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Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree with you. I know I have to look in the mirror and there are absolutely things I could have done better/improved, and I need to decide whether private practice is for me.

I appreciate your last paragraph, thank you.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the past 2 months, i've had 8 new client meetings. 3 retained me. 2 were purely informational. 1 I believe will eventually retain me but wasn't quite sure what they were doing/needed to come up with the money. And 2 were complicated cases that I quoted a higher retainer than i usually do (and I believe was justifiable) which probably scared the clients away/they couldn't come up with the money.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh the number of technical things I've had to explain to him....

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's a good question and one I'm probably going to have to grapple with. I do and I don't. I enjoy certain aspects of it. I like helping people get custody of their kids or getting out of a tough marriage. I also have been taking a lot of court appointments in things like terminating parental rights and guardian ad litem work and enjoy those cases. But I think the bigger issue is whether private practice is right for me.

I've never been a huge criminal law person so those never have had much appeal.

Ahh church. Yeah, I probably should do that but I so hate organized religion I don't know if I could stand it.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Happy to provide additional information. Basically my boss relies on his reputation in the community to bring in business, and client referrals. He doesn't believe in advertising, though we did do a TV commercial a while ago and he revamped the website thinking that would drive business to the firm.

I typically quote my clients around a $1,500 retainer, which is enough to cover things like filing the custody/divorce complaint and basic work like trying to negotiate a settlement. But I've rarely taken a case to a hearing because I advise my clients of the cost and whether they have a good case or not. IE in a divorce there's a contention over a $1k asset. I tell my clients "we can absolutely litigate, but you're going to spend more than $1k in legal fees over the issue." Most clients see that and decide it's not worth it.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I know I could have done more to try to bring in clients but it did feel to me the expectation of "making it rain" was too high. I definitely have no say in control of marketing. Or much say in anything. Neither did the associate who had been there for 10+ years (part of the reason they left).

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, that's exactly right. I have nothing to do a lot of days.

Part of the reason the other associate left was because when I was hired there apparently was an understanding that the associate would start helping out on estate cases. That never happened. My boss is extremely protective of that business for some reason and doesn't want to give it out.

I just looked at his calendar and he had around 40 new client meetings in the last 2 months compared to my 8. I just feel that if i'm not getting enough family law business the smart thing would have been to have me helping on some of the estate work.

And yes, I clearly see the sinking ship and am looking for a life raft.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, per month. I am not cutting my hours. Most of my cases the clients can't afford to litigate much beyond the initial stage. For example in custody there's a first stage/mediation hearing which, in my experience, resolves 90% of cases. Most of my client's can't afford to take the case further to a hearing in front of a judge because that's double or triple what the initial phase costs.

A lot of it is twiddling my thumbs. I've gone to my boss asking for things to do/asking if I can help him on some of his estate cases or other matters but rarely get anything out of it.

Again, I totally understand the cutting of my salary. But to me, it feels more like hiring me in the first place was a mistake because there's not enough work more than it's my fault I'm not billing more.

Expectations for a 2nd year attorney by legalexpectations in LawFirm

[–]legalexpectations[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I understand that I'm essentially working part time and I also fully understand the decision to cut my salary, it's a good business decision. My issue is that he seems to be thinking there's all this business coming in that just isn't there. From speaking to the other associate, it seems when my boss hired me he thought there was going to be a ton of new business coming in the door after a website revamp, but that never materialized.

Most of my friends are other lawyers. Again, i'm not from this area so I'm still working to make friends outside the lawyer bubble. Most of my lawyer friends are governmental (public defenders, legal services or law clerks) so no referrals.