AUSTIN YOUNG LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Solo Practice and Working Remotely in the Time of Corona BY JESSICA MACCARTY
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f you had told me a year ago that not only would I open my own law firm, but I would also do so in the midst of a life-altering, societyschisming pandemic, I would’ve asked how much you’d had to drink. I would’ve said I had no interest in opening a firm, and besides, who would be crazy enough to do such a thing in the middle of an almost-global quarantine? As it turns out, the answer to my own hypothetical question is me. Opening a law firm in general, particularly alone, is a monumental task. It’s a terrifying, expensive endeavor even at the best of times. Attempting to open one as COVID-19 scorches its way across the world has been an experience all its own, full of particular challenges as everyone attempts to conduct business as usual while abiding by the social distancing rules. I’d therefore like to take a moment to share with you my tips
and tricks for maintaining at least the faintest shred of sanity while operating as a solo practitioner or working from home during a literal plague. CHECKLISTS ARE YOUR NEW BEST FRIENDS Organization is critical for all attorneys, particularly for solo practitioners or those working from home. However, when forced to sit in your house all day devoid of interaction with the outside world, checklists and schedules become critical for organizing your day and continuing to build forward momentum. When you have no client meetings, no depositions, and no networking events to attend, it can be tempting to simply sit around the house in your sweatpants and drown yourself in Netflix. Organization-—and checklists in particular—provide a mechanism to re-center on what needs to be accomplished while providing that dopamine hit of satisfaction when
Use this time in isolation to learn how to work with new platforms and applications as they become critical to functioning in the dawn of a new legal era.
a task has been completed. A WHOLE NEW (TECHNOLOGICAL) WORLD As someone who is convinced that computers run on fairy dust, technology for me can be a bit intimidating. However, trying to build a law practice while shuttered inside all day has taught me I’m going to have to figure it out because remote practicing is here and will only expand in the future. Discussions on how to handle mediations via Zoom, attend hearings by conference call, and set up video depositions when no one can be within six feet of one another have dominated most of the conversations between attorneys online. When this virus fades from the public sphere, attorneys and courts will have made huge strides in updating their technology and troubleshooting how to conduct business remotely out of necessity, and the chances that we return to the “old” way of doing things are slim. It is therefore imperative to use this time in isolation to learn how to work with new platforms and applications as they become critical to functioning in the dawn of a new legal era.
Jessica MacCarty is the founder of the MacCarty Law Firm which specializes in workers’ compensation, personal injury, and civil appellate cases. She has practiced in Austin for more than eight years and is board certified in workers’ compensation.
platform and advertise your firm anywhere you can. Join Facebook groups and other online hubs where you can ask questions and promote your availability for referrals. Ask people you know for the phone numbers of other attorneys in your practice area and call them for advice. And continue to harass your friends and drive them to the brink of insanity with your never-ending business planning and plotting. Because the friends who remotely lose their minds together, stay together.
REMOTE NETWORKING: KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE… BUT NOT TOO JUST DO IT CLOSE Fun fact: There is no perfect When I started tinkering with time to shift to a solo practice the idea of going solo, I cornered or a remote-based system. There everyone I’ve ever known who will always be complications, and started a firm and picked their whether they’re on a global, local, brains incessantly. The tenet they or individual scale, the outcome all repeated was that networking is the same—you just have to do it. is critical and having people who Do your due diligence, outline as will refer cases to you in the bemany new operating procedures ginning is paramount. Networkand processes as possible, and ing is hard enough in person, but when the time comes, embrace attempting to do it while under the ever-changing seas of life with compulsory house arrest is a open arms and enthusiasm. whole different ballgame. Just don’t actually embrace The solution I’ve devised is AUSTINanyone—you LAWYER don’t want to get to ask for help on every possible Asick. L AL MAY 2020 | AUSTINLAWYER
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