Difficulties That Attorneys Face In Setting Up A Law Firm

Setting up a law firm is not easy. There are a number of stumbling blocks that an attorney would face. As a result, many attorneys choose the easier option, which is to be an employee as they work for others. Many young lawyers become lowly-paid employees when they could actually set up their own firm and earn more. Granted, it is not something that can be easily done. Otherwise, all lawyers would have had their own firms by now. There are things that would get in the way of these lawyers starting their own law firms. That something, which stands in the way of some attorneys setting up their own firms, is what we will be taking a closer look at.
First, there is lack of capital. It is a problem that besets anyone else who is planning to set up any firm. Setting up law firms costs money. You'd be surprised to learn that small town firms actually cost a lot of money. For one, as a matter of tradition, legal offices are always expected to be in 'respectable' addresses. The rental of even a small space in these respectable addresses do not come cheap, either. Your office should also have its own staff in the form of legal secretaries and clerks. You need money to hire people. That means the attorney should have at least several months' rent and salary payments set aside. 
You would probably have to wait for quite a while before the clients start coming to your offices. All in all the necessary start up capital requirements are huge. Shortage of capital is what drives many attorneys to settle for working for other employers. There is also the complicated nature of the inner workings of the legal service industry to take into consideration. If you want an 'in' into the legal service industry, you have to know that there are already strong fraternities that are responsible in determining which case goes to who. 
That means the 'big boys' get to have all the fun ' and all the cases. New lawyers trying to find their footings (who lack 'reputations') can end up being shunned even by the smallest of the clients. Before the clients start coming in, the new lawyer should invest a lot of time and effort in building his name and reputation up. That is scary for many people, hence the decision not to set up firms (even when they happen to have the capital necessary to do so). 
Yet another factor that can make it hard for an attorney to set up his own firm is lack of confidence. A law firm is, for all intents and purposes, meant to be a business enterprise. There are going to be huge risks. Many law firms have closed down because of the inability to attract enough clients to sustain business. The owners then move on to work for others. Many lawyers think that this is an embarrassment that they can do without. Therefore, these lawyers decide to just play it safe. Even if they have enough money to start their own firm, and their reputation is stable enough to attract clients, they still refuse to set up their own law firm.