Today is Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.  I’ve decided to start writing about my journey of being newly solo, and fresh out of Baby Lawyer diapers.  I’m at home researching ways to grow my firm and bring in clients.  I’ve had some success recently with blogging for a local internet newspaper for my City.  However, this is my 5^th month in solo practice, I’ve gotten a few clients, but not nearly as much as I need.  It’s been paying the bills, but of course I’ll need substantially more to live.  Being a solo practitioner is exactly as hard as I thought it would be.  I didn’t expect it to be easy, so I wasn’t disappointed as much when the money or clients weren’t coming in as quickly as I wished.  I’ve heard from so many attorneys and other individuals that, “It’s going to be just as hard trying to get a paying client as it is to find a job in this economy, stick to trying to work for someone else.”  As much as I understood where they were coming from, I had to push and keep trying.  I’m not a quitter.  I did continue applying for jobs when I had the time, but I refused to give up over a few negative, yet realistic words from more experienced colleagues.  In the forefront of my mind at least a couple times a week is my mounting student loan debt that I cannot get rid of until death do us part.  That’s another story for another day, but many of us attorneys and professionals are drowning in student loan debt.

As difficult as it is, I love working for myself, making my own schedule and celebrating the small victories. It’s been a curse to have graduated from law school during such a horrible economic time in the world.  However, it’s also been a gift because neither I nor other Baby Lawyers would have known how strong and capable we truly are.  I have no doubt in my mind that we can and will make it.

Honestly, there is a divide in the legal field over whether younger lawyers should enter into solo practice.  I’ve seen the negativity thrown my way as well as in the way of others in my very position.  Would I have liked to have worked for a firm full-time for a couple years before going solo? Of course! However, this opportunity was not afforded me.   It has not afforded to many other younger attorneys in this nation either.  Many younger attorneys have been forced out of the practice of law for lack of jobs, have picked up doing document reviews by the dozen, taken other jobs in other fields, and simply have lost their drive for why they’ve even become a lawyer in the first place.

Who’s to blame?  We could blame the older attorneys for not retiring early enough.  We could blame Big Law for not planning for the rain. Blame only goes but so far.  We’re at a day and age where you have to become creative, work 3-4 jobs if need be, become inventors, entrepreneurs of other businesses, and more.  Simply working in the legal field is insufficient if we want to live at least a comfortable middle class life.

So, to many of you older more seasoned attorneys, instead of using your tongue to break down the next generation of attorneys in your field, use that same energy to mentor, and to offer guidance and assistance.  Instead of calling the Baby Lawyers incompetent, show them what they need to know to become competent besides a hefty dose of your lawyer sarcasm or “read the statute” remarks.  Maybe offer them a job, offer them some other resources that may be willing to help.  In no way am I suggesting they should be spoon-fed.  We all went to law school and know what it means to become competent.  However, telling us what to do, and showing us what to do are two very different things.

Honestly, I’ve been fortunate to have many individuals who have done this very thing for me.   They’ve shown me where to go, what to do, and directed me to other individuals who could do the same. It’s been priceless.

For you other younger solos out there, keep tilling the field.  Sow those seeds of diligence, hard-work, and compassion, and in due time, we will reap our harvest.