My Shingle

February 2010

A Million Dollar Website

February 28, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

California mega law firm, Morrison Foerster is MoFo, and this (above) is its website. Understandably, the site might confuse you since mofo has more widely recognized, colloquial meanings.  But Morrison Foerster ranks first in search for “mofo.” The Mofo website cost one million to build, claims Above the Law.  Was it worth it?  Above the [...]

Read more Legal Profession Trends 16 comments

Would You Work on Spec? Why Should Your Logo Designer?

February 25, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Back in my last year of law school, one of my friends who was still looking for permanent employment responded to an ad seeking a new associate for a three person law firm.  The firm’s managing partner contacted my friend and they had a nice chat.  The partner said that my friend was definitely in [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 28 comments

Solo Marketing Makeovers: What’s Your Advice?

February 25, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

This month’s ABA Journal features a piece on the results of marketing makeovers provided to three solos brave enough to bare their practices for all to see.  The article summarizes the advice given by two marketing experts to three different solos and follows up six months later to see how they’re doing. I had mixed [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 6 comments

I Can Unbundle The Case, But I Can’t Unbundle My Heart

February 22, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

I want to wholeheartedly embrace the concept of unbundled legal services, I really do.  After all, what’s not to like?  The demand for affordable legal services is greater than ever.  With courthouses overrun by pro se litigants, even judges are pressing for unbundled legal services.  Technology is empowering a generation of educated, sophisticated consumers who [...]

Read more Business Models 10 comments

Help, My Virtual Assistant Is Turning Me Into A Moron!

February 21, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

I’ve always considered myself a “practical technology user,” adept at mastering the latest and greatest on a strictly need to know basis.  For example, I still can’t program a Tivo or download a movie on my ipod or operate the family Wii because I have no interest in the activities enabled by those technologies.   But [...]

Read more Growing Your Practice 15 comments

Newbie Lawyers Sidelined in NALP-Biglaw Smackdown

February 18, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

I’ve never been a fan of NALP, the National Association of Legal Professionals.  So far as I’ve been able to tell, the organization focuses almost exclusively on supporting law school career offices in helping students get jobs at biglaw and promoting diversity within biglaw’s ranks.  Even NALP’s public interest initiatives are aimed not at helping [...]

Read more Biglaw Practice and Issues 1 comment

Who Loves You Solos? Dueling Videos – Join the ABA v. What You Don’t Know About Solo Practice Can Hurt You

February 17, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Last week, my colleague Susan Cartier Liebel posted on why the ABA’s recent decision to slash dues for solos is too little, too late.  I agree.  While I appreciate the ABA for Solosez (and publishing the upcoming social media book I’ve co-authored with Niki Black), dues cuts or not, I won’t join simply because the [...]

Read more MyShingle Solo 7 comments

Attorneys Defending Bar Requirements Say that Lawyer Must Violate Them To Bring a Challenge

February 15, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Princeton, New Jersey based solo, Ekaterina Schoenefeld did what every good lawyer is supposed to do:  she abided her state bar’s ethics rules even though doing so cost her financially.   Though duly licensed in New York, Schoenefeld couldn’t practice there.  That’s because New York Judiciary Code section 470 requires non-resident, New York barred lawyers [...]

Read more Celebrating Solos 15 comments

When You’re the Boss, You Don’t Beg For Work Life Balance. You Make It So.

February 14, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Like every parent on the planet, I’ve told my daughters more times than I can remember some variation of the following: Yes, you can eat chocolate for dinner or stay up until three am or leave orange peels on the floor or [fill in the blank] when you have your own place and pay your [...]

Read more Work Life Balance 6 comments

Ideas for the Firm of the Future + One: Diversify Your Offerings

February 10, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Via Dan Pinnington at Slaw.ca, I learned of Merrilyn Tarlton’s excellent article, Figuring Out Your Place in the Race (ABA Law Practice Magazine, Jan/Feb. 2010).  Recognizing that technology advancements and economic upheaval have rendered extinct the high leverage business model, Tarlton predicts that “the future of the business of law is going to be about [...]

Read more Business Models 1 comment

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