By Chuck Newton
Its function is a noun. Its plural is soliloquies. It is taken from the Latin solus meaning alone and loqui meaning to speak. It represent the act of talking to oneself. It is a dramatic monologue, which represents a series of unspoken reflections. More often than not the solo practice of law represents the soliloquy culture. Maybe it is the nature of the beast, the nature of the solo practice that allow or requires one to take his own counsel. But, the the practice represents for most attorneys the daily reflections on the art of law and the aptitude and craftsmanship, the dexterity really, of the practice itself. Call it meditation, rumination, introspection, concentration, self-examination, or just plain pondering, it is an all-important necessity in the success of the solo practitioner. It is a bottom line rule of success. It represents the nuts and bolts of the practice. And, it is a prerequisite for anybody who wants to practice law alone. If you are one who cannot have conversations, discussions, hash sessions, or talk to yourself -- if you cannot reason with yourself -- then maybe the solo practice of law is not for you. You have got to be able to look at yourself and yak it up, to negotiate, to jabber, to prattle, to rap, to tete-a-tete, and to palaver. If you cannot understand your own chatter, if you cannot discern your own gossip, if you cannot peal through your own babble, you might have a problem as a solo. So, you solos, when you find that yourself in a confabulation with no one else, do not despair. There is no groupthink in the independent practice of law. There is no huddle. The buzz session must be with yourself.
