Valentia Alleyne is the managing attorney of The Alleyne Law Firm, LLC. Attorney Alleyne’s practice areas include bankruptcy and estate planning. Her estate planning practice focuses on will and trusts, estate and gift planning, and tax planning. Attorney Alleyne’s bankruptcy practice aids debtors in finding relief through Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 options.
Attorney Alleyne received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, her M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix, her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and her LL.M. in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law. While attending law school, she clerked with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Cook County State’s Attorney, and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and served as an editor of Loyola’s Public Interest Law Reporter.
Deciding whether you should be a solo practitioner depends on you. It’s not for everyone.
Should you start a solo practice? This depends on you and what your realistic expectations are. Solo practice is a great deal of work, and it may not pay as much as a law firm job, at least not in the beginning. To be successful, you have to have a plan, be willing to make sacrifices, be patient, and have an entrepreneurial mindset.
If you value independence, freedom to be selective about clients, and risk taking, you might like being a solo practitioner. But when you are your own boss, you will spend just as much time, if not more (certainly in the beginning), focusing on business matters such as marketing, accounting, strategic planning, networking, and much, much more. You have to be dedicated to having your own firm. There is an upside to hanging your own shingle, but a downside, as well.
The upsides are: no firm politics, taking on clients you want, rejecting clients you don’t want, choosing your own work hours, and controlling and shaping how you want you firm to be. You will never come into work and find out you’ve been laid off or fired.
There are also downsides to having your own firm: money can be inconsistent, you are responsible for EVERYTHING, it takes an investment of time and money, and the hours can be incredibly long sometimes without money to show for your hard work. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication to run your own firm.
What does this all mean? Being in solo practice isn’t for everyone. You have to ask yourself why you are considering opening your own practice and are you willing to commit yourself to making it successful. The adage is true, “anything in life worth having, takes hard work.”
I thoroughly enjoy being in solo practice; however, I was very methodical in my thought process and planning before I opened the doors two years ago. I didn’t have a large budget so I looked for free or low service options to get started. I also made sure I surrounded myself with resources and MANY mentors. I also took baby steps from starting out in my home for the first few months until I had consistent revenue coming in order to upgrade to office space to taking free CLEs initially and then investing in high quality CLEs in my practice areas when I could afford it.
If you’re going to start a solo practice, be willing and ready to commit to it. That means focusing on your business, focusing on generating clients, and putting your heart and soul into it. The payoff is worth it.
Did you have a favorite class in law school?
My favorite class in law school was Estate and Gift Tax. After taking this course with Professor Ann-Marie Rhodes, I realized that I wanted to work in that area of law and I then took as many tax and estate planning course as I could.
What is your favorite Loyola law school memory?
My favorite memory of Loyola is the faculty and administrative staff. Loyola wasn’t just about learning the law and passing the bar. The faculty was phenomenal in helping me understand how the practice of law worked. And, the staff was integral in giving me sound advice, support and guidance during my law school career. I believe both are why I am enjoying my legal career today.
Questions for Attorney Alleyne? Email law-admissions [at] luc [dot] edu and we can put you in touch.