LawyersUSA

BOSTON – Unable to land a job with a firm after graduating from law school, E. James Perullo decided to keep his day job as an information technology consultant and practice law in the evening.

A year ago, Perullo, 42, founder of Bay State Legal Services, created After-Hours Law, a legal service aimed at small-business owners and workers unable to take time off during the day to meet with a lawyer.

The venture proved successful enough for Perullo to quit his day job and he now works full time as an attorney, specializing in trusts and estates and employment law. And he has 13 other lawyers working with him who also meet clients during the evening and on weekends.

Clients can meet with lawyers from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday in downtown Boston, and by appointment in suburban Woburn, Mass., seven days a week.

"People find it more convenient, because getting out of work is just an annoyance," Perullo said.

The latest appointment available is 10 p.m.

Several months ago, 22 attorneys were involved, but some dropped out because of concerns about liability issues.

Perullo blames the fallout on his own "ignorance," and said he now makes it clear that each attorney must have his own liability insurance, unless they are associates or partners at Bay State Legal Services.

Attorneys pool money to rent an office suite in downtown Boston during weekday evenings.

Participating attorneys pay 10 percent of their fees to use the conference rooms and offices. If the client is booked through Bay State Legal Services, the attorney turns over 40 percent of fees and awards to Bay State Legal.

"These are folks who are working their day time jobs, whether it's McDonald's or another law firm where the only job they can get is a paralegal, even though they're J.D.'s," said Perullo. "They don't want to appear as though they work in a deli."

Clients can meet with attorneys regarding family law, criminal law, immigration, real estate, trusts and estates, bankruptcy and personal injury cases.

Phito Moleus, 47, an immigration and real estate lawyer, and Yuri Leventoff, 34, a civil litigator, have joined Perullo as partners in Bay State Legal Services. All three came to the law in mid-life, after careers in the computer industry. They met at Massachusetts School of Law.

Moleus, who is originally from Haiti, said it's "still difficult" to launch a career as an attorney, but working with other lawyers in the same situation has helped.

Marsha Graham, a former social worker who graduated from law school in 2007, works during the day as a labor lawyer. At nights and on weekends, she acts as a family law consultant for After-Hours Law and meets with clients regarding guardianship, child custody, divorce and mediation.

Graham works mainly out of the Woburn office with clients who live in the suburbs and don't want to go into Boston.

"The beauty of this is that clients can go to work and then take care of legal needs at night or on weekends," she said.

Perullo uses his IT expertise to maximize search-engine exposure for After-Hours Law, and many clients find out about the service from the Internet.

To generate additional revenue, Perullo and his partners used their IT experience to launch another business, One Byte at the Apple, which provides IT services to the legal community.

Perullo said his business background, as well as his life experience, has helped him develop innovative ways to make a living as a lawyer.

"The kids that are graduating from their undergraduate programs and going into law school and becoming attorneys don't really understand a lot of the business aspects or what their options are," he said.

Questions or comments can be director to the writer at: nora.tooher@lawyersusaonline.com