Setting up as a sole practitoner

Canarby

I will be qualifying as a solicitor in September and I intend to set up my own practice in Dublin.

Does anybody know of anyone who has done this successfully or anyone that has failed?

I know this will provoke a number of responses stating that a newly qualified solicitor does not possess the required experience to operate as a sole practitioner. Please save your time and only write something if you actually know someone who has done this.

Thanks.

TheDemiurge

I did it and would not recommend it - at all. That's not to say that everyone's experience will be the same. I have lots of contacts and have obtained most business on referral but it has become impossible to make a living.

In one sentence the fee income that can be earned does not justify the requirement to be absolutely perfect at all times in how one handles matters combined with extortionate insurance and practising certificate costs.

If you are thinking about conveyancing, probate and litigation - forget it.

Canarby

Thanks for your honesty. It's good to get a few opinions before taking the plunge.

I too have a large network of contacts and I thought this, combined with some effective approaches to marketing and efficient work flows, would see me through.

Is it just lack of business that is making it hard to make a living or is it more excessive overheads or trouble getting paid?

Do you know of anyone else that has actually made a success of it?

hada

A friend who has 2-3 years PQE has recently set up as a sole practitioner - he's doing absolutely fine. He has minimum overheads, gets plenty of legal aid work and shouldn't have a problem seeing out the current climate.

Oh and, to the OP, don't be too disheartened by TheDemuirge. He has quite a lot of experience, so take heed of course. But in saying that, he is actually one of the reasons I don't post on this forum as often - there comes a stage when the line between honesty and sheer disdain regards a profession is crossed, and I think for him, it came quite some time ago.

TheDemiurge

Canarby wrote: »

Thanks for your honesty. It's good to get a few opinions before taking the plunge.

I too have a large network of contacts and I thought this, combined with some effective approaches to marketing and efficient work flows, would see me through.

Is it just lack of business that is making it hard to make a living or is it more excessive overheads or trouble getting paid?

Do you know of anyone else that has actually made a success of it?

In the current climate it is lack of business - I'm primarily referring to conveyancing. Even with conveyancing, most of it in Dublin is on a fixed fee basis, and clients these days expect you to constantly go lower and lower in respect of your charges - often fighting over government outlays over which you have no control.

Litigation tends to be "long tail" which means you won't see a cent on it for years, so you'll be asking your bank to cashflow invoices coming down the line in years to come.

There is insolvency and restructuring work, but no liquidity to back it up.

Insurance costs went up between 200% and 400% last year and are obligatory, even for a six year period after you close down. Very few insurers want to cover solicitors now.

Complaints against solicitors are soaring even if there is no merit to them. They still have to be dealt with in terms of time and expertise, and you do not recoup costs against a vexatious claim under the present system.

As a previous poster said, their friend is doing legal aid work. It's probably the only method of getting paid in the current climate to be honest. If everything was rosy and I was merely a pessimist or a failure, firms of all sizes would not be shedding large numbers of staff.

Hada needn't worry; I hardly ever post here these days and don't intend doing so again. I find the whole scene just too depressing and stressful.

Canarby

Thanks to both of you.

The main themes that keep coming up over and over seem to be:

1) Conveyancing is dead;
2) Debt Collection and Litigation clients take a long time to pay, if ever;
3) Insurance has become a huge overhead; and
4) Legal Aid work is the only type of work that is currently generating cash.

Think I am still going to go for it because if you market yourself well and do a good job in an efficient manner there is no reason why one can not be successful.

Insurance may be extortionate now but other overheads such as rent have went down during the recession. When one door closes another one opens.

Ireland is going to be a pressure cooker over the next couple of years and that will mean the solicitors have to step in when people get into trouble. It may not be the type of work we would prefer to be doing but if you can make money out of it and establish yourself, you will be well geared up when it all picks up again.

Best of luck to everyone.

Amazotheamazing

A thread that might interest you OP.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=843808#post843808

tamoyalle1

did you end up setting up? how did you get on?