5 Tips for Mom Lawyers Starting a New Practice

Being a lawyer is definitely not an easy job. Dealing with the world of crime and trying to obtain justice for clients is both dangerous and challenging, yet highly fulfilling. However, what makes this job infinitely more difficult is being a mom. 

As a mother, you have to push yourself to move forward towards bigger and better opportunities in your work life while simultaneously taking care of your children’s needs. However, being a mom does not mean you cannot be ambitious or focus on excelling in your career.

This is why so many moms have opened up their own practices after getting significant experience under their belts. Opening up your own firm can be an exciting, daunting, and utterly fulfilling task. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to ensure your practice moves slowly yet steadily to the top.

However, as women have proved time and time again, you can do anything you set your mind to. If you’re a mom considering or set to open your own law practice, then we have some excellent tips that we’ve listed below. Follow our guide to ensure that you can run your practice successfully without compromising on family time.

• Be Persistent and Present

You will never have all the answers, not with your child, nor with your practice. There will be times when giving up may seem all too easy and perhaps even worth it. However, you must remember that even if you’re not where you wanted to be right now, failure is a necessary part of success as well. No matter what you’re working on, it is essential to always put your hundred percent in. 

As a parent, staying away from your child is bound to cause heartbreak and feelings of guilt. However, these feelings are expected for all working mothers. As long as your child is safe and well looked after in your temporary absence, you do not have to feel guilty. Your career goals are worth pursuing outside of motherhood.

In both cases, the only way you will move forward is by being persistent with your efforts and present enough to acknowledge and learn from your mistakes. 

• Your Passion Is What Counts

A lot of moms step back from what they’re passionate about, thinking they’re not good enough for the job since they don’t have enough experience or enough qualifications. Not to mention how they have their hands full at home. 

However, if you’re passionate about law and owning your own law practice, then don’t let doubt hold you back! There are numerous excellent examples from all over the world of mothers who have achieved great heights in their careers because of pure passion, and you can be one of them too! 

Of course, being good at your job and giving it your all is necessary in every case. You have to be extra vigilant as a mom to ensure you’re giving your practice ample time. However, if you have passion, this task will come easy to you, and you will work towards improving your practice at a greater pace compared to someone with experience but not enough passion.

• Hire a Legal Bookkeeper

Setting up a new practice is a complicated task. There are numerous things to be monitored to ensure your practice is running smoothly. However, you must remember that you cannot do everything all at once and on your own. Trying to push yourself beyond your capacity may simply compromise your work. 

Therefore, it is an excellent practice to lessen your work burden by hiring a competent bookkeeping service (here’s a few from Biglaw Investor). This way, you don’t have to be stuck with the nitty-gritty details of running an office smoothly and can focus on the bigger picture and ways to improve the practice. 

• Ask for Help When You Need It

It is very easy to get stuck in trying to do it all, especially when you’ve just opened up your work. If you keep this practice up, you will quickly experience exhaustion and be unable to efficiently run your practice. 

There is absolutely no shame in asking for help when the need arises. You can only do so much at a time, and pushing yourself beyond your limits frequently will lead to burnout. This is why it is essential to ask for help! There are always people who are willing to help out. 

So, whether it is with your children or your spouse, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Doing work beyond your capacity will simply ruin your learning experience and may compromise the quality of your work as well. Instead of doing subpar work because of a lack of time or resources, take on small amounts of work, and execute them correctly. 

• Schedule Family Time

Although building a successful career is necessary, spending time with your family is just as important. Do not neglect your family in order to achieve excellence in your work. Family time is just as important as looking after your job. 

Being a mom is a demanding job on its own that you have to be present for. This is why it is necessary to schedule some downtime with your family to sit back and enjoy motherhood and the precious moments that come with it. As someone opening a new law firm, it will be very easy to get buried under the amount of work. This is why it is essential to schedule your time and put in downtime with your family that’s completely separate from work.

Conclusion

Being a working mom is no easy feat, especially if you are a lawyer looking to own your own private practice. Owning your own practice can be highly rewarding, albeit difficult due to all the workload. But it is not impossible, and there are numerous examples of successful women running their own practices while maintaining a healthy family life as well. 

If you are a mom who wants to open up her own private practice, then you should absolutely go for it without thinking of all the reasons it won’t work out. Use our tips to ensure you can run your own practice successfully.