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End of Week Two

At the end of week two, I am feeling pretty good about being a solo attorney.  I don’t have a ton of new work yet, but I knew that I wouldn’t have a bunch in the  first months.  I feel like I’ve done better in these weeks than I expected to.

Clients aren’t beating down the doors, but I’ve got some

I’ve managed to get a few clients already.  I’m not yet to the point where I am meeting with new clients every day and getting new work pinned down on a regular basis, but I do feel like I am at a pretty comfortable spot between getting clients and actually doing the work that they are hiring me to do.

Obviously, I’d like to have more work than I knew what to do with, but at this rate I don’t doubt that the time will come when I am turning away work.  What a glorious problem to have.

Part of being a new lawyer is learning how to efficiently do lawyering

I know the process for a lot of labor law and business law because I was doing that in my previous job.  I can sit down and do that stuff without thinking about it.  But I remember a while ago when I had to think about that stuff.

That thinking about the process and learning what to do is a lot more prevalent in my life right now because I am taking on a lot of work that I have never had the opportunity to do before, which takes up a lot more of my time than what it should.  But that is ok. As a new solo, I don’t have any real issue with taking a lot more time than what I think it really should to do one task or another, because I know that I am figuring out how the process works and I am spending a lot of time in the books looking for the right way to do what I need to do.

Pricing for newbies

It was suggested that while starting out I quote a price that seems reasonable for the work I am doing, either by asking how much another lawyer would charge for the service or by calculating how long I think it should take and charging my hourly rate for that amount of work.  By how long I think it should take, I mean how long would an experienced solo take to do the work.   Once I set a flat fee for the work it doesn’t matter, at least in terms of the client, how long I take to do the job.  I can spend 4 hours reading the Family Code on a case that should really only take 4 hours total if I am charging a flat fee.

The other suggestion I was given with this system is track the time it takes me every time.  By tracking the time I can figure out what I am getting better at and what I need to work on, and what areas of law I might not need to practice because they truly take up more of my time than what I am charging for them.  I like having a good Case Management System to do this so that I can track time easily, without actually charging the client for the time.

Amazed at how nice attorneys seem to be to new attorneys

I had a case come into the office yesterday that was turned away by another attorney.  I called the other attorney and introduced myself and told him I was thinking of taking this case on, and asked him for information about the case.  He was more than willing to help me and to give me his thoughts on the case.  Then we spent another 10 minutes talking and getting to know each other.

This has been my experience with all of the lawyers that I have talked to, even some that were opposing counsel at the time.  I don’t know if it is just Jefferson County or if this is the way the local bar works in every community, but I am really impressed at how lawyers are so willing to be collaborative and kind to other attorneys, especially new attorneys in Jefferson County.

Lawyering support

I got involved with a Slack channel (LawyerSlack) for lawyers a few months ago run by Keith Lee of Associate’s Mind.  The channel has been an enormous help.  Friends that know I am involved with the LawyerSlack, make fun of me for spending time on “Facebook for Lawyers”, but they don’t understand the value of having the collective knowledge and experience of a couple hundred other lawyers from around the country living in my browser.  Before going solo I ran the idea by LawyerSlack and talked to them about the pitfalls of being a new solo.  This group has been a huge help for my new practice, and has probably helped my sanity over the last few months because I’ve had a forum to bounce ideas off of and get tips of the trade from.  Who knew that chatting on the internet would actually be a useful thing?

 

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More Shameless Self Promotion

 

The New Courthouse AdditionBefore starting the post, I just want to acknowledge that a lot of these posts are likely mindless drivel.  That is what I get for setting a goal of writing 500 words every day.  I’m pretty sure that in a month or so, I’ll go back and figure out how to mark the most ridiculous posts so that they don’t need to be read.

And on with the show.  Today I had work to do, but also had to work on more promotion.  The Local Bar sent out a notice that they are opening up the Referral List for 2018.

Attorney Referral Services

Texas has rules about lawyer referral services, so the straight referral services that Texas lawyers can use are limited.  The State Bar of Texas has a good service that they offer, but it does’t cover Jefferson County.  Instead, the Jefferson County Bar Association has their own referral service.  I really like the people who run the JCBA (I’ve already mentioned how great they are), so I am ok with using them.

Getting on the list is pretty simple.  You fill out the forms and pay a fee.  The forms ask what areas of law you practice and ask you to agree to do 30 minute initial consults with people referred from the service for $20.   There are some terms and conditions, and a requirement that you are qualified to practice the areas of the law that you are signing up to represent.

