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Ed Poll Stands Up For Solos

by Carolyn Elefant on June 18, 2006 · 2 comments

in Law Practice Management, Legal Profession Trends, MyShingle Solo

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Here’s a huge public thanks to Ed Poll, one of today’s preeminent law practice management experts and coaches, for sticking up for solos.  In this post, Ed joins the chorus of bloggers speaking out against the New York bar’s recently proposed restrictive advertising rules.  And in this post, Ed takes on the California bar, lambasting it for requiring lawyers to disclose whether they have malpractice insurance without taking concommitant steps to ensure that affordable malpractice insurance is available to attorneys.

Ed’s posts couldn’t be more timely for me (same is true for Jim Calloway’s take on the NY Rules). Just today, I was lamenting that many law practice management experts prefer to use new regulations as an excuse for offering new service instead of using their stature and expertise to speak out against rules that don’t make sense.  For example, I’ve seen a couple of comments on various listserves from marketers proposing to advise NY attorneys on new PR techniques to circumvent restrictions on client testimonials.  But Ed is the first LPM expert I’ve read who apparently, isn’t looking to profit off the rules by accepting them and then charging solos to help them comply.  Rather, he’s using his expertise to help our profession achieve the right results.

There are many gurus who “talk the talk” of solo practice.  But Ed Poll is out here in the trenches, walking the walk along with us.

Related posts:

  1. West Virginia Implements Malpractice Reporting Requirement
  2. Malpractice Insurance: Don’t Start Practice Without It
  3. Malpractice Insurance, Cheap
  4. To Disclose or Not to Disclose, That Is the Question
  5. Still An Uphill Battle In Getting Clients to Hire Solos, But There’s A Fix

  • http://www.HowToMakeItRain.com RJON@HowToMakeItRain.com

    In a previous comment, I made the statement that I thought all the broughaha about the big bad NY bar was & still is an OVERREACTION.
    I pointed out that if an attorney’s practice is so dependent on creating false expectations, showing cheesy courtroom settings to impress prospective new clients and tricking people into reading their ads through the use of pop-ups, then s/he has bigger problems to worry about than the new bar rules.
    I also indicated that while I share some concerns about the new rules (accurate & verifiable testimonials, meta tags, etc.)I can’t pretend I don’t also undertand where the bar might be coming from. In other words, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar & not EVERYTHING that the bar does is intended to screw solos.
    I began my career as a solo & have helped hundreds of other solos attract alot of high-quality work, without worrying about how to “circumvent” any rules.
    The fact of the matter is that in almost every market all over the country, there are solos who are making alot more money than their peers, doing good work for appreciative clients. We don’t waste alot of time worrying about technical bar rules in our respective states (Note: NY is just beginning to catch up to most other states.) Instead we are in compliance with bar rules, because we focus on the ethical & professional work of helping clients with important problems, find real solutions to those problems.
    I have alot of respect for Ed Poll & know he has several useful programs that will help teach a lawyer who never learned anything in law school about how to market a small law firm. So do a number of others, including me. But I seriously doubt Mr. Poll or anyone else would be too thrilled about the prospect of being known as the LPM who helps his/her clients to stay in the trenches. Rather, my purpose in making my earlier comment was to point out to any solos who are tired of crawling around “in the trenches”, that there is a better way.
    Respectfully,

  • http://www.HowToMakeItRain.com RJON@HowToMakeItRain.com

    In a previous comment, I made the statement that I thought all the broughaha about the big bad NY bar was & still is an OVERREACTION.
    I pointed out that if an attorney’s practice is so dependent on creating false expectations, showing cheesy courtroom settings to impress prospective new clients and tricking people into reading their ads through the use of pop-ups, then s/he has bigger problems to worry about than the new bar rules.
    I also indicated that while I share some concerns about the new rules (accurate & verifiable testimonials, meta tags, etc.)I can’t pretend I don’t also undertand where the bar might be coming from. In other words, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar & not EVERYTHING that the bar does is intended to screw solos.
    I began my career as a solo & have helped hundreds of other solos attract alot of high-quality work, without worrying about how to “circumvent” any rules.
    The fact of the matter is that in almost every market all over the country, there are solos who are making alot more money than their peers, doing good work for appreciative clients. We don’t waste alot of time worrying about technical bar rules in our respective states (Note: NY is just beginning to catch up to most other states.) Instead we are in compliance with bar rules, because we focus on the ethical & professional work of helping clients with important problems, find real solutions to those problems.
    I have alot of respect for Ed Poll & know he has several useful programs that will help teach a lawyer who never learned anything in law school about how to market a small law firm. So do a number of others, including me. But I seriously doubt Mr. Poll or anyone else would be too thrilled about the prospect of being known as the LPM who helps his/her clients to stay in the trenches. Rather, my purpose in making my earlier comment was to point out to any solos who are tired of crawling around “in the trenches”, that there is a better way.
    Respectfully,

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