And again it has been WAY too long between posts.

I've had some interesting cases, including an ongoing Probate Appeal, and a complicated Special Ed case (that I assisted another lawyer with). I am also taking court-appointed criminal work. There is always a lot more to learn. I have a client that is charged with a misdemeanor, but in all the paperwork she is being treated as though she is charged with a felony. When I called the Court about this, they explained to me that the specific misdemeanor she is charged with is a "High Court Misdemeanor", which means it is treated like a Felony. Things that they don't teach you in law school!

The fact is, although they do teach you a great deal in law school, and you have to learn a great deal to pass the bar exam, very little of this has to do with what lawyers actually do on a day to day basis. Most lawyers become "associates" in large firms when they leave law school, and so get more education from working with the more experienced "partners", but that is not available to a fellow like me who went solo straight out of law school.

Fifth Third did finally let me have a credit card with I think about a $1,000 limit. After I had kept my business going for a few months without overdrawing my account or anything like that. Fifth Third also have been taking care of my Trust Account correctly. But I still use Midwest Transaction Group for my credit card processing, and have had no problems with them.

I'm continuing to move forward with this law firm. One thing that has occured to me as I am coming up to my one year anniversary is that now if I decide to go and get a "real job" I have a year of experience which can give me the edge over other applicants right out of law school.

Bye for now.

Good heavens, it's been two months since my last entry! I really have to do a better job of keeping this blog updated.

I did receive my P-number, so have been a lawyer "for real" for two months. So far I'm afraid that I have to report that I have not made a profit, if I had to pay my 2008 taxes tomorrow instead of income I would have to report a net loss from self-employment.

One of the issues was that it took me longer than I thought it would to get malpractice insurance. As you know, it took me a while to get funding for my law practice, and unfortunately I didn't start looking for legal malpractice insurance until after I had gotten the funding issue under control. The broker then mailed me an application, which I sent back immediately. The broker then sent my application on to a number of insurance companies. And these sat on the application for a while before responding with quotes. The broker and I picked the best option, and I paid the first year's premium, but then it took the insurance company we had chosen (Valiant) a while to actually mail me my policy, which only got here in the mail on Monday.

The reason this was a problem is that lawyer referral services (including the one run by the State Bar of Michigan) require that lawyers who register with them have malpractice insurance, and further require that every lawyer send them a copy of a specific page in the policy called the "declarations page". So without my insurance policy I was unable to register for these referral services, and so unable to get these referrals. If I had to do this all over again, I would make sure that getting malpractice insurance was the first thing I did, instead of waiting to get my funding organized. Legal malpractice insurance is actually quite cheap for a new attorney like me, I have a good policy for a premium of several hundred dollars a year.

Somebody Anonymous asked what kind of law I am practicing. At this point, I am pretty much taking anything that walks in the door, my only two exceptions are criminal law and family law. And if I don't start turning a profit soon, I will start accepting criminal cases, and applying for court-appointed criminal defense work. (But no matter what, I am not going into family law, "messy divorces" and similar problems are not for me, I'm afraid)

Additionally, since I am just starting out, I am not able to take cases on "contingency". This is what we call it when the lawyer takes a case knowing that he or she will not get paid until or unless he wins. At the moment I can't afford to take such cases. Just this week I had to turn down a client who couldn't afford to pay my retainer (I was able to refer her to a public interest agency that should be able to help). Hiring a lawyer is expensive, but I have tried to market myself to be very competitive with other lawyers in the area. Additionally, I am now set up so that I can recieve payments by VISA or MASTERCARD (If you are wondering, I did set that up with Midwest Transaction Group, not with a bank).

Thanks for reading. I'll try not to let so much time pass between updates in the future.

Sworn in

So, yes, yesterday I was sworn in by Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk, and she issued an order that I be admitted to practice as a Michigan attorney. My sponsor (who made the motion to have me admitted) was a local attorney I know named Brian Laxton. Judge Draganchak had me recite the entire oath, certainly the longest oath I have ever taken. Technically, in my case it was actually an affirmation, because for religious reasons I make an affirmation whenever asked to make an oath.

I then rushed across the street to the State Bar to complete some more paperwork. They should be mailing me my "P-number", until I get this I can't practice as a lawyer in Michigan.

