....

Lol. Didn’t realize it would be that obvious.

What gave it away?

Where do you think I ran into a partner in a towel from my office?

Should have known. I am an idiot.

Don't see what the issue is

Start crossfit. Usually small locker rooms.

I was in CrossFit (8 years?). But nothing near my office so I would end up commuting half an hour extra from gym to office and another 30 minutes from home to gym.

That ain’t happening. If a CrossFit gym opens near my office, I will switch in a heartbeat, assuming they got enough classes to give me some flexibility. Some CrossFit gyms is just 3 in morning, 3 in afternoon, and like 2 classes on weekends. I need a little more flexibility than that.

One last requirement. I ain’t paying 350 a month for Reebok CrossFit. Solace and CrossfitNYC are both nicer and cheaper. Just ain’t paying for neon green equipment in basements.

Haha you CLEARLY weren't devoted enough to the cult, 30 minutes is no big deal bro. I did notice that you said “in” crossfit (like “in” the cult). Yeah I’ve been doing it since around 2008, I’ve never heard of anywhere charging over $175, lolNYC. Sometimes I forget how spoiled I am, both the size of the affiliate I go to and that we have more classes than normal. The lack of weekend time has always bugged me though.

When you exit big law perhaps this is your next step since it sounds like demand in your area.

I still might go back to CrossFit NYC after I move closer to work. My commute is ridiculous (like I am leaving at 5:30 to make sure I get to gym by 7-7:30 so I could be at work by 9) until I move closer to 7 or F train station in August. They charge 230 something a month, which is less than what Equinox charges.

How could this reply not be in reference to this...

https://nypost.com/2018/08/27/lawyer...g-at-employee/

Picked up my first criminal defense client which I basically landed because of my ultra liberal criminal justice hot takes on social media. Lawyering is fun.

I really like my job. A lot of it basically boils down to do a memo on the tax consequences of this structure, but make it a PowerPoint deck for non-lawyer consumption.

Not quite a month yet but so far so good.

Nice man, glad to hear it! I’ve hit the point where some of my biglaw classmates are leaving the firm for greener pastures. I’m not in the first wave, tbd on the second.

I think I know why big4 feels so much easier, at least at where I am, though the expectation is also just about 2000 hours.

The big difference is what I thought was equivalent to billable hours is much more loosely defined here to include a lot of pre-engagement planning. Like yesterday I booked four hours just listening in on 2 calls basically discussing how a new project will proceed and how much they should be asking from client. That’s four hours nobody is paying for. I got to say literally nothing. I could have played sudoku the whole time and nobody would know.

I could just be running good too. I see a lot of dark circles on people doing what I think is compliance. Supposedly some clients are borderline insane with how they want to get billed.

There have been some articles in local and national news outlets this past week about how there is a severe shortage of attorneys in rural America.

Some upstate NY counties have a 2000:1 resident to attorney ratio (and that ratio is probably even worse as I imagine some of those attorneys are judges or not actively practicing law).

Seems like there is an opportunity there to crush for attorneys who are willing to do consumer and community work.

(...and live in rural communities.)

Idk about other biglaw attorneys, but 100% bill those calls too. Let the partner write it off if they want.

If things fall into place, sure. If you're a young attorney and happen to find a situation where someone is transitioning to retirement. Or if you have the capital to live on while you establish a client base. Or if you have family or other connections to the area that will bring in enough business so you don't starve.

At least that's what I've heard. Most of my lawyer pals are decidedly urban.

Yes, all of that is true. It would take calculated business planning and a willingness to live the rural life.

What recurring legal work would you even do in rural areas? It seems to me a lot of the recurring stuff (contractual selling/buying/leasing) would be done in cities and by midlaw/regional law firms/offices.

Also with internet and transportation being as advanced as they are, it’s not clear to me people who need a lawyer will be unwilling to travel to the nearest city. (People who are unable to travel probably can’t pay.)

Plus in-person representation is less and less necessary.

The same recurring legal work that's been done in rural areas forever. Estate planning, real estate, criminal defense, family law, landlord/tenant, bankruptcy, small time litigation, basic contract stuff. If you developed some expertise in agricultural issues you might pick up something more complex.

It's not always about inability to pay. It can be about time -- it can easily be multiple hours to a decent sized city. It can be about cost - why pay a big city lawyer $400/hr if you have a decent local who charges $150? It can be about relationships, connections, family.

True, but are rural areas really going to be the lead echelon? I suspect not.

I just think it’s really hard to find the sweet spot where you cover a large enough “rural” area with enough people without getting to a situation where your target clients might as well go to cities.

Most of the stuff you list isn’t recurring that regularly and a lot of them would force you to go to cities to finish the work. Even in your scenarios, a rural lawyer is going to be traveling a lot for basically small time stuff and working for lower hourly pay.

Your cost of doing business in a rural area is probably going to be way less than even a normal (not DC/Boston/NYC) city.

Also, I think a piece of this is being "in" the local legal network having more value. I've just heard enough stories of even judges saying stuff like "you city lawyers" in court that there just seems to be almost like semi-collusion going on and disfavor of outsiders. It just seems like it might be easier to set up a little territory/niche for yourself in one of these areas. Also probably less judges/prosecutors in rural areas, so you have better reads on what to expect more often. The biggest thing though is a lot of your clients are going to be referrals, and people talk about "family lawyers" where there's not going to be a questioning of your fee, and a stronger stigma of the client not paying because everyone knows everyone and they feel more morally obligated. I would expect more of a mentality of disputing a fee being seen as disrespectful.

I talked to someone once who was buying a practice of a retiring lawyer. He said the retiring lawyer had basically handshake deals with a lot of the clients (no written retainer), so it made the buying process require a little bit more work to valuate the practice. I guess there was so much trust and everyone pays, even if it's delayed, the retiring lawyer would get random checks in the mail from old clients without asking (ie I'll pay you when I can). It's not the money you bill, it's the money you collect.

Yeah, I can see value in that. I am actually having flashbacks of Frank Underwood visiting his home district.

The fact that in-person representation is less necessary than before makes the opportunity easier to cash in on. But one issue there is that broadband is not really reliable in rural areas so even meeting with clients remotely can be difficult.

I am also highly skeptical the regional and mid-sized firms are taking on any of the above work. That type of work is usually left for the solo and small firm lawyers.

So by chance, I had a court case in rural upstate Ulster County today.

Attorney is discussing a case where his client is facing 12 years on a rob 1. Then when the calendar is called he also makes an appearance on a boundary line fence dispute between neighbors.

Almost LOL'd that he would be handling both of those.