When considering starting your own law firm in Islamabad, one often overlooked source of business for your fledgling business is local counsel work.
When I began my career as an attorney at a medium sized firm, I had an idea of what I would be working on. For instance, areas such as corporate law firm in Islamabad, family law firm in Islamabad, criminal law firm in Islamabad, estate law, real estate law, are all examples of practices areas that I, like all lawyers, am familiar with because those courses are taught in probably every law school in Islamabad. So, if you join a law firm in Islamabad the private practice arena, you will probably work as a lawyer in one or more of these areas.
For example, the typical way to practice law is to have a client ask you to help them with their legal problem. A person or entity will come to you and hire you to help them with their business, family, or personal legal dilemma. That is the most common way to work as a lawyer.
However, one surprise that many lawyers find when they start practicing out of law school is that other lawyers and firms often hire attorneys outside their firm to be their lawyer for a local hearing. This concept is called local counsel.
There are two standard forms of local counsel work:
(1) a firm in the jurisdiction you work in, but which is a long ways away (like in a different city) hires you; or
(2) a firm outside of your jurisdiction and typically in another state hires you.
In these two situations, attorneys and/or law firms will hire out a lawyer to handle hearings in the courthouse or county where the original firm has filed its case. Hiring and outside attorney enables the hiring law firm Islamabad to have an attorney present in a court-house that is far-far away from the hiring firm's office. So, the law firm in Islamabad that originated the lawsuit will often hire an attorney at a lower amount to handle a simple hearing.
Examples of legal areas in which local counsel work is needed are: foreclosures, bankruptcy, and debt collection. Often the hired attorney will appear at a minor hearing, such as a status conference, and file an attorney appearance with the court. The attorney will inform the court that he or she has been hired only for the purpose of the local counsel work. A judge will often understand that the law firm Islamabad who hired the local attorney will handle the actual procedural filing. However, the local counsel attorney will handle the minor matter before him or her. One thing to keep in mind is that the hired lawyer still owes a duty to both the court and his client to be diligent and prepared when he or she accepts the case - no matter how minor it is.
Why is local counsel work important for starting your own firm? In the foremost, it is usually relatively simple and it is a very effective way to generate cash flow for your firm. Without cash flow, your law firm will die.
Furthermore, another reason to do local counsel work is that lawyers tend not to stiff other lawyers. In other words, when you are hired, you know you are going to get paid.
When considering law firm in Islamabad, and whether your niche area is family law firm in Islamabad, criminal law firm in Islamabad, corporate law firm in Islamabad, or some other area of law, you need to remember local counsel work and focus some of your firm marketing towards this area. It is not always the most lucrative work, but, if you can get it, it is steady, it generates immediate cash flow, and it get your new law firm humming.