Tips for Working With Co-Counsel

A man cannot have two masters. But a legal matter can, at least when those two masters are co-counsel. You've probably heard horror stories about co-counsel situations; anecdotes about overbearing, intolerable co-counsel, about attorneys who steal all the work,...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bVL6aH

Using Your Notes During Trial: You're Doing It Wrong

You should use notes during a trial. After all, you don't want to forget an important issue or lose track of your train of thought. But don't let notes become your crutch. If you're looking down at your notes...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bz1TDD

How Much Can You Say About That Time You Represented Donald Trump?

Maybe you helped Donald Trump close a deal on a New Jersey shopping mall. Or maybe he consulted you, way back when, for some legal advice. Now he's running for president and you want to speak out -- without...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bRqLDE

How Do You Respond to 'You Cost Too Much'?

Something that many solo attorneys hear perhaps all too often is the interjection: "You cost too much!" We're sure you've heard this one before. Even with the advancement in technology making a fair number of attorney services quickly obsolete, there...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bmpNw2

How Your Practice Can Win With Equity Crowdfunding

Four years ago, Congress passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, which removed barriers that keep the public from providing capital to startup businesses; equity crowdfunding was about to be legalized. Then, just this May, the...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bi62e1

Lawyers Should Prepare for Two Seasonal Divorce Spikes

Are you a family lawyer that handles divorces? If so, the findings that were presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association may be of interest of you. Apparently, divorce could have a correlation with the seasons. It's...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bfPcaI

Hiring a Remote Freelance Lawyer: Is It Right for Your Practice?

Like it or not, physical hiring is slowly going the way of the dodo bird and remote hiring is in. More and more, attorneys are finding themselves mobile rather than sitting down in an office. This is bad news for...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bBfEQb

This Is What Happens When a Sanction Motion Backfires

'Go ahead and move for sanctions against opposing counsel,' they said. 'What's the worst that could happen?' they said. Well, an attorney at the Minnesota law firm Messerli & Kramer, "the worst" was having their sanction motion turned against...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bcjbkk

Training New Associates: Tips for Creating an Associate Development Program

You've brought some fresh blood into your firm. But if your new associate is new to the law, they come to you not-fully-formed. What are you supposed to do with this unshapen lump of lawerly potential? Mold it, of...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2b6QpRP

Cross-Examination Tips That Will Help Your Case

Many litigators have described the process of cross-examination as one of the more satisfying aspects of courtroom litigation. It's easily one of the more combative components of being in court, and certainly a crucial one at that. If you impeach...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bFybew

A Strong Social Media Presence Can Win You Clients

For today's lawyer, a strong social media presence is almost as much of a professional requirement as a website or working phone line. A majority of consumers now look to social media when deciding whether to hire an attorney,...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2b5koez

Could Augmented Reality Fuel Your Personal Injury Practice?

Augmented reality takes the real world and graphs a new universe on top of it. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality doesn't remove the outside world, it just adds a new layer. You can use your phone to spot a...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bdlFlM

How to Manage Firm Staff When They Work Remotely

You've got your paralegal organizing case files. A contract attorney is drafting some pleadings. Your legal secretary is scheduling your meetings and going through your phone calls. But, thanks to the miracle of telecommuting, none of them are on...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aXtRCD

Solo Expansion: Making the Giant Leap to Small Firm

Every solo attorney has at least entertained the idea of expanding from a single person operation into a full-fledged law firm. Dreams are good, but expansion should only be undertaken if you have a plan in place. Here are a...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aZ9ZCm

Will Predictive Analytics Change How You Practice?

Google uses data analytics to get the search results (and advertisements) it thinks are right for you. Wall Street looks to big data to help manage investment risk. Even police mine banking data to spot human trafficking. Data analytics...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bzLRsJ

Is Your Law Firm Ready for 'Free Agent Season'?

