or not, you have to agree that virtually every HLS graduate can write their own ticket to whatever job they want.  So it’s gratifying to see that with so many career options, young HLS grads are still choosing solo practice, as reported in this article from the HLS Bulletin, [...]

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Solo practice: the most overlooked, underrated law option

June 28, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

With all of the terrific solo blogs, I’m still amazed that people still don’t get solo practice.  Among the prime offenders are Ann Israel, who writes the Advice for the Lawlorn column for New York Lawyer and her correspondents.  Israel would rather advise folks to leave the practice of law than to give solo practice [...]

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You Don’t Have To Get It Perfect…

December 21, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Allison Shields of the new Legalease practice-building blog has a post taking inventory for the New Year that contains some great advice:  you don’t have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going.  That advice applies to many lawyers contemplating solo practice.  Sure, you don’t want to just jump into it without [...]

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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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What’s the Hourly Cost of Running Your Office?

June 29, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Have you ever sat down and calculated how much it costs per hour to run your law office?  I haven’t (though I know what my overhead and expenses are from my tax returns, just haven’t reduced them to an hourly rate).  Yet it seems that most of us ought to know that number off the [...]

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Most Attorneys Would Not Go Solo – A Survey I Don’t Believe

June 2, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

According to this Press Release of May 25, 2005 by legal placement agency Robert Half, 93 percent of lawyers polled said that they would not establish a law firm even if they had the necessary capital.   OK, I’m biased, but frankly, I don’t believe the survey at all.  Here are some of the problems I [...]

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