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Legal Profession Trends

Newbie Lawyers Sidelined in NALP-Biglaw Smackdown

February 18, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

I’ve never been a fan of NALP, the National Association of Legal Professionals.  So far as I’ve been able to tell, the organization focuses almost exclusively on supporting law school career offices in helping students get jobs at biglaw and promoting diversity within biglaw’s ranks.  Even NALP’s public interest initiatives are aimed not at helping [...]

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Persecuted Connecticut Lawyers Totally Well Represented on Ethics Charges by Pullman & Comley; Total Attorneys, Not So Much

November 7, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

[NOTE:  POST UPDATED 11/8/09 at 2:30 pm.  Jump to end of post for updates] Turns out that at least three of the five Connecticut lawyers who are the subject of a disciplinary proceeding for their participation in Total Bankruptcy.com‘s haven’t completely been hung out to dry as I described in my earlier post.  I received an [...]

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Why Isn’t Anyone Speaking for the Five Solos Targeted by the Connecticut Disciplinary Counsel’s Attack on So-Called Referral Services?

November 3, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

So, let’s say that a typical consumer – we’ll call her Jane Consumer – in Connecticut finds herself hounded by creditors and deeply in debt.  Jane’s heard that bankruptcy might help but she doesn’t know if it’s right for her.  After all, Jane Consumer is no deadbeat.  She’s always paid her debts, but with limited [...]

Read more Ethics & Malpractice Issues 14 comments

The DIY Trend Is Gaining Momentum

October 11, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Do it yourself is everywhere, and it’s not just for economic reasons.  As I describe in more detail at this post at Nolo’s Legal Marketing Blawg, consumers are taking matters into their own hands either because they’ve grown up finding answers on the Internet or because technology facilitates DIY transactions.  As I point out, the 21st [...]

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Fee for Advice Sites Pose Traps for the Unwary

July 22, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Originally, I intended to simply file an approving comment on Simple Justice blogger Scott Greenfield’s cautionary expose about Law Guru, but Scott’s post is so important, that it demands additional circulation.  Scott reports on a new initiative by Law Guru.com to compensate lawyers for answers that they provide in response to questions posed by the [...]

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Spaghetti 2.0 and Law Practice – Customizing for Clients

June 4, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Via Jeff Berman of Lawyer Marketing Sync, I discovered this video clip of Malcolm Gladwell discussing how Prego spaghetti sauce successfully took on Ragu by offering customers a few different sauce options – chunky, spicy and a third (which I can’t now remember).  Today, we consumers are accustomed to different varieties of products. But back [...]

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Could You Be A Front for A Firm?

April 14, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

I’m getting ready for my upcoming conference, but couldn’t resist posting about this article that describes the trend of minority owned firms partnering up with larger firms to help meet diversity requirements.  It’s a trend that I mentioned in my book Solo by Choice, so I was interested to learn that the trend has since [...]

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Richard Susskind & The End of Lawyers: What It Means for Solos

March 24, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

By now, you’ve probably read some of the press or blog reviews about Richard Susskind’s recent book, The End of Lawyers.  So you’re probably familiar with Susskind’s main premise that disruptive technologies which routinize or automate certain legal tasks will erode the need for traditional legal services or displace them entirely.  Susskind anticipates that clients [...]

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Solo Trends for 2009

January 5, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Tomorrow and throughout the week, I’ll be posting the essays that I received in response to MyShingle’s Sixth Birthday contest.  But for my first post of the New Year, like many of my blogging colleagues (e.g., Ross Kodner, Neil Squillante,Niki Black and Stephanie Kimbro) I wanted to share some of my predictions for 2009.  I [...]

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No Security Beats False Security Any Day: Free Teleseminar on Why Biglaw Lawyers Should Start A Firm

December 23, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

And so, another biglaw firm — this time, 150 year-old New York based Thacher, Profitt — comes tumbling down.  But though the names may change (think Heller, Ehrman, Thelen and Brobeck.com) the circumstances are virtually identical: Step 1:  Each firm suffers some kind of economic crisis. Step 2:  Rainmaking partners panic and begin to jump [...]

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