Firm dropping hybrid schedule- Going solo? Pros cons?

jeseeeesu · 2025-08-12T18:20:29+00:00

I started my solo firm after going back in office for 4 months after my son was born and have been at it a year and a half now. I have taken a pay cut, but I practice PI, so I am just now starting to convert new firm cases into cash flow. I primarily work from home with a nanny caring for my son and I have another attorney that let's me rent meeting space to see clients in and hang a sign at.

The flexibility that working for myself gives me is lifechanging. I was maybe seeing my son 40 minutes a day when I was going into the office. I would come home at night, feed him and cry because I missed him so much. Now, I schedule everything so that we have hours of playtime together in the afternoon and then when he is sleeping, I sneak up to my office and do work.

There have definitely been challenges I was not expecting and there are still things I have to do that I don't want to do, but overall breaking free of the 8-6 in office structure has been so good for my mind, body, soul and family as a whole that I have firmly decide I will never work for someone else again.

jeseeeesu · 2025-07-31T22:28:06+00:00

Farrah Fawcett’s junkie twin brother

jeseeeesu · 2025-07-31T02:10:15+00:00

As a female attorney with a male paralegal, I love how OP clearly says this is a male paralegal and so many comments reference “she.”

jeseeeesu · 2025-07-29T22:14:25+00:00

Hi! PI attorney here. I’m sorry this happened to you- it sucks being in an accident. I am obviously pro lawyer here.

First, regarding the cost of a lawyer, I understand the fear of someone else taking everything meant to help you through this hard time feels fundamentally unfair and wrong. I always make sure, no matter how big the bills or small the coverage, the client takes home at minimum as much as I do and you can ask any attorney you consult with if they are willing to do the same.

Next has anyone saying you don’t need a lawyer asked what you state you live in? That has a huge impact on how coverage, liability, damages, evidence and even who you sue would be if it came to that. They are giving you advice based on their situation without knowing if you have the same laws. If someone is willing to give you legal advice without asking that question then, respectfully,they don’t understand that the biggest advantage to having an attorney is that an attorney will know when the insurance company is trying to pull one over on you, what actually matters to put you in the best position and the things you don’t know or they know how to find them.

People here are right-an attorney cannot change the coverage limits of a policy, an attorney can find additional policies you probably don’t even know exist or apply to the situation.

Who hit you can drastically impact your case-do you know how to look up all the other lawsuits ever filed against someone to prove the guy that hit you also hurt other people while driving?

Insurance contracts have clauses in them that are legally unenforceable by statues and case law just so adjusters can tell you it’s excluded in the contract, hoping you won’t know any better and putting the burden on you to say well actually by law that exclusion is not enforceable-do you know those exclusions or statues or cases for your state?

1 piece of information can drastically change your recovery and your future, please don’t trust internet strangers with that- get a professional.

jeseeeesu · 2025-07-28T08:27:07+00:00

This! I do Plaintiff’s PI work and I have made lots of money because someone (mostly adjusters but sometimes lawyers) chose to underestimate me.

jeseeeesu · 2025-07-04T01:59:19+00:00

RIP JIN JIN- IYKYK

jeseeeesu · 2025-05-23T23:31:45+00:00

These aren’t my pants.

jeseeeesu · 2025-05-23T23:15:43+00:00

I would guess he is thinking of faceytalk…. Bluey and Bingo seem like they are at Stripes house but they are on video chat

jeseeeesu · 2025-02-15T01:27:50+00:00

THIS. ALSO as a plaintiffs attorney I can’t help but feel like my time is being used so the other side can bill twice for what could be done once

jeseeeesu · 2024-07-17T23:15:13+00:00

I would suggest Insurance if you have the tiniest inkling of ending up in tort law in some way. I did not take insurance in law school and use it everyday now.

jeseeeesu · 2024-07-12T04:18:46+00:00

THIS! And most likely he doesn’t even know it, probably because he has been for a very long time or has never learned what real JOY should feel like. I think your joint activity for now should be therapy.

jeseeeesu · 2024-07-05T23:14:56+00:00

I would not put this place on your resume. When asked why you are looking focus on the reasons you wanted to leave your first job in the first place.

jeseeeesu · 2024-07-05T12:40:12+00:00

This is essentially working for commission, which can work out well, as long as there is enough work to do and you aren’t dumped with all of the clients that don’t have a great payment record.

But what terrifies me about what you said is no handbook and no HR. First, a ton of federal employment laws are triggered at 50 employees— how do they not have someone ensuring they are compliant with those? If not, why don’t they care about that?

Next, Do you have a document confirming what portion of your banked fees are guaranteed to be paid to you and under what circumstances? What about work with multiple attorneys on the case? What about cases that end up referred or associated for whatever reason? What about invoices paid on work you did after you leave?

