Friends

When I first started to look at the possibility of starting my own practice I got hung up on looking at what I could do to get started. THe more I thought about it the more I realized I would need help so I decided to tap into an amazing resource in the people I know.

I asked friends who worked in law offices as legal assistancts and paralegals about office procedures. I got advice on file management and what programs each person liked. As an attorney ity is easy to get stuck on handling legal work and relying on others to handle details.

I went to a law school that had a large group of students who were starting new careers. I had a friend from school who was an accountant before law school. He offered alot of valuable advice in accounting areas that knew very little about.

My wife contributed alot also. She was a computer programmer for Apple for 10 years and had experience with Dreamweaver and website design. She did the reading to catch up on programming and designed my website and made sure it was search engine optimized.

Professors from law school were very helpful also. I tried writing misc. attorneys hoping to meet some but was ignored for the most part. At least professors remembered me and were willing to sit down and give me some advice.

I also had friends help make recommendations about offices in buildings they worked and about places to look for used furniture from businesses they knew went under recently. I had a few friends come down and help me set up furniture they day it all got delivered. Getting a little extra muscle with a 400 pound desk was a must.

When starting a new firm I found it important to rely on alot of people. There were alot of new things for me to figure out and I was amazed how much people were willing to help out. You may have to put in the hours and hard work to get your lawfirm off the ground, but you might as well work smarter and get some advice and help from friends and family.