Practice Management
Chuck Newton 
Preachings and teachings from the perspective of a third wave law firm for home office lawyers, spare room tycoons, downshifters, carpet commuters, and law students.
Post Frequency: 4.2/day Last Entry: November 13, 2009 at 21:05:11 Recent Entries: 1338
By Chuck Newton
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The High Tech Washing Away Of Sins
Posted on November 13, 2009I am just as nostalgic as the next guy. I like to visit old churches, and especially the painted Catholic churches built in Texas in the 1800s. I am not sure why, but there is just something comforting about sitting quietly surrounded by history. Maybe it is the thought that all before us had to deal with the same sins, endure the same struggles, and avoid the same temptations, even if they might all be a bit easier or a little different in packaging now with technology...
The Most Expensive Mistakes A Lawyer Can Make
Posted on November 12, 2009I read an article on HuffPo Business recently in which they reviewed all of the most recently literature on the web and came up with the most expensive mistakes that a business could make starting out. That stated by HuffPo is ture, in my estimation, even if a little bit generic...
Death To Big Law (Schools)?
Posted on November 11, 2009Big Law as we know is dying, or at least that is what many very educated people think. This spells problems for law schools as well. It might be the kind of problem that brings about real and necessary change. I recently blogged about the Law School Tuition Bubble...
Do Not Mind The Law Snobs
Posted on November 06, 2009I have been getting attitude from other lawyers lately concerning my practice method. (Well, I guess I have gotten all along in the way of looks and stares, but now it tends to be more snide). For example, in telephone calls and in meetings, I get offhanded jokes and jabs about being a virtual lawyer or law firm...
Rise Of The "Homepreneur"
Posted on November 04, 2009BusinessWeek published an article on the "homepreneur" and the economic statistics it provides in the article are amazing. Specifically, did you know that we that work from home and collaborate with others account now for more than half of all business in the United States and employ more people than venture-backed companies...
Want To Be A Good Lawyer? Try Not Thinking Too Hard.
Posted on November 01, 2009I do not know if I can be accused of being a good lawyer, but I am certain I can be accused of not thinking too hard. But, let us face the truth. We all tend to come up with our best stuff -- out best ideas -- our best thinking on a subject when we are distracted and thinking about something that we sometimes more pleasant...
The Law School Tuition Bubble. Has Logical Reasoning Abandoned Our Law Schools?
Posted on October 27, 2009You know, I lived through the 90s when credit card companies thought they could loan all the money available to anybody regardless of the ability to pay, get the public entrapped, then raise interest rates through the roof, get the Congress to make it harder for families to escape the debt in bankruptcy, and that there would no end to the madness...
Top Paralegal Schools Online
Posted on October 26, 2009There is a need for paralegal training. Sometimes, it is necessary to acquiring basic knowledge to find a job in the field. Sometimes, someone has a job in the area, has learned a lot on their own, but just feels the need to have the credentials. Either way, it is not always easy to make the move, find the school, or find the time to attend...
The Mixed Martial Arts Law Niche
Posted on October 24, 2009The people at LexBlog have a right to be proud of and highlight David Nelmark. They blogged about his blog Mixed Martial Arts Law Blog. After all, LexBlog designed and set up the blog for David Nelmark and his law firm, Belin McCormick. Now, I do not have to be enthused by David Nelmark's Mixed Martial Arts Law Blog and his practice niche...
Eliane Elias-Call Me
Posted on October 22, 2009Briefing to meet a deadline today at the Worldwide Home Office. Need some calming music. So, listening to Eliane Elias.
Forget The Herd
Posted on October 21, 2009I have receive a good many communications lately asking how a lawyer might get heard above the herd? It is an interesting question really, and I understand why it is concerning for those wanting to enter the practice of law on their own. After all, the law market, like all other markets, are crowded, and it can be a challenge getting heard in and among the crowd...
The New ABA Approved Law Schools Since 2004
Posted on October 18, 2009There are a number of new law schools in the works, but otherwise 2009 has yet to yield any new ABA approved law schools. ABA accreditation is important to a law school because this generally means the law schools graduates is eligible to take the bar exam in all jurisdictions in the United States...
The Bootless Bar
Posted on October 16, 2009One of my favorite legal commentators, even if he does gnaw at me once in a while, is Robert J. Ambrogi. He is a Massachusetts lawyer, writer and media consultant. He writes the blogs LawSites and Media Law, co-writes Legal Blog Watch and co-hosts the legal affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer...
What Is Your Personal Brand?
Posted on October 16, 2009Martha M. Newman is a lawyer coach, CLE presenter for the State Bar of Texas and Vice President of the Women Lawyers Section in her bar association. She is the founder of Gain Your Goals, Inc. and publisher of Top Lawyer Coach, a website that focuses on building lawyer's rainmaking, practice management, and leadership skills...
IRS Issues 2010 Tax Rates
Posted on October 16, 2009Because it matters greatly to solo practitioners, you need to know that the IRS has issued the new tax rates and calculations for 2010. Most remain unchanged, but by law the dollar amount for various tax provisions are adjusted for inflation. You can find a copy of the new provisions by CLICKING HERE...
The University Of Massachusetts Wants A Law School
Posted on October 15, 2009It is funny really. The great liberal State of Massachusetts does not want a public option when it comes to a legal education in the state. You see, Massachusetts is law school rich, but not one of its ABA or non-ABA law schools are public institutions...
Savvy Networking: For Lawyers Who Hate The Thought
Posted on October 14, 2009Martha M. Newman is a lawyer coach, CLE presenter for the State Bar of Texas and Vice President of the Women Lawyers Section in her bar association. She is the founder of Gain Your Goals, Inc. and publisher of Top Lawyer Coach, a website that focuses on building lawyer's rainmaking, practice management, and leadership skills...
Lighting Up Your Home Office
Posted on October 11, 2009It is getting to be that time of year again. It is getting darker earlier and for a longer period of time. And, this makes me think of the lighting in most law offices, especially home law offices. When establishing my home office, this was a major thing for me...
The Belmont Stakes
Posted on October 10, 2009I am speaking of course about Belmont University and the new College of Law it is planning to open in the fall of 2011. The stakes could not be higher for the University or for the State of Tennessee. Belmont University is a private liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee...
Solo Business Entities Are Just "Superfluous Window Dressing"
Posted on October 09, 2009Anybody that has read this blog for any length of time knows how I feel about solo attorneys, or attorneys that can nonetheless operate as solos in a group environment, forming and operating as corporate-like entities. I think it generally represents silliness that is more costly than it is good...
When The Face Sues The Butt It Is All A Bit Too Much
Posted on October 06, 2009Sometimes it is hard to understand why lawyers and big companies have a bad image generally -- until you read things like this. Cannot anybody take a joke? Since when is a parody, no matter how much you resent it, not protected speech? I always heard it was the greatest form of flattery...
It Might Be Time To Move
Posted on October 06, 2009Let us face facts. Most law student, many new lawyers, and some establish attorneys are renting apartments. I know of attorneys that are also trying to practice out of their apartments. If that is true for you, then although the economic downturn can be a bad thing generally, it might offer you some relief in regard to rent and amenities...
Is There Something Hinky About Your Law Practice?
Posted on October 06, 2009Hinky? It is a word used to describe when something is indefinably wrong, out of place of just not quite right. It does I think describe most law practices, does it not? You report to work each day, do your best, and try to find that right balance between work and life...
University Of Akron School Of Law
Posted on October 05, 2009I know that Akron, Ohio might not be the most romantic city in the world. After all, one of its claims to fame is that it was here that Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935. It is referred to as "Rubber City" and "Tire City" for the automobile tire plants located there...
