My Shingle

Hire Fiverr

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:02:02 +0000

Right now, there’s a conversation on Solosez.net about favorite uses for Fiverr, a site that bills itself as “the world’s largest marketplace for small services, starting at $5. Turns out, many solos are using Fiverr, with good success, for blog banners, photo retouching and other small projects. I’ve also seen services for business card design, logos and a handwritten signature (a colleague of mine created an e-signature for me years ago and it’s extremely handy).

Initially, I wondered about whether those using Fiverr can earn anything worthwhile, apparently, some folks generate a few thousand dollars in cash by doing simple tasks on volume. Think about it – if you’re skilled enough to cut a video opening in 10 minutes and can churn out six in an hour, that’s $30, which honestly, is more than document reviewers earn these days. Plus, a couple of people on Solosez added that they’ve hired their Fiverr contractors for projects at higher rates, so it does offer a way to get in front of a prospect quickly without completely working on spec.

Of course, there are also get-what-you-pay for drawbacks to Fiverr. There’s at least one report of a provider who embedded malware in a site, plus there are lots of participants who offer SEO services of questionable repute that lawyers would do best to avoid.

In full disclosure, I have been intrigued by, but have not used Fiverr – and most likely, I probably wouldn’t if I were interested in top quality work. Still, for the cost of a Lincoln (how symbolic, since he was a solo!), solos can have a little fun and maybe get something useful in the process.

Have you used Fiverr? Share your opinion in the comment section.

MyShingle’s Referral/Thank You Gift Survey, MT/HT @LeannaHamill

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:23:51 +0000

Update – Note: If you send handwritten notes or even emails to thank referrals, feel free to include that in the thank you category – and if you’re using notes or cards, please share the name of the vendor as well!

It’s only fitting that a post seeking input on referral and thank you gifts ought to begin with a thank you. The idea for this project, described in more detail below, grew directly out of the tweet below sent by Massachusetts Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney,

I’m neither sufficiently techie nor patient to even attempt to implement Leanna’s actual suggestion. Yet I too suffer from an utter void of original ideas for gifts to thank others for a referral or an effort beyond the call of ordinary collegial duty — like peer reviewing a 75 page article or covering an active while I’m on vacation. The solution? Put the question to my readers (as I did last year with tech issues) to see what gifts you like to give and receive as thank you’s. The survey will run through the end of August and I’ll publish the results shortly thereafter. To participate in the survey, click here: MyShingle’s Referral/Thank You Gift Survey

A couple of caveats. First and most importantly, be aware that some states do not permit lawyers to give gifts, even of de minimis value. The theory in these jurisdictions that gift-giving, whether before or after a referral is made constitutes the “giving of something of value in exchange for referral” which is verboten in virtually every jurisdiction. When I post the survey responses, I’ll try to include some additional research and ethics opinions on whether gift giving is permitted but bear in mind that mileage on use of these gifts, at least as thank you’s for a referral (as opposed to a holiday gift or thank you for filing a motion) may vary.

Second, the survey includes an “honor system” certification that you don’t own or receive financial benefits from promoting a particular gift item. I have no way to enforce this certification but I’m hoping that at least putting it out there will deter potential offenders (I know, I’m naive that way…)

Third, though I’m hoping for lots of responses from lawyers, the survey is open to and relevant for any service providers who rely on referrals and positive relationships with others to succeed.

Finally, you are certainly not required to include your identity – but if you do and you’ve suggested a really unique gift idea, you may receive a gift yourself. Leanna certainly will!

And with that, have at it – the MyShingle Referral/Thank You Gift Survey is open for business!

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Help an Unemployed Lawyer, New Solo or Law Student and Help Yourself

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:31:31 +0000

If you’re a busy solo, as the year comes to a close you probably have a bunch of projects that you’d hoped to accomplish in 2010, but that still remain on the back burner. Maybe you’d hoped to round up the most recent cases related to subpoenaing Facebook accounts or to write an article on a new law that might impact your clients or to set up a research file comprised of cases that you frequently cite. Well, why not give yourself a gift and get the work done, and help another lawyer besides by hiring a law student, an unemployed lawyer or even a new solo to do the work for you?

