SoloCorps Takes the Heartland: Video-Capturing the Solo Experience

So, what is SoloCorps?

Well, it started out as a kind of modern-day road trip — two good friends who met online, driving across the heartland from Duluth, Minnesota to Omaha, Nebraska, Foursquaring our location and tweeting up with online colleagues along the way.  But as  Lisa Solomon and I got to talking about the trip, we realized that it offered an even more exciting opportunity than a chance to spend time with rarely-seen friends:  a chance to permanently capture solo and small firm lawyers of every variety sharing their stories and experiences on video.

Even after our road trip ends, the SoloCorps project will continue.  Each time Lisa and I travel to solo and small firm conferences, we’ll make time to video solos, and depending upon demand, we may do some via Skype as well.  In addition, we’ll be setting up a platform so that solos and small firm lawyers can upload their own videos as well (no sales pitches, please!).

What’s the purpose of SoloCorps?  As you’ve probably read a million times, the legal profession is in a state of upheaval, with conventional law jobs being lost each day and biglaw on the demise.  Yet out of this turmoil, the solo experience endures and inspires.  We want to capture the rich range of experiences of solos and small firm lawyers across the country. By telling your stories, you’ll be sharing your wisdom with today’s lawyers, as well as with the next generation.

You’re welcome to talk about anything relating to solo or small firm practice. Here are a few ideas to get your storytelling juices flowing:
•    What impact has technology had on your law practice?
•    What does it feel like to work with a really great client? What do you do when you’re stuck with a lousy one?
•    How has your practice been different from what you imagined when you were in law school?
•    How did you land your first or biggest client?
•    What challenges have you faced practicing in a remote or rural community? How have you met them?
•    What has been the happiest moment of your law practice so far?
•    How did you find a mentor? What’s the most important thing your mentor taught you?
•    When you announced your plan to go solo, how did you handle the naysayers? Or, who was the most supportive of your plan, and how was that support expressed?
•    How has law practice changed (for better or for worse) since you started practicing?
•    Tell a story about the most colorful solo or small firm lawyer in the local legal community
•    What is your most exciting plan for the future of your practice?
•    When you retire from practice, how do you want to be remembered?

Please share any questions you might want to answer—or hear the answer to—in the comments.

How can you participate in SoloCorps?   Our road trip from Duluth to Omaha kicks off the project, and you can sign up for any of the open slots at our SolosintheHeartland Tungle calendar.  Briefly, here’s the schedule:  Lisa and I are both presenting at the Minnesota Solo and Small Firm Conference on August 2-3,and we’ve carved out some time for interviews at the conference.  On Tuesday evening, August 3, we head south for Minneapolis, where along with Sam Glover of Lawyerist, we’ve organized a Tweet-Up.  On Wednesday, August 4, we hit the road through Iowa, where we’ve got a stop planned in DesMoines (and, depending upon interest, options to add others).  By evening, we’ll arrive in Omaha, Nebraska, where we’ll spend the next two days (August 5-6) at the Nebraska Solo and Small Firm Conference, where we’re also presenting with time carved out for video.  Once you’ve scheduled a spot, we’ll give you some additional information on where we’ll meet.

What’s even more exciting about the kick-off trip is that we’ll be getting some coverage  from the ABA Journal’s Legal Rebels Project, which may link to or post some of the videos that we capture.

Please feel free to post any questions that you have in the comment section, or email directly to Lisa@questionoflaw.net.  And watch for updates on this project here and on other soon-to be announced social media platforms.