My Shingle

Project Solo

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Project Solo is a place for solo and small firm lawyers to leverage expenses and collaborate on projects to improve their practices and better serve clients, explore and devise solutions to tough legal questions and 21st century challenges facing lawyers and educate the public about the law.

Though Project Solo won’t formally launch until next month, here’s how it will work:

    MyShingle will propose one or two site wide projects, but more importantly, we’ll seek projects from readers;
    Each proposal should include a break down of tasks, description of desired “team members” and expected costs;
      1. Sample projects might include (a) writing a cert petition for a United States Supreme Court case; (b) collaborating on a scholarly journal article; (c) creating a group blog; (d) co-authoring an ebook or (e) developing a phone app for clients. The list is limited only by your imagination.

      2. Once a group is formed, MyShingle and staff will assist with facilitating the project including appointing a project manager or assistant (if desired or necessary), providing direction, suggesting (or providing) a platform for participation and offering resources and guidance on potential ethics issues and other support.

      Project Solo participation is limited to site registrants and attorneys who can demonstrate that they are in good standing with the bar where they are licensed (thanks to sites like Avvo, we can also verify that as well.

    2. Once the project is listed, readers can respond, with the group leader selecting project members;

    As for the first project that MyShingle will lead, here’s one suggestion:

    Debt settlement and debt management companies and “foreclosure specialists” are preying on consumers, many times enabled by bad apple lawyers. In fact, the FTC is now poised to crack down on attorneys’ ability to assist with foreclosure prevention by banning up front fees (which lawyers hold in trust). Most of these companies advertise on late night television, when consumers are lonely and vulnerable. Well, now, through collaboration and Google TV Ads , the solo and small firm lawyers who represent this population can have a say. Project Solo # 1 will involve creation of a television ad (or series of ads) by lawyers, suitable for Google TV, that informs customers about their rights and warns them against falling victim to these predatory companies. By pooling resources and talent, Project Solo lawyers can create an educational ad, place it on TV and share the costs. Each lawyer could then post the ad individually as a video on their respect website so that consumers would continue to reap the benefits.

    So what do you think? That’s just one of the kinds of projects that I have in mind for Project Solo. If you’re interested in participating in this project, or others, please fill out the form below. And watch for more information on Project Solo next month!