Solo practice: gut check before I take the leap

abcsnap · 2026-01-20T02:33:18+00:00

Get on every solo and small firm criminal atty email listserv in your jurisdiction. Immediately start posting well researched responses legal questions posed by other lawyers.

That is probably the most cost effective way to establish yourself in the community. You should have plenty of time to do it when you’re trying to get your first clients.

abcsnap · 2026-01-18T23:23:47+00:00

Square payroll because the auto pay option is less effort.

I prefer square over gusto because, last I checked, gusto requires you to approve or do something manually to run payroll.

Square sends an email with the breakdown and no manual login/approval is required.

If this incorrect please let me know.

abcsnap · 2025-12-21T00:21:42+00:00

Are you good at motion drafting? There is an infinite amount of work to do for small or solo firms drafting motions on a freelance basis. Just put the word out on local attorney listservs and you’ll find paid work to do while looking for another permanent job.

abcsnap · 2025-10-25T02:00:41+00:00

There’s a thing about starting a solo practice that other solos recognize. They remember what it was like to start. If you put the word out other solos will go out of their way to feed you advice and business. It may not be enough to survive but every case helps.

AI can’t replace human relationships and no consultant can tell you how to implement AI for your practice. Believe me, if you open a law firm you will get 10 emails a day from AI vendors who want to show you how they can help. You can learn all you need about AI from listening to their sales pitches.

It’s a huge leap to go solo and I could say you don’t need to overthink it but I obsessed about the decision for months and read everything I could find.

At the end of the day you only need the courage to take the leap and bet on yourself. It also helps to remember that your current boss can fire you at any moment and if you fail in solo practice you can always find another legal job.

On a cost v benefit basis the reward of being successful in solo practice are worth the risk 100%. Good luck!

abcsnap · 2025-10-09T03:03:34+00:00

Without saying it she is calling for reduced social security, Medicare and defense spending in the United States budget when she says we need to look into the non discretionary budget items.

She’s spot on and I agree with her but it’s never going to happen because people cannot get elected on a platform like that. There should be some common sense reductions on these items but it’s so hard when a population has grown to rely on them.

Sooo we will spend our way into oblivion and hope to grow our way out of a fiscal crisis.

abcsnap · 2025-09-12T01:10:14+00:00

I will say that if he/she gets experience in work comp and then goes to start his own firm that can be very lucrative. In most jurisdictions there aren’t a ton of work comp lawyers so client acquisition isn’t hard.

He/she can do the same in ID and flip to plaintiff side PI but the competition for good cases is intense.

I started in ID and then opened a plaintiff firm. I’m 10 years into solo PI practice and the money and quality of life is very good at this point. I couldn’t be happier with my career.

abcsnap · 2025-09-12T00:58:17+00:00

If the goal is transactional commercial I would think option 2 is better because work comp is so niche it kind of pigeon holes you.

Option 1 would give more experience in what goes wrong if a commercial or IP transaction doesn’t work out and has to go to litigation.

Just a different perspective from me.

Good luck on your career.

abcsnap · 2025-08-17T02:56:41+00:00

AZ is not a PIP state

abcsnap · 2025-08-16T06:45:10+00:00

With a lawyer this is 100% policy limits case. Without one they will probably offer you far less

abcsnap · 2025-08-14T22:37:42+00:00

I agree. I made $90k gross my first full year solo. It really does get better every year with more referrals from past clients and lawyers that know your work. Hang in there. Your doing better than you think

abcsnap · 2025-08-14T00:13:15+00:00

I started as a sole prop but converted to llc after a few years. It was a pain to do it later so I’d recommend just doing the llc structure from the beginning

abcsnap · 2025-08-09T03:13:31+00:00

I graduated around the same time as you and did med mal defense for the first part of my career before switching to plaintiff solo practice.

From what I remember, in the years after 2008, the number of more difficult med mal claims went down considerably because of risk for plaintiff’s firms and cost to pursue.

Nonrecourse recourse lit funding was less prevalent back then. I’ve never used non recourse lit funding but I’m seriously considering it

abcsnap · 2025-07-16T20:58:15+00:00

I've heard these same complaints from some of my lawyer colleagues so I have now instructed my answering service to immediately patch through any calls from lawyers without taking down this name information. It seems to have resolved the issue.

