Biglaw Late to the Law Template Party

how legal forms can help firms

Via the LawSites blog, I learned that biglaw firm Wilson Sonsini’s subsidiary SixFifty just launched a marketplace where businesses can purchase document templates on an ala carte basis.  If the concept sounds familiar, that’s because it is: solo and small law firms have been selling templates for years now as a second stream of revenue…

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How Much Do Solo and Small Firm Lawyers Earn?

Solo By Choice

How Much Do Solos Earn? An Excerpt from Solo by Choice: Among its expansive topics, Solo by Choice briefly covers what solos earn – a topic I’ve also addressed at MyShingle here and here. Accurate information on solo salaries are hard to come by given the variation in practices, the fact that many solos also…

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To Trust or Not To Trust: What to Do With Flat Fees? (Part I)

Flat Fees

 Some lawyers refuse to experiment with flat fee billing – not because of confusion over how to set prices or concerns over under-charging — but because they believe that flat fees raise ethical red flags. Truth is, the vast majority of jurisdictions allow flat fee billing, but at the same time, they also impose caveats…

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If You Must Hire An Unpaid Intern, Here’s a Contract for That

For many law students, the summer of 2021 has proved challenging.  With the pandemic grip still tight back in the fall of 2020, many firms cut back or cancelled summer programs entirely to avoid another awkward summer of remote work.  Meanwhile, as placement offices failed to get their act together when law schools opened virtually,…

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Surrender to the System to Save Your Sanity

At least fifteen years ago (maybe more), my husband bought a Garmin GPS navigational system for our car. Though I dutifully punched my destination into our new toy, I found myself deviating every time my printed-out Mapquest instructions or my own instinct conflicted and sent me on another route. As an end result of trying…

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Use a sow to prevent a client from hogging time when it comes to fixed fee legal services

Despite the myriad of benefits associated with flat fees – from rewarding efficiency rather than time to eliminating onerous timekeeping – most attorneys still haven’t adopted them. One concern that attorneys have about flat fees is that the arrangement will encourage client phone calls every minute or leave attorneys holding the bag against a zealous…

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