I turned in the form and paid my fee, and the JCBA staff told me that my extra language would help me to get lots of referrals.  I guess there aren’t that many attorneys in the area that speak Spanish.  Also, they asked for forgiveness in advance because they are statutorily required to pass on all requests to three lawyers, and they know that a lot of the requests are meritless. I’m willing to take that chance.

Ad Litem Certificate

While I was at the JCBA office today, I also picked up my course packet to get my Ad Litem Certificate.  This certificate is required by the State to act as Guardian Ad Litem.  This was another fee I had to pay, as well as some videos I have to watch and some material to read.  It counts towards my CLE hours and will help get appointments to cases, so I was ok with it.

Expenses are adding up

I know that I am just starting my practice, and I budgeted for a lot of expenses in these first months, but I am looking at the money I am spending and it starts to worry me.  I keep meaning to do a post about all the expenses I’ve incurred starting my new business – I just haven’t yet because I think if I look hard at the numbers it will be a little overwhelming.

That said, I have gotten a lot more business than I thought I would for the first month of my practice.  I am really grateful for that.  Like I said in previous posts, letting people know that I am going out on my own has been a huge boon to my ancient practice.

Pretty soon I’m going to run out of things to talk about

It seems like I’ve spent a lot of time talking in these posts about what I am doing to market my business.  I guess that is probably fine, but once I get everything up and running I am going to have to search for more meaningful topics than what I did to look for new clients today.

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Networking Is Not Going To Bar Socials

I am largely socially awkward.  I have a hard time with small talk, as a matter-of-fact, it annoys me.  I occasionally drag myself to networking events and I always feel like running away from the people there, screaming.  I’ve accepted these things as truths in my life and I’m not sure there is ever going to be anything I can do to change them.

That said, I can talk to a group easily and be engaging and funny.  I can even sound authoritative about things that I really know fairly little about.  Again, I’ve accepted these things and worked these personality characteristics in a way that has suited me.

That said, 100% of the business I have gotten in my new practice has come from referrals.  And not really even referrals from people who think that I know what I am doing, but people who care about my business succeeding and who find it advantageous to refer people to me.  Heck, I’m usually pretty honest with everyone that I don’t feel 100% comfortable with what I am doing, but I always express to them that I know I can work through it if they are willing to give me the chance.

It’s about who you know

The people who have sent me referrals are people who I have gotten to know through some professional or personal group that I am involved with, but not groups that I am involved with for networking reasons, but groups I am involved with for actual interest in being in the group.

I’ve gotten referrals from people I know through my previous job. They know me and know that I put a lot of effort into becoming a lawyer and want to see me succeed.  They know that I am brand new and don’t know a lot about the areas they have referred me out in, but they know that I’m going to do my damnedest to do a good job.

Being genuine and honest has been a lot more beneficial to getting people to trust me as their lawyer than going out specifically to meet new people to get business.  I don’t know that meeting people with the sole purpose of getting new business is really ever going to work for me.  It might be a self-fulfilling prophecy issue, where I don’t believe that meeting people to get business is genuine, so when I meet people in that kind of environment I don’t come off as genuine.

Associate with like minded people

I’m interested in real estate investing, so I joined a real estate investing group.  I didn’t do it because I wanted to get real estate investor clients, although that isn’t a bad result, I joined because I wanted to learn how to do what those people are doing.  I go to the group, ask lots of questions, and am available to give my opinion on things when asked.  I try really hard not to disagree with people when I they say something that isn’t legally accurate.  From being part of this group I get people who want to use my services because I am like them.

I go to church because it seems like the right thing to do.  The church community is a warm, comfortable place for me and I meet people there who I get to talk to about things that we both believe in.  My church community wants to help me succeed because they believe in me as a person, not because they think I’m a spectacular attorney.

This kind of networking works for me.  By no means am I suggesting that these would work for everyone, because other people have different interests and going to a group just for the networking opportunities seems false to me.  But, I really have seen amazing benefits from just being part of different groups and letting those people know what I am doing with my life and letting them know that I’d appreciate their help with my success.

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Not All Rainbows and Butterflies

Today was one of those days that I knew would happen.  I did what I needed to do today, but I spent some time dealing with the inevitable “Oh my, what have I done?” feeling.  I left my comfortable, secure job to fight my way though being a solo practitioner and having to make my own wind!

I started my day in the courthouse, again

This is probably how I am going to start my days for the foreseeable future, I know.  And really, I am pretty happy that this is my life now.  Objectively viewed, I know that this was going to be a tough month and I wasn’t going to start making six-figures right away.  I went to Court today and sat in on some trials and was acknowledged by the judges, but got no cases out of being there.  So today was a non-earning day.