I’m not suggesting that you spend thousands of dollars. Rather, you could put together a scope of work and assign a fair price – maybe $50 for help with a blog post, or $250 for a fully researched article. As with a charitable contribution, you’d even get a tax deduction as a business expense. Clearly, these prices aren’t going to pay a law student’s tuition for the upcoming year or enable a new solo to make rent, but it could pay for books or CLE. More importantly, by hiring someone to work for you on a project basis, it’s a resume-builder that looks much more impressive than contract work or even an unpaid internship. And if you’re able to generate business as a result of the work you commissioned, you might even be able to farm out more work.

I know lots of students and new solos are willing to work for free, to gain experience in exchange for labor. Likewise, others may fall prey to crowd-sourcing scams, where they’re asked to work for free — perhaps writing blog posts for revenue-generating sites so that others can prosper or researching cases with a promise of payment if the lawyer generates income, so the new solo takes all the risk. There are already plenty of honest opportunities for unpaid work in the legal profession: it’s called pro bono. What I’m proposing here is different; that irrespective of a new solo’s or student’s willingness to work free, you pay them anyway. Pay then so that they’ll feel pride in earning money and so that they’ll realize that they have skills that have monetary value. For a few dollars, you’ll give students and new solos an important psychological boost in these tough times.

You don’t need to go to Craig’s List and in fact, I’d avoid it for this kind of project. Instead, take a look around your community, the web, your listserves and around Twitter. If there’s a student or new solo who impresses you and who seems to be in need of work, reach out. Once upon a time, someone helped you get your start. Why not pay it forward?

Back of the Napkin Business Plan for Starting a Law Firm

Carolyn Elefant — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:24:03 +0000

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, putting to paper income projections (a big fat zero) merely heightens feelings of hopelessness.

Believe it or not, the details of starting a practice – where you’ll locate and the corporate form you’ll adopt and even where you’ll find clients – don’t matter, at least at the outset. What’s most important is (1) your vision of what you want to accomplish and why you even want to practice law, and (2) identifying a few tangible baby steps to start you on your way, and jolt you out of either malaise or the endless cycle of tail-chasing, start-up activity.

To help you focus on what matters, I’ve created the MyShingle.com “Back of the Napkin Business Plan.” The plan distills these tasks into a half-sheet of paper and offers up a couple of inspiring quotes to keep you motivated. Print it out and take to the beach or on a quiet hike – or scribble up your own back of the napkin, using these somewhat more sophisticated tools courtesy of this terrific website, TheBackoftheNapkin.com. Because once you settle on why practicing law matters and what you you want to create, the rest of details will fall into place, more easily than you ever could imagine.

MyShingle.com Back of the Napkin Law Firm Business Plan

My Shingle Round Up: Avoiding Scams, Perils of Court Appointed Work, Solo Stigma and Marketing & Tech Tips

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Sorry for the increased number of solo round up posts in the past few weeks, but I am getting ready to head out to Tech Show Wednesday with several deadlines yet to meet. Looking forward to the upcoming publication of Social Media for Lawyers and co-presenting with Niki Black at Tech Show. Stop by and say hello!

Lawyer-Scam Alert: Bad things can happen to good lawyers. Here’s how to avoid one bad thing — getting scammed-- from William Chuang.

Don’t Make Court Appointed Work a Full Time Day Job: One reason why lawyers shouldn’t rely on one major client for revenue – especially when that one client is a government program paying for indigent defense: because you never can tell when that gray train might end. Court appointed work is admirable and a great way to earn some money – but
it wasn’t meant to be a full time job.

Adobe Pro Worth the Pay: Is Adobe Professional still worthwhile with so many free PDF writers available? I’d have to agree with Oregon practice management advisor Beverly Michaelis and say yes, for many of the reasons Beverly cites.

Small Law Stigma: Oh, the stigma of working for small law! Maybe all of this is true. But even so, why is that advice columnist Ann Israel never has a kind word to say about the solo option?

Webinars & Facebook Advertising: From my posts at Nolo Legal Marketing Blawg – Using Webinars to Market to Clients and Should Lawyers Advertise on Facebook? Part I and Part II.

Solo Blogosphere Round Up

Carolyn Elefant — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000

1. Lisa Solomon takes on Westlaw – It shouldn’t take a detective to figure out the answer to one single question: How much will WestlawNext cost? Yet, apparently, it does and so my friend, Lisa Solomon of Legal Research and Writing pro has been investigating. Lisa hasn’t yet figured out the price, but she’s figured out something else: WestlawNext isn’t interested in the solo market.