Rebooting Your Law Practice
Posted on October 04, 2009I am not talking so much about leaving your practice and then finding out later that you have to come back to it. You see this a lot with lawyers who move into other law practices or leave their law practices for paycheck-type jobs that do not work out for one reason or the other...
(Video) Social Media - Are You Up To It?
Posted on October 01, 2009I have to admit it. I have been slow to social media. No so much in failing to use it, but in failing to use it effectively, across the spectrum, to not so much promote (although I guess you can call it that), but to display my business and my cause and my law firm...
The Water Law Niche
Posted on September 30, 2009When you think about it, water is the vital ingredient for all living things on this planet. Therefore, it makes sense that it is something that is going to fought over and legislated. Where there is conflict and where there is regulation, there are attorneys because they are necessary...
To Build Or Establish A Law Practice, Just Begin
Posted on September 30, 2009As for myself, I have in the past been amazingly accomplished in exploring and developing law practices, and I have been equally dilatory to the point of not getting anything done - ever - in the same regard. It is a shame really, and you need to strive not to let the latter happen to you...
(Video) Microsoft's Courier
Posted on September 30, 2009Courier User Interface from Gizmodo on Vimeo.
No-Motion / Home-Motion
Posted on September 27, 2009Lawyers, probably more than anybody, suffer from no-motion. That is when at a law firm provides you, or as an associate you technically get, a promotion but no increase in salary or bonus. The law firm adds responsibilities, duties or more cases to tge attorney's current roster, but the 'monetary compensation does not keep up with it...
Big Law, Big Law School, Big Bummer!
Posted on September 26, 2009Do not take my word for it. Check out the article on American Lawyer entitled Not That Into You. It reports on a study entitled After the JD, which tracked 5000 lawyers who began practicing in 2000. In short, what is life like eight or nine years out of graduating from law school? How well were these lawyers expectations of the future met? The results, to some, might be amazing...
Stevie Wonder ~ Superstition
Posted on September 26, 2009It is a bright Saturday at the Worldwide Home Office, and Stevie Wonder is playing on Pandora.
New York Law School - An Example Of When Law Schools Play With Debt
Posted on September 24, 2009I went to South Texas College of Law. Not the most prestigious law school in the World, I guess, but when I attended it had one trait that you had to appreciate. STCL would not build anything, add anything, or pay for anything if it did not have the cash...
"Show Me The Note" Defense
Posted on September 22, 2009There is one thing that the law requires in almost any real estate action, at least in those states or in bankruptcy court, where there is a judicial action concerning foreclosure. That is the requirement to produce the actual real estate note, or at least a reasonable copy of it...
Most Attorneys And Law Firms Have A Website But They Are Not Really Online
Posted on September 21, 2009I like Duct Tape Marketing And John Jantsch, and he has reminded me about a concern I have about the web presence of most attorneys and law firms. Almost every lawyer I run into these days has a website either for themselves or their law firm, and they think that represents an online law practice...
How To Fire Your Receptionist
Posted on September 20, 2009I guess I should feel bad about advocating the elimination of jobs, especially the lower level jobs in this World. After all, it cannot be helpful to the job market if most law firms, traditional and non-traditional, eliminated their receptionist. But, the truth of the matter is the good old receptionist is about outdated as the buggy whip...
The Community Association Law Niche
Posted on September 19, 2009Home is where the heart is. It is, according to most statistics, a families biggest investment and largest debt. In short, the home brings to the surface both extreme emotion and money issues. The home as a private place has been instilled in all of us from the drafting of the Constitution down...
Hamline University School Of Law
Posted on September 19, 2009We have not written about little hidden gems in terms of law school lately. So, let us talk about Hamline University School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The law school was founded in 1972 as the Midwestern School of law, but it was acquired by Hamline University in 1976...
Students Who Flunk The Bar Exam Face Serious Financial And Personal Problems
Posted on September 15, 2009The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting on the new analysis on law school graduates that finds that those unable to pass a bar examination have an even tougher time personally and financially that average college graduates. And, this continues far into the future...
The Law School Admission Game By Ann K. Levine
Posted on September 15, 2009The law school admission process can be particularly complicated for the uninitiated. More often than not there are just unanswered questions as to how to proceed and what should really be done to which you have no reasonable way of knowing the answer...
How to l(a)unch your law career
Posted on September 14, 2009If you do not know Tomasz Stasiuk, you are about to. He is the publisher of Colorado Social Security Law, and as the name suggests he has dedicated his legal career to obtaining Social Security and medical benefits for Colorado based adults and children...
(Videos) Third Wave Attorneys, Solos, And Small Firm Practioners Need Health Care Reform And A Public Option
Posted on September 09, 2009Because affordable, and shall I say reliable, health insurance is such a missed necessity for solo practitioners and small firm lawyers, I think that insurance reform is necessary. I believe that the public option is necessary. Co-Ops sound nice, but I doubt they can do the job that is needed to bring real competition to the health care industry...
Marketing With Permission
Posted on September 05, 2009Not long after I started practicing law I discovered the magic, I thought, of TV advertising. Yes, it was incredibly expensive, but it produced large results -- fast. But, there was a problem with the potential clients it brought in. Although they were intrigued enough to venture into the office, they came with a great deal of skepticism and with many misconceptions...
And ... They're Off! Applying On The First Day Applications Open For Law School.
Posted on September 05, 2009Ann Levine over at Law School Expert has a good little post about the fear or anxiousness some might feel to apply on the first day applications are excepted at law school in order to get the best advantage. Her position is that you need to of course be diligent at getting your application and materials to the law schools you have chosen to apply, and deadlines are important, but the rush to make the opening bell is not necessary...
Stop Job Hunting And Start Profession Finding
Posted on September 04, 2009I do not know if you ever watched the TV series The Waltons. (You can watch some clips by CLICKING HERE). But, I remember one scene in which John Boy was worrying about the unemployment or non-employment rate for writers. Then his younger brother confirmed with him that writers are self-employed, to which John Boy agreed...
Home Office In A Steamer Trunk
Posted on September 04, 2009I know some people have space issues with home offices, but I have always said there are creative alternatives. In that regard, here is one creative alternative I found on Unplggd. Not a lot of you may remember travel trunks. Frankly, it is beyond my years as well, but I have seen a number of them over the years in my junk shop hopping...
How Various Majors Perform On The LSAT
Posted on September 02, 2009I guess we have always known this. Certain majors do better at the LSAT than do others. Ultimately, to me anyway, I am not sure how much it matters. I do not think there is much of a correlation between LSAT scores and the achievement or joy in the practice of law...
How I Effectively Learned To Staff My Law Practice
Posted on September 01, 2009I had a large bankruptcy practice with five office locations, lots of lawyers and lots of staff, and during that time I tried to answer one of the primary questions of any law firm manager. How to effectively staff a law firm? And, let me tell you, I was bad at it...
Dangerous Law Practice Myths, Lies and Stupidity
Posted on August 30, 2009I was recently introduced to a wonderful little book entitled Dangerous Law Practice Myths, Lies and Stupidity, which recently hit number one on Amazon in its category. It is not a long read, and yet it capsulizes in a number of different ways the great misconceptions that especially young and new lawyers have about the practice of law...
Ave Maria School Of Law Prepare Student's For Law School By Scrubbing Toilets
Posted on August 30, 2009Of there is no secret that I like Ave Maria School of Law. And, I appreciate this story on the local NBC station. Before beginning classes, more than 200 Ave Maria law students boarded buses at Ave Maria to travel where they will scrub toilets, wipe cabinets, and clean ovens as a way to learn how to be better people and attorneys...
The Automatic Stay Violation Law Niche
Posted on August 30, 2009It is an arcane area of the law, and admittedly it is one area about which I have not much written. Maybe it is because I might be a bit protective in that this is the area of law in which I practice -- in which I have pioneered in fact. But, the truth of the matter is I have encourage countless attorneys over the years, with little success, to consider this legal niche as a full time practice...