Like I said, I knew that I wasn’t going to earn money quickly and that my business wouldn’t be an overnight success.  I was ok starting my business in December because I knew that I wasn’t going to get a lot of work right out of the gate anyway, so why not start in a month when not a lot of people are spending money on lawyers?  And I am not even upset about how income has been over the last week, I have done better than I projected initially.

But I did deal with a little bit of anxiety today about the future.  I think this is normal, and I am walking through it because I don’t really have any choice at this point.  I’m a lawyer now and I can’t go back, this decision wasn’t taken lightly and I know I have to keep going.

Handling the fear and doubt

I found myself sitting in my office staring at the wall after working on a project with my “What have I done?” feeling, so I decided to do productive things to at least make me a better lawyer.  I sat down with a Wills & Trusts treatise and read caselaw on Estates law for a couple of hours.  I was tempted to work on some marketing or blogging, but I decided that I have been doing lots of marketing but not enough sitting with the law.

One of my fears about being a new lawyer is that I am focusing a lot of time on getting new clients and doing the work that I have, but not learning about other areas that I’d like to practice.  I remember a lawyer telling me right after I took the bar that I knew more about the law right then than I ever would again, so I better get to practicing.  I’m not sure that this is truly the case, but I do know that right before taking the bar I felt like I knew a little bit about a whole lot and now I am not as confident about that breadth of knowledge – I am a lot more familiar with the areas that I have been focusing on, but I am constantly amazed at how much I have to learn.  I guess that is just part of the deal.

If the new-practice anxiety persists

Tomorrow I am going to get up, put on my tie, and go to work.  If I am still worrying about not getting clients I’ll do something about it.  I still have a few marketing ideas that I haven’t put into play, so maybe I’ll work on some of those.

Also, I’m going to keep telling myself that this isn’t a sprint.  I’m new at getting clients and pulling in business, and a week ago I was worried that was going to be too busy to do the work that I had.  I think this is probably going to be a constant theme for the next few months while I get used to the initial go-go-go of new cases mixed with the long periods in between transactions or appearances when I don’t have a bunch to do.

Despite the anxiety, this was the right thing

The bottom line is that I am doing what I wanted to do.  I’m practicing law on my own, and nobody said it was going to be easy.  As a matter of fact, everyone said it was going to be hard.  I said it was going to be hard.  But I know that the reward will outweigh any discomfort I might have in the next few weeks or months.  I’m doing this.

 

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First Real Day At The Courthouse

Jefferson County CourthouseI’ve been down to the courthouse a few times before to check a property record or go to a hearing, but I haven’t really ever gone to make my presence known before.  Today I was finished with all the CLEs that I needed to get on the appointment lists that I wanted to get on, and had some spare time, so I decided to spend my day at the Courthouse meeting Clerks, Judges, and other staff.

First stop, Local Bar Association Office

I had a form I had to turn into the Local Bar Association, so I decided that would be my first stop.  I’ve met some of the Bar Staff, but never gotten a chance to really introduce myself to everyone.  I had been told how helpful the bar would be, so I decided to talk to them.  I was greeted immediately by one of the staffers that I knew and I got to talking.  They gave me some great pointers on who to talk to and different lists that I should get involved with.  I had neglected to get my Ad Litem certificate from the State Bar before this outing, so they offered to order me the course so that I could take it through them.  I took them up on the offer and then wandered to the different Courts that they suggested.

Lunchtime is not the right time for the Courthouse

I chatted with the Local Bar staffers for longer than I expected, so by the time I headed for any of the Courts it was past noon.  No one was in any of the Courts, so I went to the basement of the Courthouse to get some lunch.  I wasn’t disappointed – Courthouse Cafeteria knows how to cook.  I filled up on unhealthy choices and waited for 1pm to come around.

Judges are here to help

I had been told that all the Judges in our county are very helpful, but I was still surprised at how willing they were to meet with me and talk about what I need to be successful in their Courtrooms.  I met with a Family Judge who lined out when I needed to be in his Court and what kinds of cases I should expect to get.  I didn’t get to the County Judge for the Probate Court, but his Coordinator was really friendly and lined me out for what I needed to expect for that Court. Finally, I talked to the Coordinator for the Criminal Courts who walked me through the paperwork to get signed up, then brought me to one of the Criminal Judges.

The Criminal Judge I talked to kept me in his office for over an hour talking about how he likes to his courtroom to run, rules that he expects followed, and even a arraignment-to-sentencing walkthrough of the process in that particular Court.  He then walked me through how I should be charging for my Court Appointments and where to turn in the payment slips.  I was honestly surprised at how hands on these high-level elected officials were, and how willing they were to help a new lawyer get his bearing.  The Criminal Court Judge then brought me to the other Criminal Court Judge’s office and introduced me.

