What to Do When Closing Your Law Firm

You've hung your shingle. Now it's time to take it down. Whether you're retiring, moving across the country, joining another firm, or giving up on the law, you've decided to shutter your firm. But closing a law firm isn't...

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Marketing Emails Your Firm Should Try

We hope you've ported your client contact information to a proper email marketing software program by now. If you haven't, shop around -- there are a lot of good choices out there. But email what? Below we've included a few...

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Is Business Slow for Your Solo Practice? Here's What to Do.

Every solo lawyer knows the anxiety of too few clients and too little business. Lawyers often complain about not having enough time in the day. But when free time actually does come around, they start to get worried. If business...

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5 Best Ways to Improve Your Lawyer Marketing, on the Cheap

You've got to spend money to make money, right? Right. But you don't have to spend all your money. When it comes to lawyer marketing, there are a few strategies you can take to improve your marketing without breaking...

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Could Videoconferencing, Skype Testimony Be Unconstitutional?

Videoconferencing programs like Skype or FaceTime are becoming increasingly common in today's courtrooms. Defendants detained in other jurisdictions can Skype in to the court house. More rarely, witnesses may present testimony via teleconference. Even attorneys have been known to...

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Should Small Firm Lawyers Spend More Time Marketing?

Workaholic attorneys may be spending too little time marketing and too much time lawyering. In the long term, this can make lawyers vulnerable to economic dips. The realities of today's economy make it necessary for attorneys both at large firms...

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5 Times When You Should Fire an Associate Attorney

Your business is growing and you're lucky enough to need another pair of hands to handle all the work. So you've hired an associate, hoping that by bringing on another attorney, you can take on bigger cases, generate bigger...

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What Practice Areas Are Best for Flat Fee Billing?

A good bit of your solo or small firm practice will be devoted to maintaining the books and making sure money is coming in. As times change, the usual practice of taking in about a third of your client's takings...

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Want Fries With That? Why More Lawyers Should Cross-Sell.

You're no fast food cashier, but attorneys could learn a thing or two from McDonald's. The world's largest burger joint brings in billions of extra dollars a year, simply by asking "would you like fries with that?" It's the...

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Does Your 3-Way With a Client Count as Sex? It Depends.

You know, there are times when you think you've read it all, but then history taps on your shoulder politely to remind that you haven't. Take for example, the old gem of In re Inglimo, which asks the question:...

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5 Top Developments for Dealing With Angry Online Lawyer Reviews

Lawyering in the age of Yelp can pose some tricky issues. No one likes to be reviewed like they were the neighborhood Thai restaurant, especially when the review is negative, or even false. But lawyers with online reviews are...

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Yelp Ordered to Remove Defamatory Lawyer Review

In a case that could set the tone for negative Yelp reviews around the country, a California appeals court affirmed a lower court's injunction that ordered Yelp to remove an angry review against a law firm. The negative Yelp review...

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Law Firm Succession Planning Registry Approved in Wisconsin

Do you sometimes wonder who will take over your practice when you become incapacitated or pass away? The Wisconsin Board of Governors has addressed that problem recently by approving a succession planning registry. As it stands, nothing mandates that lawyers...

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Celebrating Gay Pride Month at Your Law Firm

June is Pride Month, a month to celebrate the achievements of LGBT individuals and a month that has, sadly, already been punctuated by the tragic mass shooting that killed 49 patrons of an Orlando gay club. If your firm...

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Do You Suffer From Computer Vision Syndrome?

If you work in an office and spend any time in front of a computer, there's a good chance you suffer from the symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). We've all experienced it: the dry eyes, the slight burning, the...

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Craft Distilling Is Booming and So Is Distillers' Need for Lawyers

Over the past decade, craft brewing has taken off, with hip, local microbreweries popping up everywhere from post-industrial Brooklyn to downtown St. Louis, just a DIPA's throw away from the Anheuser-Busch mega breweries. But your small batch sours are...

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How to Deal With Foreign and Non-Native Clients

Unless you're part of a large multi-national law firm, you'll have only your small firm or even only yourself to rely on when dealing with clients from foreign countries. This leads to a conundrum. You want clients from across the...

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5 Tips for Improving Client Communications

As an attorney, your job isn't just to successfully handle a client's legal issue. It's also to let them know that their legal problems are being solved. Keeping on top of client communications is key to keeping clients informed...

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3 Signs You're Not as Efficient as You Think You Are

You're a pretty modern attorney. You've got an impressive website, newish computers, and streamlined workflows, all so that you can get things done more efficiently and effectively. You even hired your nephew to digitize all your old records last...

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How Do Managers Hire the Best Candidate?

Did you know that according to Gallup, companies hire the wrong candidate about 82 percent of the time? In other words, companies tend to only get the right candidate less than twenty percent for each attempt at filling a vacant...

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Tracking Client Communications in the Digital Age

There are two major components to practicing law: handling the case so the client doesn't have to, and communicating with the client just what it is you're doing. Both can be overwhelming. Now add the fact that you have to...

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Before You Start a Law Firm, Learn to Run a Business

If you're finally ready to hang your own shingle, there's one thing you need to keep in mind: running a law firm means running a business. Even if you're the sharpest legal mind in the state, you're not going...

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5 Skills Lawyers Must Have to Succeed Today

The practice of law is not easy. It doesn't help that the legal field is becoming increasingly competitive. To stay on top, it's important to get back to the basics by focusing on the skills that make you a success....

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It's Time to Update Your Attorney Bio; Here's How to Do It Right

Tucked away on your firm website is your attorney bio. It's beautiful. You've got a nice, professionally taken photo, a summary of your educational background and expertise, a list of your legal successes. And it's horribly out of date....

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6 Top Writing Tips for Lawyers

Practicing law means writing. Lots of writing. Motions, demand letters, emails to clients, memos, you name it -- the practice of law is in many ways practice in writing. Which means, to be a better lawyer, you need to...

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Want to Compete Against Robot Lawyers? Focus on Being Human

Artificial intelligence and automated legal services aren't anywhere near advanced enough to replace lawyers in serious legal matters. But they're getting closer by the day. And even simple technologies like online legal forms are undermining some attorney business. How's...

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Bogus Accolades Could Result in Attorney Discipline

Do you advertise yourself as a star lawyer, the best around? Even if your accolades are based on awards and honors, they could still land you in professional hot water if those comparisons aren't meaningful. In response to many...

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5 Bad Habits You Should Break

It happens every single year. You resolve to change a few bad habits and then you invariably fail to reach your goals. But, hey, if you've changed even one bad habit, you've made admirable progress. And there are a couple...

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Do Law Firms Need Twitter?

Do law firms need Twitter? Not if they’re one of the most profitable firms in the nation. It seems like everyone has a Twitter account, but remember: looks can be deceiving. For example, you should note that although many small...

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All You Could Need in Information Security and Privacy Law (Almost)

When it comes to information security and privacy, the law is vast and sprawling. There's the threat of data breaches and the question of liability over cybersecurity failures. There are federal anti-hacking laws and children's privacy acts. There are...

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Women Returning to Law: OnRamp Fellowship Could Help

For many women, a difficult choice must be made whether to carry on with their careers at the expense of family, or to leave and raise a family at the expense of their careers. The truth is that the market...

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