Pennsylvania Winery & Hospitality Lawyer - Judy Young
Posted on August 27, 2009It really is not often that you find someone that combines the best of a Third Wave practice into something exciting, but I think that is what Judy Young is up to. A niche practice primarily representing wineries, a niche practice, a virtual practice, blogging, relationship building, all combined with a carpet commute...
The Economy Harms Even The Top Law Students' Prospects And I Say So What
Posted on August 27, 2009As reported in the New York Times, the economic downturn is diminishing the prospects of even the top law students at the top schools as the job market for new law grads is the worse in 50 years. Of course, I think it should be pointed out, the article centers on law students looking for Big Law careers...
The Blogfamation Law Niche
Posted on August 26, 2009Okay. Fine. I will admit it. I made the name blogfamation up, but people combine words all of the time for fun and profit. For me it this is really more an amusement. You see I have a online buddy, Corinne Tampas over at What's Your Authority, who, like me, gets a kick out of scouring the blawgosphere looking for possible overlooked legal niches...
ABA Launches Its Legal Rebels Project
Posted on August 26, 2009Over the course of the next three months, the ABA will be profiling 50 of the profession's leading innovators at its Legal Rebels site. The first profiles, along with videos and audio slideshows that illustrate the changes they are trying to make in the practice of law, are now online...
First New California Public Law School In 40 Years Opens
Posted on August 25, 2009It finally happened. The University of California - Irvine School of Law opened its doors with an inaugural class of 61 top-ranked students on full tuition scholarships. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said at a ribbon cutting that the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine, has already exceeded his expectations...
5 Tips For Entering Law School Students
Posted on August 20, 2009When you enter law school it is such a foreign land. It can almost appear to be enemy territory. Nobody teaches you how to study, succeed, thrive or survive in law school, and your base of knowledge is so small it is exceedingly hard to figure it out...
A Simple Container Home Or Office
Posted on August 20, 2009We have discussed here before, but sometimes you just need examples. If you are in need of additional space for your home or an office, or for living space so you have a place in your home for an office, or even a small off-site location to operate your law practice, you might consider a simple structure built mainly from shipping containers...
The Art Closing Niche
Posted on August 18, 2009Personally, I do not. But, there are some people, collectors, museums, art galleries and the like that pay a lot of money for art. These art buyers, when you think about it, are investors. They might based part of their art purchase because the art is pretty or enjoyable...
Growing Primitive
Posted on August 15, 2009Sometimes you need to trade technology for telephony. A chat message for yakking it up. Getting on the horn instead of getting online. Growing primitive is a combination, for me anyway, of growing your law practice with going primitive, which is a term that describes trading keyboarding or texting for a phone call...
Home Office Sloth-Cloth
Posted on August 14, 2009Oh come on. You work from home. Do not pretend that you shave and dress up in a business suit every doggone day. And, if you do, the question is why? We all need some down time. The beauty of working from home is that you get more down time than everybody else...
Office Sheds Offer Architectural Experimentation
Posted on August 09, 2009I get mail every week from attorneys who have qualms about practicing from home. The desire is there, but the concern centers around family and other obligations, a lack of space, or just the need to have the home office physically away from the rest of the household...
Western State University College Of Law Receives Full ABA Approval
Posted on August 09, 2009I previously posted about Florida A&M University College of Law receiving ABA full approval, but the ABA has also granted full approval to Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. Western State University College of Law, the oldest law school in Orange County, California...
The Dog Bite Niche
Posted on August 05, 2009Okay this area of personal injury law might not be as glamorous as pursuing giant corporations for wrongdoing, but it can be a profitable niche practice of law nonetheless. There are currently 74.8 million dogs in America according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA)...
Florida A & M University College Of Law Is Granted Full Approval
Posted on August 05, 2009Congratulation to Florida A & M University College of Law. It is well deserved. The FAMU College of Law was reestablished in 2000 and opened its doors to 89 students in 2002. The ABA granted the law school provisional accreditation in August 2004. Since that time, the FAMU College of Law continued to grow and pursue its mission...
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
Posted on August 01, 2009Trying to find the inspiration to finish a paper for a Texas Bar seminar coming up, the worldwide home office has resorted to disco and 70s music for the weekend.
8 Reasons Not To Go To Law School
Posted on July 28, 2009I do not know. The whole world is a critic. I the justification of a law school education is not different. Most often in this regard people are cynical and discouraging. You take things with some truth and exaggerate. Do not get me wrong. I have probably done the same thing...
Could You Office In A Milk Crate?
Posted on July 27, 2009There is always a lot of discussion about two things related to workspace. One, I need additional space at home or a quiet separate place at home, or close to home, to practice. Two, I am worried about the costs of construction of even a small office space...
The Lemon Law Niche
Posted on July 26, 2009When lawyers talk about lemon laws, they might be talking about consumer protection or deceptive practices in a broader sense. But, those are practice areas and not necessarily niches. Practicing in the area of lemon law is a niche. Lemon law also does not refer to actual fruits or produce...
South Texas College Of Law Scored Its 101st Advocacy Win
Posted on July 26, 2009If you believe that the central aspect of law is advocacy, then there is no better law school than South Texas College of Law (STCL). It simply excels in this area. And, when you think about it, whether in trial, or on appeal, or administrative hearings, or even real estate closings, simple demand letters or even client consults, the basic underpinning involves advocacy...
The Future Might Still Hold Room For A Public Law School In The Texas Rio Grande Valley
Posted on July 21, 2009I certainly hope so. According to Texas Lawyer's Tex Parte Blog, although the Texas Legislature passed on establishing a public law school in that region this session all was not lost. The Legislature did agree to fund a study. In an amendment the House added to S...
15 Bargain Law Schools
Posted on July 18, 2009About.Com lists what it believes are the 15 best bargains in law schools in this country where you can good a great education but pay less for it. Some require residency in the state to attend, but many have loose rules that allow you to be a resident after a year...
Scott Bassett - "You Just Have To Realize That The Things You Think You Need Are Actually The Things That Weigh You Down."
Posted on July 17, 2009I think that we all appreciate real life examples of the Third Wave practice of law. So, when I received this email from my fellow Third Waver, Scott Bassett, which described his practice, I thought you needed to know. His email is inspiring. ___ A friend licensed in both Michigan and Texas sent me her copy of the July 2009 Texas Bar Journal...
Advanced Law School Placement
Posted on July 16, 2009What a cool idea. D. Benjamin Barros, an professor at Widener Law, on his Property Prof Blog, advanced the proposition of teaching basic doctrinal law courses at the undergraduate level and that law students then be allowed to place out of these courses in law school...
Co-Branding
Posted on July 15, 2009Sure, if you look on TV or look anywhere you will see evidence of successful co-branding. Southwest Airlines has co-branded with SeaWorld to launch their Shamu inspired airplanes. Michael Jordan teamed up with Nike to sell $100 plus Air Jordans. And, there is TGI Fridays teaming up with Jack Daniels in terms of food flavoring...
Frenemy
Posted on July 13, 2009In reading the Houston Business Journal, I noticed that "frenemy" is a new word that has been added by the Merriam-Webster's latest collegiate dictionary. (When I checked, however, it had not been added to Merriam-Webster's online version). Frenemy is a combination word that has developed, which means one who pretends to be a friend but is actually an enemy...
You Need To Create The Indispensable You
Posted on July 12, 2009Here is the secret you need to keep in mind - when it comes to referring cases or clients, potential referral sources are lazy. I do not mean this in a bad way. I do not mean they are careless or inactive or that they are laggards. If fact, the opposite is most often true...
