Nice personal story of big firm lawyer hanging shingle as solo; discussion of benefits of small firm practice

Law.com features this story by Andy Taylor from the Texas Lawyer:

“Burned Out at the Big Firm? Try Something Smaller.”

His career path went from large firm (”Although the money was good, I was totally burned out. Something had to give. My practice just wasn’t fun anymore.”)

Assistant attorney general (”as fun as 2 1/2 years of public service was, I only made 25 percent of what I had made at the big firm.”)

“Back to the big bucks at the big firm.” (”Exit Camelot; enter Billalot. . . . Large corner office, bigger salary than before, and lots and lots of associates to overwork. I had finally made it . . . . That lasted less than two years. The firm was great. But all the things that burned me out during my first tour of duty seemed even more annoying now.” )

Andy Taylor & Associates. (”The ‘Associates’ is a misnomer. I only have one lawyer working with me. . . . My new endeavor already has clocked six months, and I can truly say I’ve never been happier. I love owning my own business. Being in charge is refreshing.”)

Which leads me to the next strory, also from law.com:

“Small-Firm Lawyers Control Their Own Destiny” by George ‘Tex’ Quesada from the Texas Lawyer

“Twenty-five thousand Texas lawyers can’t be wrong. According to the State Bar of Texas’ most recent figures, over half of Texas lawyers engaged in private practice work for themselves or work in firms of fewer than five attorneys.”

“There is one solid reason that attorneys in private practice seem to prefer smaller firms: flexibility. ”

‘[S]mall firms typically have fewer lawyers in control of the firm. Instead of a management committee or overlapping layers of supervising attorneys, lawyers practicing in small firms have one or two attorneys to whom they report. Most lawyers in small firms effectively operate as their own bosses and need no permission to vary their practice to meet the newest conditions. Small firms are much quicker to make decisions and implement changes.”

“Small firms also have an edge in adopting and utilizing technology.”

“Personnel decisions also are much easier in small firms.”

“Small firms recognize and value the personal relationships that are at the heart of the law practice.”

“Nearly every week I hear a large-firm lawyer express a desire to practice in a smaller firm. Most of these attorneys are looking for help in making the jump (or at least validation of their decision to go), and the overwhelming sentiment is a desire by the lawyer to be in control of his or her own cases (and destiny). Migrations to larger firms are almost unheard of. Twenty-five thousand Texas lawyers aren’t wrong. Small firms are the future.”

Well said. Certainly the opposite can be argued on at least some of these points. Small firms are not an endangered species though, that’s for sure. Typical of a business trend I see everywhere — as a few mega-institutions get bigger and bigger in an industry, lots of little firms flourish as well (think Anheuser Busch of St. Louis and the numerous thriving “microbreweries”).

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