LEXISNEXIS: GOING FROM IN-HOUSE COUNSEL TO SOLO PRACTITIONER WITH ATTORNEY LARRY SILVESTRI

LexisNexis recently featured Larry Silvestri in its attorney profile series. See below for excerpt of the article.

Larry Silvestri was fortunate to find satisfaction in his role as in-house counsel for a real estate developer. “It was kind of a dream career,” he says. “I really enjoyed it.” But after a long, successful business run, his employer began to wind down operations and Silvestri started looking for a change—in more ways than one.

“My wife and I decided to relocate…to be closer to our son,” Silvestri explains. “My next chapter was going into private practice.”

You read that right—after moving to a new city and leaving his position as in-house counsel, Silvestri chose to hang out his shingle and go solo with Silvestri Law P.A., a commercial real estate law firm.

STARTING HIS OWN FIRM“There was a lot more to it than I thought,” Silvestri admits with a laugh. While it’s easy to grasp the importance of securing new clients, it’s not uncommon for solo attorneys to initially overlook the importance of things like finding the right office space, or the need for marketing or research tools. “I’d been a lawyer,” he explains. “But now I’m an entrepreneur and have to wear all the hats that go along with that.”

To help build his business acumen, Silvestri attended a 10-week entrepreneurship course offered by the local chamber of commerce. Not only did it teach him the fundamentals of self-employment, it helped him build a network of friends and colleagues in his new city.

And then, after all the prep work, Silvestri reveals that the true challenge begins.

“You have to go out in the world and get hired,” he says.​Read the full article on lexisnexis.com.