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN POSSIBLY JOINING ME IN A THIRD WAVE SUMMIT OR SABBATICAL TO JAPAN NEXT SUMMER? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
Posted on July 07, 2009Did you know the Biblical Sabbath is the origin for the present-day practice of "the weekend", meaning Saturday and Sunday in which most do not have work scheduled, or where, like me, your work schedule is more relaxed. It comes from the Hebrew Shabbat meaning literally a "ceasing" in work...
Is Your Office Floor Not Worth The Money You Put Into It?
Posted on July 06, 2009One of the biggest problems I see with home offices is the flooring. Too much carpeting. Task chairs, desks and the like can do a great deal of damage to the carpeting. I prefer hard surfaces. In my home office I have a slate floor, but then I replaced all of the floors in my home with slate to provide continuity and easy care...
The Green Law School?
Posted on July 01, 2009According to BuildingGreen.Com, the University of Denver College of Law houses one of the nation's top environmental and natural resource law programs, and now it has the first LEED-certified law school in the nation. The new 210,000 square foot facility reduces environmental impact and prioritizes occupant safety...
The Tree Law Niche
Posted on June 30, 2009Chiat Lynn at Art of the Odd clued me in on this niche, and she did so over Twitter no less. I guess she wanted to see how deeply rooted I was in the niche law market, or whether I would just ignore the subject and leaf it alone, or maybe I would go ahead and o-pine on the subject...
A Few Thoughts (Or Complaints) About Law Practice Site
Posted on June 26, 2009For some reason lawyers like to send me links and ask me what I think about their websites and blogs. More often than not I have a few complaints. Take them or leave them as you like, but there are just a few things that I think do not work for you the way you might hope...
A Few Thoughts (Or Complaints) About Law Practice Sites
Posted on June 26, 2009For some reason lawyers like to send me links and ask me what I think about their websites and blogs. More often than not I have a few complaints. Take them or leave them as you like, but there are just a few things that I think do not work for you the way you might hope...
Do Not Be A Networking Jerk
Posted on June 24, 2009I think the worse thing in the world and one of the leading impediments for lawyers actively engaging in referral based practice is the image of the networking jerk. On the one hand, do you not just roll your eyes when you run into one of these people in your trade group or in your social networking...
Web Law Degree Graduate Beats The Bar-Tenders In Massachusetts
Posted on June 24, 2009I am not sure I would yet feel confident in attending an online law school as opposed to a good old brick and mortar school. Sure it is cheaper. Sure it is more flexible and accommodating. But, there is no guarantee that most states will let you take the bar exam and be licensed to practice and, even if there is an outside chance, who wants to go to the trouble of this guy...
Texas Govenor Perry Signs UNT Law School Funding Bill Into Law
Posted on June 23, 2009There is a meanness in Texas politics sometimes in which people fight the creation of everything that does not directly benefit them. Children should not get free school lunches because their children do not get free lunches. It matters little if one is rich and the one that benefits directly is poor...
Do You Participate In Religious Lawyer Organizations?
Posted on June 21, 2009I do not necessarily do ,although I have attended meetings in the distant past and I certainly do not have a problem with anybody else that does join and attend these organizations. Although it is obvious that most lawyers do not explore this possibility you have to wonder why...
Wilkes University To Open A New Law School
Posted on June 21, 2009Wilkes University is a private, non-denominational university located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is a university known for its graduate programs. For example, although the University has an undergraduate population of over 2,200, it also has a graduate student population of over 2,200...
The Greenwashing Law Niche
Posted on June 21, 2009There are definitely lawsuits that have been filed claiming that companies are making bogus eco-friendly statements about their products, or so-called greenwashing claims. But, is there a niche practice to be made out of this type of claim? My thought is yes because if nothing else there is a dedicated group of people trying to better the planet by buying green...
The RAC Law Niche
Posted on June 20, 2009The what niche? The RAC Law Niche! It could represent for you an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a pretty new phenomena in health law. Not the complicated part of health law where you have to understand the intricacies of a disease or a treatment type or an injury or risk management procedures...
Now This Is What I Call A Summer Internship!
Posted on June 20, 2009The University of Virginia School of Law is considered one of the finest law school in the country. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is derided by conservatives and embraced by liberals and libertarians alike in that it seeks to defend the individual rights and liberties of every person guaranteed by the Constitution even when those rights are unpopular...
The Wedding
Posted on June 15, 2009I have received a lot of email and communications concerning the wedding of my daughter Mary. It was a very nice wedding. Here are a few photos taken by some people. The officials ones are not back, yet. The first picture is at the rehearsal dinner when the bride's mother and I share a cry after we are told by the bride that we have to, of course, finish paying for her JD/MBA...
Time To Jettison The Law School Legal Clinic
Posted on June 15, 2009If you believe like me that law students need real legal experience, then maybe you should agree that law schools probably need to jettison their legal clinics and farm their law students out to non-profit and for-profit legal organizations that look to make a difference in this world...
The Wine Law Niche
Posted on June 12, 2009There is beer and alcohol, and then there is wine. Unlike the others, wine somehow maintains it sense of sophistication. The jewel-like color of the drink maybe helps. The special occasions it represents in many of our lives and memories might be the reason...
University Of Houston Law Centers New Graduates Assistance Program
Posted on June 11, 2009Is the economy for new lawyer'really that bad? Regardless, it is always nice to have some help. The University of Houston Law Center believes it understand the slow law market its recent graduates might be entering. To help it as created its New Graduates Assistance Program, in which it intends to provide $500,000...
The Chain And Whip Of The Slave Driver
Posted on June 09, 2009The Devil's Dictionary in 1911 defined debt this way - "An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver." I ignored sayings like this when I started out in the practice of law. And, whereas it does not take you long to figure out what this saying means and feels like in real life, once you discover it you are generally years away from correcting it...
Mary Gets Married
Posted on June 08, 2009Well, my oldest daughter gets married on Saturday, June 13, 2009. How somebody juggles all of the tasks and duties she has, I am not sure. I do not know how her husband to be will handle this little ball of fire, but I ask if the world is ready for this over achieving lawyer - -
Bing Bong Bing
Posted on June 05, 2009First, let me say that Future Lawyer has a new banner, and it is pretty cool. Maybe Rick Georges' has had it for a while and I just did not notice it because I generally read his posts on my blog reader. Anyway, it looks good Rick! Second, Rick commented recently on the crazy new name chosen by Microsoft's for its new search engine, Bing...
Gov. Schwazenegger Threatens To Cut All State Support For Hastings College Of Law
Posted on June 04, 2009Let us face facts. Lawyers are not always the most popular people in the world. Hence, law students are not that popular or, some would think, not worth supporting. After all, we do not need a nation or state of laws? Do we? OF COURSE WE DO! It is no secret that California is in really tough shape financially...
Charlotte School Of Law Deserves Special Recognition
Posted on May 27, 2009Charlotte School of Law has a lot for which it deserves to be proud. A new state of the art building. ABA provisional accreditation in record time. And now, the law school has graduated its first law school class of Juris Doctors. The class of 2009 began their legal studies with the opening of Charlotte?s first and only law school in August of 2006...
Are Violent Video Games Preparing Kids For The Apocalypse?
Posted on May 27, 2009I just love the Onion News Network. Let us listen in -
Referral Clients Are Simply Cheaper To Obtain, Easier To Close, Pay Better, And Are More Profitable
Posted on May 26, 2009Oh, that is a mouthful, but it is true. I read this recently about business in general and I think from my experience it applies to law clients as well. A referral has a 60% chance of becoming a sale, with other methods coming in a distant 10% or less...
Niche Marketing Secrets For Law Firms
Posted on May 26, 2009I found this video online by David V. Lorenzo who operates RainmakerLawyer. He is discussing niche law practices and the benefits of such a practice. This is a lot of what I have been saying for a long time, but I think he brings a different light or perspective to some of it...
