Operations

For those who aren’t aware, I’m currently finishing up a book on solo and small firm related matters.  But my publisher is also at work on a terrific guide to retirement for solo and small firm lawyers.  He’s looking for lawyers in their 40s, 50s and 60s for a questionaire to find out how they’ve…

With Thanksgiving now over, it’s time to start thinking about holiday gifts.  And Reid Trautz has some interesting suggestions in his 2006 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers.  Check it out!

If you’re starting a firm and not sure that you want to work from home, but are concerned about the cost of rent, a virtual office might be right for you.  This  article from the Chicago Business Leader (11/20/06) gives an overview of the costs and services of HQ Global, one of the larger competitors…

At the Legal Profession Blog, Jeff Lipshaw wonders whether it’s natural to spend one’s time "the same firm, doing the same kind of work, progressing in the level of oversight and client contact…."  As a solo, I don’t often feel that way, since I always have the opportunity to reinvent myself and my practice.  Yet…

Readers – one last reminder that this Saturday, November 11, the Maryland State Bar Association is sponsoring its 8th annual conference on starting a law firm.  The information can be found here in this earlier post. I’ll be speaking on blogging – you can view a sketch of my presentation as well as the more…

The impact of solo and small firm practice is far reaching, so much so that in my view, it’s helping women attorneys succeed at biglaw.  Don’t believe it?  Consider these two stories that ran in today’s news.  The first, Deciding to Go It Alone, (San Fernando Valley Business 11/4/06) reports on how more and more,…

Robert Denney has an article in this month’s Oct/Nov ’06 issue of  Law Practice Management on What’s Cooking for Solos and Small Firms.  At least one the trends is kind of old news to me, such as the move towards specialization, though in rural areas, clients seem to want and need the old-fashioned “country lawyer”…

Allison Shields of Legal Ease has started a series on how to set fees, with these two posts here and here.  Shields spends a good deal of time describing how lawyers examine a case up front in detail, so that you can figure out how to assign a fee.  And her advice garners compliments from…