Career advice for lawyers finding niche practices

---

Summary

• Career paths rarely follow straight lines; lawyers can leverage unexpected experiences and transferable skills to build successful niche practices.
• Veterans disability benefits law offers solo practitioners opportunities to serve clients while building precedential cases and meaningful career satisfaction.
• Technology skills can transform legal practice management and open new career directions, helping attorneys serve both clients and fellow lawyers.

Aaron McCoy via Getty Images

Jump to:

---

---

The Education Path That Led Nowhere

I was pretty good at math and science back in high school. I completed calculus and physics by 11th grade and took AP Physics my senior year. I studied environmental/civil engineering as an undergraduate and earned my Master of Science. I was set to get a Ph.D., but decided on law school instead. I earned my JD with certificates of concentration in environmental law and administrative law. Can you see where this is heading?

Prior to graduating from law school, I had been networking in Washington, DC, for nearly 2 years with several "green" agencies, including EPA, DOI, and DOT. I had developed many contacts interested in bringing my skill sets into government. Unfortunately for me, the timing turned out badly - "9/11" happened.

(Please note that what I went through finding work after graduating law school pales in comparison to the loss of lives due to and following our national tragedy. The timing for me, as they say, "is what it is.")

Four Years of Contract Work and Survival Jobs

I graduated the following May. Moved to DC without a job. I was determined to make my mark here in our nation's capital. As many of my contacts "disappeared," given our country's priorities shifted from the environment (and many other issues) to defense, I could not find work in my chosen career field. My carefully crafted niche resume found the circular file quickly - I was (over)qualified in one area and not qualified, to the perception of many employers, in their respective areas of work. For about four (4) years as I waited to pass the bar, I worked first as a caterer, an office temp, a regulatory analyst, a contract paralegal, and a contract lawyer.

My last contract job was at the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. For nearly 1.5 years, I assisted Article I Federal Appellate Court Judges with legal research, drafting memos, and drafting decisions. As I was ending four years since graduation and not finding a "job" (remember the job at the Court was a contract job - I was paid much lower than if I had been hired as a direct "GS" employee and definitely not on a career track with the government), I was encouraged by my then girlfriend, future fiancée, now wife, to start my own practice.

Starting a Solo Practice Without a Safety Net

I did some research before I hung my shingle. I read ABA noted author Jay Foonberg's book, "How to Start and Build a Law Practice", networked with other attorneys in town (Carolyn Elefant of MyShingle.com was kind enough to serve as a mentor for many years), and joined some organizations (including the SoloSez listserv [(for solo and small firms to talk, support, and help one another. I also went to some of the local monthly SoloSez luncheons and met some great lawyers)). Once I had my bearings, I formally opened in February/March of 2006. So, I now celebrate my 20 years as a solo! But what kind of cases was I going to take on?

Finding Practice Areas Through Past Experience

At first, I accepted military criminal appeals, military records corrections, environmental law cases, and Social Security appeals. I am sure you are wondering how I came up with the idea for the Social Security practice. The last two years of law school, I got a job with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, Workers' Compensation Section. (I had interned at the Environmental Law Section, and they were looking to hire a 20-hour-a-week extern. At the same time, the WC section was looking for a 20-hour-a-week extern. I figured I could apply for both. Work one then the other and go to school at night. The WC Assistant Section Chief saw what I was doing and invited me to apply for a full-time paralegal position in her section.

The WC's job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Was the person's injury covered under WC (did the injury occur in the workplace, part of the job function, and did an injury primarily or secondarily occur at work)? So, the transition from WC to SSA was natural - did the SSA appellant qualify based on their disability for government benefits? Later that year, there was an important change to some federal law.

---

---

---

---

The 2006 Law That Opened Veterans Benefits to Attorneys

President George W. Bush signed the Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and Information Technology Act of 2006. This allowed veterans to hire attorneys to assist them with their disability benefits appeals before the Department of Veterans Affairs. I'm referring specifically to the administrative appeals process. In the past, veterans could hire attorneys, but they could only be paid something like $10. As you can imagine, lawyers were not lining up.

Learning a New Practice Area at NOVA

I attended (my first) National Organization of Veterans Advocates conference here in DC. I was able to get a six-month trial membership, a discount on my conference fees, and the opportunity to learn whether this area of law was one I might be interested in. The conference room was full of attorneys eager to learn how to add this type of practice to their firms. We learned that, substantively, VA benefits are similar to WC and SSA benefits: Does the person's (in this case, veteran) medical condition/injury qualify for VA disability benefits (1. Diagnosed condition, 2. An event or stress while in service, and 3. A medical nexus connecting the two). Appeals can be made for issues such as service connection, proper effective dates, and correct disability ratings, inter alia.

Why Veterans Law Became My Mission

I was drawn to this. I had family members who were veterans, and I had been awarded an ROTC scholarship - only to find out later that I was medically disqualified. I saw this area of practice as a way of giving back to the military community. And I am glad I did! As a little solo practitioner, I've helped over 100 veterans with their disability benefits claims and even set a couple of precedential cases - Haselwander v. McHugh and Ferko v. McDonough.

Pivoting Again: Technology as a Second Niche

Now I've been slowly pivoting toward one of my other long-time interests, technology. I have developed a strong interest in how attorneys can use technology to improve their practices, enhance client services, and free up more time for themselves. (Secretaries used to laugh at me because I was typing their forms on a computer. It was more efficient and easier for me [a combination of my tech skills and tenth-grade typing class]. Being tech-savvy helped me start and run my own office for nearly 20 years, using computers and related hardware, electronic faxes via email, and easy and not-so-easy software tricks to speed up and ease my work, and recognizing software potential and failures before they became mainstream.

Several years ago, I started a blog, The Tech-Savvy Lawyer. Soon after, I started an accompanying podcast. Then a YouTube channel (still working on that). These platforms help attorneys learn the computer/software skills I picked up over the past four and a half decades. So, we'll see where this leads!

Skills Transfer Across Practice Areas

I'm sure by now you are asking what the goal of this article/journey is. We all gain skills over time. We all have dreams of what it is we want to achieve. Reality will alter your desired niche, but you'll find your way if you keep trying and make your mark - look at little ol' me — I used my science skills, my legal skills, and my tenacity, set some precedential cases, and helped over 100 veterans and hundreds, if not thousands, of attorneys along the way. My niche is helping people. And I can look back over the last two decades and, despite some challenges that I faced, confidently say that I have met my goal in life, even if I did not recognize it in the beginning by wanting to work for the EPA.

Remember, you have skills. Figure out how to use yours to help you advance your niche and maybe help some people along the way!

---

Endnotes

---

Author

Michael D.J. Eisenberg

Law Office of Michael Dj Eisenberg

Michael D.J. Eisenberg is a Veterans Benefits Advocate based in Washington, DC.  He has used his 45+ years of experience with computers and technology to help manage and grow his business.  Michael has helped...

View Bio →

---

Author

Michael D.J. Eisenberg

Law Office of Michael Dj Eisenberg

Related Content