Lawyers are special. That may sound like an opinion, but the reality is that it’s been a well-established fact for over a year now.¹ However, within the exercise of the legal profession, some modalities of practice stand out as more special than others. Obviously, the most special specialty is the area you specialize in. Second place, yet in a league of their own compared to the field, are the solo practitioners. Known for their impressive versatility, unencumbered independence, and enduring resilience, solo practitioners are the backbone of the legal industry.

Unfortunately, being special doesn’t end at laurel wreaths, subpoena powers, and effusive praise from faux journalists. In fact, it creates extra responsibilities, the most basic of which is maintaining competence. Intrinsic to maintaining competence is avoiding physical or mental conditions that materially impair the ability to represent the client.² One of the best ways to avoid impairment is the practice of wellness. So, what could be more germane to both the practice of law and the practice of wellness than a gathering of lawyers sharing how they practice wellness? The following is a group interview with four solo practitioners, who graciously agreed to speak candidly about their unique stressors and, more importantly, the tactics they use to protect their health and promote their own well-being.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION, AND WHY SOLO PRACTICE?

Evelyn Calogero: I went to law school because I was investigating child abuse and neglect cases in Florida. And I was so angry at the prosecutors for not taking cases criminally that they should have. And so I said, “I could do a better job than you can.” I wasn’t gonna stay in Michigan; I was gonna go back to Pennsylvania. But then I got a job offer from one of the justices on the Michigan Supreme Court — for a clerkship — so I stayed. Did appellate work and went on [to be] offered a job at Cooley. [I] taught for 15 years and then was a victim of a reduction in force. That’s a pretty diplomatic way of saying it. And at that point, I said, “I don’t want anybody telling me what to do.” And there were no lawyers in Olivet. And I said, “That’s it. I will open up my own practice.” I had already been doing pro bono work in the child welfare arena while I was still teaching. And so, that’s how I got started.

Kelly Riegel-Green: My undergrad degrees were in radio, TV production, and speech communication. I thought I was gonna go work for Disney making cartoons. And then I was a victim of sexual assault as an undergrad, and I couldn’t find anybody to help me as a victim. And I thought, you know, that’s not a good system. So, six months after it happened, I was in Lansing testifying for the Campus Sexual Assault Victims Bill of Rights back in the 90s. [I] ended up going to law school and ended up graduating three months pregnant with my twins, who came early. So, my twins didn’t get nursery rhymes; they got tort law. I took some time off to raise my kids. I actually started off going back into the workforce teaching business law at OCC. Which led to an offer from a firm, filling in while an associate was on maternity leave. The associate and I ended up hitting it off. The day we walked out, [the supervisor] threw something at us. She threw a file across the room at us, and I said, “Never again.” The next day, we literally got a table from Craigslist. That afternoon, we signed the lease on an office. The next day, we got a kitchen table off Craigslist and opened the firm. My partner then, after I had brain surgeries, decided that she wanted to no longer be in private practice for herself. She had a little one — I get it; the pay’s not always steady. So, at that point, I went out on my own. I have a lot of flexibility when I work for myself, so if I don’t feel good, I can kind of ... juggle things to accommodate that, as long as it’s not a court hearing. If I want to go into my office wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, again, as long as it’s not court, I get to. And nobody gets to tell me I can’t. If I don’t want to work on a Saturday, I don’t have to work on a Saturday. So, it affords me a lot of freedom to be able to be present for my children. My son is in band. I don’t have to miss band concerts, I don’t have to miss those kinds of things; so I’m very lucky in that regard.

Christine Caswell: I was in the communications field for 25 years, and I knew I needed a change. I was trying to figure out what else I could do, and I thought maybe law school. Then my boss ticked me off on a Monday, so I signed up for the LSAT. The deadline for the LSAT was Tuesday; the LSAT was February. Cooley showed me the money, and then they found out I wanted to go in the evening because I was working, and they said, “Oh, you have to start in four days.” So, I applied in January, and I started in May. So, that was kind of wild, but when I got to Cooley, and I saw they had the 60- plus clinic there, I thought, oh, I want to do that. I’ll note that I was 49 when I graduated from law school, and because I was older, I didn’t think anybody was going to hire me. I got my bar card and my AARP card within six months of each other. Plus, at that age, I didn’t think I was very good at being subservient. So, I didn’t think I would do well with management styles. I thought, I’m just gonna go out on my own, and that way I can control my life more, and my practice, and I don’t have to take cases that I don’t want to take.

Judy Coleman: What inspired me to go to law school was that I was a victim of a crime when I was a kid. But the quick biography is that I was a personal injury attorney and kind of family law and criminal. Then I got a managing attorney job working for UAW Legal Services. I worked there for 22 years. I went out to private practice about 10 years ago.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR AN ATTORNEY FRESH OUT OF LAW SCHOOL WHO WANTS TO CONSIDER HANGING A SHINGLE?

Judy Coleman: Have a backup? Always have people that you can go to. If you decide to take on anybody in your law firm, make sure that you have somebody that you’ve really, really vetted. You know their work ethic.

Kelly Riegel-Green: Clear boundaries. Clear organizational systems that are scalable. Building a network of not just clients but other attorneys that you can go to. Making sure that you’re aware of what resources are available. The bar has a lot of resources that ... honestly, even now, I’m finding out more and more about, and I’ve been in practice for more years than I care to quote. Being organized, staying on top of billing, making sure that system is there.

Evelyn Calogero: I would also tell them to be prepared for the stressors.

Evelyn Calogero: Do as I say now, not as I do. Take time for yourself. Make sure that you have some me time built in — whatever me time is to you, just make sure you’ve got it. Find yourself a good therapist.

Kelly Riegel-Green: A good therapist; a good massage therapist.

Christine Caswell: A good support group.

