Solo Practice

Does Being A Lawyer Make You Want to Dance A Jig? Maybe It Will If You Start Your Own Firm?

Posted on December 22, 2008
pI've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's a href="http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html"Outliers/a, which explores those factors that contribute to extraordinary success.nbsp; Though I'm not quite finished with the book, I've already found so many nuggets that help explain why some lawyers who start a law firm experience wild success while others flounder...

Does Being A Lawyer Make You Want to Dance A Jig? Maybe It Will If You Start Your Own Firm?

Posted on December 22, 2008
I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, which explores those factors that contribute to extraordinary success.  Though I'm not quite finished with the book, I've already found so many nuggets that help explain why some lawyers who start a law firm experience wild success while others flounder...

Looking for a New Practice Area...Just Pick Up the Newspaper

Posted on December 18, 2008
pemMay you live in interesting times.../em -- a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times"Chinese Proverb/a/p pNo doubt, today we live in interesting times, where a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/12/17/dreier-llp-files-for-bankruptcy-millions-in-unpaid-bills/"250 lawyer firms vanish overnight/a, where the legal trade press goes from an obsession with PPP (partners per profits) to LPL a href="http://www...

Looking for a New Practice Area...Just Pick Up the Newspaper

Posted on December 18, 2008
May you live in interesting times... -- Chinese Proverb No doubt, today we live in interesting times, where 250 lawyer firms vanish overnight, where the legal trade press goes from an obsession with PPP (partners per profits) to LPL layoffs per law firm, and where top lawyers are pounding the pavement for work...

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Lessons for Solos from Dreier LLP: If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...

Posted on December 14, 2008
With the law firm of Dreier LLP on the brink of collapse as the result of founder and sole equity partner Marc Dreier's multi-million dollar criminal fraud, the firm's lawyers are learning first hand that if  a work situation sounds too good to be true, then it probably is...

My Blogroll Is Rolling Away But I'm Giving A Better Alternative

Posted on December 11, 2008
Spurred by this post by blogmaster, Grant Griffiths and my recent sixth birthday, I've been rethinking the roll of my blog role as I begin a significant overhaul this site.  Originally, my blog roll had two components:  resource links, intended to provide information on other sites that would provide useful information or insights to my readers and other shingles links, intended as a way to highlight solo and small firms and share my SEO...

Celebrate MyShingle's 6th Birthday With Two Great Contests

Posted on December 09, 2008
Close to midnight six years ago, I pushed a button and with this post, launched MyShingle into cyberspace.  I didn't have a grand plan or scheme -- to be honest, I hardly qualified to write a blog about solo and small firm practice.  Back in 2002, Foonberg dominated solo-land as the only game in town with his one-size fits all eponymous rules on how to start a law practice...

Complete v. Cobble v. Cutting Edge: Law Practice Management in the 21st Century

Posted on December 08, 2008
[Note - post has been updated as of 12/8/08] Via Twitter, I discovered this extensive list of law office practice management and technology tools at Practicing Law in the 21st Century, the joint production of the ubiquitous Niki Black, as well as Greg Bell and Matthew Lerner...

An Interesting Technique for Getting Legal Fees Paid: Shouldn't Lawyers Be Better Than Mobsters?

Posted on December 07, 2008
Peter Olson's Solo in Chicago is another one of those great, unsung blogs that's been running for years, seamlessly marrying tips on starting a practice with Olson's own experiences.  A few days ago, Olson posted a link to an article by legal consutant Ellen Freedman from the ISBA journal (not publicly available) entitled Don't be Afraid to Get Paid...

Another Pitch for the Niche

Posted on December 05, 2008
I've posted before on the value of a niche practice to a successful law practice, but two items in today's news make me realize that it's time for an encore.  First up, this Los Angeles Times story describes a 26 year old biglaw associate who heads a team of lawyers at a large firm -- all because he came up with the idea of a video game practice area...

Homann's Top Ten For Solos

Posted on December 04, 2008
Once a cutting edge solo lawyer before moving on to new ventures, Matt Homann hasn't forgotten what it takes to succeed.  And he's boiled them down here with Confuscious-like insight, precision and brevity.  Though I like every point, I think my favorite is the last:  There is no shame in going solo...

Solo, Leverage Thyself (and Diversify Too); Biglaw, Take Heed!

Posted on December 01, 2008
For the past few decades, biglaw had a good thing going:  a seemingly sustainable pyramid scheme.  Large firms hired top talent and fed their appetites and egos with top salaries and assurances that these new associates constituted the cream of the legal caste system...

Happy Thanksgiving, The Solo Spirited Holiday

Posted on November 26, 2008
For some time, I've been wanting to weigh in on the debate over at Simple Justice about lawyer marketing, such as its role in educating the public, whether the focus on marketing has overtaken the importance of honing our craft as lawyers and the extent to which we permit marketing to pervade everything we do (or in Scott's infamous words, turn our blogs into a giant info-mercial)...

Law Marketing in a Time of Less Than Plenty Now Up At Nolo

Posted on November 25, 2008
My post, Legal Marketing in A Time of Less Than Plenty is up at Nolo's Legal Marketing Blawg, with lessons for lawyers drawn from what retailers are doing to keep sales stable in a wobbly economy.  Here's the opener: Though we lawyers prefer to think otherwise, for many consumers and small businesses, legal services are a discretionary expenditure...

