Ideas & Tips

Imagine the joy of Maureen Graves, an Orange County attorney who works alone out of her garage when she learned this news. (Fresno Bee, 1/17/05).  Seven years ago, Graves took a case on behalf of special education student Robert Moser for no fee because she thought it would be easily won or settled.  She was…

This article, He’s Sure He’s Right But He’s All Alone (1/9/05) describes the epic of Mark Adams, who finds himself on the brink of losing his law license all because of a case that he filed on behalf of a client back in 2001.   How he went from one situation to the other reflects much…

David Giacalone has this post on how law firm associates ought to start taking responsibility for their long hours rather than expecting the “powers-that-be” to do it for them.  David offers this qutoe by MCI counsel Anastasia Kellfrom a recent article in Washington Lawyer (Jan. 2005) (the D.C. Bar magazine) on The Tyranny of the…

If you’re handling cases that require expert testimony, you may want to videotape expert testimony in advance or face possible malpractice if your expert fails to show.  That’s a lesson that the attorney in this article, Rare Suit Against Expert Witness Highlights Pitfall of Not Showing Up (NJLJ 12/23/04) almost learned the hard way.   In…

Arnie Herz of Legal Sanity (a great blog, by the way, if you’re looking for more satisfaction as a lawyer) has a post about flex time options for attorneys and a link to this article from the Wisconsin Bar Journal.  I’ve always been a proponent of flexible schedules, particularly for attorneys with young children or…

This article, High Court [of Kentucky] Disciplines Lawyers, AP, 12/17/04 reports on five recently sanctioned Kentucky attorneys but it also gives a pretty good overview of the types of violations that attorneys might be taken to task for.  One attorney was temporarily suspended, pending initiation of a disciplinary action for misappopriating funds from clients unless…

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?

These days, the legal profession is sending work out to India.  But here’s an idea from India that might be worth a look over here.  According to this article, Lawyers Demand Stipends, Loans cities.expressindia (11/26/04), the Kharar Bar Association is demanding stipends and interest free loans from the government for junior lawyers to enable them…