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Finding Your Passion

Happy Birthday to Me

May 31, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Exactly a half-life ago when I turned 24, I spent my first — and until now– my only birthday away from home. Though I’d spent four years away in college, then three in law school, because an end-of-May-birthday falls between the end of school and start of a summer job or internship or travel, it [...]

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Back of the Napkin Business Plan for Starting a Law Firm

June 18, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Starting a law firm can be daunting.  Checklists and Mind Maps and planning resources outline the tasks involved, but the minutia can overwhelm.  For some, the planning process gives rise to analysis-paralysis, as the quest for a perfect launch delays launching at all.  And for those who come to solo practice as a last resort, [...]

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Passion Is Always in Fashion

April 13, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

In a couple of hours, I’m heading out to Seattle for the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference as well as some other meetings with colleagues and online friends.  I’ll be away for the week and fairly busy, so I won’t be posting.  Plus, while I’m away, there’ll be some back-end work taking place at my [...]

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In Praise of the Long Journey

December 22, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

In an age where we envy quick success – the dotcom that grows from garage to gargantuan in eighteen months, the blogger who gets a book deal after three months – artist in turn lead to break-out success.  Five years later at 94, Herrera is savoring the financial remuneration and notoriety from a lifetime of [...]

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An Ebook on What Matters

December 17, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

One of my favorite “ideas” people (for want of better classification) is Seth Godin.  Godin has an eye for trends.  No other blogger spots them as far in advance or articulates them quite as well.  This week, Godin is offering a freebie:  an ebook entitled What Matters Now.  The book is comprised of contributions from [...]

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Keep Your Eye on the Prize: Advice for Solos & All Lawyers from Marc Randazza

December 9, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

So how does a real estate associate who barely found a job at a small local firm become one of the nation’s pre-eminent First Amendment lawyers with his own practice, representing clients like Above the Law or the guy who went head to head with talk radio superstar Glenn Beck in a battle over a [...]

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Why Big Firms Don’t Blog Well: Not Too Much Risk, But Too Little Passion

December 3, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Chalk one up for the solos and small firms.  For what it’s worth, we dominate the ranks of the Third Annual ABA Blawg 100.  By contrast, only two large firm blogs made the cut, Mark Herrmann observes at Drug and Device Law, one of the chosen. Mark contends the lack of an engaging voice accounts [...]

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Second Chance Solo

November 9, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

What would you do if you were exonerated after spending twelve years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit?  Would you spend the rest of your days justifiably bitter, complaining about the injustice of a legal system that could convict an innocent man?  Or would you feel gratitude towards those lawyers who helped to [...]

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Real Life Lessons for Lawyers from the Fashion Industry

August 16, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Last week, I took a quick hop up to New York with my daughters to visit Banana Republic‘s design studios.  The trip came courtesy of my lucky 12 year old, Elana who won both the tour and $400 in spending money in a contest at Miss O and Friends.  Though I was happy for my [...]

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The Path Not Intended

October 26, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

One thing that you probably don’t know about me is that when it comes to driving, I’m hopelessly and completely directionally impaired.  On foot or bike, I can navigate easily virtually anywhere under the sun, but somehow, finding my way to a new location while driving at high speeds and trying to avoid an accident [...]

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