Moms, Law and Change

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.  But motherhood itself is also the mother of invention – or more accurately, the engine behind creative, entrepreneurial ideas to make motherhood more compatible with legal practice.  This article, The Lawyer Moms, Boston Globe (5/8/05) reports on  on such mom-lawyer-inventor, Patty Campbell Malone, who along with…

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Can You Make Your Hobby Into A Law Practice?

This article, Lawyer by Day, Fashion Designer by Night, Skirts the Issue, Portland Press Herald (5/8/05) reports on Maine attorney Margaret Minister O’Keefe, a law firm partner who represents local artists and designers by day and has created her own fashion label by night.  O’Keefe had always sewed but started up again when her first…

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What If You Never Leave…

This sad story, Lawyer, 35, Dies After Winning Swimming Race, New York Lawyer (5/5/05) drives home the importance of following one’s dream.  The article reports that Brendon Wen, a young attorney and solo criminal practitioner, died of heart failure after winning a masters race with his best time ever.  But the article also described Wen’s…

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Comparative Advertising: Keep This As Proof!

According to this article, A New Trend Among Firms:  Comparative Advertising, Leigh Jones, NLJ (5/4/05), large firms are taking off the kid gloves when it comes to marketing, including Oblon, Spivak’s ads that proclaim superiority over other biglaw competitors that are identified by name in the ad.  That’s funny, because over at Legal Underground, Evan…

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Maryland Bar Ruling Banning NonLawyer/Lawyer Referral Groups Discriminates Against Solo and Small Firms

Sometimes a bar association issues a decision that’s so impervious to the realities of legal practice that you have to wonder whether those who drafted it ever practiced law.  That’s my thought about the Maryland Disciplinary Committee’s recent Ethics Decision, Ethics Docket 05-11,  Participation in For-Profit Referral Organization with Non-Attorneys and discussed further in this…

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Malpractice Isn’t Only A Small Firm Problem

According to this National Law Journal article, How Small Firms Can Ward Off Malpractice, most legal malpractice actions are filed against small firms, with one to five attorneys: Solos and small-firm attorneys find themselves particularly vulnerable to charges of malpractice. According to the American Bar Association, most malpractice suits are filed against lawyers in firms…

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