Virtual Law Firms Are Seeking BigLaw Partners

Virtual law practice is nothing new to solo practitioners; they have been doing it successfully for decades. With varied success, virtual practitioners cracked the ranks of mid-sized firms less than a decade ago. But now that some wrinkles have...

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Shortcut to Persuasive Writing: Follow Hemingway

There is a shortcut to persuasive writing, and it's been around for 100 years. It's like we got lost along the way, retreading the same old path of legal writing. Heretofore's and therefore's later, many lawyers still don't get...

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Fitbit Tracker to the Witness Stand

First it was Alexa and now it is Fitbit -- these smart devices are going to court to catch alleged killers. Alexa, the voice of Amazon's digital assistant, made the news last year when prosecutors subpoenaed her data to...

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Is It Time to Grow Your Marijuana Practice?

Is it too cheesy to say that the pot practice is growing like a weed? Hey, it is what it is. Marijuana actually does grow like a weed and some lawyers are riding high on its popularity. According to...

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More Lawyers Use Social Media, but Don't Know How It Helps

Almost all lawyers use social media but few know how it helps their practice, according to a new survey. Attorney at Work, reporting results of its third annual social media marketing survey, said that 96 percent of the respondents...

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Pros and Cons of Being a General Practitioner

People used to ask me, "What kind of a lawyer are you?" "A good one," I liked to reply. It usually brought a smile, and always brought a follow-up question: "No, like, what kind of law do you practice?"...

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Pro Tip for Oral Argument: Stop Talking

It is a maxim in trial practice that when you are winning, stop talking. This does not mean you walk up to the podium with nothing to say. It means that you need to know when you have said...

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Hurdles Self-Employed Lawyers Face When Seeking a Firm Job

For you self-employed attorneys, going to work at a law firm is more than a job change. It is a life change. Whatever your reason for having been self-employed, you have had the primary benefit of being your own...

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Strategic Lawyering and the Benefits of Long-Term Planning

Charles H. Houston, a lesser-known luminary in the civil rights movement, may have been the best legal strategist in American history. Long before the U.S. Supreme Court completed its 180-degree turn-around on equal rights, Houston was planning the demise...

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Want to Keep Your Associates? Give Them a Raise

Forget unlimited vacation days, free car services, firm-sponsored memberships at the local Equinox. If you want your associates to stay around longer, you'll want to give them a raise. That's the lesson from BigLaw, at least. Many of the...

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The Law's Drinking Problem Isn't Limited to Lawyers

The legal profession has a drinking problem. More than one in five attorneys is a problem drinker, according to a study by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, and rates of alcoholism are much higher in attorneys than in the...

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Wielding a Judicial 'Wild Card'

Rolling Stone called Judge Jed S. Rakoff a "legal hero of our time," but the judge doesn't come across as a rock 'n roller. With a resume that includes triumphs at Oxford, Harvard, Wall Street, and the United States...

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Millennials Are a New Breed of Legal Consumers, Requiring New Strategies

Millennials, those 18-to-34-year-olds born after Generation X, are now the largest generation in America. They make up about a quarter of the U.S. population and more than a third of the current workforce. And as Millennials come into their...

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Choosing Your Market, Not the Low-Hanging Fruit on Your Client List

If you're like me, you go to the produce section with a list. That's because usually my wife tells me what I want: avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, apples, and bananas. It's all good because at least I know I'm getting...

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When a Judge Mispronounces, Should You Play Along?

There are plenty of pronunciations practitioners can disagree on -- voir dire, for example, stare decisis, or even choate. Then there's antecedent, usually said with the emphasis on cede, as in 'ant-a-SEED-ent.' But not by Supreme Court Justice Elena...

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What Lawyers Should Know About Client Portals

What's your preferred way of communicating with clients? An in-person meeting? On the phone? Over email? Through a client portal? My guess is, not the last one. But maybe it should be. Client portals can provide a safer, easier...

