JD Underground

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Wed, 22 May 2024 02:53:10 -0700

Andy from
private IP
/all
I've done all I wanted to do in law, and I've said all I wanted to say. 
Focusing now on the business.

As I write this, I am thankful for the life I have and I'm a lucky guy.  But I'm
also suffering under an overwhelming burden of stress from running my own
seven-person law firm with about 70 cases pending.  I recently raised my rate by
50% to $750 per hour with a $15,000 non-refundable retainer, and people still
call.  Some even hire me on these crazy terms, which I truthfully indicate are
solely due to my crushing workload and the fact that I cannot justify taking
less when I'm going out of my mind from being buried in work all the time.

I'm posting this to indicate that I've reached a point where I no longer desire
to advance my professional skills or gain experience; I've done enough of those
things, and I could comfortably stay at this level of practice forever.  The one
remaining professional thing I want to do is gain NBTA board certification in
civil and family trial practice.  I'm already eligible for family trial
practice, but I need two more first-chair jury trials to gain civil trial
practice.  Once I get those certifications, there is nothing left for me to do
because I will have done all I set out to do when I started law school 22 years
ago.

This brings me to my point: apparently, at this stage of someone's career, the
opportunity presents itself to sell out and solely focus on the business of
running a law firm and making money, rather than furthering professional
achievement.  My colleagues are the ones who can now focus on gaining the
experience I gained, and I'm running the firm while taking the most complex and
difficult work and avoiding most of the daily tasks.  Is this normal?  I don't
know, because I don't know of any peers with their own actual law firms that are
similar to mine.  I'm certainly not complaining, it's just different from what I
expected, and no one ever told me this would happen.

The missing piece is that I desperately need more manpower, yet I cannot hire
anyone because there are no qualified applicants who are interested in the
position.  Other firms have had the same problem and simply cannot hire anyone. 
So it looks like I'm going to be stuck at this level for a while, which isn't
bad except that I have to turn down cases and smaller projects that might
actually help people who need help.  Might as well enjoy it and cash in, right? 
I don't know how I feel about that, because it's inconsistent with my style to
sit back in any way.  The financial side does permit me to pursue other things
that interest me, such as the upcoming Trial Laboratory project and others
business concepts that have potential.  That's my long way of saying that this
seems like a Faustian bargain, in which I use my business to earn money in order
to do the things I actually enjoy doing.  I don't know any other lawyer who is
fortunate enough to be in this position.  Do you?  Am I tripping when I complain
that there is nothing left that I desire to do professionally?

#LawFirm 

_reply
Wed, 22 May 2024 11:52:57 -0700

Blee from
private IP
/all
I don't think that's crazy at all. I'm in my mid-50's and am perfectly happy
being on cruise control to retirement if I can pull it off. 

I'm senior in house counsel and spend my days negotiating contracts with other
in-house counsel, for services that have largely already been sold. I kinda like
what I do, I’m paid really well to do it, it’s low stress most days and I
average about 45 hours a week. I have time to play music at night, I take most
of my PTO, I can work in my PJ’s when I’m not travelling, and most days
I’m done by 6 PM. 

My boss makes bank, but he has a full day of meetings and then has to do his
job. He probably works 70-80 hours a week. Last year he was happy because he
“only” worked six hours on Thanksgiving. I do not want that life, pretty
much regardless of what it pays.
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