My Shingle

July 2012

Art, Science & Ethics of 21st Century Retainer Ebook Complete! Review Copies Available

July 31, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

So it took a little longer than anticipated, but the ebook, The Art, Science & Ethics of the 21st Century Retainer Agreement is finally complete.  The book is 72 pages in length and covers the topics listed here: Table of Contents for the Art, Science & Ethics of 21st Century Retainer eBook What’s more, there’s [...]

Read more Announcements 2 comments

The LegalZoom IPO: Proving That Volume Practice Doesn’t Work, Even 21st Century Style

July 30, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Academics and legal futurists may be  enamored by the Legal Zoom business model, the market sure isn’t.  As Legal Zoom readies to launch an IPO at $10 to $12 share, sources like  Reuters and The Street  are questioning whether a $483 million valuation is a tad “feisty” for a company that generated $156 million in [...]

Read more Trends 2 comments

Office Space Options

July 30, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Along with several other solo colleagues, I’m quoted in this exhaustive Maryland Daily Record  piece on office rental options here in the D.C. area.  One aspect of the article that surprised me is the wide disparity in rental prices across the region.  One of the attorneys profiled pays $1900 for space in Beltsville, Maryland that [...]

Read more Office Options 0 comments

Why Saying “You Didn’t Build That” Stings Start Up and Solo Lawyers

July 26, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

I’m willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t intend to trivialize the accomplishments of small business with his controversial you didn’t build that  speech.  Still, for solo and start up lawyers, the President’s words sting. While there are plenty of solo lawyers who embraced the concept of hanging a [...]

Read more MyShingle Solo 22 comments

For Solos and Small Law Firms, Be A Rockstar in Your Community By Unlocking the Potential of the The Seven-figure Ancillary Legal Services

July 25, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

My apologies for the blazing passion of the title of this post.  I just figured that any headline with the term “ancillary” would send readers running unless counterbalanced with the mesmerizing language of a marketing hack.  And the concept of ancillary markets is too important not to understand in an era of change in the [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 1 comment

Future Friday: Don’t Let Bar Requirements Stand in the Way of Progress

July 20, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

If you’ve read me long enough, you know that I’m a stickler for compliance with ethics rules.  Do I like all of the rules we have to follow?  Not at all. But rules are rules and if you don’t like them, then you don’t break them, but change them. Of course, sometimes, you don’t even [...]

Read more Future Fridays 0 comments

Has The Real Estate Market Kept Pace With Solo And Small Law Firms’ Demands?

July 19, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the changing look of law firm offices. To make more efficient use of space in a down economy, firms are reducing office size, assigning the same sized offices irrespective of seniority and moving lawyers to interior spaces once reserved for administrative staff.  Firms are also shifting [...]

Read more Office Options 6 comments

Future [of Law] Fridays: Neota Logic is Neat – But Why Not Make It Accessible to Solos?

July 13, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Update Note 7/19/2012: I had a chance to chat with Michael Mills of Neota two days ago. Neota is doing some really exciting work, and is definitely responsive and curious about opportunities in the solo/small firm market. Stay tuned… Editor’s note:  This is the first of a regular feature, Future of Law Fridays where we’ll [...]

Read more Future Fridays 1 comment

The Bar Associations Have Their Head In The Clouds When It Comes To The Ethics Of Cloud Computing

July 12, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

In a recent post at Catalyst Secure , my friend Bob Ambrogi not only summarizes Massachusetts’ recent ethics ruling on lawyer use of cloud platforms, but provides a valuable public service with a round up  of ethics decisions from 11 other jurisdictions.  Like most states, Massachusetts permits lawyers to use cloud based products so long [...]

Read more Tech & Web 10 comments

Thank You Thursday: “She motivated me to start law school at the age of 42″

July 12, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

So, last week, I wrote about the  importance of saying thank you , and noted that I’d be starting  a Thank You Thursday column, open to readers who want to thank someone who’s made a difference in their life. The first installment comes from business and estate planning lawyer, Paula Schaefer: In 1997, I worked [...]

Read more Encouragement 2 comments

← Previous Entries