Potential Solo Practitioner?

The past few days I've been thinking more and more about opening my own firm. I've been hesitant to do it until now for several reasons, including (a) my lack of resources (opening a firm takes money, yo), (b) my lack of experience, (c) my lack of connections, and (d) the yellow belly I kept hidden under my shirt. However, I just had the pleasure of counting up how many jobs I've been rejected for in the past year, and I came up with around 250.

I also read a recent article one of my friends posted on Facebook in which it discussed how going jobless for one year has more than an impact of making you hate your life broke for an entire year--it actually decreases your life's overall expected earning potential.

Let's just speed up the process a little.

I don't speak often about my earlier years, but here's some knowledge for ya: my mom owned her own business for the first thirteen years of my life. She rented movies and made pizza, and I saw the daily struggles associated with owning one's own business. A lot of times she was in the red, our store got broken into once and the idiot bled EVERYWHERE (he broke a window, then rather than opening it, CLIMBED THROUGH IT AND SCRATCHED HIMSELF TO HELL). I saw it when the supply truck didn't come when he was supposed to. And I saw her have to deal with difficult customers. I also saw the perks--she was able to have the school bus drop us off each day, she could close early if there was inclement weather or if my brother or I were puking our guts out, and she was head bitch in charge.

M, head bitch in charge (and my hero)

As for me, I've been waiting and hoping and praying to God I could get a job. But that's normally not the kind of person I am. I like to make my own opportunities, and I don't do well taking a backseat waiting for things to happen. And, quite frankly, I've reached the point where I'm tired of waiting.

So I guess what I'm saying is that my cowardice has finally been trumped by my impatience and sense of being fed up with the state of my professional life. As such, I've started researching what I'm going to need to start my own law firm. After looking a lot of stuff up, I feel reasonably confident that I can start a law firm with about a $2000-$3000 shoestring budget (and that will cover a downpayment for malpractice insurance as well). I want to aim at opening at the beginning of next year, and I've picked a small town next to a big city in which to operate, both to limit competition and to lower costs of operation. This means I'll have to move there in October-November, then focus on learning the community and networking my ass off.

But honestly? I'm kinda excited. JURIS IS BACK IN ACTION, BABY.

Prepared for the best. And by best, I mean worst. 

Any tips or suggestions? Or comments? 

Job Market...an update and some admissions

Let's be real. I'm not an eternal optimist per se, but I DO believe in doors opening and opportunities presenting themselves and all that Pollyanna bullshit. I believe in positive thinking, and I'm dogged in my approach in that if I'm kicked, I return for more. It's very difficult for me to accept defeat, although I'm very much so used to it and am not normally used to having things handed to me on a highly-polished silver platter.

There has been a marked shift in my thinking since I've graduated from law school and passed the bar. I attribute this to the fact that I've been facing the realities of the legal job market for nearly a year, and still feel as if no new job opportunities are on my horizon. Although I don't think I have to explain jack-shit about my résumé, for the sake of allowing you some insight to my situation: I was solidly in the middle of my graduating class. My family are NOT lawyers, and I attended law school in a state other than I grew up in. I also took and passed the bar in that same state. I completed two separate internships with highly respected judges, one of which was for our state's Supreme Court. I participated in three separate legal clinics, was on two traveling teams, donated over 300 hours of pro bono time to the indigent while in law school, and took a wide variety of classes. I liked the rigors of law school, particularly the types of rigors associated with the practice of law.

So yeah, while my grades were mediocre, I've got plenty on my résumé and feel confident in my achievements. Which is why my continued state of unemployment is such a bitter pill to swallow. (Plus the fact that there are people who weren't even in the middle of the class who are employed and have been since graduation.)

So let me hit you with some truth, if you haven't realized it yet: the legal job market SUCKS. I recently interviewed for a job for a legal secretary position in which 25 applications were received and THREE of them were from current lawyers. This was for a $26,000 position, mind you, out in the middle of Bumfuck Egypt. I'll let that sink in for a moment. 

And when I read blog posts from people still in law school telling people who've already taken the bar and are seeking employment that they should talk to their career services department at their school, I just want to laugh. Hysterically. While slightly weeping. While I never endeavored to tell people how they should be searching for jobs when I didn't know of them or their situation, I used to be as positive (I'll refrain from calling it naive or blind). But the reality is that career services can't create jobs. And if your department is telling you of that job, it means at least twenty of your colleagues are also going to competing against you for that position. 

I've also had someone ask me what was wrong with my applications when I told her I was still looking for a job. She's lucky to still be breathing, as I would have rather snapped her neck than listen to her speak another syllable. People don't get it. Even people within the profession or who are actively involved in those who are in the profession. 

And even when I have an interview and do reaallly well and feel realllly good about it, they normally never call me back. It's like dating from hell. I send each of my cover letters and résumés out with a little prayer (or whatever one calls it). I'm still hopeful, but cautiously so. Because this much rejection hurts. Although not nearly as bad as the ignorance that abounds regarding what I'm doing wrong with respect to my job hunting.