Biglaw, Small Law Firms

What You Can Do In Biglaw to Get Ready For SmallLaw

Your time in Biglaw isn’t going to be a total waste. If you’re greedy with acquiring the knowledge and the tools you’ll need to succeed on your own, you can stick your SmallLaw landing.

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Last week, we established that you want to unchain yourself from Biglaw and start your own practice. While in my opinion it’s better to go too early than too late, maybe your firm hasn’t paid bonuses yet, or maybe you’re still holding out hope that one day that comely associate down the hall will acknowledge you. Whatever the reason is you want to hang on a bit longer, here are some things you can do while still in Biglaw to prepare for the future life leap:

  • Become famous. Or at least get your name out there a bit. Try to use your firm’s marketing department (a/k/a the people who put the firm’s logo on your PowerPoints) as much as you can. See if there are any speaking opportunities they or the partners you work with know of. The perfect scenario is to become so well-known in a particular field people seek you out once you’ve left. But I know it’s hard. If you find you’re having trouble getting famous, then try to at least do this next one.
  • Get published. Obviously you’re busy. But having an article published looks great. When I inquire about speaking opportunities, one of the first things I’m asked is whether I’ve written articles about the subject. Or sometimes they’ll just assume I’ve written articles and they’ll ask me to send my articles to them. Even if you’re just authoring an uncredited client alert, that’s better than nothing and you can at least put it on your LinkedIn profile. (I wouldn’t put those on your SmallLaw website though.) Nobody is going to question whether you were the main author unless you’ve somehow already demonstrated you don’t know anything about the subject.
  • Know the basics. For example, if you’re corporate and are going to stay in corporate, get really good at — or at least get a lot of experience in — handling general corporate stuff. Forming corporations and LLCs, drafting bylaws and operating agreements, etc. You know, first-year/paralegal stuff. Once you make the leap, you’re going to be doing this stuff a lot, and you probably won’t have any paralegals around to help you. Also, while we’re on the subject, get on super-good terms with your firm’s paralegals, so that if you do have a technical question after you’re out, they know who you are and feel comfortable taking your call. If your state has a Paralegal Day, maybe surprise your paralegal with a book or flowers or some other gift.
  • Figure out partner edits. When you send off a contract or a registration statement or another document for a partner to review and it comes back riddled with red marks, don’t just type in the changes as fast as you can. Take the time to understand why the partner marked up the document a certain way. Even if the phone is ringing off the hook and you’re getting so many emails with large attachments that you have to keep moving them to subfolders throughout the day, in the long run it’s worth the extra few minutes. If necessary, print out a blackline for later and on the train ride home or in the car ride home, look it over and try to figure why he/she made the changes. There are reasons for the changes. Figure them out. If you can’t figure them out, ask. Generally even the most crotchety partner won’t mind bragging a bit about their drafting skills, even if they may be a bit condescending when they’re explaining it to you. Fine-tuning your drafting skills now is going to help you later on.
  • Branch out. If you’re a corporate associate, try to get on a pro bono litigation matter, preferably with a team of litigators. You may never touch litigation as a corporate SmallLaw practitioner, but it definitely helps to be more knowledgeable about what happens during a lawsuit. (Ideally, you should know more about litigation than your future SmallLaw clients, and some of them may have been in lawsuits.) If you’re a litigator, maybe see if you can take on a pro bono 501(c)(3) incorporation so you can gain some basic corporate knowledge. If you ask, you may be able to do one with someone in the corporate group. (I was paired with litigators a couple of times for pro bono non-profit matters.)
  • Reach out. Reach out to everyone you know who left Biglaw and started their own practice. Try to have lunch or coffee with them. If you happen to think of yourself as particularly important and you’re nervous of word getting around that you’re leaving — especially if you’re not sure if it’s true yet — you don’t have to tell these folks you’re thinking about unchaining yourself. But if you do leave, you’re going to come to rely on these people for questions that you can’t even begin to fathom right now. Trust me: you won’t be calling your Biglaw friends to ask them how LawPay works with your IOLTA account.
  • Work on your elevator speech. A lot is going to flow from that. Groups/publications to target, etc. What is it you want to do? On the other hand, don’t hold off making the leap until you figure out what you want to do. Making ends meet hanging out your own shingle is going to toss you around a bit, so it’s unlikely you’ll wind up doing exactly what you thought you’d be doing. (Don’t get scared: you might wind up doing something a whole lot more interesting!)
  • Law texts. See if you can “inherit” all the law books you can, especially state practice manuals. They are a godsend. If your firm was like mine, they’re going to go through all your boxes when you leave and take out stuff like Red Books and any leather-bound deal books (that still smarts) that they don’t think should leave the premises. So, you know, if you were to accidentally leave those items at home…
  • Office furniture. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, while you’re at it try to inherit some furniture. You might need your own furniture after you’re out, depending on what kind of office situation you choose. Everyone will tell you you can get used furniture for a song, but a song is still more expensive than free, which is what a large law firm — that isn’t in the business of selling furniture — might give it to you for. Maybe say you’re renovating your home office because you just don’t feel like you’re being productive enough when you’re working from home on the weekends, and taking the discarded furniture off their hands would really help.
  • Find a wealthy spouse. I can’t tell you how many times seasoned solos have told me they couldn’t have survived those first few months (or years) without their spouse’s income. If you can’t find any suitable prospects, call Patti Stanger if you have to. If you’re already married and you’re worried your spouse’s income won’t cover both of you while you’re in the process of getting your firm rolling, gently encourage your spouse to start applying for promotions or higher-paying jobs.

So there you go. Your time in Biglaw isn’t going to be a total waste. If you’re greedy with acquiring the knowledge and the tools you’ll need to succeed on your own, you can stick your SmallLaw landing. And stick it better than I did: I still rue the day they pried my leather-bound deal books from my grasping, desperate hands.

Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and compliance matters for investment funds, small businesses, and non-profits, occasionally dabbling in litigation. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

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