Until then, I am working on a business plan for my law practice. This is a document that I will take around to banks when I apply for a loan. Among other things, it involves finding the prices for all the things I still need to buy for my practice.

And in my ongoing adventures with Fifth Third Bank, (and I swear, I mean affirm, that when I started this blog I had no intention of focusing so much on Fifth Third Bank) earlier this week a banker from Fifth Third phoned me to try to convince me to use Fifth Third's credit card processing services instead of Midwest Transaction Group, who have partnered with the State Bar of Michigan to provide credit card processing at very reasonable rates. Fifth Third tried to convince me that the only way Midwest Transaction Group could be offering such reasonable rates is if they were some kind of scam. I explained that it was highly unlikely that anyone would be able to scam the State Bar of Michigan, since the State Bar of Michigan includes every practicing attorney in the state. She didn't seem convinced. I also explained to her that I when my business was turned down for a a measly $1,000.00 limit credit card it rather disinclined me from doing business in the future with Fifth Third Bank. When she eventually figured out that she wasn't going to make a sale, she started ringing off by saying "Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you." I told her Fifth Third could issue my business a line of credit.

Fifth Third's ads say "working hard to be the only bank you'll ever need". But in my case I certainly need more than just Fifth Third Bank, because they don't give lines of credit to startup businesses.

Fifth Third Again

I've just heard back from Fifth Third Bank, and they have denied my company's application for a credit card with a $1,000.00 limit. They are simply not interested in giving any loans or lines of credit to a startup business, even when it is owned by a long term customer like me. I had also been thinking of using Fifth Third for my, um, whatchamacallit--I'm going to need to be able to accept credit cards from clients, and I was planning to set that up through Fifth Third, but instead I have found a company that will do this much cheaper than Fifth Third for Bar members.

In other news, I have filed the paperwork so that I can be sworn in this Tuesday afternoon. I will be sponsored by a local attorney that I know.

First day in my new office

Yes, today's the day that I moved into my new office.

The address is at 412 N. Walnut, in Lansing MI. It's in the building that houses the firm of Hicks and Mullett. My office phone number is 321-6049. Note that if the receptionist answers by saying "Hicks and Mullett" you have the right number!

I spent the day learning how the office works, setting my voice mail message, and so on. You will remember that the partners (Hicks & Mullett) told me they could be willing to sponsor me for my admission to the Bar. So with help from Kathy on their staff I set an appointment Tuesday afternoon with Judge Joyce Draganchuk of the circuit court. At that time, I will need a sponsor to make the motion so I can be sworn in. However it doesn't seem that either of the partners will actually be available at that time. They may be able to get another of their tenants to make the motion, or else I can find a lawyer that I know that isn't too busy. Otherwise we will have to reschedule.

I am also continuing to look for funding sources. One issue is that I have not had any taxable income for the past three years, because I was a full time law student. This seems to be raising the eyebrows of potential lenders, such as the credit union loan officer I spoke with by phone. He doesn't think it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a loan or line of credit from the credit union. I told him about my achievements at law school, and offered to include my transcript with my loan application; he said that would be a good idea. I kind of feel like I am being treated like the first ever law school graduate to go immediately into private practice, when I know that is not the case.

So that's how I filled my day. I am also going to search for sources of potential clients. I think the first step will be to investigate court-appointed work, and also look for contract work, referrals, and overflow from other law firms. That way I can get my name out, and begin networking with other attorneys.

Adventures at Fifth Third Bank

On Thursday, I met with a banker at a branch of Fifth Third Bank. I needed to do this for a number of reasons. I needed to open an "operating account" for my law practice, and also an "IOLTA account" (this is the "trust account" where I will keep money that doesn't belong to me. Legally and ethically I must keep this distinct from the operating account (or my personal accounts!)). I also needed to set it up so that I could accept payment from clients by credit card. And I was hoping to get either a loan or a line of credit. This last is because as a one-person law firm, I expect the income to come in irregularly, maybe one week I will have no revenue, but the next I might be in court every day earning high fees. Also I expect for the first month or two (hopefully not much more) that my expenses may well be higher then my income. Having a line of credit or loan will make it possible for me to get through these brief periods.

