The Soloist

Spelling out the process of going solo is one thing, but what is the experience really like?

In many ways, Mu-En Steeg's story is typical. A family lawyer, Steeg began her legal career at San Mateo's Hanson Crawford Family Law Group in 2001. During her six years there, she got married and had two children. Then, after missing her daughter's first Halloween in 2006, the eager-to-please associate realized that something had to give. Although her bosses weren't overly demanding, Steeg's own sense of dedication resulted in her working long hours. But she couldn't reconcile how to be a model employee and a great mother at the same time.

The need for a solution grew urgent late one night in February 2007 when Steeg's husband had to drive her to the emergency room. The thirtysomething lawyer was doubled over with pains that felt worse than childbirth labor. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong, but a few days later-when Steeg told Hanson that she was leaving to start her own firm-the pains disappeared. Here's how things went from there, after Steeg drafted a business plan and began to look for office space.

March 2007
It's Steeg's first day at her new office in San Mateo, and she is a bit anxious. But she is still optimistic, and with good reason: The native of Taiwan has a natural sense of organization and business experience from her high school and college years. Her old firm let Steeg take clients with her. And thanks to her involvement in her own parents' divorce (Steeg was a translator and go-between for her mother and her mother's lawyer), she is naturally empathetic with her divorce clients.

As Steeg stacks boxes in a corner of her four bare walls, her phone rings. The furniture has not yet arrived, so she grabs a legal pad and begins taking notes while sitting on the floor. She's glad that her client isn't there to see her. But then she cracks a broad smile. Steeg Family Law is now open for business.

April 2007
Steeg's new filing cabinets arrive, but they're damaged. Then, the inkjet printer that shows up can't produce the high-quality documents Steeg needs for her clients. She feels the pain of running a business without administrative help. "I'm the office manager, the coffee girl ... and I fix things," she muses.

October 2007
One of Steeg's clients goes to pick up his daughter at school, just weeks before a custody hearing. But the girl isn't there. So the client goes to his ex-wife's home-and finds an estate sale in progress. The mother has taken the daughter and left for Europe. The kidnapping appalls Steeg, but she now has a support network to lean on: Five other family attorneys-two of whom are longtime friends-also rent offices in the sixth-floor suite with Steeg. And in an atmosphere not unlike a college dorm, the lawyers frequently drop in on one another. They confer on legal strategies, share supplies, vent about nightmare cases, and even back each other up when one of them goes on vacation.

January 2008
A client Steeg took on the previous year falls behind in pay-ments. Although the case isn't bringing in any money, the mat-ter moves forward, with plenty of filing deadlines. To generate revenue, Steeg begins working extra hours for other clients who do pay their bills.

April 2008
Steeg endures months of insomnia as the "problem" client's receivable balance climbs to nearly $40,000. Steeg feels really bad for the client but realizes that she is, in effect, financing her client's divorce. The client finally pays up the following month, but not before Steeg vows to tell her clients that if they don't pay, she can't do the work.

February 2009
The recession hits Steeg's firm: Client demand drops 20 to 30 percent. But Steeg knows that panicking won't make the phone ring. If she works less, she'll have more time with her family, she reflects calmly. And if the work comes back, she'll make more money. Either way, she figures, she'll be getting ahead.

July 2009
Work begins to pick up again. Steeg loves her job, and still gets to have a fulfilling family life. At any particular moment, the needs of either clients or family may dominate. But she feels that she has found a professional situation that is really healthy. And that, she is sure, helps make her a better lawyer. -JB

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