It’s been said before — many many times over — but it’s worth repeating briefly. Law school teaches you to think critically, maybe to write well, with a heavy emphasis on legal analysis. Unless you were lucky enough to have a robust clinical program, chances are you didn’t get much in the way of client contact, negotiation experience, or even the mechanics of filing motions. Consequently, if you’re considering going solo, or even a first or second year with the rare chance to handle a matter on your own, you’re probably a bit hesitant.

But what, exactly, are you afraid of? The technical aspects of practicing law aren’t what we would consider rocket science. It is doable. Chances are you just need some confidence, an understanding of what really scares you, and some methods for handling your anxieties.

Enter The Successful Solo Mindset: Overcome Your Fears to Achieve Your Professional Goals. Carolyn Elefant from MyShingle and Lisa Solomon from Legal Research and Writing Pro are delivering a course to combat precisely this set of fears. It’s certainly worth checking out. Here’s the course description:

Many lawyers and professionals long to hang out a shingle, but fear holds them back. Other lawyers may face an opportunity to take their practice to the next level - perhaps to hire that first associate or take on a case outside of their comfort level - but rather than embrace these challenges, they hold back or proscrastinate about making a decision. In this course, we’ll identify some of the fears that solos and solos to be face, such as:

–fear of failure
–fear of asking for help
–fear of loss of financial stability
–fear of “what others will think”
–fear of embarrassment

Next, we’ll examine the mindset of successful solo lawyers and entrepreneurs and devise a plan to address each of the fears that prevent you from achieving success. This program will not only offer the inspiration you need to break free from your fears, but will also provide intensely practical steps on how to reach this goal.

Here’s the logistical and sign up information:

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Time:	1:30pm - 2:30pm
Location:	Your office, car, home or anywhere you have a telephone

The cost for this program is $97.

To register, visit http://legalresearchandwritingpro.com/products and add a Silver Membership to your cart.