Sole practitioner immigration/refugee practice

[toby1994]

How much can a sole practitioner expect to make in Toronto who works with mostly low-medium income clients, does a fair amount of refugee cases and accepts LAO certificates? I know it’s difficult to predict an exact number, but is there a range that one could expect? 

[123]

Anywhere from around 35k - 80k is a reasonable estimate for the first couple of years. It depends, though.

[toby1994]

14 hours ago, realpseudonym said:

Anywhere from around 35k - 80k is a reasonable estimate for the first couple of years. It depends, though.

Thank you! 

[Lawboi]

On 8/7/2022 at 5:24 PM, 123 said:

Anywhere from around 35k - 80k is a reasonable estimate for the first couple of years. It depends, though.

This sounds pretty low.  If it isn't, I'd suggest not going solo right away. 

I'm making about $130,000 as a first-year call and refugee lawyer doing almost exclusively Legal Aid.  Get into one of these firms first, get your name out there, and go out alone after practicing for a while.  It's a comparatively very easy area of law to get into/break out as a sole.