Feeling a little relieved

Other lawyers have told me how helpful the Judges were, but I was still really astonished by it.  That said, I don’t doubt that once I’m in their Courtrooms they will be pretty strict in how the process runs, but I can really respect that.  I had been putting off meeting the judges and getting more involved in the Courtroom setting because I was apprehensive about the whole interaction, but after meeting everyone today and getting a chance to talk to them, I am more excited than ever about starting to practice law as a new solo.

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Marketing Ideas

The last post was about marketing ideas that I have already implemented into my practice.   Most of that stuff is pretty standard and needs to be done for any new business.  As a new practitioner, figuring out how to get new clients in the door is going to make the difference between being a successful solo attorney or starting to apply for jobs at law firms in a couple of months.

So, these are the ideas that I have been kicking around to start.   Some of them are things that I am ready to implement, some are things that I have to get comfortable with, and some are just Hail Mary ideas that I am not sure that I want to get involved with.

Planning to do, but haven’t started

Appointment Lists

The county I live in has no dedicated public defender system, instead it uses lists of private practice attorneys who are willing to take on court appointed work for indigent clients.  The lists that I know about in this county are basically broken down into criminal appointments, child protective services cases, and probate work.

Getting on the criminal and CPS lists are just a matter of taking a certain number of CLEs in the discipline and signing up for the list.

The criminal list is really multiple lists: adult misdemeanor, adult felony, adult appeals, juvenile misdemeanor, juvenile felony, and juvenile appeals. The first step to doing court appointed criminal work seems to be the adult misdemeanor list, which only requires that the continuous education requirement be filled.  The rest require a certain amount of time practicing law or certain experience drafting appeals.

The CPS list is similar in that it takes a certain amount of CLE hours to get on the list.  What I understand about the CPS list is that attorneys usually start by representing children in child welfare cases as the required attorney ad litem position, then after getting some experience in the CPS system can be appointed as parent’s representatives.

I’ve done the required CLEs for both of these and just haven’t made the time to get signed up on the lists.  Although the paperwork for signing up for the appointments list is all that seems to be statutorily required, it has been suggested by more experienced lawyers that I need to go to the courthouse and introduce myself to the Judges and their coordinators before I try to get this type of work, because although I may be on the list I can’t expect to be successful until I have the blessing of the Judges.  I really like the small town feel of our local legal system and want to respect its traditions – I’m not here to make waves or do things differently (in that aspect).  I’m hoping to get it together this week to go to the local courthouse and get some face time with the Judges and clerks.

Meeting CPAs and Financial Advisors

Another helpful tip I’ve been given is that I should network with CPAs and Financial Advisors.  These professionals work in areas that involve the law and many of them understand the need to refer out certain aspects of their jobs to attorneys to make sure they are not incurring any liability for unlicensed practice of law.

I was thinking of just making a list of local advisors and cold-calling their offices to see if they have a few minutes, but I got a good piece of advice the other day suggesting that I call, ask to talk to the CPA/Financial Advisor, and offer to take them to coffee to talk about how we can help each other.  This seems like a more fruitful method than just a straight cold-call.   I’m going to spend some time this week making a list of local professionals (I may include insurance agents and real estate agents on the list as well) and spend some time inviting them to coffee.

That said, I’ve also gotten a contact with a local CPA through a client I am doing some small business work for.  I’ve got plans to meet up with this CPA this week to talk about some of the work that we’ll be doing together, and I hope to make a pitch to him at the same time asking him to send some clients my way.

Flyers or Brochures

I’ve been kicking the idea around for a while of creating some flyers that talk about common immigration problems and kind of educating people on their rights.  I’d like to keep these flyers somewhat “educational” so that they aren’t purely advertising, but instead something useful that people might pick up and give to a friend that they know is in a situation that could use the help of an immigration attorney.  I really have to spend some time on this to make it the right product, but I really like the idea. My thought is that I’d create the brochure/pamphlet and leave them in businesses that are frequented by the type of people I see as being my client base.  This is something that I will probably spend some time doing in the next month, maybe over the Christmas holiday when I feel less likely to get any productive client work done.

Some Kind of Discount or Special Offer

Although it isn’t extremely common in the legal services business to offer “Specials”, I don’t think that my pride is going to keep me from doing so.  I’d like to come up with some sort of legal service offer that I can promote for the New Year, like “New Year, New Business” or “Get your New Year started right by starting to fix your immigration situation!”

That said, I might hold off on this idea until some sort of action is taken on the DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals).  This might be a great opportunity to create a timely discount package that my clients can really use.

