Finding an affordable apartment in New York City is serious business—so serious that tenant lawyer Steven De Castro grossed about $200,000 in contingency fees last year representing clients in rent-stabilized apartments. And that doesn’t include a $664,000 contingency-fee judgment he finally collected, which he had recovered a few years earlier.
“As midlife crises go, law school was less risky than either a mistress or a sports car,” jests Bruce Cameron, a biomedical researcher who at 47 launched a straight-from-law-school, rural solo practice two years ago.
7-word bio: “GC, entrepreneur, crew, Yale, Harvard, four kids.”
Two young families purchase a duplex together intending to share their assets in the spirit of casual co-housing. A retired couple who bought a single-family home with a longtime friend adds an addition so they can live separately, yet time-share the kitchen and a handful of other resources. Ten families come together to build a day care center and cooperatively care for each others’ children in one member’s home.
7-word bio: “Thirty year lawyer and provocative thought leader.”
Kim Keenan made an odd request two years ago when she became president-elect of the 94,000-member District of Columbia Bar, the second-largest unified bar in the country.
7-word bio: “Lawyer, student, sometimes teacher, herder of twins.”
Howard J. Finkelstein likes to do his own research and draft his own deals. That, coupled with the fact his microfinance clients generally don’t meet traditional BigLaw billing schedules, led the Brooklyn, N.Y., corporate lawyer to start a solo practice after many years in large law firms.
7-word bio: “Entrepreneur, author, creator, lawyer who loves, mom.”
Carolyn Elefant is in the midst of growing her high-profile energy regulatory practice. She’s particularly keen to further her imprint in an area traditionally allocated to multi-lawyer firms.
7-word bio: “Entrepreneurial evangelist, creativity crusader, adept, husband, father.”
7-word bio: “Virtual law office pioneer and technology evangelist.”
Stephanie Kimbro was pregnant with her first child and thought a sole practice doing estate planning from home would be a good way to combine a job and parenting. What she didn’t realize was that in five years, she’d earn more working from home than she did as a law firm associate.
7-word bio: “Copyright and trademark lawyer, author, motivational speaker.”
Corrected: When James Branum defends soldiers facing court-martial, he stands out with his tousled hair and suits that may not fit perfectly. Jesus, he says, led him to the work, and that also makes him different from many of his colleagues in the left-leaning National Lawyers Guild, whose Military Law Task Force he co-chairs.
Mindy Rush Chipman took an unusual path to law school. In need of work, she took a steady job at age 19 as a maximum security prison guard in Nebraska.
With his office about a block away from the federal court and two blocks from the state courthouse in Omaha, Neb., solo Duke Drouillard can be Johnny-on-the-spot if another lawyer or judge gives him call to let him know that a defendant needs a lawyer, and quick.
Bloomington, Minn., solo practitioner Larry Frost is in his first year as an attorney.
While working as a lawyer in Minneapolis, Jennifer Knapp came across a Craigslist ad for a third-generation firm for sale in a small town in Minnesota.
SoloCorps interviewers Carolyn Elefant and Lisa Solomon trained their video camera this morning on Melissa Stockman Maher, a solo in Roseville, Minn.
