Episode 77-Going Solo with Employment Law and Workplace Investigations

Counsel to Counsel - Career Advice for Lawyers

Launching your own law practice can be both energizing and scary. For lawyers who are accustomed to earning a steady paycheck, hanging a shingle means saying goodbye to security. Leaving a large firm means that there is no one between you and the client. You need to figure out how to advise them without the help of partners who are just down the hall. You also need to develop your own infrastructure.

At the same time, starting your own practice means having a lot of flexibility and a chance to really build something of your own.

In one of the first episodes of Counsel to Counsel, I interviewed Matt Yospin, an IP lawyer who went solo after several years at an AmLaw 100 firm. Since that time, I have coached a number of lawyers who have started their own practices.

Matt Yospin spoke a lot about how he has leveraged technology to make his IP practice run smoothly with far fewer resources. In this episode, I speak with Allan MacLean about starting a solo employment law practice, what he wishes he had known when he launched his firm, and how he has shifted the nature of his work after leaving a large national labor and employment law boutique. Allan described what it was like to start representing employees after focusing on representing only management. He also talked about how workplace investigations are a nice adjunct to the litigation he is doing.

Allan MacLean is the owner of MacLean Employment Law in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he concentrates on employment law and civil litigation.

Allan now counsels and represents both individuals and employers regarding the full range of employment matters, including leaves of absence, compensation issues, terminations, and harassment and discrimination claims. He also assists clients with "non-compete" agreements, and a growing part of his practice is workplace investigations.