Archive for December 2004
Can An Hourly Rate Ever Be Excessive?
We’ve had much discussion here over whether an hourly rate can be too low. But can an hourly rate ever be excessive? Consider the new increases in biglaw billing rates reported in Law Firm Billing Rates Climb Even Higher, National Law Journal (12/9/04). The article reports that at the upper end, one firm charges $875/hour…
Read MoreWanted: Spanish Speaking Lawyers. Will Train.
Here’s an interesting idea: The Iowa Bar Association Wants Lawyers to Speak Spanish AP (December 8, 2004). The bar would have the state’s lawyers take Spanish lessons to help the state’s fast-growing Hispanic population. Wonder if this might qualify as CLE?
Read MoreMaking Ends Meet When Starting A Firm
This article, Money Matters, from Small Firm Business (12/6/04) offers new shinglers advice on money matters, from how to make ends meet when starting out to funding retirement. The article is really too brief to be of much value, but it does make the point about the importance of keeping overhead low in the beginning,…
Read MoreWhat A Client’s Going To Do
Of all of the articles written on how to best deal with clients, I find ones such as this, Learn to Love Your Lawyer , Mark Obbie, Inc.com (December 2004) most valuable. Why’s that? Because Obbie’s article provides how-to advice on what clients should do to manage their attorneys. By reading articles like Obbie’s, we…
Read MoreMore on Lawyer Rates
Reader attorney Frank Kautz passed on to me this link to the “Laffey Matrix,” which lists the court approved hourly rates for fee shifting case in the District of Columbia. The rates start at $105/hr for paralegals and law clerks and top out at $380/hour for attorneys with 20 years of experience or more. The…
Read MoreHow Do Your Rates – and Income – Stack Up?
Solo practioners in Central New York make about $50,000 a year, making them on average the lowest paid lawyers in the state, followed by solos in Buffalo who, in second place, earn $67,000. These statistics are included in this article in the Central New York Business Journal (12/5/04) which reports on the findings of the…
Read MoreAnother Reason to Back Up
As if you needed another reason to back up your files, this article offers one that may not have occurred to you but is yet another compelling reason to keep doing it.
Read MoreA Perspective on the Lynne Stewart Trial
By Mark Sindler A rather lengthy criminal prosecution in a Manhattan federal courtroom is nearing its end after having begun in June 2004. It has notoriety if only because the lead defendant is a well-known (at least in New York City) and very capable criminal defense attorney. Her name is Lynne Stewart, and even though…
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