Name and Location:
Tim Takacs
Certified Elder Law Attorney
Hendersonville, TN.

Family Profile:
My parents are in their early seventies and in great health. I am married and have two cats and no children.

Bona Fides:
J. D., Vanderbilt University School of Law;
B. A., University of Notre Dame.

Area(s) of Practice:
Elder Law

Describe Your Office (office space, personal touches, etc):
My office is located in a suburban city of 35,000 persons near Nashville, TN. It's in a two-story house built back in the 1950s. I started in general practice in Hendersonville in 1980, with a four-lawyer firm; I went solo in 1992, and moved into this office-house in 1995. At that time, I had one part-time legal assistant working with me. The office is furnished with nice, not "officey"-looking furniture. We are striving to maintain a homey feel for the office, using furnishings that you find in an average house. My wife keeps a wild-flower garden at the front of the house, and we mounted a whirligig in the front yard too.

Support Staff:
I have five staff members: two geriatric care managers, an office manager, a receptionist/file clerk, and a Medicare specialist/marketing director.

Gross Revenues:
We'll gross around $500,000 this year.

Average Work Week:
I'm in the office 50 hours a week, but there is a lot of "goof off" time in there. I have a great staff, and they really do take good care of our clients. My job is to keep my staff happy

How Did You Get Started as a Solo?
My law partner and I were kind of going in opposite directions. I wanted to get out of general practice and move exclusively into elder law. He is almost 20 years older than I am and was comfortable in the general practice of law. We parted amicably and are still friends. He and I still refer clients to one another, and he has represented me a couple of times when I served as executor and needed counsel.

Got Any Start-up Tips for New Solos?
Yes.
1. Don't go solo.
2. If you really want to go solo, do it for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. If you don't know what the right and wrong reasons are, you shouldn't go solo.
3. Pick the right office location. (State or city, that is.) If you have a choice, you want to practice in a locality that needs your services.
4. Find out what kind of law people want and are willing to pay for and practice that kind of law. Just make sure you have a passion for it and you are not doing it only for the money.
5. Find a successful solo and spend a few days at his/her office.

What's Your "Networking Secret" (how do you get business)?
My office landscape designer told me that once he began tithing, his business really took off. I don't tithe, but I try to follow the same principle, and I think it works.

Your Hardware/Software of Choice:
Case management software. We use Time Matters, but there are other good choices.

Most Useful Legal Books:
Larry Schreiter's The Happy Lawyer. What Larry writes in his book are things that I had to learn by experience 10 years ago. I wish he had written the book then; his book would have saved me a lot of grief. Any lawyer who is trying to find him/herself and his/her place in the profession should read it, particularly a solo or a budding solo.

Favorite Legal Research Tools:
The Internet. Subscribe to an email list in the area(s) of practice that interest you. If the list is an active one, you will learn a lot just from lurking.

Would You "Go Solo" Again? Why?
I am truly fortunate. I make a good living doing good for people. What else could anyone ask for?

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