My Shingle

From the monthly archives:

January 2005

To Martindale or Not To Martindale?

January 30, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

When I started my practice back in 1993, I paid for a real listing in Martindale-Hubbell (as opposed to the cheapie listing in the front blue plages) that I kept for four years. By 1997, I’d not gotten so much as a phone call from the listing.  Looking forward, I realized that my website (that [...]

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What’s Coming…

January 28, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

In the past few months, we’ve acquired some new readers who may not be aware that this site has been around for two years, not just the two months that the archives would indicate.  I am still working on bringing the old site on line, but if you’d like to take a look at what [...]

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I Am A Maven!

January 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I am a maven.   I’m not so sure that it’s true, but it’s very cool, nonetheless.

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A Sanction That’s Deserved

January 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

As many of my readers know, I often find that the sanctions meted out by bar disciplinary committees to be either redundant or heavy-handed, such as punishing an attorney where he’s already been ordered to pay monetary sanctions by the court or sactioning an attorney for failing to apologize for an overly harsh criticism of [...]

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A Law Firm That’s Out of This World (at least, its fees are)

January 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

As lawyers, we all want our work to be regarded as "out of this world" – but just not in this way.   According to this article, South Gate Chases Legal Firms, LA Times (1/23/05),  a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, ruling that the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton had overcharged its municipal [...]

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Solo in Hawaii?

January 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

If you’re thinking of going solo, why not try Hawaii?  According to this article from the Pacific Business News (1/24/05),  It’s a good time to be a lawyer in Hawaii.

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How Much Can You Rely on What Your Client Tells You?

January 19, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Even if you don’t practice criminal law, you should be interested in the U.S. Supreme Court’s eventual ruling in Rompilla v. Beard concerning ineffective assistance of counsel which was argued before the Court yesterday. (for details, see Justices Debate Lawyer Diligence in Capital Case, Tony Mauro, Washington Legal Times (1/19/05)).  As with Florida v. Nixon, [...]

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Tech Predictions for Solos and Small Firms

January 19, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

If Dennis Kennedy’s legal tech predictions for 2005 are true, it’s going to be a good year for solo and small firm lawyers to start taking advantage of legal technology, particularly those who aren’t doing it already.

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Westlaw is Free in Some Places – But Why Not Everywhere?

January 19, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

AJ Levy of http://www.outoftheboxlawyering.com lists a bunch of libraries in several states (AK, MN, NV, NJ, NY, OH, TX and WA) where you can access Westlaw for free.  I was happy to learn about this resource though clearly, it’s cheaper for me to sign up for Westlaw on a per-search basis than to travel [...]

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Ever Have A Case That Wouldn’t End? It’s Not Your Fault…

January 18, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Imagine the joy of Maureen Graves, an Orange County attorney who works alone out of her garage when she learned this news.  (Fresno Bee, 1/17/05).  Seven years ago, Graves took a case on behalf of special education student Robert Moser for no fee because she thought it would
be easily won or settled.  She was shocked [...]

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