For all the complaining and moaning I did about Unbundled Attorney, I’ve got to say that I am pretty glad I signed up. Since I signed up on Friday, I’ve gotten 6 leads from Unbundled Attorney and pulled in 5 new clients. The ROI on this is pretty fantastic, so far. The UA system seems to work, and many of the clients I’ve been able to sign wanted a full representation instead of Unbundled services.
Now, I have to get to work lawyering
So I’ve got clients, now I have to get to work lawyering. Law school and the bar exam are great for learning the logical methods for lawyering and the actual substance of the law, but actually putting it to use requires practice. There are already things that have come up that I think, “oh yeah, that is a XXXX”, but actually putting that down and making it fit into a petition or answer that I can file with the courts is a whole other ball game.
And, I’ve got to say that a lot of the logical games and talking out the problems with other lawyers, new or not, seems to help. Multiple times today I’ve spitballed a problem with another lawyer and with my own research, plus bouncing the ideas off of someone else, gotten to the answer. The process works, and apparently the logic from law school actually does help, but I do have to say that real lawyering wears me out.
But, I do feel pretty hopeful with the whole thing. Not to say that I haven’t dealt with imposter syndrome all day, but it is nice to understand the client’s basic need and then just have to drill down on the specific issues as they come up.
Cyclical challenges of new lawyering
The first week of practice I had a feeling of “I’m getting new clients, but what do I do with them?”
Then, after those first weeks, I got the work done and got back to “I don’t have work, I need to find clients!”
Now, I’m back to “I’ve got clients, now how am I going to find time to do all this work?”
I suspect this is going to be an ongoing thing. I got a chance to spend a good deal of my time with an experienced lawyer yesterday, and he gave me some good “older-lawyer” advice, including “Just do the work, the rest will take care of itself.” I am going to keep that in mind and just trudge through. Although I am pretty worn out from talking to new clients and trying to figure out how to help them all day, I do have to say that I am probably happier with my new practice today than I have been yet. I guess the thrill of signing new engagement letters is a big deal.
I slacked on getting anything written yesterday, so I’m going to have to make up for it later this week, but for now I am worn out and only feel like 500 words are going to come out.