8 Reasons You Should Start Your Own Law Firm Right Out of Law School

You can make the rules, define what you do and work for the kinds of clients YOU want to work with.

If you are working for a firm you have no control of the kind of work you do day in and day out. As a partner in your own firm, you can learn to screen out the problem clients and even fire the trouble makers. There is an excellent podcast that deals with this you can find here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/mastering-your-law-practice-law-practice-management/id1046620997?mt=2&i=1000368286100

You will get to improve your craft and remain attractive

You should begin practicing law right out of law school regardless of whether you end up in a firm or not. The longer you wait and do nothing, the more difficult it will be to remain attractive to prospective firms who might consider hiring you.

You have the option of scaling your income

There is no income ceiling if you run your own firm, particularly if you focus on business systemization and marketing. If you work harder or smarter, you earn more money. Pure and simple. Its physics. When you learn to scale your business on demand you have choices and control in your life. If you decide time is more important that income, you can work part time.

You can set your own schedule

Working for a law firm you are beholden to the firm’s schedule. As a solo attorney, your time is yours. For some small business owners this is just enough rope to hang themselves with. Keep sharpening the time-management (time investment) skills. As a solo-attorney you get the benefit of the efficiency, not your boss.

You’ll develop an owner mindset

Learning an owner mindset will help you understand what it takes to make partner should you find yourself working for a law firm in the future. The best way to learn to think like a partner is to be in charge and feel the real stresses and triumphs of being at the helm.

Rainmakers are Welcome Everywhere

Mastering the marketing of your law will make you invaluable and welcome in any business venture you attach yourself to. The ability to bring in new business is one of the most attractive competencies in a candidate partner, all other things being equal.

Operating costs are low for a virtual office.

For a couple of hundred bucks a month you can run your firm on a shoestring.   The overhead of things you actually need to get started is low and you can be running in the black very very quickly.    Here is a list of resources you can deploy in one day for as little as $300 a month, not including office space and malpractice insurance.
$35 – Bookkeeping and Invoicing Software
Bookkeeping: Freshbooks
Freshbooks provides customizable invoicing, amazing reporting and automatic reminders to clients who are slow to pay.   It’s fully integratable with stripe and paypal and can be set up in minutes. Their technical support people answer on the first ring and are extremely helpful and dedicated. You can even generate invoices and accept payment right from your cell phone.
https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing
$70 Marketing Support
Master Law Firm Marketing – as little as $70 a month.
https://www.masterlawfirmmarketing.com
Learn the art of automating your marketing and the practical specific action required to attract a steady stream of new clients each week. Learn to analyze the behavior and tactics of big players with massive budgets. Live trainings and support are available to help you think about your advertising messages.   You can do as much of your own marketing work as you like.   Concierge design and programming is available on an hourly basis or with an upgrade to “Concierge Level” of subscription.
Web Site Hosting
Hostgator – as little as $5 / month.   You can set up your firm’s website in minutes and use their customizable templates to get something up fast, or turn the job over to the designers at masterlawfirmmarketing.com
https://www.hostgator.com/pricing
Facebook Traffic – Start at $300 / month
Boost your blog posts or create ads to very specific markets and demographics. For coaching on generating qualified Facebook traffic consider the training and support at https://www.masterlawfirmmarketing.com
Phone Systems
With RingCentral: Lets you record incoming and outgoing calls. Profession IVR system, voicemail etc. As little as $29.95
https://www.ringcentral.ca/office/plansandpricing.html

It Feels Great to Select Yourself

Until recently, our society has been engineered to put people on a career path where they are beholden to institutions and gatekeepers. Now with entry level qualifications you can bypass the gatekeepers easier than ever. Everything you have achieved so far has been because of your hard work and hustle. Why do you need someone else to give you permission to practice law? Granted, if you are fresh out of law school you won’t be as fast and effective as you will be, but that shouldn’t stop you from starting now. The important thing to remember is this: You were trained as a lawyer, you don’t have to wait to get hired by a firm to start practicing law. There is nothing that holds you back from practicing law today. You can select yourself.

“The Bride”. A an example of an experimental, or concept album project from 2022. Painted in acrylic. (Private collection)

Building Confidence Through Language: A Guide for the Collector

One of the biggest barriers for aspiring art collectors is not a lack of taste, but a lack of confident language. People know what they are drawn to, but they often struggle to articulate the ‘why’ behind their emotional connection. Providing them with a basic vocabulary can be transformative.

By explaining core artistic concepts, we can bridge this gap. An artist’s newsletter or a gallery brochure could break down:

The Architecture of Composition: How lines and shapes lead the eye and create a focal point.
The Emotional Weight of a Color Palette: Why a limited, muted palette feels different from a vibrant, high-contrast one.
The Role of Value in Creating Depth: How the interplay of light and shadow builds a believable world.

It’s like being given a phrasebook in a foreign country; suddenly, you can navigate and connect with more assurance. Consider Edward Hopper, whose stylized realism simplifies scenes to their emotional core. Understanding this allows a collector to explain why the work feels so dreamlike and memorable. This knowledge doesn’t replace the emotional response; it validates it.

The Dialogue Between Feeling and Form

Great art speaks to us on two levels: the immediate, gut-level emotional reaction and the deeper intellectual appreciation. You might feel the perpetual warmth and light in a Monet, which immerses the viewer in the sensory experience of a moment. Conversely, you might sense the rugged, stoic soul of the landscape in a piece by Canada’s Group of Seven, which evokes a feeling of profound solitude.

These feelings are universal, but the ability to discuss why we feel them builds a stronger connection. From a marketing perspective, this education slots perfectly into the buyer’s journey. During the “comparison” phase, an artist who also educates their audience is building a relationship of trust and authority, making the final “decision” more likely.

Conclusion: A Bridge of Shared Understanding

Art, in its purest form, is an act of communication. Whether through the calculated narrative of a storyteller or the freeform expression of a poet, the artist extends an invitation to the viewer. By providing the language to understand this invitation, we empower collectors to move beyond simple preference and into the realm of true appreciation. It transforms a simple transaction into a meaningful connection, where the viewer doesn’t just own a piece of art—they become part of its ongoing story.

About the Author

Jaeson Tanner is a Marketing Thinker at Zero Noise Marketing and a narrative artist once in a blue moon. You can see his work on Instagram at @jaeson_tanner.