Ideas & Tips

If you’re a solo trying to break into a new practice area, beef up your existing corporate experience or learn new skills, then serving on a non-profit board may be just the ticket.  This piece from Fast Company touts the many professional benefits of serving on a non-profit board which include: 1.    Learn about an…

As my colleague Julie Tower Pierce and I prepare for our upcoming Part Time Shingle teleseminar August 27 (click link for details and to register), we’ve decided that we’ll cram in a few more topics in addition to those discussed in this description.  These include responding to questions such as: I’m working part time, but…

Conventional wisdom says that lawyers can’t hang a part time shingle.  But then again, we’re hardly conventional.  Though challenging (and what part of life isn’t?!), you can start a practice part time, for a variety of reasons such as not wanting to lose your day job or desire to spend more time with family.  We’ll…

New law graduates embarking on the practice of law in Utah won’t have to stumble around helplessly as they try to figure out the nuts and bolts of law practice.  According to the Salt Lake City Tribune (H/T ABA Journal) Utah has just implemented a mandatory mentoring program that pairs all new attorneys (not just solos)…

File this story under “What were they thinking?”  That was my first reaction when I read this disciplinary decision, Cincinnati Bar Association v. Mullaney, in which three lawyers were sanctioned  for partnering up with Foreclosure Solutions, a non-lawyer company which referred the lawyers foreclosure cases (yes, that’s right – cases where folks were about to…

Fittingly, it was a solo – Eric Turkewitz – who broke the story of Supreme Court nominee, Sonya_Sotomayor‘s foray into solo practice under the firm name, Sotomayor and Associates –impermissible name under New York ethics rules given that Sotomayor did not have any associates working for her firm.  The issue has created enough of a…

My dad was what you’d call a company man; he worked as a chemist for a major pharmaceutical company for 35 years until he retired in 1997, avid to spend time with his first grandchild and the six others who would later follow.   My dad’s job didn’t offer much flexibility in terms of dress…

A few years back, I highlighted a small firm specializing in veterans’ issues.  Now, four years later demand for legal services for veterans remains high.  Fortunately, for solos considering veterans rights and benefits as a practice area, there are multiple opportunities for first rate, hands on training. Today, the Maryland Daily Record discusses the HPRP…