Many rural communities continue to face a legal services crisis. Some communities simply don’t have enough lawyers. Alternatively, there are enough lawyers, but their fees exceed the amount that clients can or wish to pay. But now, according to this story, one innovative firm, The Law Shop located in Van Meter Iowa has
Solo & Small Firm Lawyers Average $198k/year…So Why Do We Portray Solos As Losers?
Updated September 20, 2022
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the solo and small firm practitioner has been greatly exaggerated. At least that’s the case if one is to believe the Attorney Compensation Report released by Martindale-Hubbell today which found that solo and small firm lawyers take home an average of $198,000 in annual
Pricing Legal Subscription Service Plans
Legal subscription plan – that is, a services or bundle of services available for a fixed price on a recurring basis — can be a solo or small firm lawyer’s best friend. As I wrote almost a decade ago, subscription services create a steady stream of revenue that can help even out the cash flow
Legal Malpractice Insurance As the Missing Piece In the Supply Chain for Innovation for Solo and Small Law Firms
Remember the bot that sues Equifax for data breaches that made headlines last fall? Although celebrated by most of the #altlaw crowd, surprisingly, the bot wasn’t as well received by many of the solo and small firm lawyers on one of my listserves.
Many of these lawyers expressed concerns about the ethical implications of the
My Clinnovation Lit Bit: Making Innovation Pay With A Law Student Technology Ambassador Program
As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Likewise, law schools can offer up all kinds of innovative, forward-looking programs on law and technology, or clinics that offer low bono services. But they can’t force students intent on finding a job at big law to take
Innovative Law Practice: Say Hello to Family Law Attorney Erin Levine of Hello Divorce
Family law is one of those practice areas that everyone loves to hate. Clients complain not only about their partners or spouses but about the high cost of divorce, and the often protracted contentious proceedings can take a toll on family law attorneys who practice in the field. In short, family law is a practice
Fake Designer Handbags and Fake Lawyers
Last week, I returned from a trip to China with a new accessory in tow: a fake Coach bag. Though I’m aware of arguments that purchases of counterfeit luxury items harm the brand, other studies have found no discernible effect . In any event, because I can’t fathom ever paying a few hundred dollars on
Some Inspiration for Solo and Small Law Firms
Starting and running a law firm isn’t always the joyful journey that many of us imagine. When it comes to the decision of whether to start a firm, many lawyers suffer from analysis paralysis, drawing up detailed business plans and weighing the pros and cons and waiting for “the right time,” (whenever that is) that
BriefCatch: A Valuable Writing and Editing Tool for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers Though Not Yet Ready for Mac
Editor’s Note – Everything we wrote about Briefcatch in this post remains accurate, but now Briefcatch is available for Mac – so watch our unboxing here –
Last month, I sat through a demo of BriefCatch, a new Word add-on developed by lawyer and legal writing expert, Ross Guberman, who is profiled here.
From Lawyer to Legal Writing Tool, Ross Guberman of Briefcatch.
Ordinarily, referring to a person as a “tool” isn’t particularly complimentary because the term describes a person whose ego exceeds his talent. That said, I don’t think that this week’s guest, Legal Writing Pro Ross Guberman will take offense because his new product, Brief Catch captures Ross’ legal writing expertise and talent and makes those