Mount Pulaski IL - Lincoln Wall Mural According to the ABA's last published Lawyers Statistical Report, as of 2000 about 70% of private practice lawyers worked in firms of 10 or fewer and about 50% of lawyers were solo practitioners. In California in 2006, 62% of attorneys in private worked in law firms of five or fewer attorneys (Source: The State Bar of California). With job opportunities shrinking, these percentages are likely to grow. More and more recent law school graduates who had never thought of starting a solo practice are beginning to consider it. Few law students, however, leave law school “practice ready.” Few law schools offer training in the practical or business side of running a small or solo practice. Many career offices do not even mention the solo option. In big firms, recent graduates' gap in practical skills is filled by rigorous post-graduate training in the firm itself. A friend of mine who just started working at a major New York law firm has spent the first few weeks in her job in full-time "virtual" classroom instruction from top law and business professors -- along with every other first-year associate in the firm around the world -- on everything these associates will need to actually do their jobs: everything from financial statement analysis to tax to mergers and acquisitions. At the end of these weeks of instruction, these associates will receive a "diploma" to signify their completion of the training and "graduation" festivities to celebrate it. For new graduates who want to pursue a career in a small or solo practice, on the other hand -- whether immediately after law school or after working for several years in big firm or government jobs (where new lawyers learn substantive law, but not how to run a business) -- it is harder to find these kinds of post-graduate training opportunities. There is a new and growing interest in the profession in filling this gap. In 1997, four law schools created the Law School Consortium Project (LSCP) to address this gap -- by designing programs to provide training, mentoring, and support to "the large the large number of law school graduates who enter law schools aspiring to work for the public interest, but, upon graduation, find themselves debt-ridden or unable to obtain one of the scarce public service positions." English: 020301-N-3995K-011 U.S. Navy Recruit ... Within only the past five years, at least twelve law schools have introduced solo and small-practice incubator programs, residence programs, and post-graduate support systems to provide recent law graduates with the practical skills they need to be a successful solo or small-firm practitioner. The ABA is starting a discussion list and document archive for idea-sharing about incubators. An additional goal of almost all of the existing law school incubator and residency programs -- and the LSCP that pre-dated them -- is increasing access to legal services for low- and moderate-income people and entities. Bar associations like California's and Colorado's have Modest Means Task Forces to help lawyers create viable practices representing moderate-income clients. The ABA maintains a directory of incubator programs. These programs include:

