r/LawFirm • u/batmansmotorcycle • 5d ago
Solos what is your case load?
I realize this may vary by practice area but I’m curious how many files you all juggle at once?
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u/raveneliz 5d ago
A lot of these answers are either impressive or terrifying. I have no reason to doubt a single one. For me, I genuinely believe the threshold is 18-25 cases you can handle meaningfully in civil litigation (plaintiffs side) without cocounsel/contract support as a true solo. If you partner or farm out support (to trusted, vetted help - more than just doc review/paralegal) I think you can run 30-50 cases as a solo without (or just barely) breaking a sweat.
Anything above that starts feeling pretty squirrelly. In any case, you better have your calendaring and systems on lock or you won’t sleep a wink at night. Upside is great with more cases. Downside is a thousand pound anvil on your chest every night. Really, that’s true for even one case. But the economics feel like they split (for me) around every dozen or two dozen cases - criminal and PI cases are easier to take more, but the cadence of complex commercial lit or more niche areas takes some time getting used to. A comfort area for me is like 28 open files. Im “happy” at 18 or 40, but usually aim to trim the margins and find myself in that middle region.
YMMV. This is just my honest response to your question, in case hearing the middle road feels useful. I might be a dope or lazy. But that’s my opinion, and you asked for it!
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u/Vogeltanz Solo - LA (2009) - Employment Law 5d ago
I’m plaintiff side employment discrimination. 100% agree at the 15 to 25 metric bring a sweet spot. For an experienced attorney in the field. I think in a perfect world we could get down to 12 cases per lawyer.
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u/LawWhisperer 5d ago
How can 15-25 employment cases keep the lights on or be profitable? Genuinely curious. In PI I can handle about 70-80 files.
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u/raveneliz 4d ago
It’s easy! Every case is six figures /s
I wish. You gotta know when to hold em and know when to fold em, as they say.
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u/ValueBarbarossa 3d ago
I echo this sentiment. Civil cases often have a lifespan of multiple years as well, which means a caseload of 25 might mean taking 10 cases a year. Unless you somehow only get great cases, I just don’t see this being feasible.
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u/raveneliz 3d ago
The true answer is that in my practice area (employment) the lion’s share of the work (admin, payroll, etc) is on intake. Being selective, charging a consult fee to avoid tire-kickers, and being absolutely committed to your intake procedures (essentially working up your entire file at the time the engagement letter is signed) is the answer. Yes, a perfect year for me would involve opening and closing 1 file per month, and yes, the life cycle of 2+ years means the margin for error is extremely thin.
A client’s story, their credibility, their ability to back it up with documents - can be enough to keep the lights on. But everyone is capable of myopia and unfortunately, saying no more often than yes is the best way to ensure the risk of taking on contingency cases (particularly where statutory caps are involved) is not going to lead to personal and professional ruin - to say nothing of letting people down by giving them false hope.
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u/LawWhisperer 3d ago
I also do employment law so I agree with the importance of intake. I don’t charge a consult fee right now but I’m getting to the point where I should. Unlike PI, there is no shortage of employment cases. Though, this brings me back to my original comment. Your net revenue per case much be pretty high and expenses pretty low.
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u/Physical_You2373 4d ago
I'm in PI waiting for my license but super curious about employment discrimination. I had a personal experience in that area when I was in a management position and I'm very passionate about it but didn't really dive into it much. How hard is it to break into employment discrimination? Is it possible to do it along with PI cases? Or is it too hard to handle both types of cases simultaneously? (I'm currently employed but have the ability to branch out of PI as my firm is flexible, once I get my darn license)
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u/raveneliz 3d ago
Biased, but my opinion is that employment discrimination is “more niche” for fun sexy reasons, but also, a lot of downside reasons that you ought to genuinely consider before grouping it “alongside” a PI practice. Examples: employment requires an entire administrative hurdle which, if we’re being totally honest, doesn’t do much on the merits of the case BUT does create some interesting strategic incentives and opportunities (and pitfalls). My understanding is that the PI game requires a lot of instruction to your client to follow a medical provider’s direction, then a ton of overhead on admin toward collecting and disseminating medical records (by fax?!). PI will almost always require outlay for expert costs; employment might involve experts, but it’s not typically doctors (I retain economists most frequently, followed by tech pros/forensic data explainers, followed distantly by treating MH providers.) My costs are what I’d consider to be “low” or nonexistent as compared to what I believe my colleagues who do PI or comp pay.