Evelyn Calogero: The networking is really important. Bar organizations, State Bar organizations. There are people who are willing to share their time and just bounce ideas off of, so I do have a network as well of people that, if I need somebody to bounce it off of, I can call. Or I can put it out on the listserv without identifying any people, just ... here’s a general hypothetical for you guys. What’s my next best step? Those are also very, very helpful. And you can lurk; you don’t have to answer; you don’t have to ask questions. But they’re there, and they’re helpful even if you don’t ask anything, just read them. Save the ones that are helpful in your email box somewhere, and when you have that issue, go back and look at it.

Christine Caswell: You know, doing the books, doing the billing, advertising, overhead. All this stuff I do that I’m not getting paid for, that’s part of my job. Especially as a solo. It’s flexible, but people don’t realize how much time you put into it that you’re not getting paid for! One thing [we] have touched on, too: If you’re starting out, make sure you know how to keep track of your hours and that you are billing your clients. I hear so many people talking about [letting] things just slide, [and] they get behind. I’ve finally learned how to do mine so I can keep track every single day, so when it’s the end of the month, I just email them to my clients, but yeah ... get money up front, and keep good track of everything.

Kelly Riegel-Green: And that goes for if you’re representing friends and family, too. They absolutely pay. A law school professor told [me], you have your list of three or four people that, yes, if they call in the middle of the night, you’ll represent them for free, but everybody else pays.

Evelyn Calogero: I just have started charging for an initial consultation.

Christine Caswell: I have too.

Kelly Riegel-Green: Here’s our policies, here’s what we can cover, but I’m not giving out tons of legal advice, because then what you’re gonna hear is, “Well, I checked Google ...” Please don’t confuse your Google degree with mine. And my state licensing number, and my years of experience in front of that judge.

WHAT ARE THE STRESSORS UNIQUE TO SOLO PRACTICE?

Christine Caswell: I think we can all answer that you have no support.

Kelly Riegel-Green: Yeah, it’s hard, because you do juggle, you know, how do I get the next guy in the door? How do I make sure I have an income to support my family? What happens if I don’t have an idea for how to help somebody? I’ve been lucky in making connections, but it’s all on our shoulders. If I’m sick, it doesn’t get done. If I’m not in the mood to do social media to help promote the firm, [it] doesn’t get done. It’s a one-woman show, for the most part. Still, planning the office Christmas party is really, really easy.

Christine Caswell: Well, fortunately for me, being older when I came into this, I knew when I was still in law school I needed to build up a network. And I already knew some lawyers in town — I worked at Elder Law of Michigan, so I met a number of attorneys there. I started going to the elder law section meetings while I was still in law school. And the elder law section is great. It’s just one of the best groups of people you ever meet. They are so willing to help you, and they are so kind, but I’m lucky I went into that specific field.

Evelyn Calogero: I am the sole breadwinner for the family, so if I don’t work, we don’t eat. And that’s a huge stressor.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH DISRESPECT?

Christine Caswell: Not well. I don’t deal with disrespectful people, period, unless it’s a judge, and then I stay quiet.

Kelly Riegel-Green: As many years as I’ve been doing this, it’s been very rare that I’ve run against somebody who is just downright nasty. And I’m not above sending flowers, as sort of a “hey, just do better.” I don’t know what’s going on in your personal life that you have to be so nasty, but just do better. I also have a set of pens that look like crayons, and I’m not above handing those to opposing counsel to sign a document.

Evelyn Calogero: I kinda like it when opposing counsel underestimates me, because then I can pop the surprise on them later on. [Disrespect] happens mostly with clients because of the type of clients I have, where in their world the F-word flies freely, and I just freely use it back at them. Doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t use that language in court unless I’m quoting something.

Christine Caswell: Fortunately, I don’t have clients like that. I do have arguments with them sometimes, but no swearing at each other has ever occurred. Couple of them have tried telling me what to do, and I’m just like, I think you need to find another attorney. I give them back all their money so [I] don’t have to worry about ethics. I don’t care if I’ve already done some work.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR MANAGING THE STRESSORS OF SOLO PRACTICE?

Kelly Riegel-Green: You know, it may sound trite, [but] the virtual support group that we have. It’s been a valuable resource that I wish I had sooner. I think setting clear boundaries and making sure that you’re taking time out for yourself. It’s okay to say, at 7 o’clock at night, work is done. Unless I’m in the middle of a trial, then it’s no holds barred. Not being afraid to ask for help. Making sure that that network is there, be it somebody who’s practicing the exact type of law you are, and I think it is important to build a network of lawyers who practice in other areas as well.

Those meal delivery places that have everything packaged, and I don’t have to go, or now, since the pandemic, I can just do shipped orders for groceries. Little things like that will save me time, save me a lot of stress, and make sure that I’m staying on track with things.

Christine Caswell: Well, I know, starting out, a lot of people dabble in a lot of things because they’re just trying to get work. But finally, I had to realize: I can’t do that; I can’t know everything; I need to specialize. And I’ve also learned that if a job comes in, and then you lose it for some reason, another one comes in. You just don’t worry about [the job], and sometimes it’s “Thank God I didn’t get that one.” But something else always shows up, so I don’t panic.

Christine Caswell: It’s hard because being older, I had more of a safety net financially, and young people doing this, they just drown. They have student loans; they have mortgages. So, I admit, in my case, I had pretty much everything paid off, but I know anyone young starting out, it’s very hard. A lot of my classmates tried it, and they all ended up getting jobs somewhere else because they just could not handle the financial aspect of it. So, just be aware, you’re not gonna get rich.

Kelly Riegel-Green: I think that’s one of those big assumptions about lawyers, is we’re all rich.

Evelyn Calogero: Oh, absolutely. And I am the first bank of Evelyn.