Hi Mamas,
I haven't been here in a while. Life's been so insanely busy in the last few months. I can definitely use some of your wisdom and help, if you are willing to share, especially if you have your own law practice or any small business you are running. Any and all advice is definitely appreciated!!
Here's a quick update: I quit my part time job as a part-time attorney working for the district attorney's office after 7 years and have started my own practice. I'm working as of counsel for a friend of mine who has been on his own for over a year and has a steady case load. I bill for his clients and have some of my own real estate clients. We are both open to a more established arrangement but I want to get some clients first and pull my weight. For now I am "of counsel" to his firm. In the space of two months I have gone from being a 12 year public servant to a private practice small business person! Why? Well, the part time gig was an awesome blessing for about 6 years and allowed me the time to do the fun things SAHM got to do while still being in touch with my field. However, the last year has been terrible. It really struck me that if I stay much longer I will have spent more than half of my career working part time in a very specific niche - criminal appellate work. With that kind of background, it would be harder to move on later. I felt bored, stagnant and really began to loath my job (which I have always liked). Also, because the PT work didn't pay that well, I took on 3 adjunct teaching jobs to help out with bills. I was running around like crazy and still not making much money or getting much out of it (financially or careerwise)
Fast forward to this summer. My DD's (8.5 and 5.5) are school age and my mom is available to help out with my DS (20 months). Fate stepped in and my friend asked out of the blue if I wanted to help him out with his cases. In 2 weeks I gave my notice and moved into an office that I'm renting downtown. I have tried a case, argued motions and busted my tush for 2 1/2 months so far doing everything from complex civil litgation to real estate and employment discrimination.
I'm a little frazzled now because I have no balance in my life. It's all mostly about work. I'm also struggling a little with the business end of it....marketing, invoicing, billing, setting up an office. I never had to deal with this before and I didn't have a grand plan when I did this. It felt right and the circumstances were right. My friend has been very generous helping me out and giving me all sorts of advice that has saved me lots of time, but I still feel that I need more.
Sooooooo, how do you all do it? What is the time you allowed for a learning curve? Will I ever get to the point where I have some balance? The whole point of this is to be able to control my schedule while also moving ahead in my career by doing more meaningful stuff. Any Advice on how to best achieve this?
THANKS!
Libby
I haven't been here in a while. Life's been so insanely busy in the last few months. I can definitely use some of your wisdom and help, if you are willing to share, especially if you have your own law practice or any small business you are running. Any and all advice is definitely appreciated!!
Here's a quick update: I quit my part time job as a part-time attorney working for the district attorney's office after 7 years and have started my own practice. I'm working as of counsel for a friend of mine who has been on his own for over a year and has a steady case load. I bill for his clients and have some of my own real estate clients. We are both open to a more established arrangement but I want to get some clients first and pull my weight. For now I am "of counsel" to his firm. In the space of two months I have gone from being a 12 year public servant to a private practice small business person! Why? Well, the part time gig was an awesome blessing for about 6 years and allowed me the time to do the fun things SAHM got to do while still being in touch with my field. However, the last year has been terrible. It really struck me that if I stay much longer I will have spent more than half of my career working part time in a very specific niche - criminal appellate work. With that kind of background, it would be harder to move on later. I felt bored, stagnant and really began to loath my job (which I have always liked). Also, because the PT work didn't pay that well, I took on 3 adjunct teaching jobs to help out with bills. I was running around like crazy and still not making much money or getting much out of it (financially or careerwise)
Fast forward to this summer. My DD's (8.5 and 5.5) are school age and my mom is available to help out with my DS (20 months). Fate stepped in and my friend asked out of the blue if I wanted to help him out with his cases. In 2 weeks I gave my notice and moved into an office that I'm renting downtown. I have tried a case, argued motions and busted my tush for 2 1/2 months so far doing everything from complex civil litgation to real estate and employment discrimination.
I'm a little frazzled now because I have no balance in my life. It's all mostly about work. I'm also struggling a little with the business end of it....marketing, invoicing, billing, setting up an office. I never had to deal with this before and I didn't have a grand plan when I did this. It felt right and the circumstances were right. My friend has been very generous helping me out and giving me all sorts of advice that has saved me lots of time, but I still feel that I need more.
Sooooooo, how do you all do it? What is the time you allowed for a learning curve? Will I ever get to the point where I have some balance? The whole point of this is to be able to control my schedule while also moving ahead in my career by doing more meaningful stuff. Any Advice on how to best achieve this?
THANKS!
Libby
