How Small Law Firms and Attorneys Can Help You

Solo practitioners are attorneys who practice on their own. Even though they don’t have partners, these attorneys may hire one or a couple more legal assistants, secretaries, and other support staff who haven’t attended law school. If the organization is well-ordered, such an arrangement could be very profitable. However, a solo practitioner has the lowest income among any group of lawyers.

A person may become a solo practitioner for a lot of reasons. They may take pleasure in the liberty of an entrepreneurial process where they name all the shots. They may not feel like being hassled or responsible to other partners. They may not want the supervising or training of associates. They may reside in areas where there’re just not enough attorneys to create law firms.

Surveys reveal that a large percentage from this group of lawyers has been involved in law firms in their careers at some point. Even though they may avoid formal organizations, numerous solo practitioners make use of informal referral groups with other attorneys and, more and more take part in office-sharing arrangements so as to lessen overhead costs.

A number of commentators have recommended that the breed of solo practitioners are dying, because their percentage have declined over time: less than 40% of all attorneys practice by themselves compared to 80% in the ‘50s, and less than 5% of graduates from law school choose to “hang out a shingle.” Simultaneously, the actual percentages of attorneys who practice by themselves have improved over the years.