Etymology of Great Legal Words: Appeal

For the most part, everyone, including non-lawyers, know what an appeal is, and what it means to appeal. The term isn't exclusively a legal one, yet has been used in the legal context for centuries now. The term, or...

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Know When to Stop Promoting Your Firm

Stormy Daniels' lawyer has been riding the publicity from her case all over the place. Attorney Michael Avenatti has raised his public profile on any major news program that will take him. Whether he wins the case or not,...

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When Clients Want to Abuse Discovery, What Do You Do?

For some lawyers, when clients push to cross the line, it can be difficult to push back. However, when push comes to shove, a single client isn't worth putting your license or reputation at risk, even if that means...

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Etymology of Great Legal Words: Certiorari, aka Cert.

When it comes to great legal words, few are as baffling as certiorari. Though most lawyers know that it's something that SCOTUS can grant, more often than not, even we lawyers will use the truncated "cert." rather than risk...

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3 Tips to Avoid Legal Marketing Mishaps

Marketing your law practice is important. There are many ways to do so, and just as many ways not to. Attorneys frequently struggle with marketing for a variety of reasons. Whether it's a lack of time or a lack...

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How to Be a Happy Lawyer

Often the requirements of the job simply make attorneys miserable. Three extra years of schooling and passing an exam were supposed to make life better, right? Whether it's the long hours, the heavy weight of responsibility, or the nature...

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Should You Fight Mandatory Arbitration?

No one likes to be backed into a corner, including mandatory arbitration. It's one thing to agree to arbitrate, but quite another to be sent to that corner. With no place to flight, most of us want to fight....

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3 Easy Tips to Turn Old Pleadings Into Forms

Over time, attorneys tend to specialize and focus their legal practices rather narrowly. As such, attorneys often litigate the same issues, and file the same types of motions and other pleadings, over and over again. And while you may...

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How to Defend Against a Delusional Litigant

When a lunatic goes off in a mindless rant, sometimes it's best to just walk away. That also applies to crazy litigants -- and we're not talking personal injury lawyers who ask for billions in damages. We're talking about...

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Etymology of Great Legal Words: Objection!

Few legal words are quoted as often as, nor as loudly as, the term "objection." It is easily the best legal term to physically exclaim while simultaneously standing up and slamming your hand, a yellow-pad, or both hands, on...

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Can No-Fee Retainers Be Marketed as Free Legal Services?

One metro-Detroit lawyer is learning a hard lesson on how not to make clients angry: Don't use the word "free" unless you really mean it. The lawyer is facing quite a bit of controversy and a state bar grievance...

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When to Make a Bad Argument

Is there ever a time when a lawyer should make a bad argument? Sure, when there is no good argument to make. Seriously, it is practically the definition of "advocacy" to take on a cause against all odds. But...

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Practice Tip of the Week: Don't Be an Island

There is very little doubt that to be a lawyer, an individual must be smart and capable. But just because an attorney is both, it doesn't mean that they should be doing everything alone, even if they're a solo....

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3 Tips to Monetize Your Legal Passion

Even if the internet seems like it has all the answers, don't pray to it. Reality check: the internet is a soulless amalgam of information. But that's what blog writers are for: to give human perspective. Like, how do...

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Beware the 'Extreme Judicial Activism' Argument

Attorney Omar Rosales made a really bad argument on appeal. Already facing nearly $176,000 in sanctions for making false statements about opposing counsel, he argued the trial judge engaged in "extreme judicial activism." That cost him another $60,000 sanction...

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Practice Tip of the Week: Innovate!

As more and more tools continue to be developed to help businesses service clients, lawyers may want to take a step back and take a crack at thinking up new ways of doing things around the office. You don't need...

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Tips to Avoid Time Drains on Your Billable Hours

Ever see that object lesson with the jar getting filled with rocks and sand? If you put the sand in first, you might not have room for the rocks. But if you put the rocks in first, the sand...

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How to Build a Case From a Viral Video of Police Misconduct

When a video goes viral, it's usually because the video depicts something so shocking, or funny, or amazing, that anyone who views it is compelled to share it. Sadly, too often, viral videos are born from the misconduct of...

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When Is It a Bad Time to Change Course in a Case?

Time will tell whether it was a good strategy for President Trump to bring Rudolph Giuliani on board his legal team. For now, in the words of one opposing counsel, it was a "train wreck." Giuliani changed course at...

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3 Damage Control Lessons From Giuliani

If you read, watch, or listen to political news, the recent retention of attorney and former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, by President Trump, has led to some rather scandalous news. Apparently, Giuliani let the cat out of the...

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5 Common Mistakes Firms Make With Client Management

Law firms can often find themselves walking down the primrose path of disaster thanks to some common mistakes when it comes to client management. Despite being a service industry job, the legal client is not "always right" (and neither...

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Law Firm Criticized for Client Recruiting Technique

While marketing is important for law firms, the line between legal marketing and improper solicitation can often be a little bit fuzzy. When a law firm wades into the fuzzy areas, it's probably a smart move to take a...

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Judge Catches Lawyer Lying Through Instagram Post

A New York attorney working a New Jersey case missed a filing deadline, but that was not her biggest problem. According to court records, she lied about it to a judge. She claimed to be in Mexico for a...

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Does Your Law Firm Measure Client Satisfaction?

"Client satisfaction" may not be the mantra of your law practice. "Retainer agreement" is probably more the catchphrase. After all, the bottom line for any business is to stay in business. But before you can count the money, you...

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Practice Tip of the Week: How to Incentivize Underpaid Associates

Some law firms have unfortunately learned the truth behind the age-old saying: Money talks, and underpaid associates walk. Fortunately, due to the way most law firms are structured, the management may be able to incentivize associates so that if...

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Sending Thank-You Checks to Expert Witnesses Gets Attorney in Trouble

Mark Lanier, a high-profile Houston lawyer, didn't complain too much when an appeals court reversed his $151 million win. But he didn't like that the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said he was "unequivocally deceptive" at trial. The...

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Etymology of Great Legal Words: Moot

While every lawyer may know what it means if a case or issue is given the old moot boot, consulting a dictionary could lead to some serious confusion. That's because the term "moot" derives from our ancestors across the...

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