This month’s issue of Law Practice Today reprints my chapter, Being Solo Does Not Mean Being Lonely from the ABA’s book, Flying Solo. I wrote the chapter roughly five years ago and therefore, it’s a bit dated since it preceded social media. Still, my argument that lawyers needed be isolated as solos remains valid. Finally,
Operations
Where’s the Value Add in Big Firms?
Even if for the sake of argument, you accept the proposition that biglaw is better than small law, the question is: how much better. Is an $850/hr partner at a mega firm really $500/hr better than his or her solo or small firm counterpart? Naturally, we solo and small firm lawyers would say no, but…
For WSJ Readers – Resources on Starting a Law Firm
Yesterday, one of my solo colleagues Mitchell Matorin was profiled in the Wall Street Journal as asomewhat timely example of a large firm lawyer who has found success in solo practice. The story mentioned MyShingle and has been driving some traffic to this site, so I wanted to highlight…
Why Does the Trade Press Focus on Biglaw Attorneys Turned Solo Who Don’t Succeed?
Not all lawyers who start their own firm experience wild success. This month’s American Lawyer focuses on three who did not. I don’t take issue with the story’s spin because I believe that it’s important to impress the challenges of starting a practice. Too many of the new crop of opportunist start-a-firm gurus blithely gloss…
Why Is the Illinois Bar Advising Lawyers to Look Stupid By Admitting That They Can’t Estimate Fees?
Via Illinois solo Peter Olson’s blog, Solo In Chicago, I came across this post on fee agreement essentials which Olson extracted from an Illinois State Bar Association newsletter. Since my readers frequently ask about fee agreements, I was initially excited to discover a new resource. But my delight soon turned to horror when…
Biglaw Free and the Solo
Update: For more interesting perspectives on Free, check out Ken Adams at Adams Drafting, Doug Cornelius at Compliance Building, Jordan Furlong at Law 21 and Jay Parkhill of Start Up Tool Box.
A few weeks back, I read Chris Anderson’s book, Free which is also available free in a variety of formats,…
Handling Biglaw Practice Areas on a Budget
With many biglaw attorneys now considering solo practice, I wanted to list a couple of ideas and resources to procure biglaw practice tools on a budget. For most consumer practice areas, such as family law, bankruptcy, trusts and estates, new solos can find a cornucopia of low cost practice tools, such as pro bono training…
If Bloggers Must Disclose, Why Shouldn’t the Bar Associations?
According to this CNET post of last month (and as you’ve probably already heard), the Federal Trade Commission is planning to adopt guidelines this summer which would require bloggers to disclose any freebies, payments or other financial benefits that they receive in return for promoting a product. The proposed guidelines are available here. Since…
Why Is Findlaw Charging Money for Inaccurate Forms When the Correct Forms Are Available Online for Free?
OK, so I understand that a company like Thomson Reuters doesn’t "get" the concept of free. After all, Westlaw, one of Thomson Reuters’ flagship legal products costs a pretty penny. Even so, it’s one thing to charge for a product that delivers value, as Westlaw undeniably does. It’s quite another to extract payment for…
Newbie Solos and the Importance of Being Nerdy
Over at Legal Blogwatch, I posted about how shingler Kiwi Camara of Camara Sibley, not yet 25 years old and just five years out of law school is giving the RIAA a run for its money in the high profile copyright infringement re-trial of Jammie Thomas. Thomas’ first lawyer, Brian Toder won…