2. Got a Bar Complaint? Get Tannebaum. Brian Tannebaum of MyLawLicense has another great e-book out, I Got a Bar Complaint which you can download by clicking on the URL. Probably a good idea to read the ebook before you even get a complaint.

3. Newbie Solo Shows That Skills Training is Overrated: There’s a terrific solo success story here that’s been making the rounds on a bunch of blogs, about newbie lawyer and solo Wajahat Ali’s first case: fending off a foreclosure action for two terrified clients, already scammed once by another foreclosure attorney. Ali’s training for the case? He crammed for the case using Nolo books (disclosure: Nolo is a sponsor of MyShingle) and Internet research. Who says you need to learn skills in law school?

4. A Pair of Marketing Lessons: I have two new posts up at the Legal Marketing Blawg : Three Es of Cold Emails and A Word About Logos.

5. Small law attorney Jim Reed of Ziff Law does some undercover work on a recent e-mail scam that’s nabbed several lawyers. As an added bonus, Reed offers two suggestions to avoid getting duped: (1) don’t disburse funds til a check clears and (2) remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. H/T New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog.

Why You Should Take Advantage of Interviews Even if You’re Thinking About Starting a Firm

Carolyn Elefant — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:36:22 +0000

I know it sounds crazy, but one of the best things that you can do if you’re thinking about starting a law practice is…interview for jobs. I know that to many of you, a job interview sounds like an utter waste of time or an unnecessary diversion when you’re focused on starting a firm, but as discussed below, there are a number of benefits that an interview can produce.

First, an interview is often the easiest way to get inside a law firm. Many times, lawyers, particularly those at larger firms, won’t take calls from lawyers or law students whom they don’t know. An interview forces an introduction. Once the interview concludes, you can follow up with a nice note thanking the lawyer for taking the time to talk and expressing desire to work together in the future, no matter where you wind up. That leaves the door open to reconnect down the line if and when you start your own firm.

Second, if you make a good impression, an interview may create opportunities for alternative work arrangements that can help you as you start your practice. For example, you may be able to arrange to work for the firm 15 hours a week, and spend time on your own practice (of course, you would want to disclose this to your employer). Or perhaps the firm won’t want to guarantee you a set number of hours weekly, but might keep you in mind for a project basis. In this economy, firms may still need help though not full time and they may be open to discuss non-conventional, mutually beneficial arrangements.

Third, interviews are also a form of competitive intelligence, a way of putting your finger on the pulse on the industry. On interviews, you can ask lawyers whether the economy has impacted a particular area of practice or where they see an area of law headed in the next few years.

Finally, if you’re truly on the fence about whether to open your own practice, an interview can help cement your decision. Nothing like seeing a pale, red-eyed, nervous associate straining to express enthusiasm for document review to make you realize that you spending even as little as a year or two at a firm isn’t for you.

So is it ethical to interview for a job that you may not want? Sure – after all that’s what interviews are for. Many times, a job may seem ideal on paper, but an interview can change your mind. In short, when you interview for a job, you’re never committed to accept an offer. Likewise, there’s always a possibility that a job you’ve interviewed for wows you enough to hold off on your plans for going solo, at least for a year or two. There’s nothing wrong with that either.

Further, an interview gives the firm a chance to meet you, someone whom they may not have otherwise encountered. In fact, after meeting you, the firm might realize that hiring a lawyer on a contract basis makes more sense than bringing on a full time employee.

So if you see an ad for a position that tempts you or if a colleague offers to set you up with an interview for a firm in town, don’t turn it down out of hand. It might lead to opportunities that you never considered, but nevertheless would embrace.

Homann’s Top Ten For Solos

Carolyn Elefant — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:01:08 +0000

Once a cutting edge solo lawyer before moving on to new ventures, Matt Homann hasn’t forgotten what it takes to succeed. And he’s boiled them down here with Confuscious-like insight, precision and brevity. Though I like every point, I think my favorite is the last:

There is no shame in going solo. Your clients don’t care that the legal market tanked, that you got laid off from BIGLAW or that you “wanted more time to spend with your family.” They have their own problems, and are looking to you solve them. When you do, you’ll both profit.

Take a look at the rules and let me know which you like best. Or whether you’d add others to the list.

Why Not Outsource Innovation to Solo and Small Firms?

