Page 26 - 2025 May June Magazine

Going Solo, oH what joy it is – or not!
By David Shelvey
It seems most of what happened at law school is just a blur
to me. There are a few things that stick out. One of them
was the Why You Should Go Solo discussion forum. The law
school had heavily advertised it – emails, flyers taped to the
classroom doors, and even the sign in-table had flyers about
the event. Oh, and there was free pizza. I was also somewhat
surprised that one of my study partners, Jim, was interested
in attending the forum. The free pizza? He is somewhat of a
happy-go-lucky sort of guy. I got with him to study because he
is a very brilliant man. He is the son of divorced millionaires
who did better as business partners. His attorney grandfather
owns a 10-story building with his last name on it. His father is
an attorney at the Family Law firm and someday, if he passes
the Bar, Jim will practice there too. His mother owns a business
that manages land that shopping complexes and stores are built
on. When Jim graduated, he had it made reviewing his mom’s
lease agreements at his grandfather’s law office.
The day of the forum had arrived. Jim, two other students, and
I filed into the room and made a bee line to the pizza table. Just
kidding - the event was standing room only. At the front of the
room sat three seasoned attorneys who discussed the ins and
outs of going solo. I seem to recall there were more ins than
outs. One lawyer bragged how every dollar he made was 100%
his and he had no requirement to make minimum billable
hours. Another attorney bragged about how the first day of
passing the Bar she had to wait a couple days to “hang her
shingle” because she had a major lawsuit to work on.
Opening your own law practice is so easy,
even a lawyer can do it.
I was sworn into the Washington State Bar in August of 2018,
by Judge Gerald Johnson, now retired. I seriously began
thinking of opening my own practice in 2023. That year I
read books on goal setting, people skills, self-motivation and
managing your own business. In 2024, I worked January
through April for H&R Block as a Master Tax Adviser, while
working on my business plan. I saved over $10,000.00 (it should
have been more like $20,000.00) and when April 16th hit, I
began executing my plan. First, I needed an affordable office
location. This was probably the hardest part of the adventure.
After spending over a month of looking, I found office space in
Sumner on Craigslist for $650 a month. It is a 2-room, 365sq
ft. office that is in the basement and has no outside windows.
Everything else I looked at started at over $1,200. However, my
office is hard to find. Even when I put a sign in the hallway, that
doesn’t seem to help much. *Ring – ring* “Hello.” “David, I’m
lost.” “Where are you.” “In a kitchen.” “You went in the wrong
door, think basement.”
I also found on Craigslist and Offer-up good, used office
furniture that needed to go ASAP (moving, bankruptcy,
downsizing, etc.). I bought two used laptops off Newegg. I
bought two Internet cameras and desk speakers from Amazon
that were under $100. Also, I recommend that you buy a used
cell phone off eBay that is current on software (some apps
won’t work on older phones). It doesn’t have to be a $1,200
phone. Talking about software, there are “free accounting
software packages” on the Internet, just Google for them. For
now, I mainly use Excel for daily entries and Word to type out
my invoices. There are free accounting programs that you can
download. Or you may want to pay for a bookkeeping service
to do the bookkeeping and invoicing so you can focus on
servicing your clients. And things are starting to add up. This is
why a law firm charges $375 an hour and pays you about half of
it. And if you are thinking about hiring a paralegal, you’ll need
about $30,000 to start a practice.
As far as the business mechanics behind starting and operating
a practice, there are several things you need to put on a check
sheet - like getting your tax number, setting up a bank account
(checking, IOLTA), business license, business insurance,
business cards, advertising, professional responsibility
insurance, attorney agreement, and the list goes on. There are
business mentors that, for under $1,000.00, can save you hours
of “figuring out time”, so you can focus on getting clients. Just
Google “Entrepreneur Courses Washington State.” I paid the
$1,000 and got some great advertising ideas that are working
out. Also get signed up to take credit cards. I waited four
months after turning away clients who don’t pay by check (what
is a check?) or cash. Yes, the transaction fees and costs are a lot,
but to turn away a $2,500 retainer because of 3% fees, what a
mistake I was making. Some bank credit card apps only run on
newer cellphone operating system software, so check the phone
requirements before you buy the phone. Your bank should
have a “compatible cellphone” list. I bought a used Galaxy S9+
2 6 P I E R C E C O U N T Y L A W Y E R | M a y /J u n e 2 0 2 5