While it may sound like a cliché (because it is), I had nothing going for me when I pursued a legal career.  My record in undergraduate school was mediocre.  Some might say I majored in college parties, not paying adequate attention to my studies.  As graduation with a degree in political science approached, the prospect of getting a decent job seemed doubtful, so I took the LSAT.  I did very well.

 

With confidence that my high score would overcome my disappointing GPA, I applied to twelve top one hundred law schools, all of which rejected me.  So, I finished college and worked as an adjuster for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.  While I enjoyed the work, it wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I tried the law school route again, applying to thirteen law schools, all different from the prior year’s list.

 

Eventually, they all rejected me, except for the newly founded Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire.  But one out of twenty-five was all I needed!  Once I started law school, I finally put my nose to the grindstone and worked hard, knowing I never wanted to return to insurance.  I graduated at the top of my class.  But there were no decent jobs for graduates from an unknown law school.  So, I went to New York University and got an LLM in Trade Regulation (essentially consumer protection and intellectual property law).

I sent my résumé to every NYC intellectual property law firm listed in Martindale-Hubbell (then the only source for law firm listings).  I got hired by Hall, Dickler, Lawler, Kent & Howley, a firm known for its entertainment work.  Seeing no prospect of being handed business, I developed a process to build it from scratch, eventually growing a multimillion-dollar practice and rising to the highest ranks in the industry and in the management hierarchy of Big Law.  

 

So, I started with no business, no significant contacts, and a JD from an unknown law school.  While the LLM from NYU helped, I was hardly sought after.  But, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

 

The point is, if I could do it, you can.  All you need to do is have a plan.  My new book, From Dawn to Dusk: How To Build a Multimillion Dollar Law Practice and Then Give It Away, provides a roadmap to establish a profitable practice and exit on your terms.  Please contact me if you’d like one-on-one counseling or if your firm would like training.