University-Based Incubators

New York English: CUNY School of Law logo
  • The pioneer of the solo incubator model, City University of New York School of Law debuted its program, Incubator for Justice, in 2007. CUNY’s program offers low-cost office space in midtown Manhattan and internal staff support for up to 18 months to a select number of graduates working to launch a small or solo practice. Participants also benefit from a large network of solo-practitioner mentors (in the Community Legal Resource Network, established in 1998) and internal peer support -- both of which reduce the isolation many solo practitioners experience -- as well as training in basic business issues like billing, record-keeping, technology, bookkeeping, and taxes, and subject-based training in such areas as immigration law and labor law. In exchange, Incubator participants must commit to 12 hours per month of “low bono” (sliding-scale fee) work – i.e., providing legal services at $75/hr to New York’s underserved communities, paid for by contracts with New York City.
  • A little bit different from the incubator model, which supports new attorneys in setting up their own practice, Pace University School of Law’s Community Law Practice is a practice in itself that employs 5-7 recent Pace graduates, who are classified as fellows and paid by the law school.  Launched in September 2012, the Pace Community Law Practice provides legal representation to low-income clients in immigration, family, and housing law issues through a combination of sliding-scale fee arrangements and grant-funded legal assistance projects. Intended to be analogous to a medical school residency, PCLP provides seminars on running a practice, as well as mentorship and support opportunities.
  • In October 2013, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law launched the new Resident Associate Mentoring Program (RAMP), which will offer recent Cardozo graduates an opportunity for a full-time associate position at small and medium-sized firms and corporate legal departments for one year. Participating employers will offer a salary similar to a fellowship and will make a commitment to train and mentor the Resident Associate for one year. In addition, the law school will provide professional development opportunities and CLE training for the new lawyers and their employers.  Resident Associates will meet at the law firm about 1x/month to discuss their experiences and learn from each other.
  • Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center on Long Island unveiled its Long Island Community Justice Center (LICJC) on November 12, 2013. Fred Rooney, the original creator of the CUNY incubator, and recently dubbed "Father of Incubators" by the ABA, developed the Center, which provides office space, practical training, and mentorship to 10 recent Touro Law graduates, to help them learn to launch their own practices serving clients of modest means.
Other New York law school incubator programs include the Access to Justice Incubator at Hofstra University's Maurice A. Deane School of Law, which will be operational in spring 2014. California
  • Modeled after CUNY’s Incubator for Justice, California Western School of Law’s Access to Law Initiative launched in June 2012 to support alumni wishing to serve low- and middle-income clients by opening a solo or small firm practice or non-profit entity. Participants enjoy shared office space in downtown San Diego for up to 18 months and mentoring, networking, and training opportunities. They also commit to provide at least 100 hours per year of pro bono or “low bono” legal service. Two participants describe the Initiative in this video. The Access to Law Initiative builds on CWSL’s 2L STEPPS course, which emphasizes professional responsibility and reflective practice, and its 3L clinical internship program.
  • Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s Center for Solo Practitioners lasts 12-18 months and offers affordable shared office space, mentoring from university faculty, and assistance (e.g., targeting markets, setting up fee structures) from MBA students from San Diego State University. Practicing attorneys may be invited to lecture on such topics as marketing and partnership-building. The program has been operational since November 2012.
Other California law school incubator programs include Whittier Law School's Solo and Small Practice Support Program, operational since November 2012. Northeast
  • Rutgers School of Law - Newark launched its Associates Fellowship Program in February 2014.
  • Northeastern University School of Law will be launching its Justice Bridge - Legal Residency and Incubator Program in April 2014.
Southeast
  • University of Maryland Francis King Cary School of Law’s solo incubator program, which lasts 6-10 months, launched in January 2011. Participants work in an office across the street from the law school and help with grant-funded cases through Civil Justice, Inc., a nonprofit law office that serves low-income clients.
  • Since the fall of 2011, Florida International University College of Law's post-graduate LawBridge Legal Residency Program provides new lawyers with an apprenticeship "with elements akin to both a medical school residency and a business school entrepreneurial incubator." Participants enroll for two years, set up solo practices housed in FIU LawBridge facilities, receive guidance from the College of Law, and engage in extensive pro bono services. They are coached in meeting with clients, establishing attorney-client relationships, timekeeping and billing, managing workloads, marketing and public relations, accounting and financial planning, and ethics and professionalism.
Other law school incubator programs in the southeast include the ESQ. Build - Sole Practitioner Incubator, which was launched in October 2013 by The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Midwest
  • Beginning in 2012 with seven alums, Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law's new Solo and Small Practice Incubator offers free office space and access to research materials, technology, and mentors. Each alum participating in the program must contribute 10 hours per week to the school's law clinic.
  •  Since 2004, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law’s Law OfficeSolo and Small Firm Institute has offered a summer course and a series of fall and spring semester workshops -- by law and business school faculty, practicing attorneys, and other professionals -- on business planning and other topics related to founding and operating a small law firm. In fall of 2011, UKMC built on this pre-graduation training by introducing its UMKC Solo and Small Law Firm Incubator project. The incubator provides practice management assistance, mentoring (including by a rotating set of judges), and affordable office space in two store-front offices close to campus and abutting a low-income neighborhood. Participants commit to provide a certain number of hours of pro bono and low bono legal services.
  • Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law officially opened its Cleveland-Marshall Solo Practice Incubator on February 4, 2014. Recent Cleveland-Marshall graduates will each open a practice in a practice area of their choosing, housed in office space that was previously part of the law school's library. The incubator will have a designated coordinator to provide guidance and troubleshoting, and the school’s Solo Practice Advisory Council will host frequent presentations and workshops by local lawyers, service providers and others.
West
  • University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law launched the University Law Group (ULG) in February 2012. Serving a moderate-means client base, the ULG provides relatively simple, short-term legal services and offers flat-rate fee arrangements or hourly rates of $50 to $80 per hour, depending on client income. The ULG currently has a handful of attorneys, but the university expects to have as many as 15 attorneys by the end of the year.
  • Seattle University School of Law selected four graduates to participate in its Low Bono Incubator Program, a post-graduation mentoring, legal education, and business support program for new attorneys serving moderate means clients. It includes a stipend to cover initial business expenses and launched in January 2014.
  • The dean of Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law envisioned a large-scale nonprofit law firm that broadens access to justice by charging below-market rates and trains new law school graduates along a model inspired by the Mayo Clinic’s medical residency system. Like a traditional law firm, the ASU Alumni Law Group would have 5-6 experienced attorneys to act as partners and supervise 15-30 “resident lawyers,” recent ASU grads. The residents would spend up to two years cycling through different practice areas, such as bankruptcy, family law, and corporate organization, and -- unlike in most large law firms -- would gain experience with the economics of practice, such as billing, accounting, and marketing. The ASU Alumni Law Group is set to become operational in May 2014.
A predecessor model for Arizona's planned teaching law firm model is the Chicago-Kent School of Law's In-House Clinical Education Program, a fee-generating teaching firm that provides clinical practice experience under the supervision of teaching attorneys.