Carolyn Elefant — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:59:27 +0000

I’m still fascinated by the concept of outsourcing innovation that I referenced in passing in this post from earlier today. According to this Business Week article, countries like India and China paying American corporations to develop products, or put another way, they are outsourcing innovation.

So I got to thinking…why couldn’t large law firms outsource innovation to solo and small firms. Let’s face it, with San Francisco-based Thelen being the latest firm to collapse (HT Above the Law ), biglaw needs help — and solo and small firms have always been ahead of the curve., with biglaw shadowing our every move.

Recall, it was a solo who pushed the issue of lawyer advertising to the Supreme Court Bates v. Arizona, and for better or worse, every AmLaw 100 firm these days boasts a robust marketing division. It was small firms, like Greg Siskind’s shop that pioneered use of the web for advertising with sites like Visalaw, and now, every major firm has one. it’s been solos who took the lead in integrating blogging, social networking and Twitter into their marketing and relationship building portfolios, venues where biglaw is just starting to tread, lightly.

But olos don’t just pioneer marketing tools; they also create new business models for law firms. Former solo and Supreme Court expert Tom Goldstein came up with the idea of cold-calling for circuit split cases and handling them pro bono to get before the court – and today, most firms that lack Supreme Court experience will go to any measure to snag a High Court case. Independents like Enricho Schaeffer are changing the way law is practiced, making the virtual law office accessible to all lawyers like Stephanie Kimbro or providing a new way for lawyers to gain training and build relationships, courtesy of Susan Cartier Liebel’s new Solo Practice University. And the list goes on; there are dozens of examples of this kind of exciting innovation in solo-land (feel free to post your own examples in the comments).

So why do solo and small firm lawyers innovate? For starters, as we all know, necessity is the mother of invention, so we’re constantly coming up with ways to bring in clients to pay the mortgage or send our kids to college or free up an afternoon so we can slip out early. Second, we solos and small firms answer only to ourselves; there are no committees or multiple levels of bureaucracy through which to vet our ideas. So we can go from idea to implementation almost instaneously. Finally, we solos don’t experience the same risks in innovation as does a large firm. If we decide, for example, to explore a new practice area, we might hire a contract lawyer to research it, and help develop marketing materials. Since we don’t invest much up front, if our hunch turns out wrong, no major loss. By contrast, when large firms leap they often commit big resources which means that if the strategy doesn’t work, they lose big time.

So why don’t large firms outsource innovation to the experts and insulate themselves from the risk? I see this model all the time in the utilty business. Large utilities rarely construct power plants these days, but instead, purchase power from independents which assume the risk of construction overruns or regulatory uncertainty. A large firm could retain a small firm to explore a new practice area and perhaps create an of counsel relationship to get the practice off the ground. The small firm would be well compensated for its intellectual capital, and the firm would keep the new practice at the end of the day. Plus, the small firm might position itself for overflow work or clients too small for the large firm to handle profitably.

As I said in my earlier post, large firms aren’t much interested in sending contract work or referrals to solos. But at this point, my guess is that they’re fairly desperate for innovation wherever they can find it. So why not convince them to outsource that need…to you!

How Cutting Costs Make A Difference in Your Bottom Line

Carolyn Elefant — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:23:43 +0000

Most solos realize that cutting overhead can sustantially increase our bottom line. That’s why increasingly, many solos favor virtual offices over costly downtown space, or prefer to outsource projects to deal with short term work spurts to avoid adding new staff. But if you’re still not convinced that cutting costs can make a real difference in your income, consider the example of Google (disclosure: my husband is a Google employee). According to this news item, even in this tough economic climate, Google managed to increase revenues and profits by slowing recruitment (hiring 519 people compared to 2130 the previous quarter) and downsized some of the selections in the free employee cafeteria (though if they have, my husband hasn’t really noticed).

Of course, cutting too much from the budget can hurt you in the long run. Below the jump are some suggestions for where you may be able to cut:

1. Office rental: If you’re having trouble making rent each month, maybe it’s time to revisit that expense. Moving from an office rental to a home office or home and virtual arrangement can save several thousands of dollars a year, not to mention the stress and worry of paying rent each month. For some lawyers, the home solution isn’t feasible because of lack of space or feelings of isolation, while others may use the office just enough that a per-diem office arrangement wouldn’t represent any real savings.

