My Shingle

March 2009

Would You Hire An Unemployed Lawyer As A Volunteer?

March 29, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

From Newsday, I learned that the Nassau County Attorney’s office hopes help out in this economic downturn by opening its doors to bring on several volunteer lawyers who haven’t been able to find other employment.  Positions range from working with the county’s Home Ownership Center to advise in mortgage default situations to defending the county [...]

Read more Outsourcing & Hiring 7 comments

Announcements: MyShingle Out and About!

March 29, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

I have a couple of quick announcements about some upcoming appearances.  On  Monday, March 30, I’ll be speaking at American University Washington College of Law on Solo Practice: Why This Ugly Stepsister of the Legal Profession Just Might Be A Prince in Disguise.  We’ll cover reasons why solo practice offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and employment-seekers [...]

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If the White House Can Chat With Constituents, Why Can’t You Do The Same With Your Clients?

March 26, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Just as then-candidate Obama’s campaign offered solo and small firm lawyer valuable marketing lessons on using social media to speak to and genuinely engage clients, likewise, his presidency continues to serve as a valuable source of ideas.  As you probably know, today, President Obama conducted an online town hall, eliciting questions from the public through [...]

Read more Client Service 2 comments

Richard Susskind & The End of Lawyers: What It Means for Solos

March 24, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

By now, you’ve probably read some of the press or blog reviews about Richard Susskind’s recent book, The End of Lawyers.  So you’re probably familiar with Susskind’s main premise that disruptive technologies which routinize or automate certain legal tasks will erode the need for traditional legal services or displace them entirely.  Susskind anticipates that clients [...]

Read more Legal Profession Trends 19 comments

The Lock-Step Monster

March 20, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost Why is it that biglaw is always engaged in a constant game of follow the leader?  A few years back, sites like Above the Law gleefully documented the steady upward march of [...]

Read more Big Law/Small Law 4 comments

I Can Do An Appeal With My Eyes Closed, But I’d Rather Be Flying Blind

March 19, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

After twenty years of practice, I can do an appeal from start to finish with my eyes closed.  I’m intimately familiar with the Three-Bears like requirements for timely filing (too early can render the petition incurably premature; too late and the petition misses the unforgiving statutory deadlines and gets unceremoniously bounced) to the arguments – [...]

Read more Encouragement 1 comment

Why the Devil’s in the Details of Ethics Rules When You Start A Law Firm and Why That Needs To Change

March 17, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

I’d love to be able to share the specifics about how to start and run a law firm for every jurisdiction in the country.  In part, that was the reason behind MyShingle’s The Bars, Reviewed which summarizes the benefits for solos and small firms offered by the 50 bars and the ABA and provides quick [...]

Read more Ethics & Malpractice Issues 3 comments

How Your World Opens Wide When You Start Your Own Law Firm

March 15, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Back when I worked for others, my social interactions were remarkably stratified.  As an associate or a newbie government lawyer, I spent lunches and breaks palling around with other junior lawyers who occupied the same lower tiers of the employment hierarchy as I did.  My sole social encounters with partners or superiors came during polite [...]

Read more MyShingle Solo 3 comments

Real Life Marketing: Collaborating to Market Your Law Practice

March 12, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

So what does Mr. Clean have to do with law firm marketing?  Not much, if you’re talking about Mr. Clean all by his lonesome -  though I suppose there’s some buried lesson there about branding or image.  But what caught my eye about  this cleaning product, however, is that it’s a real life example of [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 8 comments

Two Solos Up For Consideration As Mississippi USAG

March 12, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Who says being solo means being small time?  In Mississippi, two female solos, Constance Slaughter Harvey and Christi McCoy are two of the top contenders for the open seat for United States Attorney General for the northern and southern districts of Mississippi, reports the Northeast Mississippi Journal.  Both women boast impressive credentials.  Slaughter-Harvey was the [...]

Read more Celebrating Solos 2 comments

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