Many attorneys who practice criminal law believe that their malpractice exposure is minimal. After all, it’s hard to show that it’s more likely than not that a client would have avoided conviction but for the attorney’s negligence – it only because it’s so hard to predict what juries might do. But after reading this article,
Operations
Alabama Court Appointed Attorneys May Strike
We’ve already had a lengthy discussion over the reasonableness of $30-$40/hour court appointed rates back here. Now, there’s an interesting development relating to court appointed rates out of Alabama as reported in Lawyers for Poor Threaten Walkout, David Holden, Huntsville Times (2/22/05). According to the article, the state currently pays attorneys for indigent criminal…
Free Divorces for Valentine’s Day
You’ll want to go over to David Giacalone’s f/k/a and read this post about presumably solo attorney Brad Margolis’ (no other attorneys are listed at his website) marketing stunt giving away a free divorce for Valentine’s Day. The news story that David links contains some discussion over whether the contest is tasteless. David, however, takes…
The 94 Hour Day
A Connecticut solo Timothy Spayne recently paid the federal government $1.24 million to settle charges that he overbilled the Electric Boat corporation for representing the company’s employees in workers compensation claims as reported in Billing for 94 Hour Day Nets Solo $1 Million Fraud Charge, Keith Griffin, Connecticut Law Journal (2/7/05). According to the…
I Am A Maven!
I am a maven. I’m not so sure that it’s true, but it’s very cool, nonetheless.
A Law Firm That’s Out of This World (at least, its fees are)
As lawyers, we all want our work to be regarded as “out of this world” – but just not in this way. According to this article, South Gate Chases Legal Firms, LA Times (1/23/05), a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, ruling that the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton had overcharged its…
Westlaw is Free in Some Places – But Why Not Everywhere?
AJ Levy of http://www.outoftheboxlawyering.com lists a bunch of libraries in several states (AK, MN, NV, NJ, NY, OH, TX and WA) where you can access Westlaw for free. I was happy to learn about this resource though clearly, it’s cheaper for me to sign up for Westlaw on a per-search basis than to travel to…
Small Firm Effort for Tsunami Victims
Matt Homann has issued this challenge to solo and small firm lawyers to collectively raise $100,000 for tsunami victims. Visit the link and see how to help.
Still Waiting for My Archives
Our long time readers will recall that our site has been in operation for two years and had working links, deep archives and a nifty On Line Guide to Starting a Law Firm. Unfortunately, we still are not able to make these amenities available yet. Please keep checking back for when MyShingle returns to its…
Another Article on Disatisfaction in the Legal Profession
This article, Web site tells of woes of attorneys (SF Chronicle 1/8/05) reports on the Anonymous Lawyer phenonenom, speculating that the site may “make you feel sorry for lawyers.” The article then goes on to describe the grind of the large law firm, working hard and deferring gratification until the big payoff of partnership:
Although…