Fifth Third Bank was willing to work with me on all of these, except this last one. Their loans and lines of credit are only for established businesses, that have been in business two years or more. They are not interested in working with new businesses, like mine. But because I have been their customer for so long (The first three digits of my account number are 000), they allowed me to apply for a credit card for my business with a limit of only $1,000.00. If I hadn't been their customer for so long they would not have even allowed me to apply for this.

Clearly Fifth Third is not the bank to choose if you are starting a new business. In the afternoon on Thursday I stopped by a credit union, and I also have some leads with other banks in the area. I will let you all know where I end up getting my line of credit or loan.

I am still going to be moving into my new office on July 7th, however I will not be able to take clients immediately, because I still have not been sworn in (The main reason of this is that the last week in June I was out of town at a church conference). But swearing in seems to be routine, and I think I should be sworn in sometime next week. In the meantime, I can finish getting all the little things I need for my practice, and can even start taking contract work from other lawyers, such as research and brief writing.

My New Office

Today I entered into a one year lease for an office. This week I had been contacting various landlords who were advertising office space for lawyers in the Cooley Classifieds (a publication of Thomas M. Cooley law school that has legal job ads, as well as some ads for available office space). One ad I called quoted a rate that was low enough to make me wonder what I would get for such a low rent. It turned out the quoted price was for a furnished office, including utilities, local phone calls, and internet access, plus the shared use of a waiting room, bathroom, conference room (with a small law library), kitchen/break room, ample parking, and an outdoor deck (!). Plus a receptionist who will answer the phone when I am out of the office. I will have my own key so can come and go as I please, and can work nights and weekends if I need to.

I will also be able to use the copy machine and the fax machine, and make long distance phone calls, I just will be charged additionally for these.

They have also offered me the use of a computer for a small monthly charge. And I can rent the services of their bookkeeper as well.

The building is in downtown Lansing, only two blocks north of the State Capital Building, and thus within an easy walk from all of downtown Lansing. It is across the street from a park, which my office window overlooks. There is a bus stop in front of the building, and many of Lansing's major bus routes pass through the neighborhood (being downtown). I suspect that the building was originally built as a house, but as the neighborhood changed it was converted into offices.

The building houses a small, two-attorney law firm. One of their law clerks is leaving to take the bar exam in Florida, so they had an office that was going to be available, and I suppose they thought it would make more sense to rent the spare office out than to just let it sit empty. The two attorneys seemed pretty laid back types,--neither of them wore a suit. I hope they weren't too put off when I wasn't quite as laid back as they are, and I asked that all these things we discussed be put in the lease! They have had many tenants like me before; there are two other solo practitioners renting space in the building at the moment. And of course they are in the building themselves. I can't imagine having any problems with this lease. It very much seems like the kind of place I will enjoy working.

Just to nit-pick a little (and if I wasn't a nit-picker, I wouldn't have any business becoming a lawyer), some of the building is not accessible for wheelchair users. My own office, however, is on the floor that is accessible, so I won't need to worry about accessibility issues with my clients. This is potentially important because disability law is one area I am very much interested in. Also the phone will be answered with the name of my landlords (instead of the name of my own firm). But I think I got a good enough deal that I won't concern myself with such a minor point. I will probably need to buy something to keep confidential client files in, that can be locked. This is a small cost when I think that I was afraid I might end up with a completely unfurnished office, and that I would have to buy everything.

This seems to be the best sort of deal for a new attorney starting out--renting a spare office from an established law firm. I will get many of the benefits of working for a firm with none of the disadvantages. Working in the same space with other attorneys, sharing the common areas and so on, will help me to network. Should the other attorneys have work that they need to contract out, I will be available right there. Or if a client comes in that they can't take (or involves a legal issue outside their practice) they can refer them to me. This is what they have done with their other tenants. The two attorneys have also offered to sponsor me when I appear before the judge to be sworn in, an offer I may take them up on.

We set the "move-in date" for July 7th, although they were willing to let me move in right away and start working. I chose that date because I have a few things I need to take care of, both professionally and personally, before I can start practicing law. I will be sure to post the address and phone number of my new office here in this blog when I do start practice, so now I am just counting down to July 7th.