Solo and Small Firm Practice program

Small or medium firms are the largest employers of law graduates, both regionally and nationally. The solo and small firm practice program provides early opportunities for responsibility, client contact and ownership, interests that appeal to students ready and eager to begin practicing law.

Solo and Small Firm Practice provides complete geographic flexibility and is especially appealing to students who want to practice in smaller cities, rural areas or who are interested in specialized fields of practice that are only offered in small firm settings.

We help students prepare for a career of entrepreneurial lawyering through knowledge and resources to get started.

Solo and Small Firm Incubator

UMKC School of Law has a track record of producing some of the most well-respected and successful solo and small firm lawyers in the country. Through its innovative curriculum and Solo and Small Firm Incubator, more than 150 graduates have received substantial training in this area. The incubator takes the existing programs one step further by creating a facility that provides hands-on assistance to recent graduates who choose to enter solo or small firm practice.

The incubator is uniquely positioned to satisfy the needs of recent graduates seeking to start their own firms. Developed with assistance from The Missouri Bar and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Solo Practitioner/Small Firms Committee, the program offers affordable office space, an office assistant, experienced mentor attorneys on-site and guidance in managing a legal practice.

The site is well-placed, located next door to the entrepreneurial programs at 4747 Troost, across from global Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship, and provides valuable legal services to the underserved Troost Avenue corridor.

For more information, or to apply, please contact us at 816-235-1603.

Application process

The incubator is designed to assist eligible tenants whose business plans demonstrate both an aptitude to develop their own successful practice and a commitment to include in their plans a significant contribution of pro bono or affordable legal services to members of the surrounding Troost community.

You can apply by submitting the following documents:

• Application
• Business plan showing intended area(s) of practice*
• Marketing plan
• Budget and financial projections for the time period to be covered by incubator occupancy and two years thereafter
• Statement as to the extent to which the applicant plans to apportion some professional time to pro bono or discounted legal serves to the clients of limited financial means particularly to residents of the Troost Avenue corridor.

Apply to the incubator (PDF)

Sample business plans

The sample business plans below are examples of the type of information frequently included in a business plan. To be accepted into the incubator, a successful business plan does not need to contain these specific elements.

Every business plan is different and reviewing a number of business plan examples will help a business owner to determine which elements are essential to creating a solid business plan and a successful business.

• Sample business plan I (PDF)
• Sample business plan II (PDF)