What Makes It Hard For An Attorney To Start His Own Firm

When an attorney sets out to start his own law firm, he is bound to tangle with a number of factors that would make things hard for him. Working for others seems to be the easier option, which is what many attorneys choose instead of going their own way. It is also on account of these factors that we often see many young attorneys struggling to find lowly-paid employment, yet they could just as well 'set up their own firms.' Granted, it is not something that can be easily done. Otherwise, all lawyers would have had their own firms by now. Some things simply get in the way, preventing these lawyers from setting up their own firm. In this article, let us look into what those things are that prevent the lawyers from easily setting up their own firm.

First, there is lack of capital. It is a problem that besets anyone else who is planning to set up any firm. Money is needed in order to set up a law firm. Even those small town firms cost substantial sums of money to set up. Tradition dictates that legal offices should be found in addresses that are respectable and prominent. Even the rental amount that would be required to lease a space in these respectable addresses is quite substantial. Then the legal offices have to be staffed (at least with secretaries and legal clerks). These cost money. That means the attorney should have at least several months' rent and salary payments set aside.

Attracting clients to your office and signing up your services would take quite a while. All in all the necessary start up capital requirements are huge. Since only few attorneys have enough resources to meet these capitalization requirements, they make do with working for other employees and lawyers instead. There is also the complicated nature of the inner workings of the legal service industry to take into consideration. The legal services industry is a complex one: with strong fraternities that determine who gets which case.

You can expect all the cases to be in the hands of the 'big boys'. Even the small cases are going to be theirs. New lawyers trying to find their footings (who lack 'reputations') can end up being shunned even by the smallest of the clients. It is clear, then, that new attorneys should be willing to spend a lot of time building up their name and their own network before the clients start coming in. That is scary for many people, hence the decision not to set up firms (even when they happen to have the capital necessary to do so).

A lawyer's lack of confidence is also another major reason why starting a law firm becomes a no-go for some. When you set up a law firm, you are setting up a business enterprise. There are certain risks involved. We have seen people set up their own firms, only to end up not attracting any clients (which pushes them to eventually close down and go looking for employment again). Not many attorneys are willing to subject themselves to this level of humiliation. That is why they simply decide not to set up their own firms, even if they have enough capital or they are already known in legal circles.