As the National Law Journal and other media have reported, starting their own firm or freelancing has become layoff option number one for many lawyers who see pink slips coming their way.   As Karen Sloan wrote in a recent National Law Journal article   “cost-conscious clients are more willing than ever to retain smaller outfits that offer lower rates, and new solos can build their practice on that foundation.”   And there are more and more freelance opportunities as discussed by Lisa Solomon in a recent post (click here).

And so we find going solo or freelancing is a growing option for contract attorneys.   So we launched “The Posse Ranch” to focus on these options.

Going solo: where do you start?

One of the pioneers in providing advice for ”going solo” and/or setting up a small firm is Carolyn Elefant, author of Solo by Choice and the blog My Shingle which you an access by clicking here.  Another excellent book is by Jay Foonberg titled How to Start and Build a Law Practice.

For a nice overview on issues/factors to think about in going solo see the law.com outline by clicking here.

And for all the nuts & bolts about starting a practice go to  Solo Practice University which we cover in a separate section on our home page where you will find a direct link. 

Freelance/independent contract attorney: where to start?

But not everyone wants to move away from “regular” contract attorney work and represent clients directly.  There’s another career path for contract attorneys: independent contract lawyers, a small but growing cadre of solo practitioners who, enabled by technology, work on a project-by-project basis for other lawyers.

And independent contract lawyers aren’t limited to document review work:  they perform a wide range of tasks, including legal research and writing, making court appearances, taking and defending depositions and more.  Because independent contract lawyers work for themselves, they can mold their practices to fit their skills and preferences.    Two pioneers in this field:  Lisa Solomon and her site Legal Research and Writing Pro, and Kimberly Alderman with her blog Lawyer On!

But The Posse Ranch cannot hope to duplicate all these great sources out there for “going solo” and being a freelance contract attorney (Carolyn Elefant, Solo Practice University, Grant Griffiths, Lisa Solomon, Kimberly Alderman, Stephanie Kimbro, etc.) so what we plan to do is centralize as many sources as we can on this site for “one-stop-shopping”.

And to get you going we have teamed up with the “best in the biz” to help you explore your solo/freelance options:

Blawging Lawyers: a members-only online learning environment, where those in solo law practice, who want a steady stream of clients learn to market through blogging and internet marketing. Through a wealth of written, audio, and video materials, solos and firms learn the basics on up through advanced topics in order get a blog and use blogging effectively to market their practice. Their members are extraordinarily successful, with many getting anywhere from 40% to 50% of their clients through their blogs.

G2WebMedia:  Blogging is one of the most effective marketing tools available today for the solo lawyer.  G2WebMedia is your source for a completely turnkey, highly effective, custom designed WordPress blogsite. 

Solo Practice University:   Now solos even have their own university.  Practice management consultant Susan Cartier Liebel opened the doors to SPU  on March 20th.   As she explains, SPU is ”a web-based educational and professional networking community for lawyers and law students staffed with outstanding faculty ready to teach you how to create and build your solo practice.”

Legal Research and Writing Pro:  Lisa Solomon is an independent contract lawyer — a small but growing cadre of lawyers who, enabled by technology, work on a project-by-project basis for other lawyers.  She will show you how she did it, and how you can, too.

BakkerDeLawCruz:  contract attorneys that made it happen and went solo and who will describe their success and how they did it.

There are links to all these folks here on the page so you can get all the details.

And we have cites and sources for finding legal forms, learning about Twitter and LinkedIn and other social media, etc., etc.

This site is a work-in-progress and it will grow organically — as does The Posse List — based on the needs and requests of its members.  We have more experts and advisors who will soon join so we add features, resources, webinars, etc. as we expand the site.

Check us out, and explore the site.   And to keep abreast of new things on The Posse Ranch please sign-up via the email box in the upper right-hand corner.

The site has a Twitter feed in the right-hand column and we post items of interest to solos and freelancers all during the day.   Or, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow us on Twitter by clicking here.

As we said, we want to respond to your needs.  So if there something you’d like to see,  if you have a question, a comment, a suggestion –  email us at manager@theposselist.com   We will continue to use the Master Posse List to alert you to items of interest on “The Ranch”.