The Big Announcement

I decided to go solo.

For the past few weeks I have been working on pulling it altogether to make it happen. I have a lease and we are working out the details of the lease agreement. If all goes well with our negotiations, I expect to move in by early next week. I settled on a very clean but small office not far from my home. I was impressed with the clean rug, freshly painted walls and double windows. I did not expect that windows would be as important to me as they have turned out to be. Of course, most importantly, the rent is affordable. I did ask for a reduction -- asking doesn't hurt -- since the office is a mere 100 square feet. They were not amendable, but offered to loan to me some furniture for the office.

I have my formation paperwork, information from the bank on setting up my accounts, and the malpractice insurance lined up. It is interesting the way one thing follows another. You can't submit X paperwork until you are able to include in it Y information, but then Y sometimes requires X and so on. I find getting my papers together to start a solo practice sometimes have to go in a certain order.

In the meantime, I have had a couple of client consultations, which I find extremely interesting and worthwhile. I learn so much with each client. Of course, now at the beginning my learning curve is high. I do not pass on the cost of my learning curve to the client.

I am reading the Foonberg book, How to Start and Build a Law Practice, and I am close to finishing it! Wow, I didn't think that would happen. I also finally purchased Solo By Choice by Carolyn Elefant. I look forward to reading that. Also on my law practice management shelf is Flying Solo by Jeffrey Simmons. I am learning to reading these books quickly. I find that I am dividing them up into categories like Formation, Marketing, Ethics and so on, so I know where to go when. Chapters that I deem related to formation are the chapters that I will re-visit during my first few weeks of practice.

I have my practice materials tabbed and organized for easy reference. I know where to go to research legal questions. I feel confident in my ability to follow due diligence to help clients solve problems and recommend legal solutions.

Right now I am looking forward to moving into my office space. I have so many books, files and office supplies that I need to get out of my home! There are so many things to do, the list is very long. I need to set up a phone and get wired up to the internet, set up a website, etc. I find To Do lists immensely helpful at this time.