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Fri, 20 Sep 2024 02:06:26 -0700
Andy from
private IP
/all
The inevitability of the law firm machine
As I write this, I'm suffering under a crushing burden of stress. I have a jury
trial on Monday, and combined with everything else, I cannot sleep. What they
don't tell you about being a small law firm owner is that it is simply
impossible to stay current on all the cases and case statuses when there are
five attorneys in the firm and everyone is working on different things. I wish
I had known this years ago. I'm not exactly complaining, because this is better
than being a senior associate in someone else's law firm, but ultimately, it is
a recipe for a stressful life. Add to that the difficulty of collecting money
from clients, and it's a wonder anyone would choose this life. I didn't exactly
choose this; it chose me because it was the best option back in 2016 when I was
sick to death of being an Of Counsel contract attorney and the opportunity arose
to start the firm.
Here I am eight years later, and it comes with multiple blessings and curses.
If there's one thing I can say now, it's that the law firm machine cannot be
stopped, and must continue. This is for several reasons, including but not
limited to the financial track. There is simply nothing else I could do that
would earn this type of revenue (at least, gross revenue). That is probably the
biggest reason I'm tied to this. In addition, there's the constant pressure to
pay staff/employees, which requires me to keep running the machine.
Essentially, I'm falling into the trap described in the book The Millionaire
Next Door. In that book, they talk about lawyers specifically as having high
earnings but not having a lot in the bank. So true. I look at my
profit-and-loss screen and I shake my head at where all the money goes. Payroll
for nine people on an annual basis is a lot of money! The office lease and
payroll are my two biggest expenses. Of course I could elect to not spend so
much money on side projects, but that's the Faustian bargain I made: that I
would use my law earnings to subsidize things I actually enjoy doing, such as
music, guitars, and the like. That's my long way of saying that I can't and
won't be able to change anything about the current setup. It's already optimal,
which says a lot about law as a business. I jokingly told my colleague Vivian
today that I'm "slowly going insane and prepared to renounce law as a career."
Everyone laughed, but there is a grain of truth there: this is why there are so
many toxic workplaces and disordered law firm partners. Because the
overwhelming pressures cause people to crack. I'm hoping to avoid that, and
it's nice having this board as an outlet for my frustrations. Thanks for
listening!
#LawFirm
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Fri, 20 Sep 2024 11:31:54 -0700
2tierreality from private IP
/all
At a certain size and scale, the are a lot of attorney-owners who completely
step away as a working attorney but stay involved as the attorney and "founder",
and only internally advise the other attorneys regarding strategy, etc. But
they are done trying and managing cases. Maybe you're already there or close to
the point where you could do that. Consulting companies like Atticus try to
sell attorney-owners on this model all the time. Why not make the leap?
Or maybe you enjoy practicing too much and would be miserable of you had to step
away.
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Fri, 20 Sep 2024 11:38:53 -0700
whiteguyinchina from private IP
/all
I knew this guy whose gross revenue was 120 million usd by trading a niche
metal product. His overhead must have been like a million max. Small office and
maybe 5 employees. So much better than law or a doctor. But hey no prestige
_reply
Tue, 24 Sep 2024 06:11:54 -0700
Andy from
private IP
/all
The good part is that getting clients and cases is not a problem at this point.
It's self-sustaining in terms of flow of cases. The problem is more in the area
of manpower. I need more staff, but then the payroll obligation goes up, and
that is a big source of my stress because I'm always writing large checks to
people. Payroll in a nine-person law firm is a staggering amount of money,
which I think explains a lot of why there aren't many other attorneys in a
similar position. Most law firms of this size are actual law firms with
multiple partners who can share the burden. Here, it's just me...makes it more
stressful and difficult in every respect. And yet, I wouldn't trade this for
some other arrangement, in part because I have a strong sense of agency from
being able to make my own decisions and do whatever interests me.
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Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:14:11 -0700
Andy from
private IP
/all
We won the jury trial before the actual trial on a last-minute motion for
judgment on the pleadings that was my idea. Client is delighted in how we did
and with the result. What a freaking crazy world.
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