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Landing Clients From BigLaw Firms

Everybody knows that David slew Goliath, so how could that story be an analogy for solo attorneys and big firm lawyers working together? It's not gonna happen, unless you change the story like this: David knocked down Goliath, and...

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Let Out a Battle Cry: How to Motivate Your Law Firm Team

Before a game, basketball players huddle up, touch fists, and let out a battle cry. Football, baseball, volleyball, soccer, and virtually all team players do the same. It is a ritual, perhaps born in a time when tribes assembled...

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5 Tips for Dealing With Mentally Ill or Impaired Clients

Nearly one out of five Americans experiences mental illness at some point in their life, making it likely that, sooner or later, you'll encounter a client with a mental illness or impairment, whether it's a major impairment like dementia,...

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Is Your Firm Giving Millennials the Customer Service They Expect?

Have you ever seen grown-ups talking baby-talk to little children? It's understandable why they do it, but it can get a little weird at times. People assume babies understand the gibberish, but actually it makes no more sense to...

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Lawyers, You Don't Just Deserve a Vacation, You Need One

If you're a busy lawyer, particularly if you're a busy solo practitioner, stepping away from work can seem virtually impossible. There is simply too much to do and too few people to do it. So you keep working, day...

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Lawyers, Just How Important Is a Good Night's Sleep?

Neither Barack Obama nor Donald Trump gets much sleep. Obama stayed up late into the night, working on speeches and reading briefing papers, before turning down for just about five hours. Our current president has him beat, sleeping just...

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How to Leave Your Law Firm Amicably

12.00 Leaving your law firm amicably is sort of like an amicable divorce. Sure, it happens. Not always, but sometimes. The key to a good split is having the same goals -- to avoid unpleasantness and maintain profitability. Here...

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Tips for Making Your Home Office Your Law Office

Want to be a lawyer and work from home? We don't blame you. The commute is shorter, the dress code is looser, and your family (or at least your pets) are right by. Luckily for you, working as a...

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Customer Service Tips for Your Law Practice

Sometimes lawyers forget that we are in the customer service business. That's right, we are are in the same industry as the waiter, maitre d', and valet. Smiles for miles. The customer is always right. Tips are appreciated. I'll...

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Growth Strategy Tips for Solo Practitioners

Unlike weeds that seem to grow in any condition, solo law practices need a little more care. After all, lawyers are not a naturally occurring part of the eco system. Sunshine, water, and a little soil probably have nothing...

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Firm Sanctioned Over Brief's Line Spacing

When it comes to line spacing, Judge Victor Marrero does not play around. The SDNY judge fined the boutique litigation firm of Susman Godfrey $1,048.09 last week for breaking with his court's line space rule. The firm's crime? Using...

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Assessing Clients for Diminished Capacity

If psychologists go into the field because they have psychological problems, then do lawyers go into the law because they have legal problems? The first half of the question may be true -- Freud was a self-diagnosed neurotic --...

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Would Your Firm Pass Facebook's Diversity Test?

The law is one of the whitest professions around, but if you want to be 'friended' by Facebook (legally speaking), you may have to improve your diversity game. The social media giant is only hiring outside law firms where...

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A Win for Animal Advocates: Governor Pardons Dog From Euthanasia

Dakota is a lucky dog. She apparently is the first dog in the United States to be granted a pardon by a sitting governor. Gov. Paul LePage of Maine spared the Husky, who had been sentenced to die for...

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How to Win Millennial Clients

The millennium used to be considered a bad thing. Millenarians in 899, 1199, and 1299 thought the ticking of the clock would soon bring a Final Judgment and the beginning of the Apocalypse. In 1999, we all worried that...

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Pros and Cons of Being a Family Lawyer

What are the pros and cons of being a family lawyer? First, you will really get to know your relatives. That's because they will talk to you about delicate family issues more than your immediate family -- like who's...

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