Operations

I’m deeply flattered that the ABA Journal recognized me as one of its ten solo legal rebels.  Trouble is, I don’t feel very rebellious these days. That wasn’t always so. Back in law school more than two decades ago, I was a rebel in the truest sense of the term, defying conventional wisdom and challenging…

Law schools today get a bad rap, often deservedly so. From outrageous tuition to to ineffectual, elitist law professors to fraudulent post-graduation employment statistics to failure to teach practical skills, law schools have become the scapegoats for everything wrong with the legal profession. Including theft over-billing. Yes, you read that right.  Lawyer coach Rjon Robins…

Yesterday, I received a call from one of my blog readers, somewhat out of the blue.  A rising 2L at a top tier school, the student explained that he was interested in learning more about the feasibility of starting a law practice right out of law school.  Yet as we talked more, however, it seemed…

Though I’m not an ABA member, I’d be remiss in not informing those readers who are ABA members of this year’s $5000 Legal Rebels Essay Contest, open to ABA members and solos, defined as “a lawyer practicing alone with no partners.” To enter, submit an essay, not-to-exceed-600-words, in response to the question, “What innovation will…

If you’re an aficionado of legal jargon (and come on, aren’t all of us lawyers, at least when we’ve had too much to drink?), why not indulge yourself with two free e-books of jargon on project finance and corporate finance, courtesy of Latham & Watkins, with an H/T to Three Geeks & A Law Blog.…

Earlier this month, both Slate and Crains New York carried articles describing the recent trend of biglaw attorneys starting their own practices. Summarizing these articles, an Above the Law post called the biglaw to yourlaw move a “new trend.” Not. Well, not if you’re a regular reader of this blog, anyway. I’ve been documenting the…

I was honored to deliver a plenary talk on the second day of the most excellent Minnesota Solo & Small Firm Strategic Solutions Conference. Though I know that lots of people prefer talks that offer straight-up marketing advice, I took a slightly different tactic, with a presentation entitled “One, Two, Free: Endless Challenges and Unlimited…

Lawyers Practicing in Darwinian Times! Legal Profession in Turmoil! These doomsday headlines weren’t plucked from some over-the-top law blog. Rather, they’re the titles of the plenaries by the ABA’s former top honcho, Carolyn Lamm and invited guest speaker, Harvard Law professor David Wilkes at last week’s ABA’s come-to-Jesus meeting Annual Convention. I realize that that…