Page 7 - July August CBA Report

Successfully Transitioning into,
and Thriving as, a
Solo Solo
Practice Practice
By Gregory French
Transitioning into solo practice presents unique challenges
and opportunities, especially for attorneys coming from
a legal services or public interest background. In this
article, I explore what it takes to make that shift and build a
successful solo elder and special needs law practice.
Substantive/Procedural Expertise
A solo attorney or small firm cannot survive, let alone thrive,
without the requisite substantive and procedural expertise to
meet the needs of potential and actual clients. For me, this exper-
tise came from practicing elder and special needs law for more
than 20 years with legal services/public interest organizations
in Indiana and Ohio. The lawyering ranged from individual
counseling through class action litigation in the state and
federal trial and appellate
courts. While doing so, I
learned the ins and outs
of Medicaid, Medicare,
Social Security, Supple-
mental Security Income,
long-term care facility resi-
dent rights, guardianship,
Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (food
stamp) benefits, public/
subsidized housing, and
consumer protection law.
Personal Visibility
Ways to gain visibility. One way was to become certified in
elder law. More than 30 years ago, I became one of the first 29
attorneys in the country to pass the examination and meet the
experience requirements of the National Elder Law Foundation
to be designated a Certified Elder Law Attorney.
Ohio Certification of Attorneys as Specialists
Administrative Agency Law
Appellate Law
Elder Law
Estate Planning, Trust, and
Probate Law
Family Relations Law
Federal Tax Law
Another way to gain personal visibility for one’s expertise is to
participate in legal associations. During my 40 years of member-
ship in the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), I
have served as President; Chair of its Public Policy Committee; and
Chair of its Programs and Education Committee. I also chaired
NAELA’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee for 12 years,
during which the Committee drafted both the first and second
editions of NAELA’s Aspirational Standards for the Practice of
Elder and Special News Law with Commentaries.
State and local bar associations are another opportunity to
become visible. Forty years ago, I founded OSBA’s Elder Law
Committee (now the OSBA Elder & Special Needs Law Section) as
well as the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Elder Law Committee (now
the CBA Elder & Special Needs Law Practice Group). Chairing both
committees exposed me to a large number of attorneys, leading
to both collaborative and
referral relationships that
have lasted years.
Another way to gain
visibility for one’s expertise
is to make presentations.
Making presentations not
only forces you to really
be on top of your topic but
also to be on the constant
lookout for changes to the
law on your topic and how
your topic is practiced.
Another benefit is that many of my referrals come from the attor-
neys, health care providers, and financial advisors who attend these
presentations.
The single topic that makes up the largest part of my practice
and about which I have spoken the most and received the greatest
number of referrals is planning for long-term care costs and the role
of Medicaid in such planning. Forty-nine years ago, Medicaid was
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