The following is an excerpt from the 2008 ABA Tax Section, authored by Sam Braunstein. The full article is available as a PDF file here.
Once the decision has been made to practice either as a sole practitioner or as the “tax guru” within a smaller firm (both of which I refer to as “solo”), the initial panic will subside—at least for a time. The entrepreneurial spirit leading to such a decision isn’t easy to come by, nor is it easy to live with. Like greatness, however, it’s sometimes forced upon you.
There are many aspects of tax practice—and lifestyle—that have to be addressed in order to have a successful career. One of the essential characteristics of a solo practitioner is confidence in performing many and varied tasks. Besides the burden of administrative functions, there’s the essential requisite of maintaining professional skills at a level substantially higher than that of a general practitioner, particularly when the aim is to limit the practice to particular tax matters.
General tax practice or specialized focus? This isn’t an innocuous question. It’s one that will be addressed many times during a practitioner’s career. There normally is a tendency when opening a practice—and sometimes a necessity—to be a generalist. Unless someone comes into a practice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel or other “training ground” such that he or she already has an appreciable knowledge and skills in a specialized area, they necessarily will be required to perform in many areas of the tax law.