Exactly three years ago, I was struggling with two decisions. One, whether to buy a boat. Two, whether to leave my long-time law firm.
As to the boat, the world is full of advice about that. Ask anybody you know, and you’ll instantly hear the joke about the “two best days of a boat-owner’s life.” There’s so much information online (generally negative) that a prospective boat buyer has to actively ignore it all.
As to the second (far more important) decision, I was surprised by how little information was out there. Bar associations tend to avoid the topic like the plague. Their business model is to keep big law firms happy, or, at the very least, to not encourage mutinies. Other lawyers aren’t much help either–you’ll rarely get an honest response. They’ll either embellish (for good or bad) or, worse, let slip to somebody that you’re thinking of leaving.
As a result, most lawyers keep quiet and rely on legal recruiters or their own ego, two very unreliable and heavily biased voices.
In this wild Nashville legal market where lawyers are constantly switching firms (and, in a surprise twist, switching back to the original firm), there’s value in real talk. Sometimes the billable hours aren’t greener at the other firm.
For me, I got the law firm decision right. Having said that, even though I’ve had three very successful years, it’s all been built on a foundation of small mistakes, miscalculations, and lessons learned the hard way.
I could write a book about all the things I’ve learned about entrepreneurship, law firm management, marketing, and psychology but, instead, I’ll write some blog posts here over the next few months as the 3 year firm-iversary approaches.
As for the boat? I totally screwed up that one, a mistake so notable that it was documented on the front page of USA Today.
If you’re considering leaving your existing firm, I hope that these blog posts over the coming weeks will be useful –or maybe just keep you out of the national news.
Creditors Rights 101 