Hangin' Out My Shingle.....(or just hangin' out)

After 14+ years of practicing law, first as an employee in a private firm, then as an employee in a State agency, my entreprenurial urge has gotten the better of me and I'm going into business for myself and my clients on March 3, 2007. (That is most assuredly NOT me pictured at right.)

I have newfound respect for the small businessperson. Getting a business off the ground is like the Chinese Water Torture....one little thing after another. Business license, tax certificate, logo design, stationery, signage, website (watch for the launch, to be announced here), office space to be leased and remodeled, insurance, software and equipment to evaluate and purchase, phones, internet service.....every time I pick up my checklist to strike an item, I find myself adding two more. And I am doing this while maintaining my full client load at the Justice Mill. (My aforementioned murder trial resulted in a plea which had been in the works since before I decided to make the leap, so that has freed up a few hours, but the press of time is acute.)

When I open the doors, I'm expecting the sphincter-tightening realization that there is not another paycheck in the pipeline. Root hog, or die, as the saying goes. But there will be rewards of a less tangible nature. When my travels take me past a nice little stream, I can try to persuade a few trout onto my dinner plate, without thinking up some phoney-baloney excuse for my boss. I can take on meritorious cases that wouldn't have qualified for my previous agency's services, and I can reject those cases in which the defendant is just trying to game the system (or at least charge a fee commensurate with the insult to my self-respect.)

I can set my own schedule, which will make my wife happy when it's time to visit the kids at the Cape, or attend a dog show out of town. As Jan-Michael Vincent said to Darren McGavin in an obscure 70's army flick ("Tribes"), when asked why he didn't wear underwear, "Sir, I like the freedom, sir!"

If I want to put a sign that says "Worst President Ever" in my office window, I can do it. If I want to represent a draft resister, should it come to that, I can do it. If I want to be politically active without fear of recrimination, I can do it. Because, you see, I like the freedom, too.

Groundhog Day.

Little buck-toothed bastard says early spring. Well, I'm not going to get my hopes up. And by the by, today is the one year anniversary of Black Sky Theory. Thanks to all my visitors. You guys are the best. I look forward to another year.