Job Searches, Solo Practitioners

Lawyers, Do You Want To Get Rid Of Your Competition? Help Them Find A Job!

With more unemployed law school graduates starting solo practices, they are becoming your competition. Some of them may end up being quite good. If you don't help the competition find a job, they may end up taking yours.

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Every year, around this time, I get phone calls, emails, and cards from attorneys announcing the start of their their solo practices. I look them up online. Some had been working for law firms for a few years. But the majority of them are recent bar admitees who were unable to find a job after graduating law school and passing the bar exam. While I genuinely wish them well, I have to keep in mind that they are now my competitors.

This generally does not worry established attorneys because most new solo practices close within a year or two. The lucky ones will find a legal job. The luckier ones find a non-legal job. Others manage to stick around for a while but do not really get anywhere. These people usually have rich spouses who appreciate the tax write-offs. Lastly, the majority just mysteriously vanish.

But there is at least one in every group of baby barristers that may eventually become a legitimate threat to your business. He is intelligent and articulate. He gets himself out there by writing helpful articles and setting up speaking events. Worst of all, he is friendly, down-to-earth and generous to everyone, including you. All of his clients are happy and sing his praises. Your reliable referral sources secretly start to send potential clients to him instead of you.

We can’t have that, can we? So how do you end a promising solo career before it takes off? It’s simple: help him find a job.

The good attorney I mentioned above would have been a solid junior associate at a law firm. But he won’t be hired for a number of reasons. He does not have the right academic credentials. He expects to be paid more than minimum wage. But employers are also reluctant to hire someone they don’t know too well. Résumés are one-sided and while most contain truthful information, they are often embellished or exaggerated. And this is why employers ask for references.

So how do you help a young attorney get a job? First, get to know him. Call him up, arrange a meeting over coffee or lunch, and there, learn more about his accomplishments, interests, and future career goals. Ask him if he is looking for a job. If he tries to change the subject or refuses to answer it, then ask how much he wants to make and then ask whether he would be willing to work for a law firm that paid his asking price.

Second, if possible, try to work together with the new attorney on small projects. And pay him for this. This will give you a chance to review his work product and observe his work ethic. The best case scenario is that you hire him. Otherwise, you have at least something to talk about when a potential employer calls you as a reference.

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Third, check your network and your usual message boards, listservs, and emails to see if anyone is looking to hire, even on a part-time, temporary, or contract position. It may even be a legal assistant or paralegal position. If you have a large network, chances are, someone you know may be hiring. But if you can’t find anybody now, keep an eye out. When you find an opening, don’t just forward the job vacancy to the new attorney. Offer to introduce him to the person who makes the hiring decision and even set up an interview.

Look, I know. It’s more work on your part, there is nothing in it for you, and it sounds suspiciously like mentoring. Isn’t it easier to just call them entitled, and lecture them on the importance of networking and having the right attitude? It’s not your fault that the economy collapsed and law schools are sending out more graduates than the job market can handle. And I understand that nobody helped you find a job when you were young. But that does not mean that you have to let this hazing ritual continue.

I’m not suggesting that you go to bat for every new attorney using a solo practice to disguise their unemployment. As I mentioned earlier, most will wash out. But many new attorneys would thrive at a law firm. That would be a lot better than starting a solo practice out of desperation and possibly making rookie mistakes with your potential clients.

Elder attorneys have been called upon to train the next generation through mentorship or apprenticeship. This was encouraged as a matter of tradition, professional courtesy, and as the morally right thing to do to protect the profession. But these days, fewer people care about these virtues and instead focus on the bottom line.

So let’s make it about the bottom line. With more unemployed law school graduates starting solo practices, they are becoming your competition. Some of them may end up being quite good. If you don’t help the competition find a job, they may end up taking yours.

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Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached at sachimalbe@excite.com.

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