Can I limit my practice to criminal defense and keep the lights on?

I know the title seems ridiculous, but hear me out....

When I left my job at a large firm, it was with the idea that I was leaving to become a criminal defense attorney. After all, that is why I went to law school in the first place. The whole big law firm thing happened because, after never having made more than $8.00/hour in my life, it was hard to turn down a guaranteed six-figure salary. However, my heart was never really into the corporate practice and I was always looking forward to leaving and becoming a criminal defense attorney.

The ironic thing, however, was that when I left the firm, most attorneys I talked to were telling me that I couldn't sustain a practice limited to criminal defense. They were saying that I would have to do some family law or personal injury to stay afloat. So there I was - I had left the firm to become a criminal defense attorney and now, everyone was telling me that, while I could practice criminal defense, it would have to be as part of a general practice.

I didn't really give the comments much attention at first. I assumed that these attorneys were basically saying that if I wanted to make a lot of money I would have to expand my practice. I wasn't as concerned about making a lot of money, as I was developing as a criminal defense attorney and as such, I tended to brush off such comments. However, as I started making my forays into the courtroom, I noticed that there were quite a few prominent criminal defense attorneys handling cases in other areas of practice (e.g. divorces, PI cases, civil lawsuits, etc.). I began to believe what others had been telling me.

As a result, not too long after I got out on my own, I started taking on some civil litigation. At first, the civil stuff was the only retained work I was getting. My criminal practice was primarily limited to court appointments. Since that time, as my criminal practice has grown to occupy a majority of my time, I have given serious consideration to the idea of eliminating my civil practice. I want to do this for a couple of reasons.

For one, I am somewhat worried about taking on cases in multiple areas of the law. The one thing I did like about big firm practice is that it allowed you to specialize in one area of the law. It gives you a certain confidence to know that you are qualified to handle most issues that will come up in the area you are in. I don't know that I can keep up with all of the goings-on in criminal law and other areas of the law. I also worry that by trying to keep up with these other areas, I will be taking time from developing my criminal practice.

My other primary concern is that I've noticed that I just don't have the same motivation or drive when it comes to my civil cases. I always seem to place my civil cases at the bottom of my priority list. I worry that this lack of motivation will catch up to me eventually and one of my clients will suffer for it. I just don't feel that my civil clients get the same effort that my criminal clients get.

All that being said, I am still worried about getting rid of this part of my practice. I don't know too many attorneys in San Antonio or the surrounding area that have the luxury of maintaining a criminal defense-only practice. There are a few, but all of those I can think of are the prominent attorneys. Did they start out having to take civil cases as well? Am I jumping the gun and trying to specialize too quickly?

Advice? Suggestions?

Out On My Own....

After three years of being locked in my office drafting research memos and "co-authoring" articles for partners, I decided to go out on my own. After leaving the confines of a "Big Tex Firm" life (goodbye Client Entertainment budget and goodbye house I really couldn't afford), I opened up a small criminal defense practice in a small community in South Texas.

Why criminal defense? I always wanted to be a criminal defense attorney. Hell, the only reason I went to law school was so that I could have my own criminal defense practice. My father has his own practice and does some criminal defense as part of his practice. Having grown up seeing what my father did, I knew I wanted to both have my own practice and to the extent possible, do nothing but criminal defense work. To be honest with you, I really don't enjoy too many other areas of the law and that became evident to me during my practice at the firm.

Now I am out on my own and doing what I want. However, at times, in my practice I feel as if I've been granted a wish from The Monkey's Paw. The work is more interesting, the people are more interesting, but the possible consequences of my actions are so much greater. When I was at the firm, if I made a mistake, a client might lose some money, or more likely, a partner might look bad in front of a client. Now, my mistakes may result in people losing their liberty. At the same time, when I do well, I know that my work has given some client their life back for a year or two, or ten.

Anyway, I hope this blog turns into a learning experience for both me and any reader that may happen to come across it.