Practitioner Testimonial

Practitioner Tom Gill

Tom Gill is making his career helping lower to middle income people.  He does not see this as altruism but as a solid business decision.

Gill, a solo practitioner specializing in bankruptcy, criminal defense, wills& estates and personal injury, explains that the working poor and the middle class are an untapped market for lawyers. He says that people who work but still fall into the lower income brackets generally do not qualify for free legal counsel. Yet, most can not afford high priced lawyers and often try to represent themselves. 

"I feel I can help those people and make money," says Gill, who claims that 85 percent of his busy practice is made up of lower to middle income clients. 

Gill is not alone in this endeavor.  Struggling to build a viable practice while at the same time help people in need, Gill found much needed support and guidance from like-minded peers in a solo and small firm practitioner network run out of University of Maryland School of Law. 

The practitioner networks, which were created at City University of New York School of Law, University of Maryland School of Law, and Northeastern University School of Law, are part of the Law School Consortium Project. The Project aims to increase access to justice by supporting law schools to expand their educational and institutional mission beyond graduation to include support and service to solo and small-firm practitioners who are committed to serving low and moderate-income individuals and communities.

Gill, along with other attorneys in the Maryland Law School network, share information, trade war stories and overall support each other in their professional and personal ventures. "It facilitates a place where you can meet other lawyers and keep in touch," he explains. "Although you are on your own, you are actually not alone," Gill points out.

Gill has been practicing law on his own since 1999.  Ever since he managed other people's restaurants in Georgia during the early 1990's, Gill wanted to have his own business. Finally, after graduating from University of Baltimore School of Law in 1998, Gill got the chance. He gathered some experience while working at a general practice firm in Baltimore while in law school, and as soon as he got sworn in as a lawyer, Gill hung out his shingle.

In order to keep expenses at a minimum, at first Gill shared an office with an already established lawyer in town. Gill assisted this attorney with his cases, and in turn did not have to pay rent for his office. Not long after, this arrangement became unworkable for Gill.  Five months later, Gill and another network solo practitioner rented an office together and began splitting their expenses. 

In addition to introducing Gill to like-minded peers, the network has also become a great source of information for him. "Almost anything has been done before and you can spend a lot of time reinventing the wheel on your own. In the network, you can just reach out to multiple attorneys and get an answer to your question in a short period of time," explains Gill. 

In Gill's case, the practitioner network is useful not only for resources and support but also for referrals. The cases he gets through the network he often discounts depending on the particular client's situation. "I get many bankruptcy referrals through the practitioner network.  It definitely helped to facilitate the growth of my business," he says.

During the past three yeas, Gill's practice has been steadily growing.  He is able to keep his practice profitable and at the same time help people who might not otherwise be able to afford an attorney. He cuts his regular fee and up front retainer for some of his clients while putting others on flexible payment schedules that they can afford. "I am giving up more now, but it will pay off in the long run," Gill says. "What's important is I sleep well at night," he adds.

Now that Gill is in his fourth year of practice, he is feeling more confident about the future. "This year I hit a stride.  I feel my practice increasing every year," he says.

Written by Victoria Rivkin, a freelance writerin New York City.