Getting new clients is the goal

The day I received the actual license

All of these ideas are just things that I’ve come up with spontaneously.  I will probably sit down after getting these things implemented and actually try to come up with some truly unique advertising.  I’ve read some books on Guerrilla Advertising and I might try some ideas based on those ideas.  I think the thing that I am concerned with most about alternative advertising methods is maintaining a professional look in my business while standing out as a different kind of legal services provider.

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Marketing Ideas So Far – Things I am doing now

I’m open for business and have a few clients.  But a few clients isn’t enough.  And I feel like word of mouth isn’t going to be enough.  So, to boost my business and start getting customers in the door, I’ve been brainstorming ideas to try to get my name out.  I’ve already implemented some of these things, and some I am planning on trying in the next couple of weeks, and some I’m just kicking around.

Today’s post is going to be about things I am already doing.  I’ll post in the next few days about things I am planning to do and ideas that I am kicking around that may or may not come to fruition.

What I have already done to market my business

Website(s)

I’ve already got two websites up and have been updating occasionally. I should be doing more posting to those sites, but the problem I have with them is that writing blog posts that are actual legal articles take a lot more time than just writing about starting my new practice.  I need to start setting aside time each week to write a post for each of my law firm sites.  I say sites because I did one page in English and the other in Spanish.  I thought about just having the Spanish page be a translation of the English page, but then decided that I wanted to have different content for different languages (and targeted clients).

The English language site is at freimuthpc.com and I plan on using it to talk mostly about small business, wills and trusts, and real estate law.  I’ll put some immigration law articles on there, but I am not focusing the immigration law pages on my English speaking readers.

The Spanish Language site is at Setxlaw.com and I plan to use it to cover topics that I feel are most useful to my Spanish speaking customers.  Mostly immigration, but some small business and real estate law as well.  I really think that the business/real estate law section for the Spanish speaking clients will be successful because it is a neglected market, and I know of quite a few Spanish speakers that came to this country with nothing and have put together significant assets with hard work and frugal spending.   Nobody seems to be targeting these clients and I think I’d do well to try that group.

These pages are truly categorized as Lawyer Advertising, so as part of setting them up I’ve had to submit them to the State Bar of Texas’s advertising review department.  The State Bar wants to make sure that all lawyer advertising is not deceptive and follows all the ethics guidelines.  This is somewhat of a hassle, but I don’t want to get disciplined for advertising so I’ve done it.

Eventually, I’ll get these websites professionally designed, but for now I am just using a WordPress blog site with a nice simple theme.  Compared to a lot of sites on the web, mine are not amazing, but they are simple and get the job done for now.

Logo

I got on Fiverr.com and had a logo designed.  This wasn’t too expensive and I really like the way the logo turned out.  I got a couple of different versions of it made and I am happy with it.

Business Cards

I got some engraved business cards printed up by Hoban.  They are very nice, but a little costly.  They had a 2-week lead time from design to ship, so while I was waiting for those cards, I went to a cheaper printing site and got some standard cards printed up.  The difference in the quality is noticeable, but I am not unhappy with the cheaper cards.  I think both will have their place, because I have a lot more of the cheap cards so when I run out of the good stuff I will have some on hand to give out.  I really am embarrassed to be caught without business cards.

Church Bulletin

Every week at mass for the last 3 months I’ve noticed an empty space at the top-center of the advertising page in the church bulletin. I’ve thought for a while that the space would be great for lawyer advertising, and when I knew for sure I was going to be going solo I reached out to the company that prints the bulletins to see about getting the space.  It was available for a decent price, so I bought it.  They came up with an ad that I am really happy with.  I advertised small business, wills & trusts, and immigration law.  I’ll have to wait and see if anything comes from this, but I don’t mind buying advertising in this format.  There is only one other lawyer advertising in the bulletin and my ad is a lot nicer than his (because I have a nice logo).   I’ve talked to some other lawyers and none have ever tried this method of advertising, but I’m hopeful that I’ll get some business this way.

Talking About It

I’m not a great networker.  I am somewhat quiet and shy and don’t do well when I go to big networking events.  That said, I try to talk to people I do business with, especially those who seem to be doing a good job at what they are doing.  Being friendly and interested in other people’s businesses over the past few years has given me the opportunity to talk to them about what I am doing now.  When I was leaving my previous job and going around wrapping up my dealings in that capacity I talked to people about where I was going from here.  I’ve gotten a few clients already from just telling people that I am opening my practice, and referrals from people I’ve told as well.  I think being passionate about my new venture and willing to talk to people I already know about it has really helped.

Legal Insurance Service

I signed up with a legal insurance provider, TexasLegal.  I haven’t gotten any calls from leads from them yet, but its only been a week, so I am patient.  They offer lower fees than what I would like to be charging, but they do the hard part of getting the client in the door so I can accept that.  The other nice thing about using a service like this is that I bill the service, not the client, so I don’t have to worry about the client not paying me.  I’ll probably write a post entirely about the Legal Insurance Service when I start getting clients from it and have some experience with how it really works.  It sounds like a good idea.

