Want More Money? Take Free Online Business Courses

It seems to be a near constant lament of new lawyers and those that hire them, that law schools don't teach lawyers any business skills or how to actually practice. But have you ever considered going back to school...

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Frozen Embryos and Divorce: Court Offers New Guidelines for Custody Rights

Cryogenic rights, procreational autonomy, and embryo embargo are not the usual issues in divorce court. In a landmark Colorado case, the Colorado Supreme Court tried to address them. A divided court resolved the questions for a divorcing couple, and...

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What If You Can't Be Happy Practicing Law?

If you are unhappy practicing the law, join the club. Statistics say that lawyers in general are a depressed group of people. Suicide rates, substance abuse, and job pressure tell half the story; the other half are just unhappy...

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3 Tips for Evaluating Police Misconduct Cases

For many civil rights or personal injury practitioners, police misconduct cases can be a little bit mystifying. These are more than typical, rudimentary government tort claims involving negligence. The silver lining to these cases being so vehemently defended is...

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Who Doesn't Love Free CLEs?

For attorneys coast to coast, CLE can be a real pain to keep up with. In addition to having to devote several hours of actual time to the courses (meaning you can't bill for that time), often, you have...

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How to Exclude Associates and Other Partners

When it comes right down to it, sometimes you don't want every attorney at the firm on your cases. But, at small firms, it may be difficult to exclude the other attorneys, especially when an interesting or lucrative case...

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Should You Re-Brand Your Law Firm?

Seems like every law firm is getting a facelift. It's hard to believe, but it's a statistical reality. About 93 percent of America's law firms are changing the way they look. Marketing people call it re-branding, but does your...

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Wrongfully Convicted Claims Prosecutor Hid Evidence

A lawsuit filed by a wrongfully convicted Michigan man seeks to hold the county, its investigator, and prosecutor liable for intentionally withholding critical exculpatory evidence. The case involved the conviction of a former state trooper for child molestation of...

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5 Dreadful Mistakes Lawyers Should Never Make in Firm Logos

Every law firm should have a good logo, but coming up with one is not as easy as it looks. It's like the famous Nike swoosh -- simple, memorable, cool. But if it were that easy, everybody would be...

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PSA: Do Not Mail Pot to Federal Judges

Marijuana may be legal in several states around the country, but mailing pot certainly isn't. And gifting some of the smelly green stuff to judges is certainly out of the question. Despite the greyish legality, it's still a drug,...

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Pitfalls to Avoid Misbranding Your Law Firm

Some cattlemen still brand livestock with hot irons, but it's a shame when there are modern, pain-free ways to keep track of herds. It's the same with law firms that use old-fashioned ways to brand their businesses. It takes some...

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How to Pick a Legally Themed Halloween Costume

With Halloween right around the corner, you might still be searching for that perfect legal/lawyer themed costume for a contest or party. If you are, below you can find some ideas that will be sure to result in a...

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How to Write a Blog Post in Less Than 60 Minutes

If writing a blog post were easy, everyone would do it. But if we're being honest, everybody does do it nowadays because it is easier than driving a car. If you can Facebook, you can post. Getting people to...

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Should Your Firm Offer 'Paw-ternity Leave'?

If you've never heard of paw-ternity leave, then it's a good thing you're seeing this. It's a new trend, and if you're not on-board, you can expect to be branded as a dog hating monster. Basically, it's like parental,...

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Most Small Firm Challenges Don't Involve the Law

In the course of a year, small firm lawyers are working for free after mid-July. That's because they spend about 40 percent of their time doing non-billable work. It is one of the tough realities of small-firm practice. According...

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Lawyers, Criticizing a Judge Is No Joke

The witness seemed to ignore a question so the attorney asked again loudly: "Isn't it true you were paid $5,000 to throw this case?" "Oh, I'm sorry," the witness said. "I thought you were talking to the judge." It's...

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3 Tips for Serving Defendants at Work

Sometimes service of process can be tricky. But if you know where a defendant works, you can certainly improve your odds of serving an evader by trying to find them there. It worked for one guy who was having...

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How to Find Out If You Should Request Recusal

Does your judge own stock in the company you're suing? Unless they're a major shareholder, like more than 5 or 10 percent major, it's not likely to be easy to dig up information that'll pop up in a regular...

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The Best State for a Marijuana Practice Is ...

New Jersey. Wait, what? How could New Jersey be the best state to have a marijuana practice? It's about the numbers. New Jersey handed out 10,000 new medical marijuana cards the first half of 2018, growing at about twice...

