The modern solo practice

The economics of a solo or small litigation practice have always pulled in two directions: the work that wins cases and the work that keeps the lights on. For most of the profession's history, the only way to carry both was to hire — a secretary, a paralegal, eventually an associate — and to manage the overhead that comes with them.

That tradeoff is changing. The routine layer of litigation — calendaring, docketing, document organization, first-pass drafting, citation checking — is increasingly something a well-built platform can carry, leaving the lawyer to do the part that is irreducibly theirs: judgment.

What stays human

Strategy, credibility with the court, the read of a witness, the decision about which argument to make and which to hold back — none of that is delegable, and none of it should be. The goal is not to remove the lawyer from the work. It is to remove everything that keeps the lawyer from the work.

Full essay drafted in a follow-up copy session, signed by Chris Waters.

This is the thesis behind Discover Docket. Learn how JILL carries the routine, and how DDEAS keeps it defensible.

— Chris Waters, founder