Solo Practice

As you near the end of law school, study for and pass the bar, many law students do not already have a position waiting for them. Perhaps an internship has changed your mind about what you thought you wanted to do. Informational interviews may steer you toward or away from particular areas of practice. The amount of debt or student loans you must repay may influence your career decisions. You may not want to do trial work, or practice law at all! There are a myriad of choices outside of practicing law. The library has some excellent resources, as does the Career Development Center, outlining possible options.

If you do choose to strike out on your own, here are a number of practical tips. Have a mentor(s) with experience, whom you can bounce ideas off of. Remember that this person is not someone to do your legal research. Learn how to do your own legal research in a law library, before you turn to expensive databases like Westlaw or Lexis. Check into prices for these and other databases such as LOISLAW. Check out the websites offering free access to case law and statutes. At the beginning, use the free public Westlaw terminals at SCOL or the Colorado Supreme Court Library, along with the expensive treatises at those libraries. After graduation, you can still use many of the expensive databases on the SCOL Level 3 computers, as well as benefit from the assistance of the law librarians. For your own office, portions of the Colorado Practice Series or other treatises may be a sound investment. Always have a set of current statutes and court rules in your office. At first, your main referrals may be cases that attorneys do not want or are not the types of cases they handle. Eventually, your main referrals will come from satisfied clients. It may take time and experimentation to find out what you enjoy doing.

If possible, obtain a position working for a trial court judge. This will not only sharpen your research skills, but expose you to a wide range of cases, as well as potential referrals from attorneys that you meet. Do a paid or unpaid internship while in law school or after you graduate. Work with the student law clinic, or volunteer at a smaller law firm or government agency. Advertise in print or by contacting attorneys that you are available to do contract research. You will be putting in many non-billable hours when you begin a solo practice, simply to educate yourself. Law school gives you many analytical skills, but the substantive law will be something you continue to learn in an ongoing process. Experience comes with time.

There are two aspects of solo practice. The first is practicing law, and the second is running a business. Both are time consuming. In the beginning the key is to keep costs as low as possible. Do your own books, accounting, recordkeeping, and word processing. Use a service that provides a business and mailing address, receptionist, and access to a conference room for which you are charged on an hourly basis. Office sharing and expenses is another option. Home offices work well depending on your home. There are countless other arrangements and ways to save costs. Trade services with an accountant or word-processor. The keys to success in solo practice are imagination, creativity, networking, setting goals, self education, and self discipline. You may work long hours before you have the ability to turn business away, but solo practice does eventually afford you the flexibility and opportunity to create what works for you.

The spindle next to the Reference Desk on Level 3 has a Subject Guide for Opening a Solo Law Office. It contains a wealth of helpful information. You can also view it on the Library’s homepage where the links are live.