My Shingle

September 2012

The Way of Life

September 29, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

In just a few hours, my sweet Mira will step to the front of the synagogue on the occasion of her bat mitzvah.  Before family and friends, she will chant the parshat (Torah portion) where Moses speaks to the Jewish people for the last time before they cross the Jordan into Canaan. But Moses cannot accompany [...]

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A Bit of A Break & Crowdsourcing Request

September 25, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Just a quick note to let you know that I’m taking a brief break. Between an out of town hearing last week, Jewish holidays, my younger daughter’s upcoming bat-mitzvah this weekend, a touch of writing block and most critically, a terrible cold, I just can’t muster the energy to post.  I’ll be back up and [...]

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Social Media and Lawyers’ Duty To Report

September 19, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

By now, you may have heard via Simple Justice or  Legal Ethics Forum about the news accounts  of the public defender who lost her job after posting a photo of her client’s leopard-print briefs on her Facebook page along with a caption suggesting that the underwear was the client’s family’s idea of proper court attire.   [...]

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More on Coworking Options for Lawyers

September 18, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

A few months ago, I questioned whether the real estate market is keeping pace with solo needs.  But options are increasing, not just for entrepreneurs looking for co-working space, but lawyers as well. For example, here’s an article about a Minneapolis attorney who’s now a co-working tenant after rejecting other options: Minneapolis attorney K.M. Davis [...]

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On the Internet, Nobody Knows That You’re A Real Dog…Or the Real Deal

September 10, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

You’ve seen the cartoon and its captions (or some version of it) a thousand times: On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.  And while it’s true that the cloud, the web and social media make it all too easy for a lawyer to throw up a website that conveys the impression of a statewide, [...]

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Why Great CLE Costs Good Money

September 10, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

A few weeks ago, Scott Greenfield bemoaned the demise of quality of continuing legal education (CLE) (if there ever was such a thing). As Scott observes, most CLE today consists either of panels of experienced lawyers who show up prepared with nothing but a bunch of war stories or fluff programs on marketing or ipad [...]

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Solos & StartUps: A Match Made in Heaven Or Clients from Hell?

September 7, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Solos and startups seem like an ideal match.  Most obviously, startups don’t have the cash to hire in-house counsel or expensive mega-firms and solos can offer competitive rates and flexible service.  Solos also have the ability to better understand and accommodate the demands of start-ups since solos are essentially start-ups themselves.  For these reasons, experts [...]

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Using Your Retainer Agreement to Generate Positive & Deter Negative Client Reviews

September 3, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Increasingly, consumers are exploring client reviews on sites like Avvo  as part of the process of hiring a lawyer.  Though it’s hardly scientific evidence, over the past few weeks alone, I’ve heard several examples of lawyers who attracted fairly decent cases as a result of their presence on Avvo or Yelp and the positive feedback [...]

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