Being an employed solicitor is more risky than pursuing self-employment.

As any lawyer will tell you, the definition of words matters deeply and since I talk to so many different lawyers every day, I have noticed that there seems to be some confusion between two words.

RISK and VOLATILITY

There is a stark difference between risk and volatility but lawyers appear to use them interchangeably when discussing a career move.

Many tell me that it is a ‘RISK’ to go out on their own because if they don’t generate enough work for themselves they won't earn an income.

That statement is TRUE but underpinning it is a false assumption that being employed right now, is a guarantee of future employment.

If the work dries up at your firm, the first and largest expense to be culled is the salaries of the Associates up to Special Counsel which will leave you feeling like this....

The risk of self-employment is no different if you are capable of doing BD, (and it is a learnable) so the only logical decision should be to pursue self-employment.

Sure, self-employment makes you face the volatility of the market head-on but a BD plan and strategy (as easy as learning IRAC at Uni), lessens the volatility and eliminates the risk.

The reason traditional law firms employ lawyers and feed them work is because the highest profits in law flow to those willing to handle this volatility.

"Fortune favours the brave" is a cliche quote for a reason.

The 'risk' of not having enough work exists even more so as an employee because, in a downturn of the economy, the partners MUST slash your pay or make your job redundant to ensure the business maintains solvency.

At least if you are self-employed, you can pivot, offer new services/market yourself differently to a new sector of the market during these times of volatility.

As an employed solicitor, you might feel protected from the volatile markets and economy but that is a false sense of security.

You remain at its whim just as much or in my opinion, more so than self-employed solicitors, and make no mistake, your boss will not hesitate to trim the fat if there isn’t a steady flow of work, and it won’t be their salary they are cutting to ensure the firm remains profitable.