Marketing will be a work in progress

When I find that things I am doing are working, I’ll keep doing them.  The things that I don’t think are bringing me business, I’ll probably stop doing.  This is a work in progress and I hope to keep going.

 

 

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Solo Goes to Prison

It’ll be a cold day in Southeast Texas…

A few months ago I heard a podcast about a program in the Northeast that that helped soon-to-be released prisoners learn life skills to succeed outside by teaching entrepreneurship.  One of the things mentioned by the woman featured in the podcast was that she had formed a similar program in Texas, which piqued my interest in tracking down the program.

This led me to do some research and I found the Texas Prison Entrepreneurship Program.  I liked the sound of what they were offering, and thought that offering pro bono services to some of their graduates would be a good way to do pro bono transactional law.  I knew that a lot of their clients get released in the Houston area, but I thought most of what I would be doing would be by phone and by internet, so I figured I could do it from wherever.

After speaking to the coordinator for the program, who I think is also a graduate, I signed up for legal aid, but also was asked to come to the State Prison in Cleveland, Texas to watch the Fall 2017 Final business plan competition.  I was feeling particularly zealous about getting involved with the program and didn’t really think about the fact that I’d have to spend time in PRISON for this.

As prison got closer I got more apprehensive…

I’ve spent a significant part of my adult life being grateful that I have never been to prison in any capacity.  Not having ever been to prison, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was sure that it was really bad.  Prison is bad.  It is known.

In early November I was put into contact with a program graduate who needed some help with his business, and I’ve been working with him.  If I didn’t know where he was coming from I don’t know that I would have ever guessed.  That said, I started to feel like helping these guys with their legal issues would be more than enough from me and I began dreading the prison visit more and more, not just because its prison, but also because it was going to take up a whole day of my time.

So, on the night before I had to get up and go to Cleveland, I was not entirely enthused.  I had a bunch of work to do and I had it in my head that this prison thing was going to be a depressing, burdensome time-sink and I contemplated not going.

Sometimes you just have to go

I planned to leave early from the house to get to the prison even on time. I woke up at the time I planned, but I was hard pressed to get out of bed.  I finally rolled out of bed later than I wanted to, let the dog out of her kennel, and headed downstairs to put the coffee pot on.   Dog and I wandered to the back door and I took a minute to adjust to the porch light, because my eyes seemed to be showing me white specks falling from the sky.  It looked like snow, but snow doesn’t happen in Southeast Texas.  It couldn’t be snow.

Pre-dawn snow in Texas

Then, as I fully grasped the situation, I realized that there were truly two-inches of snow on the ground and it was lightly continuing to snow.  The dog tore into the yard and did some laps in the mushy white layer on the lawn.  I immediately thought, I’m not driving an hour and a half in this to go to prison.    I let the dog back in, put the coffee on, and went to show my wife this rare weather phenomenon.  When I woke her up and showed her the snow from the bedroom window, I also noticed that the roads were nice and clear and relatively dry.

I felt like since I’d already committed I needed to go, but I wasn’t really looking forward to it.  Especially since it was cold and I would be happier in my warm, comfy office with a nice hot cup of coffee and some legal drafting than in a cold, drafty prison.  I quickly got presentable and grabbed a cup of coffee to go and made it out the door.  I left, but figured I would soon get an email saying that the event was cancelled, since I had already been notified that school was posponed and I knew that many local employers were telling their workers to stay home and be safe.

Not so cancelled

A half an hour after leaving my house I got an email from the event coordinator.  They didn’t cancel.  The event was still on.  I was on my way.

I neared the prison and got more accustomed to the idea that I was just going to have to suffer through this for a few hours and then I’d be done.   I pulled into the prison parking lot with plenty of time to spare and saw people filing in. I got myself ready and I headed in.

I got into prison

Southeast Texas SnowAll I was allowed to bring in was my driver’s license.  I had to take off my boots, jacket, et cetera to go through a metal detector.  I got patted down by a prison guard.  I loitered in the entryway waiting for direction and noticed a “No Hostages Beyond This Point” sign.  We were directed to walk through the doors and entered into a somber hallway where gentlemen in white jumpsuits were sweeping and mopping.  We were led further into the penitentiary.

After walking for a few minutes along the yellow path painted on the floor, I began to hear music and saw smiling inmates in the doorway of a cafeteria welcoming us in.  Entering the cafeteria, the inmates were lined up in a gauntlet formation giving high-fives, shaking hands, and dancing around.  I became utterly confused.

