My Shingle

MyShingle Solo

A Blog Post for My Father

February 1, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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This blog has been dark for several days, since my father died on Saturday, an unbearably sad event made worse by the circumstances surrounding his passing. Temporarily, our family has put these events out of our mind to focus on his life and our memories like these. Regular postings will resume early next week. My [...]

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Blogging to Change the World

January 26, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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Update (1/26/12, 11 am) Here’s Scott’s post, Un-Optimization, which was also referenced by Kevin. Read the post yourself, but as I interpret it, Scott argues you can’t have it both ways: if you write what you believe in or what is controversial, you take a chance that you will offend or drive others away. If [...]

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To Blog Right, You Need to Imagine Your Audience

January 26, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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Of all of the commandments of blogging, know and write for your audience ranks at the top of the list.  But for those who blog to silent crowds who never email or send comments, the primary source of information about our readers comes through statistical data generated by our stat counters on the popularity of [...]

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There is Nothing Wrong With Trying, Failing and Being Honest About It.

January 20, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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So, a lawyer walks on to Groupon, offers a $99 will, scores some coverage in the ABA Journal, sells 53 of the $99 will packages (with Groupon taking a 50 percent cut) and generates 150 calls and emails from other lawyers who are interested as well as some “uncharitable” commentary.  Now, he’s decided against using [...]

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A Solo-bomination of An Attorneys Fees Decision

January 9, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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Would you sacrifice six weeks of revenue for six years and instead, spend those six weeks toiling pro bono for a snowball’s chance in hell of victory before the United States Supreme Court? Small firm lawyer Alan Gura did. A partner in the two-lawyer firm of Gura and Possessky, Gura was just 32 and eight [...]

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Taking A Break & Questions for Readers

December 22, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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I’m not sure why I ever bother to blog the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Most folks either skip town or are frantically racing to meet end-of-year deadlines. Either way, it makes for absent or distracted readers. In fact, that’s generally why I save my New Year’s predictions for January (2009, 2010 and 2011). [...]

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The Miracle of the Solo

December 20, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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[Warning - Hanukkah-themed post ahead, if you would rather avoid religious-oriented content] Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah, a joyous Jewish holiday that holds special meaning for me as a solo. From the small band of Maccabees triumphing over the Syrian army to the tiny drop of oil that fueled the eternal flame for [...]

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MyShingle Celebrates Its 9th Blawg-i-versary

December 10, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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On December 9, 2002, I launched MyShingle into the blawgosphere with this Welcome Post. At the time, I had no idea where my site was headed but I was excited to join the first generation of legal blawgers, particularly as one of the few solos among them. Over time, the seeds that I planted took [...]

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MyShingle Is Proud to Be Part of the 18 Percent

December 2, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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Solos comprise at least 60 percent of practicing lawyers, yet that’s not always apparent from mainstream legal publications which focus largely on the accomplishments of and matters relevant to large firm practice. Slowly, however, blogs are chipping away at the legal caste system that by giving solos a powerful megaphone to influence the law and [...]

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Solos Don’t Need A Separate Education

November 21, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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By now, you’ve probably seen the New York Times article, What They Don’t Teach Law Students: Lawyering which like some digital version of Helen of Troy, launched a thousand (well, maybe several dozen) blogs — though as Scott Greenfield points out here, there’s lots of fire but no heat; for all of the complaints about [...]

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