Ideas & Tips

Back in the day, farmers always hoped for at least one son who could provide free labor to keep the farm running. Likewise, today’s lawyers can also ask their children — or other family members — to lend a hand in the family business. I’ll confess that I’ve done so on more than one occasion.…

Only in the twisted hierarchical legal profession would an increase in the number of women as counsel and staff lawyers be viewed as cause for celebration. Yet according to this Law 360 article, “industry experts are applauding the fact that 40 percent of non-partner and associate roles at law firms are now occupied by women…

Though it’s usually the other way around, every so often, solos and smalls can take a lesson from big law initiatives. Two months ago, I blogged about Holland and Knight’s security lab, where the firm tests its clients’ systems for security flaws and recommends fixes for vulnerabilities – and now, I’ve just come across The…

This post from January 2015 at Above the Law  questions why solos and small firms pay associates so little. Initially, the answer seemed self evident to me: sadly, some solos and smalls are just plain cheap, while others need the help but simply don’t have sufficient resources to bring someone on board. (In case, you’re…

Like the entrepreneurialclients it serves, Washington D.C.-born Innovista Legal is taking a new risk just a few months after its September launch, moving to a 3000-square foot space in Richmond Virginia, reports Richmond Biz Sense. There, the firm will occupy the first commercial space in a mixed-use building.  Although the article doesn’t say what the…

Back in the dark ages when I started my law firm, I took advantage of unemployment benefits to help pay the bills. I’d been working five years before a layoff lead me to hang my shingle, so I figured that I’d paid enough into the system to deserve some support. Although my unemployment benefits maxed…

Do your or your law firm have a succession plan? If you don’t you’re not alone. CNBC reports that a majority of financial advisors — more than two thirds – don’t have a succession plan for their own business – and that’s actually one of the tasks that they’re paid to handle for clients. You…

For years, I’ve been a proponent of relying on independent contractors, freelancers, and other outsourced or temporary labor to provide back up during a busy spell, to test potential full-time hires or to ease into growing solo . Yet, while I’ve used freelancers over the years both in my practice and for various projects at…