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Fear of going solo
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:17 PM Author: pale elite wagecucks Is this irrational? Is being successful merely a function of being somewhat outgoing, knowing the law / being a decent atty, and having a good work ethic? Why do people like me always fear falling flat on our asses and not bringing in a single case? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705492) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:20 PM Author: Jet House I'm going through the exact same thing as you brother (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705522) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:13 AM Author: infuriating embarrassed to the bone legal warrant cumskin My friend from law school is a shitlawyer. He's not a solo because he has built up his firm but he is making over a million a year. The most important aspect is to exude confidence, and to have people skills. He's also a good lawyer, but those are a dime a dozen. You need to like talking to people, get to know them and their needs, and position yourself to satisfy them. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708795) |
Date: November 16th, 2017 10:19 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base In any case, if you are going to start a business, why not do something that can actually scale without regard for # of hours spent on it. If I were going to start my own business, it's not gonna be a law firm. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705508) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:28 PM Author: pea-brained diverse place of business Why can't you scale a law business? for example. don't most V10 law firms have 10+ offices? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706209) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 9:00 AM Author: grizzly insanely creepy field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708249) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:19 PM Author: Galvanic Tripping Milk Stag Film My fear is fucking up. Being completely lost in litigation, research,,etc. filing a lawsuit and missing key claims,etc. not having someone looking over my shoulder. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705510) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:20 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base That's your fear? My fear would be making enough $. If you aren't a completely incompetent lazy POS you are already better than 90% of the type of lawyers that your clients would be hiring anyway. The question is whether your effort is spent in a better way (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705524) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 9:02 AM Author: grizzly insanely creepy field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708255) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 9:43 AM Author: Arrogant famous landscape painting You keep whining about this and I am telling you this is literally the *last* thing to be worried about. You know what you're doing and your boomer bosses are not the ubergeniuses you think they are. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708562) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:44 AM Author: grizzly insanely creepy field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709052) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:23 PM Author: cracking shrine wrinkle b-but they are the wind beneath my wings! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34710211) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:26 PM Author: Jet House Everyone here is savaging me for not immediately quitting my job and taking CSLGs offer but here are my concerns:
1. Not having money to pay rent 2. Not having money to finance cases (even filing fees) 3. Never bringing in my own cases. 4. Letting down my family that relies on me to bring income in. 5. Having to pathetically crawl back to an ID job after failure.
I can be social while I'm at work but I'm generally a withdrawn dude at the end of the day. My health insurance benefits (my employer covers me and my wife) are worth a pretty significant amount and I get life insurance dental 401k etc all covered. |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:27 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base Didn't he offer to give you $25k upfront? I didn't read much but I read one thread that claimed that. That should cover your living expenses for a couple months at least. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705613) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:29 PM Author: Jet House Yes but in defending these cases I constantly drop 10-20k of my carriers money defending them. I have fear of convincing my client to take less than what the case is worth to avoid paying filing fees and serving the defendants etc. I have fear that I won't be able to bring in any cases outside of referrals from CSLG (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705633) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:32 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base There's always ways to rationalize taking settlements before incurring costs. Just run a cheap ship. I'm sure if you got a legit big $ case you could find a way to handle it (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705685) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:36 PM Author: Jet House My #1 fear is not being able to generate my own business (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705718) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:37 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base I thought you said this guy guaranteed a shitload of referrals? If that's the case you could probably make what you are making now but being your own boss just on his referrals (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705732) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:40 PM Author: Jet House I'd probably need to make 150k just to break even with expenses (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705764) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:47 PM Author: Dashing national security agency there’s no way you’d have 150k annual expenses. have you looked at his p&l? his costs run nowhere near that (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705832) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:48 PM Author: Jet House I mean I'd need to get 150k in fees just to make the 100k I make now
Including health insurance filing fees bar fees etc |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:52 PM Author: Dashing national security agency that’s like 5 settlements. he offered to give you 15-20 referrals immediately iirc. or unlimited if you give him 25% of your fees? he didn’t offer to set me up with anything near that good.
