And Now We Hurry Up…And Wait

It’s been some time since I’ve updated this thing, and for some good reason. The main reason for any delays here has been the bar exam, obviously. Lots of preparation, of course, and then some recovery time over the past month or so just trying to get my head straight after shifting gears from school(pseudo practical) to bar prep(almost impractical) to being finished.

The bar was actually fun, at least the Maryland essay day was. I found it to be somewhat straightforward, and I feel like I did quite well on most of it.

The MBE, however, another story. I do not feel like my bar prep course (which cost nearly $4,000) prepared adequately for the MBE. It was until I was feeling frustrated 3-4 weeks before the exam that I picked up another 3rd party study guide that I really began to learn how to “take the test.”

Now we wait…until October 31, 2014, around 4:30 PM.

Then, assuming that Character&Fitness has given the green light (I have no reason to believe they wouldn’t) and that I pass(I also feel confident about this) then it is wait some more until early-mid December 2014 for the Maryland Professionalism course and the official swearing-in ceremony. Then, and only then will I be a lawyer.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing some planning for opening a law practice in downtown Elkton, MD.

My goal is to keep the practice small and be able to provide a more personal service to my clients. I’ve spoken to a number of practitioners in Elkton about subletting office space, keeping costs low, and building a practice that is client-centered, and where I can spend significant attention to each and every case.

I’ve always done whatever I can to promote as involved a relationship with clients as possible so that they know that they’re a person, not just another file in a drawer. This isn’t easy to do in high volume practices, and I think that a lot is lost with the potential to keep open long-term relationships where the clients think of you as “their lawyer” and know that they can trust you to advocate for them whenever and that you’ll do the same for their family and friends.

I’ll talk more about my thoughts on opening a small solo practice in another post, and my time is somewhat more freed up to be writing more–so you can expect it.