Summary

Kara Maciel always knew she wanted to be a lawyer, and a high school trip to Washington, DC sealed the deal. What she didn't plan for was building her own firm. In this episode, the Conn, Maciel & Carey co-founder talks with Kathryn Rubino about the years she spent paying off law school loans early to buy herself flexibility, and how that discipline let her take a real risk later: leaving a comfortable partnership to start something new.

The decision crystallized during back-to-back parental leaves, when Kara and her future co-founder each returned from leave with the same idea. Twelve years later, the firm has offices across the country, and Kara talks through what she wishes she'd known about the business side of running a firm, how she's used technology to standardize billing across offices, and why she believes boutique practice offers something Big Law structurally can't.

Key Takeaways

• Paying down law school loans aggressively in your early career years buys flexibility later, not just debt relief.

• Opening a firm requires business skills most lawyers never learn in practice; hire for that gap or plan to learn it fast.

• Complementary practice areas and complementary skill sets among co-founders matter as much as shared values.

• Firm growth can be organic and still be strategic: expand where clients and trusted partners already are.

• Boutique firms compete on relationship and rate transparency, not just lower prices.

Links and Resources

• [Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/)

• [The Jabot Podcast](https://abovethelaw.com/tag/the-jabot-podcast/)

Keywords

boutique law firm, starting a law firm, employment law, labor law, law firm founder, women law firm owners, legal entrepreneurship, law school loans, law firm culture, law firm growth, big law versus boutique, workplace safety law, law firm billing, legal technology, AI in law firms, law firm partnership, career advice for lawyers, women in law, Above the Law, The Jabot Podcast

Episode Highlights

• [00:01:15 - 00:02:00] Kara traces her decision to become a lawyer back to a high school trip to Washington, DC.

• [00:04:15 - 00:05:00] Why she saved aggressively in her first years of practice instead of spending like a typical young associate.

• [00:08:00 - 00:09:30] The maternity leave story behind founding Conn, Maciel & Carey.

• [00:10:30 - 00:11:30] "You're a lawyer, you know how to make rain, but you don't know how to run a business."

• [00:13:15 - 00:14:45] How the firm's California and Midwest offices came together through existing relationships, not a strategic plan.

• [00:17:00 - 00:18:30] Why the firm runs a deliberately long hiring process to protect its culture.

• [00:19:15 - 00:20:15] What boutique practice offers that Big Law structurally can't: rate control and direct client relationships.

• [00:21:00 - 00:22:00] How the firm is using AI to standardize timekeeping and billing across offices.