My Shingle

Celebrating Solos

Small Time Lawyer, Big Time Impact

March 26, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

This article on the death of New York attorney, Joel Scelsi, will make you proud to be called a “small town lawyer.”  Where else can you handle such a wide array of cases and be known around town as the person to go to for help if someone finds themselves in trouble. After reading articles [...]

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Wisdom from a Chicago Solo

February 19, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

Peter Olson, Solo in Chicago expresses the sentiments that drove many of us to solo and small firm practice in this post. And Peter offers a follow up link to an article from NALP on achieving work life balance.

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And Where Were the Solo Women Lawyers? (probably too busy blogging, running businesses and practicing law to complain…)

February 13, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

This article Women Aiming for Partnership Face Persistent Problems (NYLawyer 2/10/06) reported on a New York City Bar Association Symposium, attended by a mostly female crowd of 300 that addressed a persistent question:  “When will the legal profession see sex equality throughout its ranks?” According to the article, the Symposium apparently bemoaned what we’ve heard [...]

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A Forty Year Small Firm Career

December 25, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

This article, Lincoln Lawyer Balances Business, Passion (12/25/05 – Lincoln Journal Star) profiles Lincoln, Nebraska lawyer Herb Friedman’s forty years of small firm practice, which included arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court and pioneering television advertising in his state.  Now 70, Friedman has no plans to retire and reflects on his career [...]

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Wouldn’t You Like to Be Remembered Like This?

December 20, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I came across this article, Lawyer killed head-on in accident (12/9/05, NH Republic) about Massachusett criminal defense lawyer Geri Laventis tragic death in a head on car wreck.  I did now know her at all, but here is how she was described by her colleagues: Judge William B. McDonough, who presides over Holyoke District Court [...]

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Small Firms Fighting Big Companies

November 27, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I loved Jonathan Harr’s A Civil Action and so I was happy to come across this article, Two Person Firm Wrestles Oil Giant (November 26, 2005) about another small firm doing battle with a major corporation, albeit with better results.   But it’s still an uphill fight.  From the lead of the article: It’s the old [...]

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Why Solos Should Run the Government

September 23, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

This article, Allee Offers Business Experience, Acumen, Mary Beth Smetzer, reports on a Fairbanks, AK solo Rita Allee who’s running for City Council and touting her skills as a solo as the characteristics that qualify her for office.  Says Allee: “I feel practically my whole life’s experience, education, business experience and background in Fairbanks makes [...]

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One Singular Inspiration

August 23, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

I love reading about the good deeds of solo attorneys, both because it reflects well on our profession and inspires me to do better.  Here’s another case of a “lone lawyer” doing good, Park Slope attorney, Theo Davis, who’s the subject of this article, Keeping Faith in Troubled Times.  The piece reports on Davis’ plans [...]

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Courageous Lawyers Are Solo

August 21, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

This article from New York Lawyer (August 19, 2005) tells us solos what we already know — that going solo takes versatility and courage — as well as something we don’t –  that the number of lawyers willing to risk hanging a shingle has dwindled.  (I took issue with this survey in this prior post).  [...]

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A Salute To Sandra Day O’Connor, Former Shingler

July 2, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Sandra Day O’Connor leaves two legacies as she departs the United State Supreme Court.  the legacy that will garner the most attention in today’s weblogs and tomorrow’s history books, of course, is that of her quarter of a century as the nation’s first female Supreme Court justice.  But Sandra Day O’Connor leaves another equally important [...]

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