Dear Law Schools,

I’m guessing most of you don’t read my blog (not sufficiently academic or arcane) so permit me to introduce myself.  I am a real, live practicing lawyer with a firm in Washington D.C. Though perhaps atypical for a solo or small, I focus on several growing fields (emerging renewable energy technologies and micro-grids, pipeline regulatory proceedings and eminent domain on behalf of landowners and communities and 21st century legal ethics) that many of your students are beating down doors to enter. And because I recognize this, I’ve gone out of my way to hire and pay law students and new grads in my field because I believe that my generation in this profession owes an obligation to train those who come after.

But increasingly, I am finding that many of your students are, quite frankly, useless to me; lacking the basic skill set necessary to incorporate them quickly and seamlessly into a busy and frequently resource-constrained practice like mine.  Sure, I can understand having unformed research and analytic skills right out of law school. Over twenty years in, I still improve my skills with every brief or motion that I write.

Yet what I can’t fathom or tolerate is the utter lack of curiosity that many (but not all) new grads bring (or don’t bring) to the table when they hit the job market. I know that times are tough and it’s hard to be optimistic and proactive about the future when hope is dim. And certainly law school squeezes a lot of the natural inquisitiveness out of even the most hearty of students. Even so, how can today’s students not be excited about the cornucopia of riches at their fingertips — from free caselaw, free online legal briefs and memos by top attorneys, substantive analytic blogs galore, and an endless stream of news items on Twitter curated by experts in every field? Back in the day, I’d have been all over these tools, and yet like monks at a peep show, many law students simply avert their eyes and continue on their way. Nothing to see here — or so, they’re taught.

And maybe that attitude works over at big law, where associates need to stay hyper-focused to churn billable hours, while partners favor newbies who look to superiors rather than external sources as a font of knowledge. But out here in small land, where I scramble to keep up in three hot practice areas where I go up against AmLaw 100 firms (I’ll bet you’re surprised that solos actually do that! And win too!) while raising a family and blogging, I need young lawyers who can keep a pulse on my industry and inform me of what’s new.  I want new lawyers to challenge me every single day, not to sit like potted plants waiting for the next assignment.  And most importantly, lawyers who work with me have got to have basic 21st technology skills.

Now you law schools probably wonder what a lowly small firm lawyer is doing lecturing law schools about what they should be teaching.  After all, you have experts who write reports, you have big firm donors on your board not to mention a huge brain trust of really smart people populating your faculty and administration.  Heck, I don’t even rank high enough in the blogosphere to rate a quote in the New Republic’s article on how to fix law school.

But here’s why what my solo and small firm colleagues and I have to say matters so much.  Back in the day, most schools prepped attorneys to work at big law – but those jobs are gone for good.  Likewise, most government employers, which can hire big law cast offs with several years of experience, won’t touch new grads.  With the rising popularity of the “future of law,” the cool kids – like Axiom command lots of attention as the next big thing but I’ve got news for you: those guys can cherry-pick top talent (which is, after all their business model); if they deign to hire your new grads, it will be to support marketing or data analytics, not to practice law.

So, hate to break it to you, law schools, but you’re stuck with employers like me: solo and small firms who are the face of today’s legal employers. Maybe we don’t have the resources to hire your students long term or for much pay, but at the very least, we’re a safe harbor where they can gain valuable experience before they move on to a more permanent and stable position.

Now, I know when you hear the word “solo,” many law schools figure that you’ve got that angle covered with the now celebrated law school incubator programs. Don’t get me wrong – they’re a great idea as far as they go. But many of us solos and smalls who can actually hire your grads aren’t handling the pro-bono/low-bono cases that incubator participants handle. Moreover, incubators can handle only a handful of lawyers each year and the demand for skilled grads is much greater.

Besides, you DON”T need another program or clinic or five million dollar fancy pants teaching law firm  to teach the skills that I consider critical. Likewise, Suffolk Law School’s partnership with legal audit guru Casey Flaherty is certainly ambitious and a great way to put the school in the spotlight. But as I’ve pointed out , most solos and smalls have and expect far more advanced technology than the basics expected in Flaherty’s audit. (see this neat Infographic for a summary. Note, not much mention of the cloud for starters. And who doesn’t use a scanner these days?)

So even though no one has asked, here’s what I would do to train students in the basic tech skills that they need. To make it simple, I’ve outlined the competencies that are needed to succeed in 21st century law practice and how to integrate them seamlessly into the curriculum so that they become part of students’ daily routine.

On the singles scene, a pick-up line like “my place or yours” isn’t likely to attract many takers.  But on the shingle scene (as in hanging-a-shingle), several different companies are betting that the proposition “our platform [not] yours” will resonate with solos and smalls.  In the past few months,  two relatively new companies – UpCounsel and Law Pal – as well as one chestnut, Jacoby & Meyers  have rolled out a variety of virtual platforms, work-flow protocols and documents to entice well-qualified solo and small firm lawyers to join their networks and represent clients as part of their brand.  Below, I’ll give a run down of the platforms, followed by a discussion of what this means for solos and smalls.

The Platforms

UpCounsel, which launched in California 14 months ago and just raised $1.5 million  seeks to help small businesses meet their legal needs with access to first rate lawyers. To lure that talent, UpCounsel promises attorneys benefits such as a “virtual law practice in 5 minutes” – essentially a profile page like this.  UpCounsel handles billing by accepting and holding client credit cards, and earns a fee for each transaction.  However, clients cannot hire lawyers directly from the profile page; instead, they must post the job on UpCounsel and can invite the lawyer to bid.  In many respects, UpCounsel’s set-up reminds me of Elance for legal services, with its bid-based system and feedback/ratings loop (though elance doesn’t have user-specific pages).

Like UpCounsel, LawPal — a California transplant with UK origins and PayPal’s  Peter Thiel as a backer — also has its eye on serving small business’ legal needs, reports Legal Futures.  As described therein, LawPal users enter a description of their matter and are then offered a choice of lawyers. Once selected, LawPal sets up an online deal room along with a transaction checklist to guide the process. Participating lawyers get the benefit of these work-flow efficiencies, not to mention looking like cool kids (Lawpal is definitely making a play for the future of law crowd with these Legal Rebel Margaret Hagan  styled lawgraphics).

Founded in 1972, Jacoby & Meyers  is nearly old enough (at least in Internet years) to be a grandpa to UpCounsel and LawPal — but don’t count the old boy out just yet (though its website certainly could use a 21stCentury Facelift). Just yesterday, Jacoby announced that is seeking participating attorneys to help expand its network.  As you might expect, membership includes old-school benefits like cooperative television advertising and lead generation but also modern amenities like “custom Jacoby & Meyers website for [members] local office / practice” (let’s hope these sites don’t look anything like the J&M mothership), e-commerce capabilities for selling services and over 85,000 legal forms over the web and access to J&M Virtual Law Office platform for serving clients via a web-based client portal.

What’s Different?