Take A Stroll on Lawyer Avenue

Posted on November 25, 2008
Long before work life balance (WLB) became acronymized and before young lawyers began fleeing law firms in droves, Lawyer Avenue Press (and its imprint, Decision Books), the company that published Solo by Choice served as a voice for a life in the law, with titles such as The Guide to Contract Lawyering or What Can You Do With a Law Degree...

Mindmapping the Process of Starting a Law Firm

Posted on November 22, 2008
As you may know, I'm a new fan of the art of the chart, i.e., the use of graphic depictions to convey an explanation.  Today, thinking about all of the decisions that go into opening a law firm, I decided to attempt a Mind Map of the process.  It's more complex than I thought, but below is my first attempt (click on the Mindmeiser logo to go to the full map):  

Challenge the Bar

Posted on November 20, 2008
Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin' Poke the surface of the legal blogosphere these days, and you'll find talk of change bubbling below...

The Whole Pig

Posted on November 18, 2008
One of my favorite chapters in the Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House On The_Prairie series is the one recounting Pa's annual hog butchering ritual.  At least sixty years later, Wilder was able to describe the event in vivid detail (if you're a fan of the series, I'm sure you remember these details), from the somewhat gory slaughter to the process of curing and preparing the meat to last through the winter...

VSS - Very Simple SEO for Lawyers

Posted on November 17, 2008
It's been in the works for a while, but I can finally announce that I'll be contributing to Nolo.com's new Legal Marketing Blawg and I'll also be hosting one of their ads at my site which should be up and running in a couple of days.  I've always been a huge fan of Nolo publications for several reasons...

Registration for Six Weeks Til Solo Practice Is Closed

Posted on November 13, 2008
Just wanted to post an announcement that registration for Six Weeks Til Solo Practice is now closed.  Even with minimal advertising, there's been a great demand and I would have loved to keep registration open, however, a large class size would detract from the interactive nature of the program...

Should Lawyers Accept Ads on Their Blogs? Why Not?

Posted on November 11, 2008
  Above is the video that inspired this post (HT www.twitter.com/chrisbrogan) Even as many bloggers have looked to advertising as a way to generate an income stream from their blogs, up until relatively recently, I didn't think that lawyers should include ads on a law firm blog...

Still Seats Left in Six Weeks Til Solo Practice

Posted on November 07, 2008
There are still seats left for the upcoming, online program, Six Weeks til Solo Practice. Just click on the link which will take you to the registration page and class syllabus.  Also, if you are a recent grad or not currently employed (or on the verge of a layoff), contact me at carolyn...

Imagining Your Blog Audience

Posted on November 07, 2008
One of the best parts of blogging is the conversations it allows you to have with readers.  And if you don't know who your readers are, well, then, imagine them, as I posted in this guest-post on Grant Griffiths' Blog for Profit site.   Here's a quick excerpt, but you should go over to Grant's site and read the post and take some time to look around for some great blogging tips: What I mean by imagine your audience is to visualize the individual readers, from those who stumble across your site online to those who dutifully read your updates daily...

Two Years: The Reason Why You Should Not Leave the Law Now

Posted on November 05, 2008
With the economy tanking and the number of legal jobs declining, now may seem like a good time to leave the law.  Whether you graduated from law school last May and still haven't found a job or whether you're one of the growing number of biglaw casualties or a victim of a law firm's forced retirement policy, you may feel angry and frustrated that you haven't been able to make a go of a career in the law and ready to cut your losses by moving on...

Round Up of Posts on Marketing Lessons from The Election

Posted on November 05, 2008
Throughout the election, I'd planned on writing a post on marketing lessons but didn't get around to it.  Now that the election is over, this kind of analysis abounds, so rather than repeat it, I'll offer this quick round up of some of the best, interspersed with my own commentary...

How Tollbridge Businesses Can Provide An Annual Revenue Stream for Solo and Small Firms

Posted on November 03, 2008
Yes, I still read the local newspaper (in my case, the Washingtonpost) in hard copy every so often, and today I came across this article on the value of annuity contracts -- or as Warren Buffett calls them toll bridge businesses -- to small service providers like heating or air conditioning contractors...

Tips on Meeting Clients At A Virtual Office

Posted on November 02, 2008
For many solo and small firm lawyers, virtual office space offers the optimal compromise between an entirely home-based operation on the one hand, and renting full time office space on the other.  A virtual office arrangement, which may include a mailing address, receptionist service and per diem use of office or conference room space, enables lawyers to convey to clients the appearance of having a full time, professional office without the attendant costs...

From Biglaw to Yourlaw

Posted on October 28, 2008
Law may be governed by precedent, but oh how soon we forget.  Once upon, the behemoth law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom was just a trio of fellows named Marshall, John and Les who had the crazy idea to hang out their own shingle.  Yet now, forty years later, as the economy tanks and jobs in the legal industry decline and young associates yearn for better work-life balance,  large firm attorneys rarely consider solo practice as an option...

Why Not Outsource Innovation to Solo and Small Firms?

Posted on October 28, 2008
I'm still fascinated by the concept of  outsourcing innovation that I referenced in passing in this post from earlier today.  According to this Business Week article, countries like India and China paying American corporations to develop products, or put another way, they are outsourcing innovation...

Start Your Law Firm by 2009: More Information On Six Weeks Til Solo Practice

Posted on October 27, 2008
So, do you want to get your law firm up and running by the end of 2008?  What's holding you back?  You know, even if you're starting your own firm, you don't have to go it alone.  Why not join with a group of like minded people to cross over into solo practice together...

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