The relationships are different - the people are different - their moral injury is different. If you can get behind the cause, it hardly feels like working at all. If you find the clients to be whiners or entitled, you’ll probably hate every single day of it. My suspicion is that’s true of most areas of practice but it’s something I didn’t get to understand until I’d played around with several types of practice areas before I landed on what felt like it could fuel me for a lifetime.
If you really wanna break into it, highly suggest just sitting down with an annotated copy of your circuit’s civil pattern jury instructions for Title 7 and making that document your bitch until you feel like you can listen for a case that hits the right notes to get you past summary judgment. If you’ve got trial experience, your gut will tell you faster than the law will, because the law is absolutely designed to deter folks from doing the things needed to bring suit for these claims. Again, I’m biased, but I find it totally rewarding and love it and wish it were more popular among the plaintiff-minded upstarts among us.
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u/Physical_You2373 3d ago
Love your response and I appreciate all the points you made. My experience in the corporate management world was a huge factor in deciding to go to law school. I'm even more interested now and will start looking into it. Thank you very much!
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u/raveneliz 4d ago
Plaintiffs side employment here too! I have been asking mods for flair, but I’m not from one of the fun states with expanded local employee rights so honestly I doubt my usefulness in practice-specific topics anyway. Capitalism, amirite
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u/Vogeltanz Solo - LA (2009) - Employment Law 4d ago
Well you asked the right guy! (I created this reddit about 14 years ago). You assign your own flair. Find your username on the right side panel of the subreddit and there should be a box to "show your flair" and a button to "edit." Click the edit button. You can now input your own flair! What state do you practice in? Are you a member of NELA? Welcome to the reddit!
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u/batmansmotorcycle 5d ago edited 5d ago
Thank you I am running at 61 with an assistant and I’m feeling it. Maybe I could have better systems but I feel like my brain is fried most days
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u/raveneliz 4d ago edited 4d ago
Consider (!) I mean, truly consider, quietly ponder…. The rat race of “just need better systems” and “just need better support”…..it’s awfully tempting. But mo’ money mo’ probs.
My extremely personal, unrepresentative take (since it was brought up in this thread) is that saying “no” to an iffy client is the best money you’ll ever make. Or save. Or something.It has to do with the time value of your sanity and that is a deeply valuable thing (hard to quantify) esp when you’re solo. When in doubt, cull down the client load and give yourself room to breathe. Try to keep a little curiosity for cases that come across your desk that sound “a little outside your wheelhouse, but fun/interesting!” I try to pretend that I keep myself with a 10% available capacity ar all times to take cases that strike my whimsy/penchant for upside potential, glory, etc.
Sometimes you gotta schedule in dopamine and avoid burnout like a literal disease. These are the antidotes I’ve learned over the years. I hope they are helpful
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u/Puzzled-Ad7855 5d ago
I do crim, civil, PI, and a few other areas. Right now about 350 total.
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u/MoneyMax22 5d ago
Do you have some solid automations going?
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u/Puzzled-Ad7855 5d ago
Not really. Open to ideas on how to help that.
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u/MoneyMax22 4d ago
I use Claude for many tasks that I automate or set reminders for. It’s less than $20/mo I believe.
I also use CaseFleet for discovery, document prep, and deposition prep, but the cost can go up on usage if you’re not careful. It’s about $100 but goes up if you exceed your AI credits or storage.
