Legal Research

Posted by Dennis Kennedy: "Let me add my "me too" to the many accolades for the new issue of the Law Practice Today webzine with its focus on tips for "suddenly solo" lawyers. "Suddenly solo" is a phrase that refers to lawyers (increasingly these days long-time law firm partners) who find, often with little warning, that their law firm no longer needs or wants their services. In today's economy, these lawyers frequently find that rather than moving to another law firm and a comparable position, their only option is to start up their own solo practice.

 The issue has many useful articles and I expect it to receive many pointers as the "go to" resource on the topic.

The article includes a new article from me called "Lemons, Lemonade and Lean Legal Technology - A Shoestring Approach to Legal Technology for the Suddenly Solo Lawyer." My friend Wendy Werner, who is doing a great job as editor-in-chief of Law Practice Today, called me one day and ignored my protests that I had no time to write an article for this issue and planted the seed for a topic that intrigued me.

The idea behind the article is to try to scope out how little a lawyers who finds himself or herself suddenly solo might actually need (as opposed to want) in order to get a new practice off the ground.

I offer a list of twelve steps to consider:

1. Take a Deep Breath. Really.

2. Take an Inventory of What You Already Have.

3. Go on a Treasure Hunt.

4. Identify Your Software.

5. Take a Hard Look at What You Really Need to Do Your Work and Manage Your Practice.

6. Match What You Have to What You Need.

7. Make Lemonade Out of Lemons.

8. Free is Good, Especially for Software.

9. Turning Technology into a Utility Cost.

10. Find Internet Bargains.

11. Develop Your Internet Presence.

12. Think About Technology Selection as a Process.

Interestingly, when I thought of using the term "lean legal technology," I did a quick search on Google to see how the term might have been used before. Apparently, it hadn't been used before, at least accrding to Google, so maybe I coined a term as part of the article.

Anyway, the articles represents a fresh approach to some of these legal tech topics and I hope the article is helpful to some lawyers trying to make it through a tough period.

Read the article and let me know what you think.