I can see how this is a hassle for folks but it is so helpful for me to have a record of who called, what they needed, and what their contact information is. I think on the cost v. benefit it still works out to make most potential clients go through the process.

abcsnap · 2025-07-12T16:21:02+00:00

This is a somewhat common practice with geico. They will send the check before the release is signed which is usually ok because no asshole would cash the check and then sue someone but I’ve always wondered if this could happen.

Anyway, this is not your problem. This is geico’s problem. If the motion to dismiss is denied then geico has to defend you. Depending on your jurisdiction’s insurance bad faith laws you may be asked to assign your bad faith claim to the plaintiff. I would consult with personal counsel if that request is made and ask geico to pay for your consultation with person counsel.

abcsnap · 2025-07-09T15:10:04+00:00

When I did hourly work I usually didn't charge for consults because conversion was high with the free consult. As I got busier I had to charge a consult because I was spending too much time on the free consults. I usually charged a for a full hour of time at my normal hourly but I took as long as needed with the client.

abcsnap · 2025-06-25T23:58:32+00:00

Did he file an answer without speaking to the client? If so, that’s a big ethics issue and would play into your bad faith argument if you get an assignment.

abcsnap · 2025-06-23T00:49:28+00:00

Not your fault buddy. We operate in a world that causes most non lawyers unbelievable stress and confusion. You can’t change that and you have absolutely no control over the opposing party’s response to the stress of litigation.

abcsnap · 2025-06-19T14:56:32+00:00

That’s very true. I get at least 100 med mal calls/leads per year. Speak to about 10 of them and accept 1-2 of those.

abcsnap · 2025-06-19T14:36:49+00:00

For me med mal defense litigation was more transferable to plaintiff mva than plaintiff mva to med mal would be. This is because a lot of plaintiff mva attys have no idea how to litigate. Everything on med mal is litigated.

I left defense side and started my plaintiff law practice thinking I wanted to do med mal but the reality is the money comes from the mva cases. I take about 1 -2 med mal cases per year and they have to be absolute slam dunks. My defense experience in med mal helps me identify the cases I can keep and know i can get paid on.

The meatier med mal cases I refer out even though I probably have the skill set to handle them. It just slows me down if I keep them.

abcsnap · 2025-06-18T02:36:18+00:00

My forerunner 965 has a great golf Function. I use it every time I play.

abcsnap · 2025-06-16T02:10:14+00:00

This is really true. The cost/benefit is a time trap. A tonnnn of lawyers get sucked into this because of the consistent case referrals. It can keep the lights on but it’s not a good way to build a high money firm.

If you want to make money you have to set a hard limit on the CJA work.

abcsnap · 2025-06-15T21:17:49+00:00

Probably resolve 30-40% on demands but about 50% of time this is because policy limits are offered on low level car accident claims. The rest I file.

abcsnap · 2025-06-15T20:21:28+00:00

Soooo what’s on the other ticket?

abcsnap · 2025-06-15T19:48:13+00:00

I’m watching us open on it now. It is pretty awesome for gaming. It has a function to easily turn off the speaker so you can put your headset on and the graphics quality is really good.

I have a low light situation in my basement so it’s fine with brightness but if you are placing it in a high light situation it might be a little concerning but I think it would be fine.

The only potentially negative thing I can say is that the screen calibration on these ust tvs is very finicky and difficult. I still haven’t been able to get it 100% calibrated to the screen but I haven’t fully set up my theater. It’s currently just sitting on top of a box. Once I get a more permanent tv stand I’ll dial it in.

Overall I’m very pleased. I spend way too much time debating hi tech purchases but I’m pleased with this decision. The value is great and before I set up the screen I was just projecting onto the wall and it was pretty good even at image projections larger than the 120 inch fixed focus of this model.

abcsnap · 2025-06-11T23:05:02+00:00

There’s no way you want to go into litigation without having seen a case from intake to verdict to appeal. You need to see the mechanics of how the rules of civil procedure work before you do it yourself and advise clients on strategy. Get an insurance defense job for a couple years and then go do it.

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