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Trends

Taking Back the Law Doesn’t Mean Going Backwards

January 13, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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So, I’m not sure what it was about my post last week, Take Back the Law, that lead a few commenters to suggest that I favor the status quo. I mean, I suppose the fact that I didn’t use buzzwords like entrepreneur (because I’m not, really) or enthusiastically promote unbundled virtual law practice (because in [...]

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Solos, Take Back the Law

January 6, 2012 by Carolyn Elefant
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Each year, I try to identify an overarching theme that will impact solo and small firm practitioners.  And each year, I’ve been dead wrong – either because I’m way too far ahead of the trends, or because my predictions are contaminated by my own wishful thinking. For example, in 2009, I predicted that in the [...]

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Why Does NAMWOLF, An Association for Women & Minority Lawyers Exclude Solos?

September 26, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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Legal excellence knows no color or gender, reads the tagline for the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF). Unfortunately, NAMWOLF’s egalitarian notion of legal excellence doesn’t extend to size: shockingly, NAMWOLF bars women and minority owned solo and two-attorney practices from even applying for membership . For an organization that professes [...]

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Where I’ve Been Hanging Out Online

May 3, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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So I know that there wasn’t much happening  at MyShingle last week. Between my talk on starting a practice at Georgetown Law and three days catching up with clients and colleagues at my trade association’s Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference, I didn’t have much energy left for posting. In addition, I’ve been spending a bit [...]

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I Am Not An Entrepreneur…My Answer to the Most Important Question for Solo Lawyers

February 25, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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Over at his new gig at Above the Law, my blogging colleague and law firm founder/owner Jay Shepherd poses the penultimate question to prospective shinglers:  Do you want to run a business, or do you want to practice law? For Jay, there’s only one right answer: if you want to start a law firm, you’ve [...]

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Just Say No To Free Use of Your User-Generated Content

February 11, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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Conventional, 21st century wisdom says that content wants to be free. That content isn’t worth paying for. That “exposure” in exchange for content is sufficient reward. Funny thing is that those who try to sell you this line don’t have content. And not only do they want yours free, but they want to profit off [...]

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Solo Practice Round Up

January 21, 2011 by Carolyn Elefant
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What’s Up Doc? The medical profession is struggling with the same challenges as the legal profession, including rising tuition costs and enormous student debt (the average is $172,433 (as compared to $45,000- $60,000 for law students, though 25 percent carry debt in excess of $120,000 according to these stats. And like lawyers, doctors are also [...]

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A Match Made in the Blogosphere

October 12, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant
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From afar, they seemed like opposites: a tough New York City criminal law trench warrior with disdain for high faultin’ academics and a talent for effortless and abundant insights and a world-travelling, West Coast civil litigator with a global practice and a penchant for literature and a knack brevity. Yet they spoke each others’ language, [...]

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Let’s Pay New Lawyers To Do CLE

September 15, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant
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Let me start by saying that I don’t like mandatory CLE (I’m not alone in this view either). Frankly, CLE doesn’t improve our profession and worse, gives the public a false sense of security that lawyers are competent. Let’s face it: those lawyers who take their obligations seriously will always take classes, follow relevant blogs [...]

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Upstart Outsmarts LegalZoom

July 29, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant
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If you thought that lawyers couldn’t effectively compete with low-end, quasi-legal providers like Legal Zoom, think again. There’s a new upstart service, aptly named Upstart Legal that’s come up with one formula to take on non-lawyer alternatives. The brainchild of attorney John Gerber, UpStartLegal.com offers a web-based, legal package that gives entrepreneurs the legal documents [...]

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