My Shingle

July 2005

I’m Heading Off to Blogher

July 28, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I’ll be catching a flight out to the West Coast tomorrow, headed for the Blogher conference where I’ll be on one of the panels.  This is all very new for someone like me who attends  conferences predominated by lawyers.  At Blogher, while I’ll be in the gender majority, seems that I may be in the [...]

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Steve Jobs Advice Works for Solos Too

July 26, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Thanks so much to Ernie the Attorney for this link to a commencement speech by Steve Jobs.  In his speech, Jobs describes a rocky path to different types of success, beginnings and endings and new opportunities.  It’s worthwhile reading for us solos who many times, find ourselves dead-ended or uninspired in our practice and need [...]

Read more Encouragement 4 comments

Is It Ever Too Soon to Go Solo?

July 26, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Ann Israel, a biglaw recruitment attorney who writes a column for New York Lawyer typically responds to questions about how to make partner or what’s the best law school to choose.  It’s rare that she gets a question like  this one from an attorney wondering whether he should go solo after his first year out [...]

Read more Questions & Advice 10 comments

Free Legal Research Hits Florida

July 26, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Add Florida to the list of jurisdictions with free legal research services, as reported in this  article.  Florida is using Fast Case for its service which provides access to US Supreme Court Cases, Florida Supreme Court cases and Florida statutes and regulations.  I’ve always thought that free legal research is one of the most valuable [...]

Read more Legal Profession Trends 4 comments

Lawyer Sues Clients for Money; Not Sure of What to Make of All of This

July 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I’m not sure what to make of the story described in this article, Law Firm Sues Couple Over Past Legal Fees (7/23/05).  Seems that a couple spent three years fighting to keep a large subdivision from being built near their home, racking up $92,000 in legal fees in the process (in addition to which, they [...]

Read more Client Relations 1 comment

A Day in the Life of a Solo Blogger

July 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Via Legal Underground, I learned about this neat ABA sponsored experiment whereby marketer Larry Bodine helped solo Andrew Ewalt set up this weblog and will be monitoring his business growth throughout the year.  I’m predicting that Ewalt’s blog will improve his search engine rankings, may get him some interviews or speaking engagements but as with [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

Court Appointed Work Is Not Supposed To Be A Full Time Job!

July 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Well after all of the controversy, looks like the Massachusetts legislature will raise rates for court appointed attorneys as reported here in State House OK’s Raises for Lawyers for the Poor, David Abel (July 22, 2005).  According to the article, lawmakers will increase court appointed rates to $100 an hour from $61.50 for homicide cases; [...]

Read more Business Models 42 comments

When a Client’s Right to Access Counsel Hangs by A Hook…Of A Bra

July 14, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Donna Thompson-Schneider is a solo criminal defense attorney who hasn’t visited her incarcerated clients.  Lest you think that this is another story about an irresponsible attorney giving her clients ground for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, read on.  The reason that Donna hasn’t visited her clients is because the prison has a practice of  [...]

Read more Criminal Law, Practice & Policy 6 comments

Our Stratified Legal Profession: How Blogging Will Change It

July 12, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

From this Press Release, I learned about a new book, Urban Lawyers, by John Heinz and University of Chicago Professor Edward Laumann, that examines Chicago’s legal profession using data gathered as part of an American Bar Foundation study conducted in 1994/95.  That’s too bad, because while the book sounds intriguiging and confirms much of what [...]

Read more Legal Profession Trends 2 comments

Need Help Compiling Top Ten Reasons to Shingle

July 9, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Hello, readers!  I’d like to put together a Top Ten List for my sidebar of reasons that lawyers should consider hanging out a shingle.  GAL posted something similar here, a list of the benefits of being an independent practitioner. For me, the reasons for going solo include autonomy, flexibility to achieve balance with family, an [...]

Read more MyShingle Solo 18 comments

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