Nanaimo’s Ted Boe

There are various motivations for becoming a sole practitioner: lifestyle factors; the desire to be your own boss; or perhaps even to fill in the time between jobs at firms.

For Nanaimo lawyer Ted Boe, opening an office at home was a lifestyle choice. “I wanted every night to feel like Friday night and none to feel like Sunday night,” he said. His decision to go solo didn’t come easily, but rather at the end of a fast and dirty fight with cancer, (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) which he won after rounds of chemotherapy in early 2000. Ted gradually returned to work, cured of the cancer which was attached to his heart and lungs, but by summer found himself unable to work – burned out physically and emotionally.

While off work during 2001, Ted had time to heal what chemotherapy can’t. After almost 20 years as a lawyer, he found himself looking for answers. What did he want from life? He’d survived cancer, but now what? Ted unknowingly followed Toronto psychologist Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin’s recommendation: you don’t recover from burn out by resting, but “by reconnecting to your world in a meaningful way.”

Ted enjoys working with people and with youth–he coaches his daughter’s high school basketball team. “You’ve got to step back and analyse your life and determine what makes you happy,” he says. “I was always very destination driven, but you have to enjoy the journey. I thought about quitting law and opening a McDonalds,” he says. “I love dealing with people, but I wanted to get rid of stress: the overhead, and the rigidity of 9-5 or 8-7. The people who truly love their jobs…there is often overlap between their work and play.” Ted read the helpful book What to Do With a Law Degree. Ted wishes he’d contacted LAP during that time, but he thought LAP was related only to addiction problems, when in fact the range of their assistance is much greater.

In January 2003, while working out of his home he started to think about building an office on his property–now completed.

Being a self-described “Nanaimo guy” Ted has many local connections. He sent 300 letters with the basic message: “I’ve beaten cancer and I’m back at work.”

Connections are key for bringing in business. “The best advertising is doing a good job for people,” says Ted. He receives referrals from other lawyers, including a neighbouring solicitor, who also has a home office. “I’m a litigator, so we can send each other files."

Going solo was an eye opener as to how fast time flies. “I thought it would be relatively easy to bill six hours a day, but it’s tough to do that,” he says. “It’s amazing how quickly the days go when you have to do your own accounting too, and remit PST and GST.” Ted has a secretary two days a week and he hopes to have a secretary five days a week in future.

Ted says he didn’t really appreciate the work involved in starting a law office, such as setting up a trust account and dealing with the law society. “But once I was up and running I was surprised at how relatively easy it was.”

Ted’s goals for 2004 are to increase his practice, finish up his office, keep an eye on balance and exercise more. Balance is key – he wants to be busy, but not too busy. “Before you know it, you have more files than you want,” he says.

When asked what he misses about working in a law firm, he says “If I ever had a problem I could walk across a hallway and pick someone’s brain.” Then he adds, “Now I have a network of colleagues that I can call.”

This article was published in the February 2004 issue of BarTalk. © 2004 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.