Congratulations Are In Order For Elon University School Of Law
Posted on May 26, 2009Graduation ceremonies are taking place all over the nation for law school graduating classes. But, maybe an honorable mention should go to Elon University School of Law. This is because the law school marked a milestone with its first ever graduating law school class...
Religious Right Fanatics Just Go Too Far In Their Hate For America And Americans -- And Lawyers And Law Students
Posted on May 25, 2009... And, that goes for conservatives that align themselves on the periphery of these types of movement, or act as apologist for these terribly abhorrent and loathsome malcontents. According to The Miami Hurricane, protesters from the Christian (?) fundamentalist group, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, that operates under the URL GodHatesFags...
The Thug Law Niche?
Posted on May 24, 2009I am convinced you can find the niche practice of law in every area and nobody has thought out or sought out all of the possibilities. But, this is an interesting one. According to The Morning Call, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania attorney Eric Dowdle targets his services as a criminal defense attorney to inner-city defendants accused of firearms offenses, drug charges and violent crimes...
U.S. District Court Upholds Montana Law School's Refusal To Fund Christian Legal Society
Posted on May 24, 2009Liberty University removes its college Democrats group recently because it felt that Democrats (generally or generically speaking) do not uphold the University's ideals and religious beliefs. We all remember the news about Regent University School of Law expelling a 2L student, Adam Key, for posting an unflattering photo of founder Pat Robertson on his Facebook page where it looked like Pat Robertson was shooting the bird...
The Legal Fee Auditing And Litigation Niche
Posted on May 22, 2009Back in April of 2008 I proposed the establishment of a niche practice to keep personal injury attorneys honest (or at least working on their cases diligently). After all, clients, doctors and other medical professionals do not get paid anything until the case is settled (hopefully for the best value) or a judgment obtained...
The LSAT Scam
Posted on May 19, 2009I think I am not the only one that is getting tired of the profit making motive of non-profits off the backs of those that can least afford it. Nowhere is this more true than in the education industry. First, we must deal with the investigation of big Bush and GOP supporter, Catherine B...
Where To Meet?
Posted on May 18, 2009I usually leave the tech stuff to Rick Georges over at FutureLawyer. He usually keeps me informed of everything I need to know. He blogged about this, however. It is a practical need of mine and, therefore, I thought I would pass it along to you. It is Rendeznew, and it promotes itself as "the NEW way to 'meet in the middle'"...
Law School Commencement Speakers
Posted on May 15, 2009TaxProf Blog listed the commencement speakers at 115 law schools. I thought that was pretty interesting. So, if Dean, Paul Caron, does not mind, I will post them here as well. Akron: Betty Sutton (Member, U.S. House of Representatives) Alabama: Richard Shelby (Member, U...
The Expungement Niche
Posted on May 15, 2009My friend Corinne Tampas at What's Your Authority brought this niche to my attention. That is the expungement niche. In Texas, I believe it is called expunction, and it involves the process of all records of an arrest, any jail detention and court records being destroyed or sealed, including things like fingerprints and DNA samples, so it would appear as if the event never took place...
Are Your Client Retentions Coincidental?
Posted on May 15, 2009I doubt it. Yet, most lawyers and law firm really have no idea how they get clients, or their ideas are simply wrong. As a result, many seem to discount referral marketing. In doing so they fail to work effectively on what is really working for them. Here is the problem...
The Mortgage Fraud Industry
Posted on May 12, 2009Oh, this does effect all of us on so many levels. It has damaged the economy, which has jeopardized all of us. Cleaning up after it, has created legal niche opportunities. It has made (whether good or bad) the possibility of a home office for some easier...
Survivor Big Law
Posted on May 11, 2009Do you watch the show Survivor? It is part reality TV show and part game show, produced in many countries throughout the world, in which the contestants are isolated in the wilderness and are forced to complete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to be voted off the show and the location...
Taga
Posted on May 10, 2009We try to cover work/life issues here and, let us face facts, there are a good number of parents of small children that have decided it is in their best interest, and that of their families, to work from home. This gives them time to work, make a living, and be with their children throughout the day...
Special Education Law Niche
Posted on May 09, 2009Jennifer Laviano, a solo practice lawyer in Sherman, Connecticut, has published a blog site with the help of G2WebMedia.Com, which is a company run by preeminent law blog expert Grant Griffiths and his son Clay Griffiths. The blog is unique in this respect...
I Have To Admit, I Just Do Not Understand People Sometimes
Posted on May 04, 2009And, what really concern me is that I look too much like Ziggy as well.
The Cooley Law School Rankings
Posted on May 03, 2009As the college school year ends and perspective law school applicants begin to consider the LSAT and which law schools to which they wish to apply, much consideration is given to the U.S. News rankings as well as much criticism and consternation of what the rankings wrought...
5 Cholesterol Myths
Posted on May 02, 2009Okay now, what is this doing on a law blog? I know, if you want health news you will visit a health website. But, this is important for a couple of different reasons to lawyers. First, there is so much disinformation out there concerning health, that I am tired of every lawyer I know being on edge or feeling guilty for what they eat...
Harvard Law Built On The Back Of Slaves
Posted on May 02, 2009It is probably does not reflect what the law school means today to us in this country, and it is probably not the only law school to have such a distinction. But, as reported by PrawfsBlawg.Com, you have got to acknowledge that Harvard Law owes its existence in good part to slavery...
What Will Happen With Chrysler's Electric Cars?
Posted on May 02, 2009Some are or were promising, the question is how can Chrysler now produce them?
Free Attorney Only Teleseminar
Posted on April 30, 2009I have been asked to pass this information along: On May 6, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time I am holding a free teleseminar and you are invited. The topic is: "Give Me 60 Minutes and I_ll Show You How I Started Closing 90% of Prospects, and Doubled My Fees, Without Going In To The Ofiice" You'll discover everything I did to increase the number of prospects I turn into clients to 90%, raised my fees by double and accomplish all of it even though I now hardly ever meet a prospect in the office! One the call you'll learn:...
Cardboard Office
Posted on April 30, 2009When you look around at offices and space, have you ever noticed that only advertising executives and high tech people get to have all of the design and architecture fun? What is it with lawyers that we seem to gravitate toward maybe competent but otherwise sterile design...
What About A1940s Texas Grain Silo For A Home Office?
Posted on April 28, 2009Sure this is a wonderful example of adaptive reuse. It would also make a wonderful home office. In 2007, Gruene Homestead Inn purchased the 1940s grain silo and remodeled the interior and exterior. The Silo includes one bedroom and one bathroom in a loft-type setup for the rental price of $175/$210 a night...
Jiffy Lube Law Blog
Posted on April 26, 2009I am trying out a new blog on Solo Practice University. Some of the articles are re-purposed from the years of work and the, approaching 2,000 posts, on this blog. However, the blog will be more tightly focused on highlighting the niche practice of law, and mainly to provide examples of niche practices as I find the...
FREAK OUT! Le Freak By Chic
Posted on April 25, 2009I do not know but that disco best describes or relates to the practice of law. You might not like that fact, but still when preparing for trial or a weighty court hearing, I think of Le Freak by Chic. Anyway, the Worldwide Home Office is continuing to boogie this Saturday...
Gwen Dickey (Rose Royce) - Car Wash
Posted on April 25, 2009I do not know why, exactly, but when work gets a little overwhelming at the worldwide home office, I listen to Car Wash. Something about relating the job to physical work. Something about "it is better than digging a ditch". Now you can relate that or compare that to the practice of law.
Ashcroft Opens A New Type Of Law Firm?
