Thanks. If they do hire me I will probably go apeshit and post here anyway, so yeah.

4/13/2012 7:52:45 PM

AxlBonBach: Mind PMing the tutor info over my way as well? I've got a good friend who graduated last May, moved back in with her (dysfunctional) family to study for the bar... and has now failed 2x. I'd like to pass the info along to her.

===

Unrelated q: how many of y'all are doing solo / small practice?

4/14/2012 8:58:03 AM

Quote :

"Unrelated q: how many of y'all are doing solo / small practice?"

Present!

4/14/2012 9:18:22 AM

Would you mind sharing how much you pay for your office / phone / malpractice ins / CLEs / etc? (either here or via PM/email)

I'm graduating from NCCU in May and had put together a business plan for the school to start a small practice incubator, but after the budget cuts this past summer they don't have the $$ to do it themselves long-term -- so I'm just going to start a 501(c)(3) on my own

Currently doing research to see what relatively new attorneys are already paying, so I've got a ballpark idea of what's reasonable

4/14/2012 12:03:41 PM

Let's see. I feel like I've got a REALLY good deal on my office, so I wouldn't expect this to be average. But here is the rundown of my costs:

$450/month office that's above a bar. I've got a Mortgage Brokers office, clothing designer, and historic restoration company with offices beside me. We all share a bathroom. I don't pay any water/electric/internet. We don't have any phone lines, so I do have a Verizon Home Phone Wireless System that is awesome. I can unplug it and take it home and get all my office calls there.

That's $24/month.

$40/month for a virtual secretary. Woman in a call center somewhere takes all my calls and either passes them on or sends them to a voicemail. Makes it seem like I have a full time secretary, which is nice.

Malpractice is like $3,000 a year. So that's about $250/month. I hate that payment.

I finally figured out that you can pretty much get free CLEs every year. ABA gives you 1.5 hours via free webinar. I joined the Charleston County bar for $75 last year and got 8 CLE credits for free from them. So you might have to spend a couple hundred bucks, but it's not as expensive as I once thought.

Bar fees sucks...but I honestly can't even remember what those are every year. $200 maybe?

My monthly costs aren't that bad. It's the initial expense (desks, chairs, file cabinets, files, folders, cards, hanging wooden sign, website (got a friend to do it for free, saved a couple grand), etc... And miscellaneous expenses are pretty high as well.

Its not cheap, but it can be done cheaply. I think you need at least $20,000 to get started, especially if you don't have a bunch of clients/cases already.

4/14/2012 3:23:49 PM

One of my solo practitioner friends uses an office building around Durham (not sure of the name of the building), but the options are renting out an office space or being a virtual office. Both come with the virtual secretary that fields all your calls. Both allow the use of conference rooms located in the actual office. She rents an office in addition to that, but there was also an option that allowed you to just use the conference room/secretary if you didn't need the actual square footage for an office. I'm sure you can find local prices on a place like that.

4/14/2012 7:21:13 PM

TGD, pm sent! I've been out of town, so i just saw your message.



Beethoven, you've got leads on some crim jobs? Let me know, as I'm definitely interested. Would appreciate a PM.

4/17/2012 1:46:59 PM

Sister graduated from UNC and passed the bar in NC last summer, but refuses to apply to any litigation type jobs which would be stressful. She hasn't done any work/volunteering since graduations. Thoughts?

4/17/2012 2:27:27 PM

Hope she marries into money. That, or she needs to be more flexible about jobs she would like to take. Beggars can't be choosers in this market.

4/17/2012 2:30:35 PM

Yeah, I tried telling my parents that but not sure how motivated she will be as long as they are paying for all her shit.

4/17/2012 2:40:55 PM

Litigation is where you've gotta go right now if you don't want to do contract work.

Axl, I'll send you a PM on the crim stuff.

David, is your sister interested in civil litigation? WC isn't too stressful, and those firms are hiring like crazy now. That, and Social Security. (Also, who is your sister, as a fellow recent UNC grad I may be able to assist in her job search).

