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Office Options

Office Debate Follow Up: Sustainable Solos, Sustainable Families

April 12, 2013 by Carolyn Elefant

This post is a quick follow up to Would You Rent Office Space for $500 or Less? which has generated some useful feedback from other solos weighing in with personal experiences and opinions.  While you should read the comments directly, they generally fall into the following clusters of viewpoints: 1. Don’t start a firm unless [...]

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Would You Rent Office Space If It Only Cost $500/Month – And What Can We Do To Make That Happen?

April 10, 2013 by Carolyn Elefant

[Note - this is a long read, and it's about much more than the home vs. office debate but rather, the importance of affordable office space to the sustainability of solos and long term access to justice] Fishtown Lawyer Jordan Rushie makes some strong arguments in favor of renting office space when starting a firm. [...]

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If You’re Looking to Work Away From Your Home or Office, There May be a Desk Near You…

November 13, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Starbucks isn’t the only salvo for home office lawyers in search of a cure for cabin fever.  Thanks to this neat little site, Desksnear.me, lawyers who want a change of scenery from their current work environment, or who need a place to bill time while on the road or at an [...]

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More on Coworking Options for Lawyers

September 18, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

A few months ago, I questioned whether the real estate market is keeping pace with solo needs.  But options are increasing, not just for entrepreneurs looking for co-working space, but lawyers as well. For example, here’s an article about a Minneapolis attorney who’s now a co-working tenant after rejecting other options: Minneapolis attorney K.M. Davis [...]

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Office Space Options

July 30, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Along with several other solo colleagues, I’m quoted in this exhaustive Maryland Daily Record  piece on office rental options here in the D.C. area.  One aspect of the article that surprised me is the wide disparity in rental prices across the region.  One of the attorneys profiled pays $1900 for space in Beltsville, Maryland that [...]

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Has The Real Estate Market Kept Pace With Solo And Small Law Firms’ Demands?

July 19, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the changing look of law firm offices. To make more efficient use of space in a down economy, firms are reducing office size, assigning the same sized offices irrespective of seniority and moving lawyers to interior spaces once reserved for administrative staff.  Firms are also shifting [...]

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Does It Make Your Heart Sing? A Litmus Test for Law Firm Decisions

June 28, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

My first permanent office, a sublet space in a marble-column-ed Class B building down the street from the White House,  was hardly the fanciest in Washington D.C., particularly back in the mid-’90s when big law firm partners still tried to impress clients with mahogany conference room tables and ginormous corner offices.  Furnished with cast-offs from [...]

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Solos at the Second [Circuit]: The Battle over the Constitutionality of NY Jud. Code Sec. 470 Continues

April 25, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

I’m fast learning that lawyers’ can’t just act as advocates in defending rights or effecting change in the law; sometimes, we’ve got to play the role of litigant. As I’ve posted previously, I’m defending the First Amendment not as an attorney but as a defendant and client. And now, I’m an amicus along with a [...]

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Don’t Let Not Having An Office Deter You From Your Dream of Starting A Practice

March 28, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

After reading the recent posts and ensuing discussion on the perennial question of home office versus rental office over at Lawyerist and Above the Law , feels like it’s deja- Foonberg all over again.  Because just like Foonberg, both Tannebaum at ATL and most of commenters on Josh Camson’s Lawyerist post uniformly maintain that Renting [...]

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Get in On the Ground Floor With Clients By Providing The Ground Floor

March 6, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant

Want to get in on the ground floor with a start up? One law firm, albeit a large one, Foley, Lardner is doing just that. According to the Chicago Business Journal, a new co-working space for entrepreneurs called Catapult just launched in Chicago, and its secured a home free of charge, courtesy of Foley. In [...]

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