Archive for October 2013
High Anxiety: The Reason Why Lawyers Are So Vulnerable To High-Pressure, Low-Return Marketing Scams
Seems that no matter what lawyers do these days – whether it’s accepting a phone call from an unknown number, or scanning press releases on a news aggregator or visiting a bar association website, or signing up for what appeared to be a free service — they quickly find themselves bombarded with high-pressure sales offers…
Read MoreLegal Ethics and Outsourcing: Just Because It’s Outsourced, Doesn’t Mean You Can Bill for It
At some time or another, law firms of all sizes have outsourced legal support services such as legal research and writing, e-discovery or document review. There’s no question that law firms can bill clients for legal support services and even charge a markup, at least under ABA Ethics Opinion 08-451 and the majority of jurisdictions.…
Read MoreThe Pop-Up Law Firm
So what if lawyers could match an occasional need for office space with existing and under-utilized capacity? For example, maybe a group of solos want to set up a monthly legal clinic for start-ups but can’t figure out where to host it? Or maybe you want to host a group of solos for a hands-on…
Read MoreKeep Calm and Carry On With This Fun Freebie
Every so often, I come across cool, completely FREE tools to share with readers — like PicMonkey for logo design, Wordle to create word clouds from text or PiktoChart. What’s so great about these tools besides the price is that they’re not just a fun distraction, but they can be used to actually create something…
Read MoreOpen Letter to Law Schools: What Law Students Need to Learn to Be Hired By Tomorrow’s Largest Legal Employer – Solos & Smalls
Dear Law Schools, I’m guessing most of you don’t read my blog (not sufficiently academic or arcane) so permit me to introduce myself. I am a real, live practicing lawyer with a firm in Washington D.C. Though perhaps atypical for a solo or small, I focus on several growing fields (emerging renewable energy technologies and…
Read MoreHey Baby, Our Platform or Yours?
On the singles scene, a pick-up line like “my place or yours” isn’t likely to attract many takers. But on the shingle scene (as in hanging-a-shingle), several different companies are betting that the proposition “our platform [not] yours” will resonate with solos and smalls. In the past few months, two relatively new companies –…
Read MoreManaging Law School Debt: An Interview with Bankruptcy and Student Loan Lawyer Jay Fleischman
Today more than ever, student loan debt stands as one of the most significant barriers to starting a law firm. I haven’t forgotten the early years of my practice when I took on court-appointed criminal cases and a variety of lower-paid contract assignments not just to gain experience but also to cover my $700/month loan…
Read MoreWill Legal Ethics Rules Hobble Lawyers From Educating Clients on the Meaning of Data-driven Legal Marketing?
Call it the fantasy lawyering league. Just as sports aficionados rely on past seasons’ statistics to put together a fantasy football team, soon, consumers now have ready access to lawyers’ track records at their fingertips courtesy of big data — and can draft a dream team lawyer based on objective facts rather than subjective referrals…
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