Are you from Virginia are currently living there? Are you a Corporate Lawyer or in the process of becoming one? Once you are out of college and have passed the Bar Exam, you will need to find a job…but do you really want to work for someone else? Thinking about opening up your own Virginia Corporate Law Firm?

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, the follow checklist of information will be valuable to you. This checklist was adapted by one initially prepared by Jay G. Foonberg, Esquire (Chicago: American Bar Association Section on Law Practice Management, 1999) along with the help of several other colleagues and lawyers and experts, for the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association through its then-President, David Weiner.

The following steps, performed in chronological order, are the general steps you need to take in order to successfully open up your own Corporate or any branch of law firm.

Make a Timetable and Priority Checklist
Decide where you’d like your practice to exist
Determine the size of the law office you would like to open and/or consider sharing an office
Make contacts to find space
Determine what your rental costs will be
Negotiate and create a rental agreement
Begin to spread the word through PR and media
Design and order stationery
Get your telephones ready for opening day business
Order and arrange office furnishings and decorations
Find, purchase and move in proper office supplies and back-stock
Make sure you are fully insured
Begin hiring office support staff
Create a filing system
Establish a proper accounting system, with the help of professionals
Prepare your own business plan budge
Find out what licenses and permits you may need and purchase them
Establish a relationship with a local bank and open accounts

These are the rudimentary things you will need to take care of before you can successfully open your own Virginia Corporate Law Firm. For more detailed instructions about each one of these steps you can check out Foonburg’s original list at http://www.vsb.org/site/publications/first-law-office. Good luck!

Tags: Virginia Corporate law