Posted on April 24, 2009As reported in the Austin Business Journal, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has started a new concept law firm. Partnering with a consulting firm founded by John Ashcroft in 2005, the Aschcroft Group, the law firm will focus on homeland security, corporate governance, data security, federal enforcement and regulatory matters, and corporate finance...
The Law School Scam?
Posted on April 23, 2009There is a lot of truth to this video contending there is a law school scam. I personally think there is a law school scam, but probably not for the reasons stated in this video. For you see, you can argue that a lot of law school graduates are not getting employed immediately after law school, and that traditional law job are falling, but I hardly think it is because of India and China or the relatively small increase in law school seats...
Do You Go To A "Mormon Friendly" Law School?
Posted on April 22, 2009Do not get me wrong. I think it is fine that a law school is "Mormon friendly", provided that it is not antagonistic toward other groups. Given the number of Catholic law school in this country, how could I complain. I will point out, however, that Catholic law schools are typically private law schools...
The New U.S. News Law School Rankings
Posted on April 20, 2009For categorical reasons I listed this post and the U.S. News Rankings under education, but it should not be. The rankings really have nothing to do with education. Predicting a law schools ranking is a bit like trying to determine what your FICO score is likely to be in advance...
TexaPlex
Posted on April 20, 2009There has been a lot of talk, thanks to Governor Perry, about Texas leaving the Union. Although I think this is more than silly, here is a video which shows just how dynamic Texas really is in comparison to the rest of the country. I think if you are considering a low cost, lower tax place to start a law practice or grow a practice, this is the place.
UCI Law Rises To The Top Of The Heap
Posted on April 19, 2009The University of California - Irvine School of Law, which will not even open its doors until the fall, has already become the "most selective of any law school in the nation". In a news release the law school states it accepted only 4 percent of the 2,741 people who applied for admission to its founding class, compared to a 7 percent acceptance rate at Yale and 9 percent at Stanford...
Thinking Inside The Box
Posted on April 19, 2009Thinking outside of the box? I must admit I do not think I have ever appreciated the term. To me it is kind of a throw away term or saying. Much like hearing another person on a design show mispronounce the word Voilà! Most discard the 'v' sound. Others ignore the 'w' sound...
Overcoming The Niche Bitch
Posted on April 16, 2009Okay, the title is a little salacious. A little bawdy, maybe. A tad vexing. Thought provoking, I hope. We all know a niche law practice is what is best, yet everybody, especially law students and recent graduates grapple with their choices and their direction in life...
Sorry I Have Not Posted In A While
Posted on April 15, 2009I am sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been busy and I have been trying to work myself through a post that is longer than usual about overcoming the niche bitch. Hope to have that posted soon.
1,700 And Growing
Posted on April 15, 2009This blog has surpassed 1,700 posts. That is a lot of content. It represents a good deal of time and a whole lot of thought. But, I appreciate your readership.
You traditional law firm types
Posted on April 15, 2009You traditional law firm types might be interested in this. If in all of your commuting and running around in your real life hamster wheel you do not get enough face time with green space, a group of students Dalhousie School of Architecture ? David Gallaugher, Kevin James, and Jacob Jebailey ? have decided to remedy this problem with a street-ready grass-lined wheel...
Easter Is Here
Posted on April 12, 2009I guess it means different things to different people, but it is a good time regardless, and it is here.
Law School Should Be Shorter, Better And Cheaper!
Posted on April 11, 2009Mark A. Cohen of the MinnLawyer Blog poses an interesting challenge for the teaching of law. His point is that "the traditional model of the law profession is starting to crack and crumble under the shrinking number of high-paying lawyer jobs available to support heavy law student debt loads of $100,000 or more"...
Aircraft Closing Niche
Posted on April 08, 2009In exploring a niche market you can be sure of one thing. Where particular and specific types of product or goods are being sold, and large sums of money are changing hands, there are going to be legal services and opinions issued to protect the buyers, sellers and lenders involved...
Get Accepted To Law School Without Taking The LSAT
Posted on April 08, 2009According to the ABA Law Journal, the University of Alabama School of Law has followed the University of Michigan School of Law and the University of Illinois College of law in a pilot program to admit honor students without the need of the student taking the LSAT...
Under Billing - Do Not Be A Cheap Date
Posted on April 07, 2009Peter Olson at Solo In Chicago has a good post concerning under billing. It is a disaster that I believe grips too many younger lawyers and lawyers just going out on their own. It is a hard lesson and an expensive lesson from which to learn, and you would do well to learn from others and avoid the practice altogether...
Forget It! I Am Not Going To Marry One Of The People Who Comment On My Blog!
Posted on April 05, 2009It is not that I do not like you, or that I do not appreciate your efforts. I do. (Oops, that is the wrong word to use). It is just that I have been married to my girlfriend for a long, long time. Going on 28 years, four children, a mortgage and a law practice together, I just cannot get that close to a commenter...
I Feel Like The Tiger When Talking (Or Listening Really) To Some Defense Counsel And Wingnuts
Posted on April 05, 2009They just do not get it, do they?
The Worldwide Home Office Is Listening To Count Basie Today (Video)
Posted on April 04, 2009Count Basie and his band, and various artist that played with him, hits the spot today as the worldwide home office tries to get a little work completed on this Saturday. Here is a sample.
10 Ways For Law Firms To Go Green
Posted on April 02, 2009Here is the general truth. Law firm's by and large are just wasteful with money, with resources, in directing their energies, and much of this is simply not helpful to our environment. Worse for the law firm it costs money -- tons and tons of money. It costs money that can be used on better choices...
Another One Bites The Dust
Posted on April 02, 2009Big Law that is. The law firm of Wolf Block to be exact. The partners voted to dissolve the 106-year-old law firm. They claimed it was a combination of the recession on the firm?s core real estate practice, the constriction of credit and the anticipated departures of significant partners and practices...
Failure Comes With Goodies
Posted on April 01, 2009Some of my frat boy type friends in the past have like to refer to me and others as losers over the little things that go entertainingly wrong. My typical response is that that I am not a loser. I have tried. I have worked at it. That makes me a failure, and that is a lot different...
Rick Wagoner's Home Vs. My Home
Posted on April 01, 2009Okay, the GOP is upset because, although they thought Rick Wagoner should step down when Bush was proposing to bailout GM, President Obama told Rick Wagoner he should resign. They wanted President Bush to tell him to go, but President Obama actually told him...
Lincoln Memorial University / John J. Duncan, Jr. School Of Law (Video)
Posted on March 30, 2009A mouth full. But the news is that Lincoln Memorial University is developing a new law school Knoxville Tennessee. The proposed Duncan School of Law received Tennessee Board of Law Examiner approval earlier this month. The approval will allow all of its graduates to be eligible to sit for the Bar Exam in Tennessee...
Listening To Something Wonderfully Different At The World Wide Home Office - Mack the Knife- Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Buffett
Posted on March 29, 2009Lawyers And Law Firms Need To Ban Cul-De-Sacs
Posted on March 29, 2009What? I read an interesting article, outside of my area of expertise, of Virginia banning the construction of all future cul-de-sacs in the State. The Washington Post reports that cul-de-sacs are "quasi-private standalone developments around the country that are missing only a fence and a sign that says 'Keep Out' ...
Law School Options And Choices
Posted on March 28, 2009This time of year, every year, I seem to get emails from law school applicants wanting my advice as to what law school they should try to attend. Some have multiple offers, but many have only a single offer of which they do not seem found. So, what is my advice? It is simple really...
Thomas Jefferson School Of Law
Posted on March 27, 2009I am not sure how I feel about institutions that accroach the name of a famous leader in order to add validity. But, there is no denying that Thomas Jefferson School of Law has otherwise come a long way. TJSL never really scores well in law school rankings, but then we do not much like the law school rankings as they are fabricated and tend to focus on objectives that are not, in the end, useful to graduating students...
