Solo Practice

You?ve all heard the jokes.  People love to make fun of attorneys, and is not unlikely that you have not told a lawyer joke or two in your day.  However, since I am now an attorney myself, I?ve really begun to think about the importance of my role in society.  By no means am I tooting my own horn, or the horn of any other attorney, but rather taking a candid look at the value that an attorney ?can? add to a community, to a business or to any individual for that matter.  Note that I said ?can? instead of does when I said that an attorney can add value to society.  The reason being is because, like any other job, you can accomplish what you set out to accomplish.  The title doesn?t confer anything.  Rather, it is what you do with that title. 

Now that I?m approaching my first full month of being an attorney, I realize how important and valuable I can be.  Granted, I see how important my partners actually are on a daily basis, and I see the amount of value they deliver to our clients.  That being said, I know that I can be just as effective as my career grows and hopefully prospers.  For example, every day I see how valuable an attorney can be to helping someone get their business off the ground.  Whether it is developing a new brand, trademarking the name of a product or service, starting an LLC or other corporate entity, or drafting the documents and contracts that will dictate how the business will function, these are all critical foundational elements with which an attorney helps businesses and/or individuals in order to get things moving.  Furthermore, while criminal work is not my practice, we all see how important attorneys can be to the wrongfully accused or how important prosecutors can be to the family who has lost something or someone.  Regardless, I?m a believer that a lawyer can make a difference and be as important and valuable as he or she wants to be.  I still believe that being an attorney is a noble and coveted profession.  My goal is not to be important for the money or for the fame, although both are nice, but rather to deliver value to the small business owner or to the corporation or to the individual who needs me to help them accomplish what they want in life. 

What it really comes down to is that people who want to do important things usually seek the advice and counseling from the all important attorneys themselves.  Will you be able to deliver the value?  ~Brian