<p>Hello People,
I'm fortunate enough to have parents who are financially capable of putting me through law school. that being said, they're pretty much demanding that i go to law school.
Say I get into a top (not top-top) school like fordham or gw, study mainly immigration law, graduate in the middle of the class which'll cut me out of big NYC firms, would i be able to veer away from the entire competitive "get into a great firm" perspective, and instead open up a local office in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood, advertise, and just work a business type law office with a couple of secretaries and whatnot. How much practicing experience does one need to immediately open up an office and go forth with an idea like mine. I am a chinese major at Hamilton College, and am also planning on volunteering in the peace corps after college, so my mandarin will be fluent and I can just see myself working and speaking with the Chinese in a small office setting... while cashing in the bucks by basically doing the immigration forms for many many Chinese persons who aren't capable of writing these forms themselves. Is this a realistic goal...please respond</p>
<p>i’m basically asking if it’s smart to immediately go solo if you don’t have a t14 degree. I want to potentially run a small firm like a business, and open up office in a mostly Chinese area and gain local fame by being able to speak their language and help their family members emigrate. Would i need a whole lot of contacts before opening an office, would i need to have a great reputaiton with the big firms around me (So they’d redirect their smaller cases to me and so forth) or is my idea not as farfetched as i think it is</p>
<p>First, DO NOT let your parents force you into law. Second, people do go solo directly out of law school, but I have to imagine without at least one solid mentor or work experience that will help you run a business it is going to be very hard to be succesful whatsoever going solo by yourself directly out of law school. But really it’s up to you, but it might be better to get into a small firm, get some experience, and then go solo.</p>
<p>It’s certainly doable, but you’ll need to make connections with other immigration attorneys in NYC. You should try to work with a small firm/solo during the summers after your 1L and 2L years, and maybe part time as a 3L. Try attending whatever relevant events/conferences you can. That will help you learn the substantive law, see how small firms operate and give you a source of referrals and guidance when you start your own firm. You don’t need to have a relationship with big firms at all, since they don’t generally have immigration practices. The only thing you might get from them is work applying for H-1B visas for their associates. The most important thing will be having connections with other lawyers who practice in the area.</p>
<p>“i’m basically asking if it’s smart to immediately go solo if you don’t have a t14 degree.”</p>
<p>The T14 degree is not likely to help you at all in the kind of small practice you’re describing. I guess if it were Harvard Law, and you could put up a big sign “Harvard Graduate Lawyer” in a Chinese neighborhood, that might bring in some Chinese clients. But that’s just because of the name – close competitor NYU would probably not help.</p>