So, who’s been a solo long enough to remember when Jay Foonberg’s How to Start and Build a Law Practice was the only game in town? These days, not only do the bar associations offer plentiful resources (many of which are listed here at our OnLine Guide), but weblogs like Greatest American Lawyer, Home
Operations
A MyShingle Poll
My readers have probably realized that for the past couple of months I’ve been posting in spurts and clumps at a rate of two to three days a week. I’ve been too busy to post every day and after much effort, am too disciplined to allow myself to spend any daylight hours getting carried away…
A Plug for Small Firms for Big Clients
As Patrick Lamb points out in this blog post (also referencing this post from The Wired GC), general counsels at large companies are getting tired of the fixation on the billable hour. As Wired GC explains, billable hour not only increases the cost of legal services, but it’s making mid level associates miserable –…
Marketing for Associates, er, Prospective Shinglers
Larry Bodine’s recently launched Associate Marketing Blog offers this year-by-year Associate Marketing Checklist to help large firm associates identify and attain business development goals. Anyone at a large firm who aspires to hang their own shingle or eventually work part time and raise a family, ought to be following – and in fact, even accelerating…
Can You Recognize When A Court Opines, Asserts or Declares?
This article, Curb Your Editorial Urges When Describing a Court’s Actions, Kenneth Oettle (NJLJ) (10/5/050) finally clarified for me the subtle differences in verbs like recognized, observed, ruled, held and others that describe how a court acted. As a general rule of thumb, here’s how the author feels about some of these verbs:
…
Disaster Recovery Conference
And speaking of conferences, Ernie the Attorney links to this upcoming seminar on disaster recovery for lawyers. I’m sure that no one wants to have to attend a seminar like this one, but it’s nice that it’s available when it’s needed. And, you even get CLE credit for it.
The Other Side of Biglaw Salaries
This past post on comments by a solo deconstructing biglaw salaries (basically saying that the hourly rate is more along the lines of $30/hour if an associate works 90 hours a week) has generated many comments which I thought I’d address in an additional post. First, thanks to readers who have pointed out that a…
Women Will Best Succeed on their Own
Funny contrast in this week’s news. This article, How Women Can Develop Business, National Law Journal (9/29/05) bemoans that women at large firms have it tough when it comes to business development, citing obstacles like lack of effective mentoring and difficulty of striking a manageable work-life balance. (The article does offer many useful suggestions…
Two New Blogs
There’s two new blogs I’ve come across recently that might interest readers. The first is Innovative Legal Solutions, who’s transitioning to his own practice where he hopes to provide innovative legal solutions and live a full life. The other is Biglaw Associate, an anonymous disgruntled associate who’s thinking about starting a firm
BigFirm Associate Salaries Are Really Small Potatoes When You Do the Math
At least one small firm lawyer isn’t very impressed by the recent news that first year associate salaries at some firms will increase to $135,000. In a listserve post, attorney Robert Hughes noted that:
Let’s see. $135,000 per year equals $2600 per week divided by about 90 hours per week equals $28.85 per hour. What…