How to Spot and Avoid Clients Who Will Waste Your Time

For solo practitioners or lawyers working in a smaller firm setting, time is at a premium. That's why bad, non-paying clients are universally despised. But how do you spot the bad apple client who will just waste your time? Here...

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Judge Dismisses Jury That Questioned Lack of Diversity

The two men on trial were African American -- but no member of their jury was, after the prosecution had dismissed all of the black, potential jurors in voir dire. And while that's typically something the defendants and their...

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NJ Lawyers Get Sanctioned for Facebook Spying

When news came out that two New Jersey defense attorneys had spied on a plaintiff through Facebook, there was obvious buzz within the legal community over bright-line rules and attorney ethics. Just what qualifies as an "unauthorized" communication? Lawyers should...

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Improve Your Client Relationships With Some Simple Software

There's software to manage just about every aspect of the modern law office: your email, your word processing, your document storage, and your meetings. And there's even software to help you maintain and improve your client relationships. If you're...

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5 Top Tips for Taking Your Legal Marketing to the Next Level

Sure, you've got the legal marketing basics down: a website, some print ads, all that jazz. But you want to see your firm grow bigger, faster. Can you? Of course, with a little bit of work. To help you...

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Free Law Firm Growth Calculator Lets You Set Path for Success

We all want to grow our firm's business, but what exactly do we need to achieve our goals? Thankfully, there's a simple, interactive tool available that can help firms find out just what they need to meet their growth...

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Flat Fee Confusion: Earned Upon Receipt or Trust Account?

There's a lot of confusion out there (so imagine the level of non-compliance) about the proper way to handle client funds properly, particularly flat fees. Do you place these in an interest-bearing account for the benefit of the client? How...

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PACER Fees Are Too Damn High, Class Action Alleges

PACER is no one's favorite database. Sure, the Public Access to Court Electronic Records service gives you online access to federal court documents, saving you the hassle of calling a courier or heading down to a courthouse yourself. But...

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What Can You Do If You Don't Make Partner?

You've always had a dream of being a partner. Perhaps you were one of those very lucky grads who landed a position at a top law firm and moved your way into one of the associate seats, ready to show...

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How to Put Together Your eDiscovery Team

If you're handling a case with significant eDiscovery needs, it's impossible to go it alone. Even large firms and businesses will bring on eDiscovery counsel, vendors, and experts to guide them through the process. When it comes to choosing...

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Attorneys With Online Reviews Are More Likely to Be Hired

If you're looking for a new date night restaurant, you probably check out online reviews. If you're considering buying a new couch, you'd be smart to find out what other couch buyers have to say about it first. When...

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Law Office Organization Basics to Help You Stay Sane

If you operate a solo practice or a small firm, that means you have to manage your own affairs. That includes payroll, client communications, templates, and all that busy administrative stuff you'd rather not think about.How do you handle it...

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Best Networking Strategies for Your Law Firm

If you want to succeed as an attorney, networking is key. Create some valuable connections with other attorneys, and you've got someone to bounce ideas off of, refer clients to, and be referred to in return. Network with the...

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Improve Your Therapist Skills to Be a Better Lawyer

In the past, we've stressed the importance of maintaining a certain detached yet professional relationship with your client. Lawyering is a tiring job and being too heavily invested emotionally in your client's case can have a detrimental effect on both...

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Paying to Scrub Your Google Search History Can Backfire

The Internet's attention span is short, but its memory is long. And if you've done something embarrassing, you'll be reminded every time you Google yourself. Maybe you sent out a tasteless tweet, wrote a horrible college op-ed, or casually...

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3 Basic Ways to Keep Your Clients

Clients are hard to find, so the very last thing you want to do is lose them. You’ve put in so much work, invested so much effort, and — yes — relied on a fair bit of luck to convince...

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Why Small Firms Should Hire for the Long Term

When it comes to the whole hiring game, there is a fundamental difference between the BigLaw paradigm and the small practice paradigm. One of the most glaring differences? Money and perks. In fact, just the prestige of going to a...

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What Do Driverless Cars Mean for Personal Injury Lawyers?

Driverless, automated cars are the future -- at least if you listen to techies. Companies like Google and Tesla are pouring millions into self-driving cars. Ford and GM have jumped on the bandwagon. Even the Department of Transportation is...

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How to Prepare for Your First Client Meeting

If you're new to this whole lawyer thing, you'll soon have to tackle your first client meeting. Do you know how to prepare? Probably not. Unless you've spent time meeting with people in other professional settings, the initial client meeting...

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Succession Planning: How to Get Clients Over Their Inertia

Succession planning isn't easy. After all, no one likes to think about death, particularly their own. While many adults can cope with their mortality long enough to put together a will or estate plan, when it comes of business...

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Top Tips for Running a Modern Law Office

Law practice today isn't the same as it was a generation or two ago. Attorneys in the modern law office are more likely than ever to rely on technology, innovative marketing, or alternative practice structures. At the same time,...

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5 Ways to Be Kind on Be Kind to Lawyers Day

Forget Siblings Day, Bat Appreciation Day, and even Arbor Day. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th, we celebrate April's best holiday: Be Kind to Lawyers Day. So stop complaining about your boss, your colleagues, or your spouses' divorce attorney -- for...

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Advance Your Practice With Digital Forensics

Forget dusting for fingerprints. Many of today's top investigators are focused on the digital realm. As data breaches continue to make headlines -- from the leaking of the Panama Papers to the hacking of major companies like Blue Cross and...

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When Do Law Firms Have to Disclose a Data Breach?

Now that you're on high alert over your client data because of the revelation of Olera's hacking into some of the nation's most prominent law firms, you're probably beginning to wonder: "Do I have to disclose a data breach to...

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5 Easy Tips for Cybersecurity at Solo Law Firms

Yesterday, we put in our two cents about the recent hacking of America's BigLaw firms by Russian hacker, Oleras. Hopefully you weren't one of the many firms on that list. But if you're feeling a little more secure in your...

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How Social Media Is Changing the Way We Litigate

There's an endless supply of cute cat pics on Instagram. Facebook is great for finding out what your aunt thinks about Donald Trump. And Twitter is -- well, Twitter is still figuring things out. But, while we use social...

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3 Basic Musts When Starting a Solo Practice

It’s really true what they say: the hardest part is getting started. So many firms once started out as single person or maybe two-person practices before becoming the storied BigLaw firms they are today. Obviously, things were different back then...

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Top Office Management Tips and Tricks for Lawyers

Successfully running a firm doesn't just mean mastering the law and pleasing clients. You've also got to be able to manage an office. And office management is just one of the many things they don't teach you in law...

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How Are Law Firms Using Legal Tech Anyway?

Legal tech promises to make the industry quicker, more agile, more efficient. You can take in clients online, have your AI-robots handle their simplest matters, even mine your email data to determine how happy they are with your services....

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A Happy Client a Day Keeps the Malpractice Suit Away

Malpractice is the potential danger to every attorney that should be regarded with deadly seriousness. If you're a rash go-getter, this can both be good and bad for you. Your personality can be good at the negotiating table in pushing...

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