When Life Happens and You Can't Make Court: What Do You Do?

Life can be a wonderful, albeit chaotic, and hopefully long and bounteous event for most attorneys. The chaos, though key to providing the variance that keeps life interesting, can sometimes raise the ire of court, like when you get...

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Are Your Law Firm Videos Really Helping?

Many lawyers are frustrated actors, but that doesn't mean they should be making movies. After all, how many people actually want to watch a lawyer video? According to a new report, not that many. The good new is, however,...

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3 Tips for Hiring Contract Attorneys to Make Appearances

Sometimes scheduling conflicts cannot be fixed. While you may be able to perform super-human feats, being in two places at the same time just isn't possible. Fortunately, help is usually just a call, or even a click or tap,...

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What to Do When Your Judge Is a Creep

The judge asked an accused prostitute whether she did it because she liked the money or because she liked the action. Other times, he commented on the attractiveness of female lawyers in his courtroom. He gave them nicknames, like...

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Judge Makes Rule So Women Can Speak More in Court

If there were a poster boy for an old boys club, Judge Jack B. Weinstein could pose for the picture. He's white, male, and 96 years old. They don't come much more "experienced" in a male-dominated profession than that....

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Should a Non-Lawyer Head Your Law Firm?

Non-lawyers running law firms -- what could possibly go wrong? "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!" Maybe that's an over-reaction, but it's a fact that more non-lawyers are running big law firms. And they have been...

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Should Lawyers Have a Customer Loyalty Program?

At one time, customer loyalty punch-cards likely took up a significant portion of your wallet or purse. You had your favorite sub sandwich shop's card, your favorite café's card, and even your McDonald's coffee punch card. However, today, paper...

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Black Attorneys Still Underrepresented in Law Firms

In an age when a black lawyer became President of the United States, it is surprising that black attorneys are the least represented ethnic group at American law firms. According to a new survey, law firms have made little...

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Top 5 Tips to Take Control of Your Online Reviews

There are few things in a lawyer's life worse than losing a case. One of those fates worse than a defeat is the dreaded negative online review. Review sites like Yelp! allow the public to review attorneys based on...

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Why Fly Coach If You Can Get a Private Jet?

Partner: "I'm taking the jet today." Associate: "Can I help with your bags?" Secretary: "No, but you can load mine." If only your law firm had a corporate jet, you too could live like the rich-and-famous. Some lawyers can...

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Ex-Big Law COO Explains How Law Firms Fail at Business

Lawyers are not taught to be business oriented. Sure, we can pierce or protect the corporate veil, and litigate on behalf of or against businesses, but when it comes to running a law firm, the ordinary business principles of...

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How to Minimize Risk of Malpractice as a Solo Lawyer

One of the hallmarks of good advocacy is to see a case from both sides. Like being the devil's advocate, it helps to see the strengths and weaknesses of a situation. This is especially appropriate when it comes to...

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Tips for Drafting Equity Partner Agreements

Non-equity partnership agreements, once a rarity in law firms, transformed the traditional partnership model. Since the beginning, law firms have had single-tier partnerships where all have equity in firm growth. Only a handful of major firms, like Cravath Swain...

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The Risks of Creative Pop Culture Advertising

Even though paying for it is painful, advertising can be a lot of fun. Thinking up catchy campaigns that will capture the attention of potential clients is a creative process that can pay off big time. Using pop culture...

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How to Handle Big Clients That Don't Want to Pay Your Bill

Just about every lawyer, at some point in their career, will be faced with a client that either doesn't want to pay a bill, or won't approve a budget or "not-to-exceed" estimate. When it's a regular client, pursuing the...

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How to Ask a Client to Pay for a Novel Litigation Strategy?

In your entire legal career, you've probably never started a client meeting by saying: "I have an idea so crazy it just might work." Perhaps if you have a flare for the dramatic, you've probably used that line with...

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Authenticity on Social Media Is the Key to Brand Success

When it comes to online marketing for lawyers and law firms, one of the hottest areas that lawyers are investing in is social media. However, those "promoted" posts and advertisements on social media might not help as much as...

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Millions of PACER Documents Made Free

PACER, your favorite tool for getting federal court documents, may not be your favorite for long. CourtListener, a service of the Free Law Project, now offers every free written order and opinion that is available on PACER. And unlike...

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Common Mistakes When Starting a Law Practice

What's the most common mistake an attorney makes when starting a law practice -- besides choosing to become a lawyer? Just kidding. Starting a law business may be the best thing about entering the practice of law. It's the...

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Why Treating Lawyers Well Is Good PR for Your Firm

A London law firm is in hot water after an Indeed.com job ad that was purportedly posted by the firm offered a junior associate salary of just $12,885.00 per year. The salary is more than a few dollars below...

