Should I Start a Law Practice? (Redux)—Retrospective, Dec. 31, 2014

Sometimes real lawyers agree to slum it with the likes of me.

“The practice of law is about relationships“.
-Me (And Brian Tannebaum, and probably plenty of other people much smarter than I am).

About two and a half years ago, Jordan wrote a post called “Should I Start a Law Practice?” It remains one of our most-viewed articles on this blog. Because it’s the end of the year,  rather than being creative and thinking of a new and exciting topic, I decided, now concluding my fourth year of practice, and having started as a true solo fresh out of law school, to revisit the topic Jordan discussed back in 2012. I’d intended to write this follow-up to his post way back then, but simply never got around to it.

My perspective is different that Jordan’s—partly because I graduated in 2010, when the market had tanked—and partly because I did not work at a firm before I hung my shingle.

Here’s my point: You should start a practice if you want to, and if you understand that the practice of law is all about relationships—with your colleagues, with your mentors, and with your clients.

The Appointment, Part 3.

[Ed.- This is part three of an ongoing series. It won’t make a lot of sense unless you read parts one and two.]

It was 11.13am. We had 19 days to trial. Barnaby Jones sat across the conference table in my office, and he was indignant.

“Mr. Leo, it wasn’t me! I swear They got the wrong guy!”

We’d been talking about this case for the last half-hour or so, and he was still giving me the same story. Every defense lawyer has heard it a million times. “It wasn’t me!” In defense circles we call this the SODDI defense — “some other dude did it” (it even has a Wikipedia entry). Mr Jones wasn’t the first client to give me this line nor would he be the last. Naturally, I was skeptical, especially in light of the Commonwealth’s discovery I’d reviewed since ADA Shea sent it to me yesterday.

“I understand what you’re saying, Mr. Jones, but you’ve reviewed that discovery I gave you, right? We have some big problems here. First, the police sat on your block for four days. They say they were 25 feet away, using binoculars, and saw you sell drugs on four separate occasions to a confidential informant. Additionally, they say that each time the confidential informant came back to them with crack cocaine they saw you sell to him. That’s bad. You get that, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Leo, I get it.” My client nodded.

“Then, to make it worse, the police got a warrant and raided the house where they said they saw you. In that house, they found over sixty grams of crack cocaine, 50 jars of PCP, and over one hundred grams of weed. They also found a picture of you and two other guys, which they bagged as evidence. That’s worse. You get that, right? They are putting you in that house!”

“They’re wrong though! I wasn’t selling drugs that day, Mr. Leo. I was USING drugs! The guy they saw wasn’t me. And I am not the guy in that picture!”

I looked across the table at my client, in silence, for a minute. He wasn’t getting it. I took off my glasses, folded them, and placed them to my right. I signed deeply and rubbed my face with my hands in frustration. “This guy”, I thought to myself, “straight up case of denial”.