The Retainer Letter As a Walk Down Memory Lane

I may not be a contract aficionado like Ken Adams, but I love a good retainer agreement.  Though  clean, crisp language and brevity makes me swoon as much as any other lawyer, my affinity for retainer agreements reaches far deeper than the surface:  quite simply, I’m a sucker for the stories behind the the whereas…

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MyShingle Briefing and Hearing on ABA Ethics 2020 Whitepapers

On October 14, 2010, the ABA Ethics 2020 Commission held a public hearing on two proposed whitepapers, one dealing with cloud computing, the other with lawyers’ use of internet tools, primarily social media, for marketing.  [update] I wish to emphasize that the Whitepapers themselves reflect a substantial amount of research and fairly identify or evaluate…

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MyShingle Fashion: Gosh and Golly, It’s Elie Tahari!

I should be taken out back and shot for my horrible rhymes. And for my use of hyperbole. But at this point, I almost feel that only cheesy, ridiculous, nonsensical rhymes can convey how much I love Elie Tahari. Last time, I talked about Pucci dresses. I featured printed dresses in general, but the inspiration…

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The Practice Was Perfect

Last Friday, I had the privilege of attending, and presenting a session on niche practice at The Practice, organized by my friend and colleague Brian Tannebaum, this year’s president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL) . Geared towards criminal defense lawyers running a law firm, the Practice touched on all of the…

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A Match Made in the Blogosphere

From afar, they seemed like opposites: a tough New York City criminal law trench warrior with disdain for high faultin’ academics and a talent for effortless and abundant insights and a world-travelling, West Coast civil litigator with a global practice and a penchant for literature and a knack brevity. Yet they spoke each others’ language,…

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MyShingle Fashion: Trend Alert: Warming Up For Fall/Winter 2010!

It’s deceptively warm out there, and I, for one, am not complaining. I adore autumn, but I abhor the fact that it precedes winter…and is usually so short, not giving me ample time to resign myself to the first snowfall of the season. But the mornings are surprisingly nippy sometimes, even as midday temps hit…

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Why Should Your Clients Care That Their Lawyers Don’t Work Weekends?

There’s a small law firm in South Carolina with a Client Expectations policy that’s made a big splash online.  The policy, which bluntly states, “We do not work weekends and do not provide emergency numbers for weekends….We make mistakes…” attracted notice from the ABA Journal and generated discussion at several blogs, including Jim Calloway’s Practice…

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