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Why John Oliver v. Murray Defamation Case Was Remanded to State Court

In the Robert Murray v. John Oliver case, the recent decision to remand the case back to state court is making headlines. However, those headlines and articles tend to focus on what's happening, and all the comedic language, rather...

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What Does the Future Look Like for Personal Injury Lawyers?

Personal injury attorneys, it's time to take a good look at yourselves in the mirror. If you think a future with driverless cars and fewer accidents will kill your practice, you need to slap yourself in the face. That's...

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Women Get Fewer Chances as Lead Counsel

Women lawyers serve as lead counsel in only 25 percent of all cases in New York courts, according to a new study. The New York State Bar Association survey found an even lower percentage of women served as lead...

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How to Manage Yourself at Your Law Firm

When it comes to law firm management, wouldn't it be great if there were an app for that? Actually, there are dozens of software programs and management systems that you could employ. In a few years, a robot will be...

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Top 4 Challenges Facing Small Law Firms

Running a small or solo practice is no easy task. Whether you are truly solo, or have a few underlings, or a couple other attorneys, on your team, most small law shops have to deal with the same basic...

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Who Deducts Attorneys' Fees After Costs in Contingency Cases?

When it comes to structuring contingency fee agreements, most state bars allow quite a bit of latitude, so long as fees are reasonable. There may be some required magic language about the fee being negotiable that's mandated in your agreement,...

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BigLaw Gets Bigger Piece of Market Pie, Report Finds

Like America's middle class, midsize law firms are struggling as BigLaw takes a bigger bite of the legal market. A new report from Thomson Reuters shows that the largest firms are separating themselves from smaller firms in the demand...

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Checking In or Checking Out on Vacation?

College student: 'I am interested in pursuing law, and I was just wondering, on average, how many weeks of vacation a starting out lawyer would receive?' Columnist: "Ha, ha, ha. Oh my gosh! That's a good one. Next question."...

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Top 3 Tips for Lawyering on the Road

We've all probably heard the joke about the lawyer that dies, goes up to heaven, and sees St. Peter at the pearly gates. St. Peter looks the lawyer up and down, then says: "There must be some mistake, you...

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Are You Liable for a Client's Mistake After Getting Fired?

They said it was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time. Now your client came to a decision, and it was one of a painful kind. Cause now it seems that you wanted to save them...

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What's Your Liability for Client Communications to Third Parties?

Among President Trump's covfefe's, dictating Donald Trump Jr.'s statement about a meeting with a Russian lawyer registers high on the Richter scale. The exact impact will be determined by history. Right now, it's big enough that the special counsel...

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Public Defenders Seek Judicial Relief From Caseloads

Public defenders say they have so many cases indigent defendants are not getting adequate representation. Now tell us something we don't know. Well, did you know one veteran judge says the caseloads have reduced the constitutional right to counsel...

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Florida Judge Tosses Improperly Spaced Court Filing

Hell hath no fury like a Florida judge who receives an improperly formatted brief. Luckily for the BigLaw lawyers for Darden Restaurants, the line spacing violation only landed them a scolding and striking, and not a denial, nor sanctions....

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Practical Tips to Keep Your Desk Clutter-Free

A lawyer's desk can definitely leave a lasting impression on clients and colleagues. But only the junior associates are really going to be impressed with how high you can stack pleadings on your desk. You, and those that know...

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When to Use a Novel Litigation Strategy

Sometimes justice is elusive. Statutes, regulations, and precedent, will not always line up exactly with an injury, harm, dispute, or with what just feels right. However, thanks to the way the justice system works, certain catchall-type causes of action...

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South Dakota's Legal Weed Hopes: Ruined by a Missing Phrase?

Is it possible that the authors of South Dakota's marijuana initiative were stoned at the time they drafted it? After all, marijuana proponents invariably use the hallucinogenic drug. Memory loss and paranoia, for example, are common side effects. And...

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Are You Ethically Bound to Protect Data During a Border Search?

Amidst the controversy over the in-depth searches of electronic devices on the border that are lawfully happening, the New York City Bar Association has chimed in with some advice for attorneys that could be subject to these border searches....

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Is the Law Firm Office Manager Stealing?

At what point do you call out your office manager for taking money from the law firm? When she takes $25,000 for bail on a case? When she pays off the lease on her Mercedes Benz? How about when...

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What Is Excessive Footnoting?

A recent sua sponte striking of a motion is making headlines over the rationale provided from the bench: excessive footnoting. Although footnotes aren't really a good persuasive writing technique (why are you trying to distract your readers?), pleadings all...

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Good News, Bad News for Women Lawyers in 2017

The good news is that more women are becoming law partners. The bad news is, that represents only about 25 percent at the leading firms. And somewhere in between the good news and the bad news is a question:With...

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