Operations

If you’re a biglaw associate, do you stay at your firm and let the partners get rich off your work and credentials?  Or leave and take advantage of that market yourself?  The latter approach is the one taken by five young African American attorneys and former associates at prominent large law firms who struck out…

According to this Press Release, the Chief Judges of the D.C. Circuit will be honoring eight Washington D.C. law firms for commitment to pro bono as evidenced by meeting a benchmark of 40 percent of lawyers performing 50 hours or more of pro bono service.  But sadly, though I’m a member of the DC Bar,…

To those of you toiling at large firms, wondering whether you could make it on your own, this post’s for you.  Here’s two examples of attorneys with large firm backgrounds and large firm specialties (securities law and complex litigation) who took the solo plunge. This article from the Kansas City Star (4/19/05) profiles Jane Stafford,…

For some time, I’m sure, some law firms large and small, have offered alternatives to the billable hour and probably more have started to do so or at least consider it since Matt Homann started blogging.  But what’s different about the alternative billing approach just announced by  McGuire Woods (reported in Hourly Legal Fees Under…

This week, JD Bliss is a profile about MyShingle and me.  Though I wouldn’t necessarily refer to myself, as JD Bliss does, as a "success story" (more a work-in-progress story), I certainly don’t mind the exposure.  For those readers who haven’t checked out JD Bliss, take a look – it’s an interesting site and the…

My Small Firm Business column for the month, Ask A Simple Question as been posted over at law.com  In it, I discuss both the benefits of asking for help as well as places to look that you might not have thought about.  I’d have to credit Professor Steven Lubet and his recent article, Artificial Intelligence…

As many of my fellow bloggers and readers know, I’m no fan of bar disciplinary programs.  Among other things, I believe that the bars disproportionally target solos and pursue sanctions for trivial infractions while sometimes failing to seriously investigate real dangers. That’s why many may be surprised to learn that after seeing ABA’s 2003 statistics…

Newsflash:  like solos, even large firm attorneys can file complaints in the wrong place, miss the statute of limitations and conceal the mistake – as shown in this article,  Jury Awards Billy Blanks $15 Million in Legal Malpractice Suit (4/2/05).  But it takes an extra special large firm to wind up liable not just for…