4/17/2012 3:07:30 PM

Just got a voicemail from USPTO HR - CHE people are getting offers today so I have a feeling that may be what it's about. Hopefully this'll help me out with the General Assembly :ohdear:

4/17/2012 3:23:48 PM

Ok yep got the offer from USPTO. They have a ridiculous as hell 2-day deadline to accept so I've called to force the issue with the General Assembly a little bit. Too many irons in the fire!

4/17/2012 5:05:50 PM

That's great though!! USPTO isn't exactly an "easy" job to get!

4/17/2012 5:41:27 PM

^Thanks. I wonder how true that is though, because the "interest intervew" that I thought would be to ask about what art areas I liked was actually my final interview and I didn't prepare at all

Argh third in line for the utilities job with the General Assembly. Came down to experience, so not much you can do.

Reeeeallly want to be in Raleigh more than DC though, despite not having anything to go to right away. Was planning on getting hitched and getting a house down there soon. This is going to be a rough decision.

4/17/2012 6:10:17 PM

good news is you have a job offer! not many people can say the same...

4/17/2012 9:39:24 PM

first day of being done with law school

feels absolutely bizarre

4/26/2012 10:22:58 AM

^
One exam left next Friday (in Prof Resp) but I'm in the same boat. Not entirely sure what to do with my spare time...

4/28/2012 4:44:41 PM

won't you be studying for the bar then?

4/28/2012 10:36:58 PM

Naw bar prep doesn't start until May 8th (which is weird with graduation being May 11th/12th, but ::shrug:: )

4/30/2012 2:08:37 PM

You can start working on that yet-to-be filed/never-will-be filed defamation suit I texted you about...

5/1/2012 3:31:29 AM

My last exam was yesterday, but I'm still undecided on the LLM for next year. I'm still extremely happy that I'm done with the JD program. I'll be referring to the last 3 years of my life as the "Dark Ages."

5/1/2012 5:02:33 PM

Last exam done. Now to just finish the paper i've been pushing off for the past year and a half...

5/1/2012 5:08:06 PM

Funny, I'll probably referring to the next x years of my post-JD life as the dark ages

5/1/2012 10:34:21 PM

TGD, what's the Small Practice Incubator?

5/2/2012 8:41:36 AM

^
Basically taking the concept NC State uses with the tech incubator (http://techincubator.ncsu.edu/) and marrying it with the virtual office model used by companies like Regus. The plan is to provide office support, mentorship, free CLE access and related services to attorneys doing solo / small practice in exchange for (1) a monthly rate competitive with what's currently offered on the market for office services alone, and (2) a commitment by the participant to perform a certain # of pro bono hours per month.

The org has 3 separate focuses: promoting law practice management education (so new solos aren't getting disbarred for stupid sh*t), promoting entrepreneurship in the legal field, and promoting public service / greater access to legal services.

We got things incorporated last month, had my last exam this morning so I'm working on the corp bylaws and IRS 501(c)(3) app this weekend, and hope to have a "soft rollout" by August 1. If we can get buy-in from the other law schools and a critical mass of attorneys interested, we're pushing to have offices in all 100 counties by 2020.

---

Moox: Let me know what happens, that whole scenario is entertaining...

[Edited on May 4, 2012 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ---]

5/4/2012 5:14:12 PM

sounds good, let me know if you need help with anything - just cause i'd like to see it happen sooner rather than later.

5/4/2012 8:34:40 PM

I GRADUATE TOMORROW

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

5/10/2012 10:11:28 PM

by this time tomorrow i will officially be a 3L and be getting ready for summer work in Raleigh

5/10/2012 10:30:30 PM

OK I just finished celebrating and I have some serious scars to prove it! Bar prep time.

5/18/2012 11:50:04 PM

Congrats!

5/21/2012 11:56:46 AM

enjoying summer too much to think about 2L

6/18/2012 1:17:48 PM

2L year isn't that bad.