seems like your biggest issue is providing for your family for a year or so before those fees hit your checking account. I was in a similarly tough situation |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:54 PM Author: Jet House Why won't u tell me what u do brother (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705898) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:56 PM Author: Dashing national security agency I don’t want to be outted man. that WLMAS freak was building a dossier on me, and the TT fan club also wants to see me ruined (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705913) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:57 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705930) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:58 PM Author: Dashing national security agency (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705939) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:59 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705946) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:59 PM Author: Dashing national security agency (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705951) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:00 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705956) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:08 PM Author: Jet House Are you a gamer (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706022) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:09 PM Author: Dashing national security agency (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706031) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:11 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706054) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:12 PM Author: Dashing national security agency nah (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706065) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:12 PM Author: Jet House Ok then I don't know u irl (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706074) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:19 PM Author: Dashing national security agency I would never accept that little pay to be a shitlawyer (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706129) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:21 PM Author: Jet House Do you work in law (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706140) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:58 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705936) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 9:14 AM Author: grizzly insanely creepy field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708336) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:41 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell By the time you need to drop any real money on a case you will have settled a ton in pre-lit and built up a warchest. Plus I can help you with costs if the case is a good one. If it is a huge case you can just refer it out to Alder, Panish or CZR. They do 50/50 and pay all costs. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34707084) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:28 PM Author: Dashing national security agency honestly I wouldn’t go solo if I were you in your shoes. not unless I could moonlight and do it on the side at first. why don’t you just switch sides to a plaintiff’s firm and make more money before trying it solo? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705620) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:31 PM Author: Jet House I have complete control of my own cases and handle everything from start to finish without any oversight or micromanaging. Hard to give that up to work for someone. I don't need anymore experience to go solo, I can do a PI case from start to trial without any extra knowledge already.
Why didn't you go solo after meeting CSLG |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:38 PM Author: Dashing national security agency but you don’t know how to get clients, how to manage a law practice, or have enough $ to comfortably go out on your own. working on the plaintiff’s side, even for an employer, sounds better than defense-side money
I don’t have a network of care providers set up like he does, didn’t understand how the lien thing worked, and was scared of all the upfront costs on filing fees and experts. I also live 50 miles from him and most of his referrals, and I have no clue what I’m doing in PI. if I had your skill set it’d be a lot easier. |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:40 PM Author: Plum Frisky Base He won't learn anything working on P side. Those guys all guard their ways intensely. They'll just make him do bitch work, same as working ID but even less money. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705760) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:42 PM Author: Dashing national security agency fair enough. the whole PI racket stinks like the dumpster of a Chinese buffet. CSG is the only respectable dude I’ve met in it (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705774) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:43 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705782) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 10:50 PM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705860) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 12:41 AM Author: pea-brained diverse place of business What makes you think this? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34706755) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:29 PM Author: Adulterous location hairy legs "Those guys all guard their ways intensely."
What "ways" are they guarding? |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:30 PM Author: Arrogant famous landscape painting He spouting bullshit out of his ass as usual. I found solos are much more generous to younger lawyers then the fence guys are (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34710285) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:09 PM Author: Unholy trump supporter old irish cottage Have you put away savings that can cover 6 months of bare bones stuff? In a dire emergency (e.g., you cant afford food), you could probably tap a 401k, no? If decent savings, I wouldn't worry too much.
#4 is legit if you have young kids or relatives who are relying on you, e.g., a kid who needs food, clothes, etc. or an older, sick relative. That you have to evaluate for yourself. If just a wife, seems minor.
#5 is, IMO a lot of people's worry in these kinds of situations. You're basically putting yourself out there to fail (and people will notice) rather than hiding behind a safe, respectable job. But I suspect you can recover eventually if it flops, and you'll have at least tried. |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:18 PM Author: Jet House I don't have decent savings
26k in credit lines and 10k in the bank and like 5k in 401k |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:32 AM Author: Blue trailer park Seems like you are living far beyond your means unless you just graduated from LS (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708933) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:34 PM Author: thirsty emerald hell How do you only have 5K in 401K? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34710328) |
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Date: November 18th, 2017 12:23 AM Author: Jet House I've job hopped a lot look at my LinkedIn (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34714927) |
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Date: November 16th, 2017 11:01 PM Author: Stirring High-end Depressive Healthy dose of fear is legit. Pro tip: Double your hourly rate for any phone calls outside of normal business hours. Do not let them send emergent business by email at night or on weekends, clients have a duty to communicate with you effectively and you cannot guarantee an email response outside of normal business hours. If the client needs an emergent response (e.g., every freaking domestic kid swap) and they call you, they’re paying double. Remember this and you may keep some sanity. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34705969) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:45 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell Chandler, do you want me to get you a job at a plaintiff's firm? My cousin is going to be the president of CAALA. I can get you a good plaintiff's side job so you can start building up some relationships. If you are actually interested let me know I can put out some feelers. I already have your real info so I can chat with some people over the weekend. Are you married to your geographic area?