I shook hands and high-fived.  I repeatedly was thanked for coming.  These guys were friendly and a lot happier than I expected prisoners to be.  The prisoners lined us up and took mugshots of each participant.  They continued to dance and act in a generally jovial manner.  I was more confused.

They served us breakfast.  We sat and ate and talked – myself and fifty other local businesspeople in our business-casual and this group of almost 100 inmates in their white jumpsuits.  I wasn’t too sure what to talk about, I’m pretty socially awkward under normal circumstances, but I was really out of my element on small-talk with inmates.  So I talked to them about their businesses.

Not at all what I expected

 

I ate my breakfast with a guy who wanted to start a mobile detailing business.  He had a pretty good plan.  He was realistic about how he wanted to work a day job and do his detail business on the side while he got on his feet.  Then I talked to a guy who wanted to start an AC service.  He explained more about the AC business than I ever thought I’d need to know.  I started thinking that these guys really had done their homework.  I talked to more guys who wanted to start trucking businesses, landscape businesses, a little bit of everything.

After breakfast, we were led to an auditorium and we began the festivities for the day.  There was a bunch of dancing and tom-foolery.  They were happy to be there and hopeful about their lives. I was somewhat overwhelmed with the whole thing.

The final business plans were great. The guys were honest and enthusiastic.  They told real stories and had real ideas.  They answered questions from the audience and defended their ideas.

My whole perspective was wrong

I begrudgingly went to this event.  I didn’t expect much from it.  I had other things to do.

After being around these gentlemen and learning more about the PEP program, my whole perspective was changed.  Not only did being there give me enormous gratitude for the life that I’ve been given, it also prompted me to go back.  I’ll continue to do legal aid work for the PEP graduates, but I also volunteered to go back to prison to be part of their business plan workshops and mentor these amazing, hopeful men who are working hard to get their lives back.

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Almost A Week Solo

Long hours – but finally feeling productive…

I got up this morning, didn’t want to crawl out of my warm bed but convinced myself that I needed to, and went to the gym.  I made it to the office at a decent hour, had no more unpacking or organizing to do, and got to work.

I managed to sit and work for  almost ten hours on a billable project and actually got done what I needed to get done.  After sitting and working like that for myself, I felt slightly delirious, but once I entered my time into my case management software a calm, satisfied feeling came over me.

Now, after writing on stuff for a full day, then coming home for dinner and returning to my computer to work on different projects, I find myself having a tough time getting this post written.  I think the lesson for today, other than how good it feels to get some substantial billable hours in, is that picking the area of the law that I want to practice is going to be really important.

I’m not sure I want to be a trial lawyer

So I sat in my office and had very little interaction with anyone today other than a few client calls to clarify some issues, and a few emails and calls with other attorneys.  I just got to work on my issue and didn’t have to tussle with any of the noise.

I realized that this is probably the ideal situation for my practice.  I’m not saying that I don’t like social interaction, but at the same time I remember in my previous job often thinking that this job wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for all the people.

This realization is probably going to lead me to try to work on cultivating the type of business where I don’t have to leave the office to go to court and deal with lots of procedural issues on a regular basis.

I look at the other lawyers in my office who are constantly in trial and dealing with trial-client issues, and I’m not sure that is for me.  I tend to romanticize the idea of being a great trial lawyer and battling in court to win big for my clients, and even the idea of renouncing that type of advocacy somewhat tugs at my pride, but the more I think about it I’m not sure that kind of career is for me.

That said, I am planning on signing up for some appointments lists next week to get the trial experience.  I am pretty sure I can get some regular income from appointments while I am sorting out getting transactional work.

Endless possibilities

I’ve reached out to a local CPA about meeting up.  I need an accountant and also need to meet with local businesspeople to expand my network.  I also have a lead on meeting up with a financial advisor to talk to him about sending some business my way.  Those sources seem to be reasonable ways to get the kinds of clients I want.

Also, I think doing immigration work will help satisfy my transactional desires.  Most of that kind of work is limited to semi-transactional business with little interaction with the courts.  I need to figure out how to advertise more for immigration work and get my name out in that area.  I’ll probably get referrals from clients that I am working with now, but that area needs to be developed.

At least I have a nice place to work now

Newly situated office

I think a big part of my satisfaction with working all day today in my office is because of how nice it turned out.  It is still a little bit of a mess and needs some work, primarily I need to hang my degrees and licenses, but overall it is a really nice place to spend my day.

