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Law Practice Management

Lessons for Solos from Dreier LLP: If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

December 14, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

With the law firm of Dreier LLP on the brink of collapse as the result of founder and sole equity partner Marc Dreier’s multi-million dollar criminal fraud, the firm’s lawyers are learning first hand that if  a work situation sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  Not only will many Dreier lawyers [...]

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Complete v. Cobble v. Cutting Edge: Law Practice Management in the 21st Century

December 8, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

[Note - post has been updated as of 12/8/08] Via Twitter, I discovered this extensive list of law office practice management and technology tools at Practicing Law in the 21st Century, the joint production of the ubiquitous Niki Black, as well as Greg Bell and Matthew Lerner.  Perusing the list, I wondered: with technology so [...]

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An Interesting Technique for Getting Legal Fees Paid: Shouldn’t Lawyers Be Better Than Mobsters?

December 7, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Peter Olson’s Solo in Chicago is another one of those great, unsung blogs that’s been running for years, seamlessly marrying tips on starting a practice with Olson’s own experiences.  A few days ago, Olson posted a link to an article by legal consutant Ellen Freedman from the ISBA journal (not publicly available) entitled Don’t be [...]

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Mindmapping the Process of Starting a Law Firm

November 22, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

As you may know, I’m a new fan of the art of the chart, i.e., the use of graphic depictions to convey an explanation.  Today, thinking about all of the decisions that go into opening a law firm, I decided to attempt a Mind Map of the process.  It’s more complex than I thought, but [...]

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Tips on Meeting Clients At A Virtual Office

November 2, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

For many solo and small firm lawyers, virtual office space offers the optimal compromise between an entirely home-based operation on the one hand, and renting full time office space on the other.  A virtual office arrangement, which may include a mailing address, receptionist service and per diem use of office or conference room space, enables lawyers [...]

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How Cutting Costs Make A Difference in Your Bottom Line

October 17, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

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 [...]

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Your Partner in Life and Law

September 29, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Update – a reader tipped me off to this letter from Bruce Allen’s Marketing Catalyst that seeks a spouse’s buy in when a professional signs up for Allen’s services.  Actually, I think one of the hardest things for a spouse to understand is that new solos need to invest much of their extra in business [...]

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From Reader Michael Smith: A Checklist for Opening A Law Office

July 6, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Have you started the final countdown to opening your practice?  Whether you have six months or 6 week weeks until take-off, you’ll find Michael Smith’s concise article, A Checklist for Opening A Law Office from this month’s issue of the Texas Bar Journal extremely useful.   What qualifies Smith to write this piece?  Well, he started [...]

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LA Solo/Small Firm Conference – I’m Back!

July 2, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

I hope to post more on the terrific Los Angeles County Small and Solo Law Conference where I spoke last week, in particular to share some of what I learned (yes, I don’t know it all yet!) from the impressive panel of speakers at the conference.  But for now, just a quick message to let [...]

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More Resources on Virtual Assistants

June 18, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

For solo and small firm lawyers interested in virtual assistants (see this earlier post), here are two additional resources: A  four part series about using virtual assistants is up at Home Office Warrior.  The series is written from the perspective of a VA. And for the perspective of someone hiring a VA, check out this [...]

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