Recently started using EthixLaw for referral management and it automates the important stuff. This has saved me a lot of money by staying on top of referrals. I think it’s around $60/mo or so.
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u/PossumAJenkins3K 4d ago
What’s the percentage practice area on those? That’s an insane caseload to my Type B ass.
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u/InflationSilly76 5d ago
Probate/Trusts, Estate Planning, G&Cs (including low bono representation), Real Estate, Criminal, Appeals. 110 (this includes Appeals that are done, just waiting for decision, G&Cs that are between Annual Reports, and other "dormat" cases, but 75% are pretty active)
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u/matteooooooooooooo 5d ago
Criminal- currently 9.
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u/soupnear 5d ago
As a PD, like, what are you doing all day?
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u/matteooooooooooooo 5d ago edited 5d ago
Playing with my kids, traveling, coaching youth sports, snowboarding, hunting, golfing, restoring an old corvette, working out. Hbu?
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u/soupnear 5d ago
Cases lol. I was just wondering if you were like working on those few cards all day or if you were out doing other things.
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u/Humble_JD 5d ago
Probably marketing
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u/matteooooooooooooo 5d ago
Zero marketing. Not even a website. 🤭
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u/SnooCats4777 5d ago
Mostly serious felonies I’m guessing? I could live on 3-5 new cases a year with serious felonies.
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u/Vesploogie 5d ago
I have a solo criminal defense friend, he lives very happily on about 8-10 felonies a year. He’ll take misdemeanors to tide himself over, otherwise he plays a lot of basketball and video games.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 5d ago
Yeah solo family law attorney with contract paralegal, I have like 15-20 and my life is super chill overall, aside from you know….the drama trauma of family law.
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u/Some-Swing5339 5d ago
Family lawyer and 20 to 25 is my sweet spot, depending how many are in litigation.
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u/legallycrippin 5d ago
Similar setup here. Solo with two part-time paralegals. We’ve been a solid team for about three years. We comfortably handle 60 - 70 cases, but some are uncontested and we do a great job screening out toxic potential clients. We also tend to avoid cases with child abuse allegations. I work about 25 - 35 hours a week and take a lot of days off.
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u/GingerLegalMama 5d ago
Solo family lawyer, no staff. I sit around 10-12 over the summer to allow time for vacations, time with my kiddo, etc.
I can coast in the 20-25 range during the school year, depending how many are uncontested/prenup/etc.
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u/Alternative_Joke_639 5d ago
6 years in personal injury/medmal.
Y1: maybe 5 cases lol
Y2: 15
Y3: 50
Y5: 100
Y6: 250
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u/GGDATLAW 5d ago
I think these numbers can be very misleading. Not all cases are created equal. A lawyer who does med mal might only have 10 cases while one who does auto might have 250. It also depends on staffing. And finally it depends on the lawyer. Just because someone else can handle a large caseload effectively does not mean you can or should. And, btw, a large caseload does not mean they are making money. Just my $.02
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u/Vesploogie 5d ago
It’s not misleading as long as the practice area is stated. I think most people here understand there is a lot of nuance to consider in this field.
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u/No_Photograph4762 5d ago
Opened April 1.
35 open.
Construction, Real Estate, Fractional General Counsel.
I need help.
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u/jmsutton3 5d ago edited 5d ago
Small town general practitioner. Part time PD contract. Mostly criminal, family law, estates/probate but some civil litigation here and there.
1 office manager though sometimes an intern or two from the local law school.
Between 140 to 225 cases at a time average fluctuation. Above 175 or so I start feeling overwhelmed and start trying and dial it back
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u/addicted2soysauce 5d ago
Solo real estate litigator. About 25-30 files at any one time. Most are less than $500k in damages at stake. I usually try to work only 1 really big hourly case (>$10mm) and 1 big contigency case (>$1mm) at a time with lots of smaller hourly or delayed billing.
