I have been self employed for a couple of decades, or as I call it, unemployed with overhead. Unless it was one of the days I skipped, no one in law school taught us how to operate a law firm. It requires a much different skill set from being a trial lawyer- in fact, many of the skills are exactly the opposite of what a trial lawyer does.
As a business owner, I have to solve problems but the approach is much different than trial lawyer me uses. I can’t drag a lousy vendor to court on a motion hearing if they sell me a broken product. The threat of litigation scares most businesses onto the straight and narrow but for those already in litigation they are just another day at the office.
A high school student a couple of years ago told me he wanted to get a business degree and go into business for himself.
“Great idea! What do you want to do?” I asked him. He looked at me blankly and looked like I was speaking Martian. We don’t go start a business just to own a business, the business is the vehicle that lets us get to the work. Mine is an old Studebaker with three bald tires and a spring coming through the seat upholstery.
My oldest son recently started his own business with a friend, or as he calls it, working sixty hours to keep from working forty. He rented space next to my office and I see him regularly which is nice. His growing pains in the new venture bring back memories of when I started my law firm. Thankfully, those experiences are barely even memories now, far in the rear view.
Starting a new venture of any kind is a young person’s game. You can get a lot accomplished with ambition and a lot of energy. Conversely, you can maintain what you have been doing with experience and an occasional nap.
One major difference between my son and me is our upbringing. As a Gen Xer, I let myself into an empty house after school, jumped bikes over propane tanks and had bottle rocket fights, and was gone till dark without cell phones or any way to check in. It made perfect sense for me to start my own law firm with no business background or idea of what it would entail. What was the worst that could happen? I could always fail and go to work for someone else.
My son had a parent overseeing most of his activities. His days were structured from wake till sleep. Striking out on his own seems more bold to me.
When he said he was behind invoicing customers, I asked him about getting his bookkeeping and banking set up. He complained that he was too busy doing the work. I could only laugh. When I started my firm, I was a full time single dad half of the time. I had a decent sized case load and dockets to answer, and I didn’t think there were enough hours in the day, either.
“What were you doing at 3 in the morning?” I asked him. “You can sleep when you are dead, better get your work done while you can.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Young people these days want to have a work/life balance. If I had mentioned that concept to my boss at his age, I would have been given the opportunity to go have a life without work. Or a job. I am convinced that the new way is better. Even so, my baby law firm wouldn’t survived those early days but for the hours I spent building a business to practice law in. I remember painting walls, configuring computers, and learning to do bookkeeping. Fortunately I don’t remember the days running on two hours of sleep and three pots of coffee.
There must be a happy medium between working ourselves to death and not working at all. Until I find it, I will listen while my son complains about how much he has to do each day and try to hide my smile.
©2023 With All Due Respect. Spencer Farris is the founding partner of The S.E. Farris Law Firm in St Louis, Missouri. Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent c/o this publication or directly to him via email at farris@farrislaw.net. He opens emails between the late morning and early afternoon naps.