Alternatively, perhaps your office is large enough to accomodate two desks and your landlord will let you share your space with another lawyer – for instance, you’ll take Mondays and Wednesdays, your sublessee can have two other days and you can trade off the last. The arrangement will cut your rent in half and create a good deal for another lawyer. Just be sure that if you adopt this approach, that you secure your files and don’t share computer equipment.

2. Malpractice Insurance Back after 9/11 in a similar economic climate, I opened what I thought was my renewal letter and discovered that my insurer was going out of business, and the company to which my account would be transferred was planning to double my rates. By then, I had joined Solosez, and after asking around, collected rate estimates from a few companies, including CNA. The CNA coverage was even less than I’d been paying under my original policy, plus gave me more coverage with a smaller deductible! I’ve been with CNA ever since, and have recommended the company to other lawyers.

Even if you can’t find a cheaper insurer, there are other ways to lower your rates short of dropping the policy entirely — which incidentally, is not a wise choice in these troubled times, when clients are all to eager to sue or grieve lawyers who achieve poor results. For example, you could increase your deductible or perhaps, lower coverage limits if you still feel sufficiently comfortable with the resulting added risks. Don’t, however, drop the component of coverage that provides representation in grievance proceedings. Again, in times like this, clients are more likely to grieve lawyers, and you don’t want to find yourself naked, without representation before a disciplinary committee.

3. Staff I know that in this climate, no one wants to cut employees. But if the choice is between paying your employee’s salary or preserving the economic viability of your law firm, you need to choose the latter.

Many experts recommend cutting the ties with an employee entirely rather than trying to offer accomodations such as part time hours, since the employee could retaliate and do damage on the job. You’ll have to use your judgment here as to whether cutting back hours will work for a given employee. If you feel you need to make a clean break, but you still have administrative tasks that you can’t manage on your own, you can hire a virtual assistant or part timer to fill the gaps.

4. Legal Research Costs: These days, lawyers need some kind of computerized legal research service, but unless you specialize in legal research and writing or handle a large volume of complex federal matters, you can probably get by without top of the line service. These days, many state bars offer research packages like Casemaker, Versuslaw or Fastcase as a free or nominally priced benefit of membership. For most lawyers, particularly those with exclusively state practices (I still don’t full trust the comprehensiveness of the federal district court databases on any of these sites, though they’ve improved considerably), these low end tools, supplemented by a visit to a law school or public library to use the free Westlaw kiosk, should suffice.

As for lawyers who require specialty databases (in my case, energy regulatory), consider single library subscriptions which give much of what you need day to day. Or if you can’t get by with less than the best, see if it’s possible to pair up with another solo to split an account.

5. Marketing Costs A downtime is certainly NOT the time to cut down on marketing costs. But, it is a terrific time to review the results you’ve obtained from past efforts. If, for example, you spend $400/month on Google search terms and never snagged a single paying clients, drop the service. Or perhaps you’re spending a couple of hundred dollars a month on lunches and bar networking events, again, without much result. Why not turn lunch into a cup of coffee (much cheaper) or invite a group of people you want to meet to low priced happy hour or a brown bag presentation at your office. You’ll get to reconnect with colleagues and save yourself the price of a bar event where you likely come away empty handed. And review all of the bar dues that you pay — some may not yield much of a return, so now’s the time to withdraw. You can always return when business picks up again.

6. Supplies As a solo, you may not buy enough of anything to really save on supplies – but at least, you can find ways to reward yourself a little. Sign up for incentive programs at stores like Staples or Office Depot, or take advantage of coupon programs on line. Every few months, you’ll get coupons or gift certificates that will let you splurge on something for yourself or your staff.

7. Technology There are many, many free applications available online from project management web apps to billing to word processing programs. Some may not be at all adequate for your needs, but others will help fill the gaps until cash starts to flow. Take the time to see what’s out there before thumbing your nose at it.

8. Make Due Yes, you want to upgrade to the new version of the iPhone or junk your laptop because the battery doesn’t last as long as it once did. Do you need to make those changes now, or can you get by until the economy picks up? For example, while laptops are cheap, you can cure the battery problem by simply buying a second battery which is less expensive than a new machine. As for the new phone, will looking cutting edge really increase your business? In some practice areas it might, but in others, clients simply don’t notice.

The same goes for clothing. If you work from home, you really don’t need all that many suits for work. You may grow tired of wearing the same outfit several times a month, but if you’re not seeing the same people, no one will notice.

These are just some suggestions – you, my readers, most likely have many more, so share them below.