A Personal Story About Starting Your Own RIA

The work was interesting, but it was the perks that were extraordinary. My focus was on international litigation. I was routinely sent to Asia, Europe and Latin America to supervise complex litigation.

I was also invited to attend conferences in exotic locations like Hong Kong and Hawaii.

Prior to joining ITT, I never traveled outside the continental U.S.

On one memorable occasion, ITT paid for me, my wife and our two young children to move to Rio de Janeiro for three months to supervise litigation involving one of its telecommunication companies. We lived in a sumptuous apartment on Copacabana Beach. When I wasn’t working, I played tennis with colleagues from London who were part of our team.

The pay was excellent. The job seemed very secure, although there was little room for promotion because the turnover was so low. I can’t recall anyone leaving during the time I was there.

A decision to leave

I left ITT in 1976 to form my own law firm.

When I shared my decision with family and friends, they were stunned. “Why would you ever leave that job?” was the comment I heard most often.

No one could understand my response: “It’s too easy. I don’t feel challenged.”

During my tenure at ITT, I retained a distinguished antitrust lawyer, Maxwell Blecher, to handle major cases. We tried one case together in Honolulu for two months. He did all the “heavy lifting.”

Max and I became good friends. I remember asking him what it was like to have your own litigation firm and why he did it. He told me it was difficult, but he “liked chasing rabbits”, which meant being rewarded based solely on your merit or, as he put it, “eating what you kill.”

That was the moment I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

I didn’t want to assist others trying cases. I wanted to try them myself.

I didn’t want to retain outstanding lawyers. I wanted to be one.

A good decision

Running a litigation firm in New York City had its challenges, but it was great for me. ITT became a major client and other Fortune 500 companies followed. At one point, we had 20 lawyers in our fledging firm.

Marketing was our primary challenge. Whenever a case concluded, we needed to replace the business. As a specialty firm, we didn’t have other practice areas that generated consistent streams of income.

Yet, I felt both energized and in control. The idea of “eating what you kill” appealed to me. I also liked the idea that I had control of my business life, although I was answerable to clients.

Elusive job security

One lesson I learned from my experience is that job security can be deceiving. Over the 20-year period after I left ITT, it shed many of the companies it had acquired during the reign of its iconic chairman, Harold Geneen. There was no longer a need for a large, in-house legal department.

If I had remained at ITT, I’m pretty sure I would have been let go as the firm downsized. If so, I would have been at an age where making a career move would have been difficult.

Sometimes, what seems to be a secure option has unforeseen risks.

Your decision

If you are thinking about forming your own RIA, you may find my experience relevant, even though yours may be different.

You can hedge your risk by stashing away enough cash to fund your monthly expenses for a year or more.

The most important consideration is to know yourself. Not everyone is cut out to run their own business.

One question to ask is: “Do you like to chase rabbits?”

Dan trains executives and employees in the lessons based on the research on his latest book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone. His online course, Ask: Increase Your Sales. Deepen Your Relationships, is currently available.

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