Solo By…
December 6, 2011 § 2 Comments
I missed the news. I did. There was even a party, or so I heard.
Carolyn Elefant, author of Solo By Choice (the book with the ugly chair) has now issued an update: Solo By Choice 2011-2012 (a book with a slightly more visually appealing chair relegated to watermark status).
The original was a good book and helped me get off the ground. It occupies a prominent place in my office. The book is a one-size-fits-all approach, so don’t expect it to answer all questions, but it gets you safely in the ballpark. Now, my copy is relegated to collector status. I’ll put it with my 1G iPhone.
However, I’m extremely disappointed with her new book. No, I haven’t read it, but I understand that it is an update to the original. I didn’t want a boring update. I wanted something fresh. Something edgy. Something navigating new, dangerous territory. I wanted a real rebel, not an ABA rebel.
I’ve suggested several spinoffs to the Solo by series, but nobody ever reads my memos. So, I’ll share them with you. Hopefully, at least one will be chosen for the upcoming 2013-2014 edition.
Solo By The Sad Truth That Nobody Wants To Be My Partner
Solo By My Still Sporting a Mullet-Style Haircut
Solo By My Busybody Reputation Having Joined Every Club in Law School
Solo By My Failure to Reach 2000 Billable Hours
Solo By My Not Being Retained at the Prosecutor’s Office
Solo By My Not Being Retained at the Public Defender Office
Solo By My Not Being Retained at the Volunteer Legal Aid Clinic
Solo By Body Odor
Solo By Your Former Significant Other Putting Your “Special Video” on the Internet
Solo By Virtue of Shitty Law School Grades
Solo By Virtue of Shitty Law School
Solo By The Fact That Nobody Likes to Work With Me
Solo By The Grace of ____ (pick your favorite flavor of zealotry)
Solo By The Company I Keep on Facebook
Solo By the Disturbing News That I Still Have a MySpace Profile
Solo By the Laughable Premise That I Actively Use Google+
Solo By Taking LinkedIn Seriously
Solo By That One Tweet That I Thought Was a Private Message, and Now Everyone Knows I Had/Have a Loathsome Disease
Solo By Court Order
Solo By Court Order and at Least 500m from All Parks and Schools
Solo By Restraining Order, but It Was Just Your Way Of Showing You Loved Her
Solo By The Fact That, When You Google Me, You’ll Find a Picture of My Crotch
Solo By The Fact That, When You Google Me, You’ll Find a Picture of My Crotch and………Oh, That Poor Animal
I can do Solo By The Fact That I Organize the Annual No Pants Light Rail Ride or Solo By The Fact That I Figured Out The Game & I Don’t Want To Play It.
Careful about condemning BigLaw. I don’t know their game because the only way to figure it out is to actually play it. Plus, the solo game is equally tiresome and brutal, and I still haven’t come close to mastering it. But, if you’ve figured out the game, then you are light years ahead of most of us slobs.
It is far too easy to put down BigLaw as a means of feeling better about oneself as a solo. Just practice the law you want to practice, and be happy with your choices. Also be happy for anyone who likes their career….Big, In-House, Government, Solo, or Otherwise. They are all necessary, and each has it’s share of plusses and minuses.