Patrick Stegall

To carry someone else's briefcase, or to not carry someone else's briefcase. It was early 2006, and that was the question. I chose the latter. I chose to go out on my own, not do the safe route, and start my own practice with little money and no clients. Two years later I am inching myself upward. I still have my doubts about it, but I believe I'm doing the best thing for me. Jay Foonberg said, 'Security is both relative and illusory.' I agree, and that's what keeps me out on my own. Would it be so much better if I was working at a firm? Well, life is full or tradeoffs. You give up one thing to get something else. If I went to work at a firm, I thought, I'd be giving up the freedom that I enjoy and that fits my personality so well in exchange for the illusion of security. Not a good deal, I decided. Plus, I believe that on your own you can make more money in the long run. I enjoy criminal defense. It's probably the last area of the law where you can regularly try cases, I get paid cash up front, and I like fighting the government.