Lateral hiring is becoming the standard hiring model within this industry. There was a time in the labor field where people would get hired by a particular firm, do well, and expect to stay there for the rest of their...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bsxfYe

This Ethics Opinion Should Make You Think Twice About Fixed-Fee Referral Services

A South Carolina ethics opinion on attorney fee-sharing should give lawyers considering fixed-fee legal referral programs like Avvo's Legal Services pause. Avvo launched ALS this January, as a sort of Uber for legal services. The service allows customers to...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bmqBUh

New Law Firm Hiring Paradigms Look Beyond Pedigree

The legal world is changing fast and there is evidence to indicate that some of that change is beginning to wear away the old practice of exclusively hiring top-ranking grads from the nation's most celebrated schools. For law students and...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aF9tLy

Guiding Clients Along the Contractor-Employee Divide

The fight over worker status (Is she really a contractor? Is he an employee?) has become an increasingly common legal battle in the past years. The rise of the "gig economy" means that more and more people are working,...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aZUaZC

Public Education, Common Core, the Law, and You

If you haven't been near a public school in the last few years, you may have missed out on one of the biggest public policy battles of the past decade: Common Core education standards. The Common Core State Standards...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bjJlTo

How to Talk to Potential Clients So They Don't Proceed Pro Se

It happens to solo lawyers with an unwelcome consistency: a client walks through your door to avail himself of your legal advice and then decides to either look for cheaper options, or worse, go about his matter pro se. What...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bhpJzj

How to Talk to Potential Clients So They Don't Proceed Pro Se

It happens to solo lawyers with an unwelcome consistency: a client walks through your door to avail himself of your legal advice and then decides to either look for cheaper options, or worse, go about his matter pro se. What...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2bhpJzj

How to Use Live Video in Your Legal Marketing

Live streaming is everywhere these days -- and we're not talking about YouTube or watching the Olympics online. New apps like Periscope and Facebook Live have made it simple for pretty much anyone to broadcast themselves to their social...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aRY86A

How Much Do Solo Lawyers Really Make? This May Surprise You.

Perhaps you're feeling good about last month's bar exam and you're certain that you passed. Should you take that job with the mid-size firm or should you go solo? Well, the latter choice is a little hard to pin down....

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aVmuP6

Is Demand for Small Firms Likely to Drop?

After years of demand growth, things are starting to look down for BigLaw firms. Large firms are seeing their first drop in demand since 2013, according to a recent report from Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor. (Disclosure: Thomson Reuters is...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2b1NjAw

You've Been Formally Prosecuted in State Bar Court. Now What?

You worked hard for your license to practice law. You studied the LSAT, got into school, passed the bar and passed moral character and fitness... and a single ethics violation means it could all be taken away, just like that....

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aUaOgS

So, Your Client Complained to the State Bar. What Now?

It's doubtful that anyone got into this business to be liked. Still, client complaints are not something you ever anticipate. Complaints by clients can be disheartening and even career-threatening -- especially when the state bar gets involved. In this piece,...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2awJikZ

How Can You Improve Follow Through in Your Firm?

We've all been there. Someone, a partner, co-counsel, support staff, whoever, makes commitments at the onset of a project, and they never follow through. This isn't just a problem with unreliable associates or partners with conflicting priorities; it's something...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2b39wxr

Passive Voice Was Used and It Was Fine

Two rules make up the bedrock of pretty much any basic writing instruction: know the difference between your and you're, and don't use passive voice. Passive voice is one of the main literary bogeymen, despised by grade school English...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2avOGsj

5 Legal Project Management Tips for Lawyers

Knowing the law is one thing, being able to get legal work done well and efficiently is another. And plenty of attorneys could use a little help in the latter category. The solution may be in project management. Learning...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2auRFBi

Can You Share Embarrassing Information About a Client?

We all know attorneys can't disclose confidential information gained in the course of representation. But what about public, potentially embarrassing information about a client? Can a lawyer forward an embarrassing blog post about a former client to her colleagues?...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aDWBmF

Tips for Incorporating Your Solo Law Firm

So you've decided to go solo? As you already know, it's tough out there, and getting clients can be a real chore. But now that you're committed, you're faced with a question that you may not have even considered when...

via Strategist http://ift.tt/2aFVkgw