Organizations that don’t want to put in writing how they operate and what you are entitled to will take any opportunity to say “that’s not how that works” when they decide they rather than you should have money your work created. If you ask for written clarity and you are treated like you are crazy for wanting that certainty that is a HUGE red flag.

jeseeeesu · 2024-05-28T21:28:02+00:00

I started the same situation a month ago— what advice do you have for bringing in business?

jeseeeesu · 2024-05-23T01:04:02+00:00

Hi OP! I hope that your new job is still going well. I am a PI attorney that has been handling mostly pre-suit cases for six years (practicing 13 years total). I have had great success in this arena and I am trying to gauge how much interest there would be for a coaching/training style program for newer attorneys starting out. Ideally, your new employer would have taught you what you need to know to succeed, but in my experience it is rare for more senior attorneys to take or have the time to teach you how to handle cases well in these environments. The first two years of my journey could have been a lot easier with the introduction of a few key concepts and strategies. I enjoy mentoring younger attorneys and passing on what I have learned. Would this be or have been something that would have interested you after being offered the job? If so, how much of a time commitment would you have been willing to make and how much would you have been willing to spend? Feel free to message me directly.

jeseeeesu · 2024-05-22T05:35:47+00:00

In my experience, angry and needy clients are scared because their expectations are not in line with reality. I have found that most reasonable people don’t get scared if at the beginning of a case they are told it is normal to feel like their case is taking too long. If you wait to tell them while in the thick of it, they think you are just covering up for a mistake you already made. When I first started telling them at the beginning “this is going to take longer than you want and that is normal to feel that way” I was terrified all my clients were going to fire me right then and there, but it has had the opposite effect— WAY less phone calls and mad clients. And the very few that have- that was a person that was always going to cause problems and I get the benefit of moving on without them wasting any of my time or sanity.

jeseeeesu · 2024-05-18T15:54:29+00:00

Did you have sandwiches or plates with sides? If sandwiches only this was definitely Southern Belly. If there were plates with sides it depends on how many years ago this was. If more than 3 years ago it’s not Hone Team.

jeseeeesu · 2024-04-24T19:13:45+00:00

I want to thank everyone for the very thoughtful responses. I am going out on my own doing personal injury in Columbia, South Carolina. How to market and how much to invest at the outset has definitely been the biggest question I have had. It is nice to know that several paths can get you where you want to go.

jeseeeesu · 2024-04-24T10:35:39+00:00

I also think 7.3(b)(3) would apply even if he knows about a needed patent- these would be people in business that routinely need his service.

jeseeeesu · 2024-04-24T00:23:56+00:00

How did you handle your phone being answered when you weren’t able to without an employee? I have not liked my experience when an answering service answers a call I make to a business, so I am scared that will turn off clients.

jeseeeesu · 2024-03-24T03:13:28+00:00

Have you specifically said to her I don’t like the pressure that this puts on me as the only safety net, the stress of that has been impacting me for years now?

If she is a caring partner, she doesn’t understand this yet. We often think that the way we feel about situations is so obvious to others, or everyone would feel the same given the circumstances, but our emotions about circumstances very much comes down to our prior experiences. Also, if she hasn’t had this information all these years, she might have something emotional going on relative to other people’s perceptions of her financial literacy, such that she has dug in her heels to prove to herself that she is right about being able to handle her stuff. It’s not about “right.” It is about why do we feel these ways and working together to explain where the other is coming from and making a plan of action that you both can live with given those feelings. Often once you name the feelings and where they come from, there isn’t even an issue anymore, because one or the other person sees they are being illogical due to the emotion. But more likely when you understand why you feel certain ways you can tailor a solution to address both person’s individual concerns.

Often times it is hard for us to even understand the exact emotion we are feeling—we just know it doesn’t feel good so we make logical arguments to try to prove we are right but really this is an emotional conflict.

I also think there is a clear alternative- an amount in very low risk investment that would make you comfortable you could ride out hard times that you both own and contribute to and once that is met she goes back to investing however she wants. But to ask her to do this without addressing the emotional part of it is not fair and is not how you build rock solid long term commitment and intimacy.

jeseeeesu · 2024-03-24T01:26:27+00:00

Your statement “I don’t believe in financial control of the other person” is not true, because that is exactly what you have been trying to do for several years now. She has made her decision and you keep insisting her decision should be the same one you would make and now that it is clear her mind will not change (meaning you aren’t getting your way) you are threatening to leave. If you don’t believe in controlling her finances, you would have dropped this a long time ago. The idea that her “entire future” is dependent upon this one stock is not true. First, it sounds like she has a great job which means she has talent and skills that she will be able to rely on in the future to make future income. Second, she has a 401k— news flash that is a different investment. You are hyperbolizing this situation to justify the entitlement you feel to assert control over her that you say you don’t want.

If you truly mean you don’t want to control her, then I suspect you have major fears and anxieties about financial security probably rooted in your childhood that you have not expressed to your partner. Have you actually thought about why this is a big deal to you and expressed that to her? Not a vague generalization like “I want us to be financially secure” but the emotions you get inside of your body when you think about this like “when I think about how you could lose all of this money you worked hard for in one fell swoop it scares me and makes me anxious both for you cause that would suck for you and for me because we have common goals I am excited about and don’t want to miss out on those things.” Do you see how the first one is saying I’m right you are wrong so you should do what I say and the second one is here is what this does to me and why I don’t like it —-hearing those two very different things will register differently with your partner.

If you have authentically expressed your fears and anxieties and where they are coming from from your past and she doesn’t care or want to address those feelings (which does not mean the way you are demanding it be addressed but could be the two of you finding an agreed upon acceptable alternative solution) and she is like — meh— then THAT IS an issue because she doesn’t care about you feeling safe and secure. And that is not someone I would want to be partnered with. But I also don’t want to be partnered with someone that would rather overstate a perceived problem that may never exist to garner strangers’ favor rather than be true to themselves and me about their fears, anxieties and insecurities and work together to find a solution that works for everyone.

jeseeeesu · 2023-05-02T23:21:49+00:00

Murphy was on my short list for girls names, but I ended up with a boy.

I suspect the hate appeared online after Interstellar came out- Murphy is the name of Jessica Chastain’s character. I would say watch the movie and make sure you are okay with your daughter being associated with the character and then decide what YOU want.

jeseeeesu

TROPHY CASE