Bar Association Incubators

  • In April 2011, the Columbus Bar Association launched Columbus Bar inc ("inc" is short for incubator), which provides office space and equipment, practice management training, mentors, networking, and referrals to help new lawyers build successful practices.
  • The Modest Means/Incubator Task Force of the California Bar Association's California Commission on Access to Justice announced in October 2013 a statewide support effort and seed grants for post-graduate incubators and related projects for new attorneys, to expand access to justice for modest means families. These initiatives are planned for 2014. For more information, contact Theresa Mesa, Program Developer, State Bar of California Office of Legal Services, theresa.mesa@calbar.ca.gov or (415) 538-2143.
  • In 2013,  the Chicago Bar Foundation launched its Justice Entrepreneurs Project, a privately supported incubator designed to match underemployed young law graduates with "modest means" clients. The program lasts 18 months. Participating lawyers spend the first six months working through local legal aid organizations to provide free services while developing their own paying clientele. They get stipends of about $1,000 a month from local law schools and, after six months, will pay nominal rent for incubator space. The incubator is funded by law firms, other businesses, and unclaimed awards from class action settlements. A short video about the program is available here.
  • Also in 2013, the New York City Bar Association unveiled its own pilot program placing new lawyers in apprenticeships in big firms or startup law firms.

Private Incubators and Fellowships

  • Call for Justice, LLC, is facilitating the creation of a "Community Law Firm" in Saint Paul that will be a stand-alone entity working to train new graduates to do low-bono work. Two law schools, William Mitchell and Hamline University, are collaborating to sponsor this initiative.
  • Bill Becker, an alumnus of the University of Puget Sound School of Law, is building support to launch a private legal incubator, the Legal Services Exchange, based on the business incubator model for startup companies. The Legal Service Exchange has five goals: 1) teach the practical aspects of practicing law; 2) provide the infrastructure for new solos; 3) serve middle-class and small-business clients; 4) provide business-management support to the individual solos; and 5) teach the new attorneys how to maximize their value to the client.
  • In September 2013, private attorneys Barbara Picard joined with Eppa Hunton VI created the Richmond Legal Development Center to serve as an incubator for young attorneys, providing a collaborative environment, mentoring, and training.
  • Legal services nonprofit Louisiana Civil Justice Center launched its Legal Innovators for Tomorrow (LIFT) Fellowship Program in February 2014. To help them build small and solo practices serving low-income clients, fellows receive mentorship, CLEs, practice management training, networking and referrals.
Updated 3/11/14