Many of you are familiar with my friend, Ernie the Attorney, because of his well-known blog. But this week he posted a lengthy piece about his law firm called Little Big Firm. This should be required reading for every recent law school graduate contemplating opening a law practice because for many of them this may well be their road to success. Ernie's style of law practice may not be for everyone, but it looks like a strong model for a solo practitioner to me.
I've been thinking a lot about one of the aspects of what Ernie discusses. That is the ability for small firm lawyers to plan in advance to ramp up and ramp down their support services as needed, allowing them to keep overhead low during slower times while still being positioned to take on major matters. This requires advanced planning. It is like adage of the swamp and the alligators. When you are in the middle of an emergency, you are too busy to plan. Reviewing your options in advance allows you to step up to Level 2 or Level 3 when the need arises.
But Ernie and many other members of the Louisiana Bar Association will get a chance to hear me discuss some of these issues in two weeks when I speak at the bar's 4th Annual Solo & Small Firm Conference. I'm going to do the opening plenary session on The Future of Solo Practice and there is a great schedule of speakers and presentations. Hope to see some old friends there and make some new ones.