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Office Setup

Setting up an office isn’t just about unpacking

Unpacked Office Not Yet Organized

Like I previously mentioned, I did put some planning into going solo.  For the three weeks before I made the move, I was using all my spare time to research different options for making my law practice more streamlined and efficient.  I set up some different referral services, looked into a virtual receptionist, and started a couple of websites.  I purchased some basic office equipment.  I set up an email.  I got a logo.  I even started advertising.  Here is a basic summary of what I am trying, or planning on trying.  I’m not sure what will stick, nor am I advocating that what I am doing is what should be done, but it is what I am doing.

Lawyer networking

I’m a member of the ABA.  I’m a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Bar College.   All of these associations have been helpful with different resources, lots of reading that arrives to my mailbox and inbox on a regular basis.  I also am a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.  These offer some great mailing lists and online resources that are pretty practice specific.  That said, none of this provides much opportunity to talk to other lawyers.

I have been spending some time every week with members of the Jefferson County Bar Association.  I think this has been a pretty efficient use of my time. I get lunch with a group of local lawyers on a regular basis, and we talk about our lives, our careers, and politics.  It is nice to get together with like minded attorneys and shoot the breeze.  These local lawyers have also turned into a pretty useful source for information on possible practice areas, potential office space, and client referrals.  I don’t know if all local bar associations are this helpful, but I feel pretty blessed to have the support I’ve gotten from the local lawyers that I know while starting my own practice.

Another resource that I have found really useful, and completely a time-sink if I let it be, is an online group of lawyers using a Slack group.  I’ve been a member of the Associate’s Mind “LawyerSlack” group for about six months.  Being able to chat with lawyers about varying legal and non-legal topics from my cell phone, my desk, or my tablet has been a big help.  I highly recommend that new lawyers or lawyers starting a new practice area find some sort of online legal group to bounce ideas off of if they don’t have accessible lawyers locally to talk with.  Also, I’ve been able to use the group to get to know lawyers in other parts of Texas.  A couple of months ago I was in Dallas for work and had lunch with a colleague that I met on LawyerSlack. Online networking is a huge help for encouragement with my new business, as well as advice on cases that I’ve never handled before – we certainly live in interesting times.

Referral services

A lawyer without clients won’t be a lawyer for long.  One of my biggest concerns has been getting my name out there and getting new clients to call me.  To deal with some of these concerns I’ve researched and tried to sign up for a couple of different legal referral services.

There is a service here in Texas called Texas Legal that offers legal insurance.  Clients pay a monthly fee and get access to affordable, if not free, legal services.  As a lawyer, you just fill out some forms, agree to take the rates that the service offers, provide a copy of your professional responsibility insurance, and Texas Legal starts sending clients your way.  I signed up a few weeks ago and haven’t gotten any leads from the service yet, but the did send me a nice welcome package the other day.

I tried to sign up for a service called Unbundled Attorney.  This service markets to the “pro se” client, who maybe just needs a lawyer to draft a pleading or review a contract, but doesn’t want to pay for full representation.  The service is actually a pretty good idea and it seems promising.  Unbundled Attorney charges the attorney per lead, and leaves it to the attorney to convert the lead into a client.  I was excited to get involved with them, but I just couldn’t get on the same page with their sales guy.  I might revisit this in the future, but for now I wasn’t willing to make the kind of commitment to try their services that they wanted me to make.  I know a couple of people on LawyerSlack are trying this service and if they have great results I might be forced to revisit my willingness to commit to this.

Software and services I decided to pay for

I went ahead and got case management software right out of the gate.  I’ve heard good things about different providers, but I decided to go with PracticePanther.  I read reviews of the competitors and PracticePanther seemed to be the right one for me.  I’m pretty happy with it so far, although I haven’t done the training session for it yet, so I am probably not getting everything out of it that I could.  I have a training session set up for lunchtime tomorrow – I can eat a salad and learn to manage clients.

I got QuickBooks also.  I don’t have a lot of income to track yet, although I have plenty of expenses, but I figured I should start the business with bookkeeping software so that I get used to using it now.

I signed up for a trial with a virtual receptionist service.  The service works with my Skype phone and has bilingual receptionists to answer my calls.  This helps when I am on the phone or with a client – people calling in always get a live human to talk to.  I’m using a service called AnsweringLegal.  I don’t know if they are any better or worse than their competitors, they are just the one I chose.

I also have a subscription for a service called Oconnor’s Online.  They offer practice guides for multiple legal practice areas.  I’ve found there service really useful for forms and guidance in multiple areas.  I think they are Texas and California specific, but they also offer Federal guides as well.  I haven’t had a chance to do much trial work yet, but I think Oconnor’s will pay for itself when I do.

I’ll have to continue this post tomorrow…

This got a lot longer than I was expecting.  I’ll continue the steps I have taken to get started tomorrow.  It is a cold December night in Texas and I think it is time to curl up with a novel on the iPad and turn in.