How many times have you taken a seat next to an anonymous soul in the courtroom or CLE seminar, averted your eyes and opened up your Palm Pilot or newspaper to entertain yourself while waiting for the session to start? I’ve done that more times than I should, but I won’t be doing it anymore.
Ideas & Tips
Proposed Disbarment of Prominent Boston Lawyers: Now, It Makes Sense
I have to admit that I was a little mystified when I read about the recent Massachusetts Discipline committee’s decision to disbar three prominent Boston attorneys, whose resumes included high government posts and stints at biglaw) biglaws. Among other things, the attorneys had duped and tormented a judge’s law clerk in hopes of gaining an…
Loneliness and Isolation: Hazards of Solo Practice
Ironically, one of the greatest benefits of starting a law firm – being able to work alone – may actually be one of the greatest hazards of solo practices, as this Q&A from the Massachusetts Bar Association website points out (thanks to my fellow blogger David Giacalone for sending this article my way). Here’s what…
This One Ought to Be A No Brainer
Gee, what should this advice seeker and recent grad (at NY Lawyer) do here? Work for $19 an hour doing document review at a large firm in hopes of getting some experience? Or continue to look for a more challenging permanent position? Uh, what about the most obvious option: working for yourself. Even if you…
What Do You Call Yourself?
The Greatest American Lawyer ponders a fascinating question: what should we call practitioners who are not in a partnership based law firm, if not solo practitioners?. GAL writes:
As many of you already know, I have taken issue with the term “solo”
for practitioners who do not practice in a partnership setting. Solo has the…
Lex Think, Lex Do
This past Sunday, I attended Lex Think, organized by fellow bloggers Matt Homann, Dennis Kennedy and Sherry Fowler. I’d heard the conference described as a conference about nothing but in the end, it turned out to be about everything, from attorney-client relations, billable hour versus alternative billing and keeping the passion in one’s…
New shingler Scheherazade Fowler (who’s
New shingler Scheherazade Fowler (who’s in great company with other blogger-turned solos Dennis Kennedy, Kevin Heller and Howard Bashman, to name a distinguished few) publicly ponders whether she should keep her Massachusetts bar status active when she’s set up shop in Maine. No question, regardless of cost, a solo should never, ever, ever…
Law Lessons From Mom
As I’ve always understood, one of the premises underlying the Socratic Method is that much of the knowledge of a subject (like law) lies within us and can be teased out through questioning and dialogue. So too, many of us already hold within us the basics for starting or running a law practice as Jim…
Fabulous Resource from the Texas YLA
Kudos to the Texas Young Lawyers Association for this innovative project, tenminutementor.com, an online library of video presentations on topics like substantive law (mostly Texas, but some, like the talk on Ten Tips for Federal Court, can apply more broadly), ethics, building a firm and personal development. Here’s the Press Release (2/28/05) that further…
What’s Worse – A Lying Lawyer or A Stupid, Greedy One?
In this bizarre story, Attorney Punished for False Promises, Adam Kovac, Daily Herald (2/26/05) concerning a disciplinary action brought against attorney Cynthia Sutherin who duped her co-workers into joining what turned out to be a fictitious law firm, I couldn’t help wondering whether the wrong attorney had been charged. After all, if Sutherin’s conduct,…