Monday, March 17, 2008

Will work for office space?

One of the most important early decisions in the life of a solo attorney is what to do about office space. I have found that the best way to find an office space is through craigslist postings. This allows you to to price different spaces in different areas to find an office that meets your budget. Of course, finding a suite with other attorneys is a great way to meet other attorneys, possibly get referrals, and have other attorneys to "pick their brains". Or is it?

While this all sounds nice, the reality is that there are plenty of "sharks" out there who are more than willing to take advantage of a young attorney. For example, I live and work in Boston where there are lawyers everywhere who are usually extremely busy. The logical solution seems to be to offer some of this surplus work to young attorneys who are: 1)affordable, 2) eager to work, and 3) flexible. My thinking has been "why wouldn't an attorney be willing to contract work out at $35/hr to me while billing it at $200/hr to their client?"

For whatever reason, I haven't been able to break through this invisible barrier. I have been working for the past 6 or 7 months for a patent firm in Boston. The original agreement was that I would work 20 hours/month for the firm in exchange for the office, and any extra hours I billed I would be paid $50/hr. After a few months, it became clear to me that the firm was not going to honor its deal and I was prepared to move on. The head of the firm urged me to stay and work on a big patent law case on contingency basis. I was offered 20% of the settlement and $50/hr for anything else I billed. This seemed like a perfectly fair agreement and I hesitantly agreed to stay.

I worked for a few weeks drafting the memo, associated motions and documents for the contingency case, and billed time to several other of the attorney's clients. But as soon as I filed the motions with the court and gave the attorney my bill for the hours, he immediately reneged on the agreement and stated that the deal was that I would work 20 hours/month before receiving any payment. Needless to say, I was upset at the change in the agreement. I have a son who requires a babysitter during the day so the time I spent working for this firm, I actually lost hundreds of dollars in day care expenses, not to mention money lost on cases which I didn't take so that I could focus on billing for this law firm.

The bottom line is that lawyers who are beginning their practice are not highly sought after. There seems to be a common misconception that because attorneys work so many hours, attorney positions are available for those who want them. I have seen law firms in Boston looking for experienced attorneys at an annual salary of $40k/yr. It seems as if there are plenty of law firms willing to bill your time as an attorney while paying you as an intern. My advice to young attorneys is to not sell yourself short. Even if you need the work, take the time to find your own clients, research the appropriate laws, and represent your law firm. You might find that it is difficult to keep your morale up as you struggle to make ends meet. But staying the course and building your law practice allows you to learn something about yourself that you'd never learn by jumping at the first available, unreasonable offer of employment.

Please note that not all law firms and attorneys are trying to take advantage of you. Ask attorneys whom you know and trust what they think about a particular firm. It is generally safe to assume that law firms and attorneys with reputations for being untrustworthy have gotten their reputation for a reason, so stay away. And if the offer is too good to be true, it probably is.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow I had seen some posts on CL from you before, I wish I had contacted you before hiring my current Atty

Keep up the blog I think most people think once you become a lawyer the big money just flows in

Unknown said...

Attention, to all seeking an attorney! My name is Robert Munro, I am involved in a large case and have had two lawyers working for me already, both established firms, niether attorney was as compassionate caring or supportive of our claims and situation as Ashley. If you are seeking counsel look no further, hire Ashley Forest you won't regret it. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 1-508-362-5076 x 203.

Anonymous said...

I have made this point in my book, Solo by choice. And sadly, there are many more firms like the one you worked at than you think.