Setting up my own Law Practice

Hi, I am new to this forum but would welcome all advice regarding the possiblity of setting up my own law practice.
I am a Trainee Solicitor and will qualify in December of this year. I have sepnt my apprenticeship working in general practice in Dublin city centre and my main exposure has been to the Litigation area. Prior to undergoing my apprenticeship, I worked as a Legal Executive in a rural practice focusing on Conveyancing. I would welcome all tips and advices regarding my prospects of success. I intend to commence practice from my home which is in a city centre location in Dublin 2

I think the first question has to be : where do you think your clients will come from?

With everyone struggling to attract and keep clients, what does a newly qualified solicitor have that makes them more attractive than an established firm?

Have you done your costings? Insurance is set to rocket ( I'm told) for next year and will make it almost prohibitively expensive in the current economic climate for many people.

Having worked for myself in practice for more than 20 years, I'm not at all sure I could recommend setting up to any one newly qualified.

mf

Thanks for your reply. My problem is I dont actually have any clients. I dont have anything to differentiate me as a newly qualified solicitor other than that I might have scope to take on files more so than other firms which are already swamped with their current workload. The main motivation for starting up is to use my qualification - I am hoping (perhaps naively) that I have as good a chance as the next person of attracting clients. I also hope to attract work via teh recommendations of a family memebr who is himself a recently retired Solicitor (owing to ill health) who cna also act as Consultant to me if and when I might need his assistance.

I have been quoted circa €4,000 by the SMDF for my first year insurance.

"so than other firms which are already swamped with their current workload."

I don't think any firm of solicitors is swamped ...........Thats one of the problems. There is very little work around at the moment.

mf

Jane Butler said:

The main motivation for starting up is to use my qualification

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if you are starting up a business from scratch with nothing to make you different from all the other solicitors, you will be a sales person trying to win business, not a solicitor, as this is where 80% of your time will be spent.

I'd be concerned at your lack of experience. How long did you work as a legal executive?

If you are good at what you do, eventually you will be able to establish a client base as referrals bring in clients. However this is a long road. That is why it is sometimes a better idea to buy into an established practice with an established fee income.

Have you done the Law society course on setting up in practice? It is helpful.

Remember the cost of running a practice are substantial- besides the practising cert and insurance, you will have to have a good accounting system or package, may need training in that, CPD costs, telephone, broadband, electricity, stationery, banking fees and other set up costs including office equipment, and you need to pay your own auditors to do your law society accounting audit. You'd be lucky to set up a bare minimum office for 20,000 or 30,000 for the first year. Remember this does not include drawings for yourself or staff costs. So before you pay yourself anything you need to bring in 30,000 ( or if you are more extravagant in your set-up, whatever it costs you) in fee income in your first year. And it means that if you want to have a good income you need to get whatever income that is, on top of that.

Being a sole practitioner is hard work, work that never stops- you are constantly trying to bring in work, deal with the work you have and all the time deal with the difficult law society accounting requirements and every other management and practical problem that any office encounters. This is a long day, 7 days a week job.

Now as opposed to that, if you get an employed position, your salary is a given and life is much easier. If I were a young, newly qualified solicitor and I could get a job in this climate, I'd go for the job!

I don't want to add to the general pessimism, but you should also read the regulations concerning the winding up of a solicitor's practice. If you want to wind up a practice, you still have to have 'run-off' insurance for a number of years (unless you can get someone to take over the practice).

On the bright side, although setting up a new law firm is fraught with financial risk, the maximum exposure is quantifiable. Just be sure to do your numbers before making a decision.

Thanks for all your replies - I worked for 4 years as a Legal Exec. I did the Professional Practice Management module in Blackhall this year and am aware of the difficulties re run off cover and accounting systems etc.
I am merely exploring the possibility of setting up on my own at this stage - i dondt want to risk ploughing cash into buying an exsiting practcie - i want to keep my start up costs to a minimum - i am also exploring the possibility of setting up a law clerking business for cash flow until i get clients - these are all just thoughts at the moment

I don't know what you mean by a 'law clerking business'. You cannot work as a legal executive or law clerk once you are a qualified solicitor as far as I am aware. If you mean an agency, there is quite a bit of competition.

I think you need to ask yourself how can you get clients! Most professionals get business from friends/people they have built a long standing relationship with. Especially if you are trading from home, I dont think you will get many people knocking on your door looking for advice.

Also, as others have posted solicitors are not very busy at the moment with the larger firms (and probably the smaller ones) making redundancies etc.