The hardest part about being a new solo is sitting in my office thinking about all the ways I’m not making any income today. The only way that I can get over that feeling is to try to do things that will bring in new work. Blogging helps, but sometimes blogging doesn’t really feel like it is going to pay off. So, I’m making a list of different sources of work that seem to work for other lawyers, or that I have been working on developing myself.
Court appointments
The first day I was a new solo I went to my local bar association window at the courthouse and talked to the wonderful bar staff there about getting started. They gave me a list of the different courts that I should talk to and what I needed to do to get appointed to each.
Before getting getting on the appointment list at the probate courts, the civil courts, and the family courts for some cases, I needed to get my Attorney Ad Litem certificate from the Texas Bar. The bar association offers the course and certificate for a discounted rate, and I was able to get the packet from them and get started on that. The course is a 4 hour video course and some reading. Once done with that, I submitted my packet to the bar and have to wait for the certificate.
I also was instructed to go talk to the family court judges and their staff. I did that. One of the judges asked me to sit in on his court for a while to get the lay of the land, and it seems to me that if a judge asks me to do something I probably should. So I sat in on his court a couple of days. It was interesting, to say the least. I haven’t gotten an appointment from this yet, but I feel like it will probably happen soon. The family court docket is pretty busy.
Next, I stuck my head into the office of one of the criminal court judges. He welcomed me in and spent almost an hour explaining to me how things work in his court. I was impressed with him, and I was very happy to have a judge that welcomed new lawyers to his court. He also walked me into the office of the other criminal misdemeanor judge and introduced me to him, and his staff. Finally, and maybe most importantly, he walked me through the fee request motion so I could get paid. After signing up, and spending a morning sitting in on criminal court, I received an appointed case yesterday.
Veteran’s Administration cases
You can also sign up with the Veteran’s Administration to do VA benefits cases. If your VA cases go to appeal, you can apply for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access for Justice Act (EAJA) if you win the case (under certain circumstances). These EAJA fees are statutorily set and based on cost-of-living adjustments, but the fee seems pretty reasonable. I’ve talked to a couple of attorneys that are advocates of making money this way.
Lawyer referral services
I’ve talked about this before, but lawyer referral services seem like a worthy way to make money. The Texas Bar has a service that offers referrals for a large part of the state, but my Local Bar does the referral service for my area. I pay a yearly fee and agree to do $20 half-hour initial consults with prospective clients and then can charge them as I see fit from there. I’ve heard that this system has its drawbacks, but I’m willing to try it out.
Legal insurance providers
There are various legal insurance providers set up around the nation that allow their members to pay a monthly fee to have access to a lawyer when they need them. I signed up for this a month ago and have gotten one case out of them so far. I’m only allowed to charge the fees that I agreed to at the outset of my relationship with the system, but income is income. I’m using Texas Legal, but I know of others as well.
Lead generation
There are some decent lead generation systems that seem to meet with ethical requirements. They charge a flat fee per lead they drop in your mailbox, and it is your responsibility to convert the clients. I’m wary of these because I don’t know how well they curate their leads, but I know attorneys who have had success with these programs. The one that comes to mind is Unbundled Attorney, which I have been flirting with signing up for, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.