You Get The Feeling That This Is How Those In The Financial Sector Thought Of Themselves
Posted on March 27, 2009The Vessel Closing Niche
Posted on March 26, 2009Maritime law represents a broad legal category, but it does not mean you have to do everything that is done in the practice area. Personal injury lawsuits in this area? Who needs them. As with any broad based area of law you can find one small, more systematic, profitable niche...
Bed Up
Posted on March 25, 2009Okay, this site is not in English, but who cares. This bed is amazing. A lot of spare room tycoons still need to keep their office space set up to accommodate guest, and some even have so little space their office has to double as their bedroom. I use to be fond of murphy beds for this reason...
An Entire Bedroom And Home Office In A Box
Posted on March 25, 2009How George Jetsonie can you get? A rolling box that unfolds into an entire room, including a wardrobe, a bed, a set of shelves, and desk and stools.
Ave Maria School Of Law Begins New Life In Naples (Video)
Posted on March 22, 2009Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza and Ave Maria School of Law, recently strolled to the microphone and said ?I?ve done this with hundreds of pizza shops,? as he, acting dean Eugene Milhizer and three students, cut the ribbon to officially begin the Ave Maria School of Law?s life in Naples, Florida...
God And Man At The University Of California - Hastings
Posted on March 20, 2009There is not much to say because the decision issued is very short. But, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-paragraph decision in Christian Legal Society v. Kane, (9th Cir., March 17, 2009), upholding the right of the University of California - Hastings College of Law to impose its policy against discrimination on the basis of religion and sexual orientation on a student religious group seeking formal recognition...
A Stimulus Practice Niche (I Mean Stimulus Strike Force)
Posted on March 20, 2009I guess there are literally trillions of reasons why some law firm would develop such a niche. I received an email from a reader. Attached to it was the article from the St. Louis Business Journal about this very subject. The Big Law firm of Stinson Morrison Hecker, LLP has formed a "new temporary practice group"...
Free Napkin
Posted on March 17, 2009I get it. Go to a restaurant and the paper products are free. And, such is the amazing thing about FreeNapkin.Com. It is kind of like Ebay without the payment. It is the Internet equivalent, I guess, of calling Goodwill or some local church group to take the old stuff from your home so you can replace it with new stuff...
Your Senators Need To Support Senate Bill 61 - Helping Families Save Their Homes In Bankruptcy Act Of 2009. These Videos Show Why.
Posted on March 16, 2009I think what these videos show are banks and lenders seemingly not working with people in any constructive way to save their homes. It is haphazard at best. It also show people not so much plagued by terribly bad decisions but by reasonable risks except for the economy leading them to unemployment of underemployment...
Best Video Of Blowing Up Bridges Every
Posted on March 16, 2009Alright. I understand that blowing up bridges does not have a lot to do with the law. (But wait, maybe there is some legal niche there). Sometimes, however, you just like to see things getting blown apart to the proper tempo. It just appeals to something deeper in most lawyers.
Parade Makers
Posted on March 15, 2009I think that normally a parade maker refers to someone that consistently drives under the speed limit, causing a backup of autos and, in cities like Houston, creating untold levels of frustration. I am here to tell you that there are parade makers in court as well...
Living Proof Home Office Lawyering Works
Posted on March 14, 2009Susan Cartier Liebel was kind enough to originally post this article on her blog Build A Solo Practice. Susan has also just launched Solo Practice University, an innovative online learning environment. ___ "I'll tell ya' the truth", as they say in East Texas, this economic downturn has got lawyers as jumpy as spit on a hot skillet...
What's That? You Can't Work At Home Because You Need Social Interaction?
Posted on March 13, 2009I know what you are thinking. Sure, it would be nice to wake up in the morning and not have to rush out the door into busy traffic in the commute to work. You would have time to make yourself a decent breakfast and maybe actually enjoy a cup of juice, tea or coffee...
Law School Applications Down In Hard Economic Times
Posted on March 13, 2009Although there is some anecdotal information to the contrary, Michelle's Law School Blog reports that the LSAC is reporting that nationwide applications are down about one percent instead. Wendy Margolis, spokeswoman for LSAC, said, "In past economic [downturns], we have seen some upturn...
Virtual, Solo, Or Work From Home Law Practice Are Not Niches
Posted on March 12, 2009I do not mean to be critical because there is no reason to be critical of lawyers who either operate or wish to operate virtually or as solos or from home. I operate my practice in each of these ways. It is admirable. But, operating in these ways do not represent niches that are relevant to anybody but the lawyer doing so...
Virtual, Solo, Or Work From Home Law Practices Are Not Niches
Posted on March 12, 2009I do not mean to be critical because there is no reason to be critical of lawyers who either operate or wish to operate virtually or as solos or from home. I operate my practice in each of these ways. It is admirable. But, operating in these ways do not represent niches that are relevant to anybody but the lawyer doing so...
Junk The LSAT
Posted on March 11, 2009Here is a real shocker. I did not do all that well on the LSAT. My wife did not do all that well on her LSAT. My daughter graduated from a challenging program from the University of Texas in the upper 2% of her graduating class and she did not do that well on the LSAT...
Blawging Lawyers - Grant Griffiths Interview With D. Todd Smith
Posted on March 10, 2009If you have not visited Blawging Lawyers you need to do so. You can get a lot of insight, if nothing else, from the lawyers interviewed on this site. The current example is "How Blogging Gained One Attorney Never-ending Clients, Unexpected Media Attention, and the Respect of His Peers...
If You Are Thinking Of Starting A New Practice Stop Worrying About The Wrong Things
Posted on March 09, 2009Before I begin let me say that if you have not visited Solo Practice University, you should. I was just hanging out there, and found this inspiration about the wrong priorities of enter into a new law practice.__________ From what I know, what I have done, and what I see so many new practice lawyers do wrong is concentrating on the wrong thing when thinking about or establishing a new law practice...
Fly Me To The Moon
Posted on March 09, 2009Had court today. Went to the farmer's market on the way home. Settled a couple of cases today. Worked on paperwork. Thought about what I need to do to finish up my taxes. Now, I need to unwind a little before my carpet commute home. At the world wide home office music does in fact calm the savage beast...
Texas Southern University Left Off The New Metro Line To Be Built In Houston
Posted on March 09, 2009Okay, maybe this post concerns local issues, but it does have a great impact on law schools in Houston, Texas. If you are striving to build a dynamic higher tier university and law school in an urban area, mass transit is important to that growth and for your prestige...
Newspapers Are Dying - What About You?
Posted on March 07, 2009It is easy to see this in regard to the online news everyday, is it not? I can also see it on my breakfast table in the morning. The Houston Chronicle is getting smaller by the day, combining sections, and constantly laying off staff. The news recently is that the Philadelphia Daily News is to become a mere edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer after the parent of both companies filed bankruptcy...
Do Not Be A Yukkie Spongmonkey
Posted on March 06, 2009Have I ever told you when I quit eating at Quiznos?I use to appreciate the fact that Quiznos offered offered great tasting subs, salads and soups made from fresh ingredients. Now everybody is doing it, but I loved their toasted sandwiches. But, now when I see or hear of Quiznos, or when somebody suggest we go there for lunch, it feel like gagging...
Video Of Part Of The Ultimate Home Office
Posted on February 24, 2009Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Oh The Pain! Oh The Opportunity!
Posted on February 22, 2009I am not sure you need commercial office space to practice law, but if you think so now is the time to act. Vacancy rates everywhere are rising and rising quickly. America is overbuilt. Demand is falling. Many big cities are hurting in this regard. No leases, no refinancing...
The Blind Leading The Blind In Applying To Law School
Posted on February 22, 2009I have to admit that I have not thought about it much, which just shows my woeful lack of knowledge or perspective on the difficulties of the blind trying to apply to law school in this age of the web based application process.The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and a blind law school applicant filed suit against the U...
