As a 52-year-old law student at NCCU, Mark Atkinson had what he called a “eureka moment” about what to do with his law degree. Prior to law school, he had spent 25 years as an electrical engineer working with civil engineers on business management.
“I thought that’s it, that’s what I want to do, that’s why I’m here (law school). I’ve got a business background. I’m learning about the law. I would love to help the next generation start their own law practices and improve access to justice,” said Mark Atkinson, executive director of the Incubator for Legal Practice and Innovation (ILPI).
Atkinson launched the ILPI in 2020. It is a nonprofit, 501(c) 3, based in Durham. Each year, it holds a 12-month cohort with two lunch-and-learns each month designed to help young lawyers start their own firms. It’s into its fifth cohort.
“We have attorneys who are ‘building the plane while taking off’ – that’s the reality. We help attorneys in their first year of practice, when they need to find clients, generate revenue, get paid, and stay legal,” explained Atkinson.
“We help them figure out how to find clients, how to manage intake, how to create a website, what their billing practices will be (hourly, flat fee, subscription), how to make it easy for clients to pay, how to manage all the steps in a case, and more. We bring in experts and practitioners who share what they did right and what they would do differently, and lessons learned.”
The program also accesses Clio, Lexis +, and two excellent CLE providers: Practicing Law Institute and National Business Institute at discounted prices or free.
Do Good and Make a Living
“The focus of ILPI is on improving access to justice, how to be financially sustainable and be affordable and do good in their community and make a living. Be able to buy groceries, make a car payment, buy a house, make a living, and do well and do good,” said Atkinson.
“So many young lawyers coming out of school think their only options are to work for legal aid, in some public interest category, as a public defender or assistant DA, or get a job at big law. Those are good options, but one more option would be to start your own firm. It’s a challenge. It’s not easy. But it is doable, and people have done it before. They just need resources, the right mentorship, and training, and it can be done.”
Lots of Support
“There’s a kickoff training on the front end where we’ll talk about a business plan, a mission statement to get things started and for them to get to know each other. Ideally, there’s some support among themselves,” said Atkinson. “One of the first things we talk about during the kickoff is to ‘make it easy for clients to find you and for clients to pay you.’ We look at all the ways to do that, through networking, marketing, websites, and the wise use of technology.”
Participants must be licensed attorneys in good standing. Each cohort is six to ten students. The next cohort starts in mid-September, but attorneys can join the program at other times, if it makes sense.
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