07/07/2008 07:18:11 AM EST
Gas at $4.00 Per Gallon – How to Cope
You just graduated law school or opened the door to your new law firm. The price of getting back and forth to the office may be higher than what you may earn in those first few weeks, or months. How do you cope?
The Law School Graduate
Passing the bar exam and getting a job is the number one priority of the new graduate, but only the few at the very top of the class are likely to get those high paying jobs with the prestige law firms. The rest of the class will have to look for a job. The wise graduate will be flexible.
One consideration is the ability of the new attorney to move to a new location. If moving is an option, the attorney can search for a job almost anywhere. Once he or she gets the job, the attorney can find a place to live in easy commuting distance from the job. Practicing law in the small town can be just as rewarding as in a large city and maybe more so. The suburban law firms offer a full range of services. Law firms located throughout large cities most often handle cases that involve people. These include law firms that specialize in representing plaintiffs in personal injury matters, defending those accused of committing crimes, family law problems, and wills and probate. The boutique law firms specialize in niche areas of the law such as insurance company defense, land development, debt collection, or estates and trusts. In these jobs, the new graduate should be ready to move to a location in easy commuting distance. Being able to walk to work not only saves on the buying gas but is also good for your health.
If you cannot pick up and move to a more convenient location, you may try to convince your new employer you allow you to telecommute at least one day each week. With the Internet, e-mail, and numerous software programs, an employee can access electronic files, complete paperwork, drafting pleadings and motions, and talk to clients and attorneys. The day each week may vary, depending on required court appearances, but careful planning could allow a person to group together a day's worth of work to be completed at home.
The New Law Firm
When opening a new law firm, the attorney can choose where to locate the firm. The wise attorney will place that firm with the cost of gas in mind. If the attorney lives in a large city without a convenient public transit system, she may want to locate the firm close to home. If the attorney regularly goes to court, locating the firm in walking distance from the courthouse would make sense.
If possible, a new law firm can open its doors to the public for four, rather than five, days a week. Meeting with clients can be limited to certain days, except in preparation for a trial. A firm can schedule all new client interviews only on Mondays or Fridays. Working extended hours four days a week provides a better opportunity for meeting with clients who work during the day. Almost all telephone answering systems allow for remote access to messages, and no attorney travels without a cell phone.
The new firm should also permit employees to telecommute. Most attorneys today are competent enough on a computer that a full time secretary is not needed. A small firm can use one secretary/receptionist to complete routine letters, maintain the calendar, and bill clients. The secretary could perform some of these tasks at home on the day the firm's doors are closed to the public.
The new law firm should take full advantage of the ability to "telework." While meeting with clients or going to court or administrative hearings requires the physical presence of the attorney, many tasks could be performed from home.
Oil at $140 and what's called "telework" were made for each other like migraines and aspirin. Bosses of Maryland, do everybody a favor - maybe even yourselves - and let employees work from home a day or two a week.
"We've found that folks can telecommute and be more productive when they do it," says Malcolm D. Woolf, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. "My perception is that employees are more focused because they're not interrupted by colleagues. They're able to read the big document and get focus time."
Many bosses worry if they can't see people toiling, but this is as outdated as it is benighted. Among computers' many advantages is their ability to measure work accomplished, wherever it is done. Instant messaging ought to satisfy even hovering, neurotic supervisors.
Jay Hancock, LET'S USE 'TELEWORK' TO GREASE ECONOMY, The Baltimore Sun, July 4, 2008.
One additional benefit of allowing employees to work from home is that the new firm can expand the field of potential employees. The new firm can hire the best employees in a much larger geographical area when those employees do not have to spend a full week's salary just to get to work. It should also be noted that some states, already seeing the writing on the wall, have enacted laws giving tax breaks to employers who permit their employees to work from home.