I may be a solo who runs an established blog for other solos. I’m an expert on my own practice and what works for me. But I’m the first to admit that what works for me may not be optimal for others. So if you want to get a broader perspective on matters like pricing
June 2006
Can Solo Practice Make You Open Your Mouth?
Each week, the ABA e-report has been featuring some of the runner up entries in its Ross Essay Contest. One of this week’s essays, Opening My Mouth by Elizabeth Streit caught my eye. Streit doesn’t write about solo practice; she’s a government litigator. But what she’s written about how government practice transformed her life as…
Have an Octopus Carry Your Files
I don’t usually post about products that I’ve not tested personally. But this new file carrying strap, The Octopus which creator Jessica Hirsch brought to my attention, looks so neat and elegant that it seemed worth mentioning. Basically, the Octopus is a more sophisticated version of a book strap, which is how some of my…
New Women’s Firm Provides Family Friendly Service
This short blurb from the Nashville Business Journal (6/12/06) announces the formation of an all female law firm, the Harpeth Law Group, comprised of Kristi Dearwood, Caitlin Noe Moon and Christina Ferrell Daugherty. The announcement states that the firm “is billing itself as a provider of “family-friendly” legal services.” And according to the website,…
Hey Biglaw – A Reprisal
Yesterday brought two Supreme Court decisions granting last minute relief to two death row prisoners. And equally important, at least one of the cases brought vindication to solo practitioners who handle death row appeals. Clarence Hill, defendant in Hill v. McDonough (holding that a defendant can bring a Section 1983 challenge to lethal injection…
Three Friday Freebies for Solos
Here are three, terrific freebies for solos that have come through my email in the past week or so. They are:
1. Lisa Solomon of Question of Law and The Billable Hour has posted the free webinar that she organized a few weeks back, Blogging for Lawyers, featuring Grant Griffiths. And state tuned…
Judges Applying the Biglaw/Solo Double Standard
Sure, I don’t like when the state bar grievance committees apply a double standard between biglaw and solos when it comes to lawyer discipline or ethics rules on networking. And I understand when many ABA honchos are completely out of touch with solos’ abilities or that biglaw attorneys on the NACDL Board who want…
Making the Legal Profession Better, One Solo at a Time
You don’t have to join an organized pro bono program or set a grand mission like getting rid of the billable hour to improve the practice of law. Jennifer Sawday of the California Estate Planning Blog is changing the practice of law just by being in practice, by charging fair rates and doing a good…
The $50 Consult
According to this post over at Larry Bodine’s Professional Marketing Blog, at least one firm isn’t following the conventional wisdom of charging what everyone else does – and they’re making money in the process. As Bodine describes, Wessels & Pautch, a small, employment defense firm offers unlimited phone consults for $50 a month. Not…
Competing On Price – Why Not?
Most marketing gurus counsel lawyers not to compete on price. So I wasn’t surprised to see that advice at the core of this article by Susan Cartier-Liebel, To Solos: Don’t Discount Your Worth, Connecticut Law Tribune (June 5, 2006). Personally, I disagree. I see no way for a new solos to get a foot…