Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

           --Robert Frost

Solo By Choice

David Mills, a Cleveland-based attorney, scored a huge Supreme Court win earlier this year in Ortiz v. Jordan Case 09-737. David isn’t your typical Supreme Court litigator, however. Instead, this 34-year-old solo practitioner with a home-based office represents the next generation of innovative lawyering.

The start of his career was far more conventional than his current career path. He worked as a litigation associate at Jones Day for four years and then moved on to clerk for two different judges: Judge R. Guy Cole, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

It was after his second clerkship, in September of 2008, that he veered off the traditional career path and made the decision to open up a solo practice, The Mills Law Office, LLC. David describes the motivation behind his pivotal decision:

“The idea of being my own boss was appealing to me. I liked the idea of being the decision maker and of having control over choosing the cases that were most interesting to me and would have the greatest impact.”

After thoroughly researching the ins and outs of solo practice by reading Carolyn Elefant’s book “Solo by Choice” and other resources, David chose to limit the focus of his newfound solo practice to primarily federal appeals. As he explains, his decision allowed him to “stay focused so I could brand myself.”

At Home in the Office

When he hung out his shingle, David made the unusual decision to operate his practice from an office attached to his downtown apartment. Doing so helped him avoid lengthy commutes into Cleveland and gave him much-desired flexibility and convenience.

According to David, it was the right choice and, despite his recent victory, he has no plans to move his law firm to a more traditional office setting:

“The home office was a smart, economical way to start doing my own thing, but I didn’t do it with the idea that this it was temporary until I got a ‘real office.’ A lot of people assumed  that was the plan . But my view is, this is pretty real. The Supreme Court didn’t have a problem with where I practice so why should I?  A home office is perfect.”

Supreme Success

It was in his home office that he first met his client, Michelle Ortiz. Her story was compelling—and heart wrenching. A prison guard had sexually assaulted her on two occasions and the prison’s response was to place her in solitary confinement for reporting the incidents. She sued and a jury awarded her $625,000. The defendants appealed the decision, but the issue on appeal was very limited: whether the defendants could appeal the denial of summary judgment after trial.

Michelle had been trying to find an appellate attorney for some time and David was her last shot; the statutory deadline for filing for an extension of time in which to appeal expired the very next day. David explains that he felt compelled to, at the very least, file for an extension on her behalf:

“I decided to take on the case because it was interesting and I was trying to get involved in Supreme Court litigation . . . . The initial timing was so extreme that there wasn’t enough time to get into a debate with myself about what to do. I knew the case would die if the extension motion was not filed. I wanted the option to remain available and also to give Michelle a shot.”

The extension was granted, as was certiorari—a very infrequent occurrence. Only 1% of cases are granted certiorari and only 1 in 10,000 lawyers ever argues a case before the Supreme Court. And, winning a Supreme Court case on a unanimous vote—a rare event indeed!

No one was as excited about the outcome and more aware of the odds against his stunning Supreme Court win, occurring just two and a half years after he opened his solo practice, than David himself:

“This would have been a dream come true within 10 years, let alone two. It was a combination of hard work, some instinct and some luck. I remember taking a philosophy course in college and learning about the idea of parallel universes. I feel like I somehow jumped the track into a parallel universe because it seems so unreal.”

Taking the Path Less Traveled

It’s obvious that David isn’t your typical ex-BigLaw attorney. Instead of conforming to a well-established mold, he takes chances and defies convention.

Nothing exemplifies this trait more than his legal comics blog, Courtoons. There, David occasionally pens witty and very funny cartoons, many from an appellate perspective.  For him, this project represents the solo attorney’s drive to think outside the box:

“You know Courtoons was a funny thing. In some ways it started because when you start a whole solo practice your mind goes everywhere—there’s all these limits of what you can do, but there’s also limitless things.”

For David, it’s all about creating your own destiny, an idea embodied in one of his favorite quotes: “The ordinary man looks outward.” “It’s a Zen quote. I think that for me, it serves as a reminder that if you don’t want to be ordinary you need to look within and ask whether you’re doing the right things. Don’t go down the path just because there’s a path.”

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This photograph of David Mills was taken by Mike Carroll in Cleveland, Ohio.