You don't want to die doing ID. All the 40 year old + lawyers I know doing it want to murder themselves. |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 8:42 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell I know you're up early... (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708172) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:40 AM Author: deep light dilemma what time do u wake up every day bro (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709005) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:52 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell I get up at 5:15 everyday to hit the gym before work. On weekends I get up around 7/8am regardless of when I go to sleep. I usually am up until 11 or 12 on weekdays and weekends 1 or 2. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709126) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:54 AM Author: deep light dilemma impressive (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709137) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 3:30 PM Author: Jet House My trial got kicked because the other trial before it went long.
FML |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 3:31 PM Author: Galvanic Tripping Milk Stag Film that's the worst. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34711356) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 3:58 PM Author: Jet House Who is your cousin? Is he a solo or in a well known firm?
I'm not sure I could give up my current autonomy to be another cog in a plaintiffs firm.
My #1 concern by far is money however, but I also value autonomy and not being micromanaged. The solo offer is something my heart wants to do but my brain is telling me I don't have financial security to take such a risk.
I like where I live but obviously would never afford a house here working ID.
I agree with you about 40 year old ID attorneys |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:09 AM Author: narrow-minded henna really tough guy volcanic crater I barely know the law and I'm a shitty attorney. I hate paying attention to detail, have no attention span for reading long, boring documents or cases, and hate arguing. I hate everything about law.
I'm outgoing, smart enough, and work hard.
Going to make around $225k net this year as a solo. Not sure if that counts as successful or not since I could make more in BIGLAW, but when I left biglaw the options were either leave law entirely or try and be a solo. |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:19 AM Author: Arrogant famous landscape painting I would love to know how you do it. Everyone on xo makes running your own firm and making $ look so easy. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708832) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:44 AM Author: grizzly insanely creepy field (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709048) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:35 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell Congrats man. Sounds like you are killing it. Big law isn't a measure of success. Being a bitch for some at 35 for 300K is not success. How are you enjoying solo life? Practice area? How long have you been solo? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34708959) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:47 AM Author: narrow-minded henna really tough guy volcanic crater You're really the one killing it. I'm definitely jealous.
I enjoy solo life in that I'm my own boss and don't need to be a bitch for anyone else. I firmly believe that no self-respecting adult man should be subservient to some other man. However I work like 60 hours most weeks because my practice area is a high volume pseudo-litigation area (immigration, BK, disability, etc). The problem is I'm really hitting a ceiling at 225-250k. I really wish I had learned PI and done that instead.
Either way, I'm saving money and hope to invest it well so in 5-6 years I can just practice part-time as a solo, which would be 180000. |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:52 AM Author: thirsty emerald hell You can always integrate PI into your practice or another contingency area like employment or class actions. There is no reason why you can't take on those cases slowly without hurting your existing practice. I did literally everything under the sun when I started and every month that went by had a higher % of cases in contingency fees.
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Date: November 17th, 2017 1:09 PM Author: Arrogant famous landscape painting Aren't those practices where you can pawn off a lot of paperwork on a paralegal? Or some bill by the hour associate on the Mom track you can lowball. $225k seems past the point where it makes sense to hire someone (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34710084) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:42 AM Author: deep light dilemma (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709021) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 10:43 AM Author: onyx exciting elastic band It should only be a fear if you're 1) Not confident in your abilities; 2) Have a family to support and may not make more than $25k the first year. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34709046) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 3:38 PM Author: Carnelian Trust Fund Step-uncle's House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34711430) |
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Date: November 17th, 2017 3:43 PM Author: Jade concupiscible background story liquid oxygen (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34711482) |
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Date: November 18th, 2017 12:18 AM Author: Jet House (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3799949&forum_id=2#34714913) |