6/18/2012 2:01:03 PM

im not worried about the actual year/workload per se. it's just so nice to have evenings free for a change.

6/18/2012 2:07:20 PM

I was always one of those who thought if you didn't have most of your evenings/weekends free in law school, you were doing it wrong. But, that's just cause I treated it like a 9-5 job. Seriously though, the flexibility in your 2L and 3L years is sooo much better. Not quite "summer" good, but you'll be able to do more than you think.

6/18/2012 2:09:53 PM

well considering I'm part-time while working fulltime, we're talking about two different things.

6/18/2012 2:13:30 PM

Yes, that makes total sense. I can see there why your evenings would be taken up.

Are you at Central? I've got a friend considering their night program there, and I'm trying to talk her into it.

6/18/2012 2:16:13 PM

Not NC. I was at Baltimore last year because I got waitlisted at a few schools in DC, so I just went to Baltimore in the meantime and hoped i could transfer, and apparently my grades were good enough to make a jump to AU. Still waiting on GW, but I think that's a bit of a reach. We'll see.

6/18/2012 2:23:51 PM

You know what fucking sucks?

Studying for the bar exam.

Carry on...

[Edited on June 19, 2012 at 4:54 PM. Reason : Oh, I met with Mel Watt today, I may be working on the hill next year]

6/19/2012 4:54:27 PM

Bar exam coming up

Scoring an average of 70% on my MBE... can probably get it up to 75% if I try

But I ran into an essay yesterday that, if I i saw on the bar, i would have missed most or every single point

So... I'm on the precipice of freak out mode right now. If MD's MBE was worth more than 33% I wouldn't be so worried

7/11/2012 6:59:34 AM

How does Maryland grade their Bar exam? I thought MBE was pass/fail (with the extra incentive of scoring high enough to be able to practice in DC)? Then the essay part was pass fail. Do you actually get a numerical grade in the MBE that can weigh up or down the whole exam?

7/12/2012 10:04:18 AM

MBE is definitely graded on a numerical scale, and each state can choose how it's weighted in combination with the state portion. For instance, a passing score in NC is 350, 60% weighted essay, 40% MBE.

Here is the information for Maryland:

Quote :

"The MBE is weighted 1/3, the written portion is weighted 2/3, and the scores are scaled and combined to determine if a passing score of 406 out of a possible 600 points was achieved. Results are released in early May for the February exam and in early November for the July exam."

7/12/2012 2:30:46 PM

Hmm...wonder what would be better. Personally, I crushed the MBE and thought I failed the shit out of the essay (but apparently I passed). But I know some people struggle with multiple choice. My ignorant ass thought all states were the same. Oh well.

7/12/2012 3:47:29 PM

general assembly was awesome. DOJ is awesome. law is awesome. you're awesome.

7/12/2012 8:19:04 PM

are you with DOJ?

7/12/2012 8:53:44 PM

yes sir - Education, so I go between the Old Education building for DOJ and DPI on the mall - the cases I've gotten to work on are high-profile cases (some for Special Lit so not all tied to edu) and I'm still...law-struck I guess is the word, that I'm actually finally getting to do some real world lawyer stuff. I didn't truly understand 3L laziness before but honestly, sitting in a classroom for another year isn't going to add shit to my abilities and I'm just going to be craving to get back out here.

7/12/2012 10:22:52 PM

lucky dude. DOJ would be my dream job.

7/13/2012 10:09:41 PM

I wish Maryland gave the MBE more weight, and I'm not excited to see what they choose to test us on next week with their essays.

7/16/2012 4:24:29 PM

GOOD LUCK to all you bar takers this week.

7/23/2012 12:49:31 PM

http://nclawyersweekly.com/2012/07/26/the-2012-bar-exam-a-storm-a-wood-chipper-and-maybe-a-rat/

Man, I really hope y'all don't have to retake the test...

7/27/2012 9:27:42 AM