re: Do "Saul Goodman" style lawyers make good money?

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Holy crap Gordon has a huge staff

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Nah, judging by his billboards, I’d say he’s just overcompensating.

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Look at how many billboards Gordon McKernan has. Those aren't free.

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There's also a white Ferrari in town with the plate "GETGRDN"

Personal injury lawyers are a big reason Louisiana is a complete shithole.

Every case they take is probably a Felony.That starts at $2,500.

I would think they do all right.

All it takes is one PI case.

I know a guy who works for Alexander Shunnarah in Birmingham. And by “works for,” I mean he’s a recent grad who signed on with him as a contractor. If some calls Shunnarah, 99% of the time they get sent to one of his many contractors. They work the case, and they keep 30% of their legal fees. The rest goes to Shunnarah. He himself has probably not seen the inside of a courtroom in a long time. He has a deal with Lamar that says he gets any vacant billboard in Alabama. He’s basically their placeholder for any sign that isn’t rented, and he pays them 7 figures a year for that right.

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Even the shite lawyers are charging $200+ an hour. They bill 2 hours a day and you can easily afford a crappy office and secretary.

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$400 per day ain’t getting nobody an office and a secretary.

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400 per day ain’t getting nobody an office and a secretary.

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It can be done. You can get an office in one of those shared staff places (like Regis) for under a grand a month. You’ve got a receptionist, office, Internet, phone, copier and office space. The “legal secretary” is a dying need. I know lawyers who have done it.

i was in a local CLE yesterday and my friend was talking about the solo (as in SOLO) firm. i've been doing that since 2012

this year was the first year i hired some contract labor. just help answering phones, some basic running, database entry, etc.

it's 100% do-able to bill $400/day and make out like a bandit if you know how to keep costs low. if you bill 2 hours/day and work 200 days that's $80k gross. you can easily get expenses down to $1k/month in most places so that's $12k. $68k in income for very low stress/work is nothing to sneeze at

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I imagine that's why there has been a move to a single secretary working for multiple independent attorneys.

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most of the really good paralegals i know float and bill hourly

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it's 100% do-able to bill $400/day and make out like a bandit if you know how to keep costs low.

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I know quite a few attorneys who will brag about their gross yet can barely pay the lease on their car. Far too many of those middle of the road guys are going broke trying to keep up with what their perception of the practice of law should be.