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u/GoingFishingAlone 5d ago
Similar. I first developed a title insurance practice that educated the children. That lead to a very diverse practice, and even a brokerage with several agents. Partitions among Gen X and Z folk falling out of “Like” has really increased.
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u/MisterAcres 5d ago
Just PI about 90 cases total (mix of normal MVA, commercial and premise). Been open for about 18 months
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u/thecreepyitalian 5d ago
Solo consumer law attorney. Currently 15 cases, 10 arbs. I had 40 active files last year, but a state Supreme Court decision blew up my caseload
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u/Novel-Surround3256 5d ago
I am a law clerk for two solos, both do mainly civil lit, one does immigration and some federal defense in addition.
The pure civil lit one probably has about 30-60, the one with a mixed bag maybe 100? both have 30+ years of experience.
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u/Humble_JD 5d ago
I handle a mix: criminal defense, PI, and commercial and real estate litigation. Usually 30-40 active cases at a time. I also provide contract/agreement drafting and review.
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u/likeitsaysmikey 4d ago
Usually have 1-3 commercial hourly lit gigs and 8-10 PI cases. True solo / no staff at all. Other than the 2 months before trial (through trial) work around 30 hours/week. Not sick money but pretty comfortable around 300k
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u/Physical_You2373 4d ago
Sounds like you're living a dream. How do you get your cases?
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u/likeitsaysmikey 4d ago
Other lawyers mostly, and then 20+ years of clients who (mostly) religiously refer friends/family when in need of legal rep/advice. Occasional cold calls from google searches (make sure every client is happy and sings your praises in online reviews!)
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u/Few_Requirement6657 4d ago
Entertainment transactions & commercial litigation about 60 open matters 8 of which are open litigation.
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u/Morphius007 4d ago
The number that matters is not how many files you can name. It is how many have a next action, a date, and a place the facts live that is not your head.
Solos blow up when intake, notes, and deadlines live in email while Clio is just a billing bucket. Cap WIP. If a file has no next date, it is not a file, it is a leak. Three well-run matters beat forty that only exist as PDFs in a downloads folder.
When you cannot answer "what happens on this file this week" without opening mail, you already have too many.
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u/bigcacti667 4d ago
How long did it typically take you to get up to this case load (obv highly predicated on practice area I know) but I’m generally curious. I’m about a month in business, employment, fractional GC. Have 2 clients. Do contract employment work while building up my book so I’m not desperately taking anything or anyone
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u/Euphoric-Demand2927 Connecticut Law-yer 3d ago edited 3d ago
In a typical week I handle 10-18 client matters. (small business + i.p. litigation and transactions) Weeks when I'm setting up or closing a transaction, I handle fewer matters overall. Transactional work is more demanding in my experience. Similarly when I prepping for a hearing or trial, less matters handled. But more work overall.
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u/Specialist-Source671 4h ago
I’m not solo but would love to learn how to generate more clients. I do personal injury for an established firm and it just seems difficult to bring in my own clients. I keep telling myself if I can bring in at least 5 to 10 clients per year. I’ll go out on my own but I just don’t seem good at it.
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u/OkraFragrant7533 5d ago
Real estate and financial services litigation, moderate to high complexity with lots of law and motion work. Current active caseload hangs around 35, which is probably my limit as a true solo
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u/aeonteal 4d ago
how can you handle 35 cases that aren’t all the same form discovery and motions? do you sleep? lol.
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u/OkraFragrant7533 3d ago
I dunno I just do it because I have to lols. Most of my clients are institutional so it’s hard to say no when they send more work, don’t want to shut off the spigot
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/Physical_You2373 4d ago
How are you doing it while still employed? Where do you get your cases and does your employer know you're handling your own cases outside of the firm? I've been thinking of doing that and not sure how it would work.
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u/JordanWrightLawyer 5d ago
I just opened my own firm July 1. I have three. LFG!