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7 Best FindLaw Writing Tips of 2018

Here in the FindLaw Strategist blog, we do a lot of writing about writing. From cases hinging on the Oxford comma to silly cease and desist letters to pleadings requesting extensions so lawyers can attend football games, we do...

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Trial Lesson: Don't 'Pop the Corks' Too Early

Plaintiff's attorney Brent Wisner had a winning closing argument, but then the judge had something to say. Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos didn't like the part about popping champagne corks. Wisner told jurors that the defendants were waiting for the...

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Mississippi's Billion Dollar Bench Trial

For some attorneys, opting for a bench trial is a peculiar bit of strategy that can help to ensure that complex cases are properly considered; however, sometimes you just don't have a choice in the matter. Recently, the Mississippi...

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North Carolina Opens Legal Borders to Help Disaster Victims

You can practice law in North Carolina no matter where you are, if you are ready to help disaster victims. Because of Hurricane Florence, the North Carolina Supreme Court has ordered that out-of-state lawyers may provide free legal services...

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When to Sue Co-Counsel: Only If It Hurts

Good lawyers know to tell clients not to sue if it's not worth it -- financially. Especially those clients who say it's about principal; they better have more dollars than sense. So the same should apply when an attorney...

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Washington State S. Ct. Gets Rid of Death Penalty

The Washington State Supreme Court has put an end to the state imposing the death penalty. Effectively, anyone sentenced to die in the state just had their sentences converted to life without parole. Interestingly, the court based its decision...

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How NOT to Handle In-Chambers Conferences

There are a thousand things lawyers should do in court. Always respect the judge, make eye contact with jurors, be civil to opposing counsel, etc. But there are at least three rules for in-chambers conferences, and the most important...

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When Friends Ask for, Then Don't Take, Your Legal Advice

Most lawyers out there have non-lawyer friends that will ask for off-the-cuff legal advice. And while we've all been trained to tell that friend that "friends don't let friends get and/or give legal advice from/to friends," most of us...

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Improve Creativity and Productivity With Smart Lights

The light bulb industry has come a long long way since Thomas Edison was credited with inventing the lightbulb. Thanks to the development of LED and other high-efficiency lighting solutions, the number of ways for you to light up...

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7 More #LawTwitter Accounts That'll Make You Laugh

While there is quite a bit of serious discussion that happens on #LawTwitter and #AppellateTwitter, there's also quite a bit of joking around. And for lawyers, getting a good laugh a few times a day can really help keep...

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Going From Data Dump to Trial

When litigating, one of the tried and true tactics of both plaintiffs and defendants is the infamous data dump. When initial disclosures and discovery responses come due, some parties relish the opportunity to drop bankers box after bankers box...

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Firm Announces Unlimited Gender-Neutral Paid Parental Leave

The concept of unlimited paid vacation seems unbelievable, and confusing. But, as many firms are starting to realize, to get the best talent, you have to offer the best perks, and unlimited paid vacation is actually a thing now,...

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Best Resources for Solos With a Heavy Caseload

If you've never had to handle over 20 or 50 or 100 cases at the same time, you might be blissfully unaware of some of the best resources available for solo practitioners trying to maintain heavy caseloads. But those...

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How Can Your Law Firm Reach Rural Clients?

Setting up a rural law practice should be easy. After all, you will get business when you are the only attorney within 100 miles. Not only that, some states literally pay lawyers to practice in the country. So why...

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Active Listening for Lawyers: 3 Important Tips

Clients, and especially potential clients, like feeling special. One easy way to make them feel special is to really listen to them. For years, those who know, have been preaching about the benefits of active listening. It's not that...

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22 Million Reasons Not to Give Clients Financial Advice

Every lawyer knows that the vast majority of cases settle, and often on the courthouse steps. So it was no big surprise that Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft settled a malpractice case against the firm on the eve of trial....

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5 Tips for Picking the Best Law Office Couch

When it comes to furnishing your law office, one often overlooked essential piece of furniture is the trusty ole law office couch. If you have the space, it's right up there with a coffee maker in terms of importance....

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Since When Did Atlanta and Austin Lead the Legal Job Market?

It seems like only yesterday that the best legal opportunities were in the Big City, places like New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. So how did Atlanta and Austin end up leading the way for legal jobs? According...

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How to Prepare Clients for Sticker Shock

Most of the time, you have to prepare the client for sticker shock. Read more on FindLaw Legal Blogs.

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7 Tips for Writing Better Emails

For lawyers, email is quickly becoming the preferred method of communication with nearly everyone. It creates a wonderful paper trail that shows how diligent we are, while also sending messages nearly instantaneously (and dependably, unlike email's older brother facsimile)....

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