Thinking Small
Posted on February 22, 2009In my heyday of pursuing the big dream there was an older attorney in Texarkana, Texas named Buddy Britt who like to tell people, "Chuck is like the farmer who says 'I don't want to own all of the land, just the land next to mine'". When you think about it, that's pretty funny...
Expresso Book Machine 2.0 For Commercial Rollout
Posted on February 21, 2009Produce perfectly bound paperback books at the point of sale.Wow, I am not sure what this says about a paperless society overall, but it certainly has its benefits. At least it eliminates the use of paper that is not presently in demand. It would cut down or eliminate the cost and carbon needed to transport tons of books to stores and libraries all across the Nation...
Ave Maria School Of Law Wins
Posted on February 20, 2009Ave Maria School of Law has had its detractors. It is hard to understand why. Certainly part of it is that it is a serious Catholic institution and its moral philosophy disturbs a few. But, ultimately it is a private institution, with a good bar passage rate, and it gives out a large number of scholarships...
Hiring Contract Attorneys
Posted on February 18, 2009We speak a lot here about collaboration as a substitute for building a large, bulky, high overhead law firm. Often the way we propose is to simply associate with attorneys and divide the work out for varying percentages of the overall case. You are not necessarily involved in a partnership in this situation, but you are often regularly associated with each other...
91 Year Old Female Drummer - Allee Willis Presents "Hey Jerrie"
Posted on February 14, 2009With analyzing it really, there is a lot we can learn from this 91 year old drummer on oxygen.
Duct Tape -- Designing A Referral System
Posted on February 12, 2009Do you follow Duct Tape Marketing? You should. It covers a lot of interesting small business issues even for lawyers, although that is not the main focus for John Jantsch. John as started a two part series on his blog about designing and operating a referral system...
The Derived Brand
Posted on February 12, 2009Image wise the term branding conjures up mixed emotions for me. A brand today is meant to be a sign of prestige or some such thing. In Texas in represents a mark seared into your backside by a glowing red hot piece of iron. Not pleasant but memorable, and I guess the memorable part is the point...
Bill Collectors Are Terrible People In Terrible Jobs
Posted on February 11, 2009I have thought about it off and on, and I always wonder why were should just not outlaw bill collectors. I am not talking about companies that feel they need to collect their own debt, but independent debt collection companies. After all, what really useful function do they serve? There entire existence, say what you will, is based solely on harassing, lying, bullying and deceiving people...
Google's Powermeter
Posted on February 11, 2009You just have to love Google. More than any tech company they are revolutionizing the way lawyers, and especially Third Wave lawyers, operate, and they are doing it mainly for FREE.The newest entry is from Google.Org, which is the philanthropic wing of the company...
Ad Hoc Law Firms
Posted on February 09, 2009GAL raised an interesting question about the future and use of "of counsel" by law firms. I think the argument could go further and say, what about a law firm of only of counsel relationships, where one attorney acts as the contact or the hub through which the legal traffic follows...
Recession May Redesign The American Home (And Home Office)
Posted on February 08, 2009I have always thought that the quickest and most surefire way to green up your home (if not your life) was simply to move your law office home. This works for two reasons. First, it seems to me, it substantially cuts your carbon footprint that is established through commuting to an outside office and all of the waste of having an outside office...
Tales Of The Rising Sun
Posted on February 08, 2009How do I say this delicately?There is a Japanese proverb that reads (or so I am told because I do not read or speak Japanese) - Nokorimono ni wa fuku ga aru.The literal meaning, I see, is luck exists in the leftovers.My daughter, Mary Newton, is about to publish her first book entitled Tales Of The Rising Sun...
We All Have Too Much Space
Posted on February 04, 2009Sometimes I think there is just something wrong with us. We drive huge vehicles, often times with just one or two people in them. We thrive on huge meals, with portion sizes way out of control. You use way to much energy for the benefit we receive. It is not only not green and not necessary, it is extraordinarily expensive...
Published On Build A Solo Practice - Living Proof Home Office Lawyering Works
Posted on February 04, 2009Susan Cartier Liebel was kind enough to allow me to guest post on her blog -- Build A Solo Practice. You can and you should read the post or article, if you have not, and this is especially true if you have been thinking about making the move home with your law practice...
A Legal Problem Waiting To Happen
Posted on February 03, 2009You have got to love signs. Last Fall I litigated a case in which the creditor put up a large sign trying to collect his debt on a major intersection in a small town. The point was to embarrass, and it worked. We are still waiting on the Court's opinion, so the issue must be more difficult than I suspect...
Not Buying, Need To Rent, Now Is The Time To Negotiate
Posted on February 03, 2009If you are not in a position to buy a property now, and you need to rent longer, then you need to understand the realities of the market and negotiate the best deal you can get. See this MSNBC video on the subject. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Michael Buble - "It Had Better Be Tonight"
Posted on January 31, 2009Listening to Michael Buble at the worldwide home office today. Enjoy.
Ice Cream Trucks Are Still Magical
Posted on January 31, 2009There is something about ice cream trucks. One ran buy my home while I was working in the home office and I had to restrain myself from running outside with my wallet. I guess when I had little kids at home I could mask my desires by rushing my kids to the curb...
Tuition Is Way Out Of Hand
Posted on January 29, 2009I have two children in college and one in the JD/MBA program at the University of Houston. I still have one child at home anxious to start college. I feel my wife and I sacrifice hard to to get our children through without the need to bankrupt them. UH, like many other Texas university has increased both tuition and fees about 52% since my children started school...
Marketing Plans
Posted on January 29, 2009Ok. Ok. Ok. I know that I am not much on formal marketing plans. Maybe it is because my group of lawyers is small, with no staff, and we can communicate between ourselves what the objective should be. But, I understand that some people get a since of motivation writing things down in an organized fasion...
Command And Control
Posted on January 29, 2009Do you think of yourself as a worrier for justice, or some such thing?Many times when we think about terms like command and control we think about it in a military context. But, such terms have really been co-opted by the military. Have you ever thought why some law firms seem to perform so well and some law firms seem to languish or seem to be putting out one fire after another? It is probably (or at least partly) for the reason that some lawyers are good at command and control, and many lawyers are not...
Let The Free Market Determine The Best Way To Destroy Money
Posted on January 29, 2009I just love The Onion. They really take these arguments of our public and politician and put them in the stupid light they deserve. I love this one about the money hole.
"The First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All The Lawyers"
Posted on January 27, 2009We are all too familiar with this line form Shakespeare's King Henry VI, are we not? But, what is interesting is that Shakespeare did not mean this line as a cut or dig against lawyers, but a dig against commercial life and government. The point in the play is that the surest way to chaos and tyranny is to remove the guardians of independent thinking -- the lawyers...
Maybe You Should Stop Fighting Instant Messaging In Your Law Practice
Posted on January 24, 2009Many lawyers like to IM on a personal basis or with some friends and colleagues, but they fight it when it comes to using it professionally in their law practices, and especially with clients. Everyone fears even great disruption.Maybe they should not...
Have You Ever Thought Of A PEO For Yourself?
Posted on January 22, 2009This is a professional employer organization (PEO). You might have also heard it called co-employment, employee leasing or staff leasing. To me, in the past, it represented more than outsourcing of HR services, although it does that. But, to us Third Wavers it can possibly make the thought of private practice bearable...
Is It Possible To Browbeat Down Your Broadband?
Posted on January 22, 2009Broadband is everything to a Third Wave attorney. We literally live off the pipe. Telephone. TV. Internet access. It is not just part of the bundle of things we use, it is the bundle of things we need to thrive. By yesterday's standards it is cheap. By today's standards it is getting more expensive every single day...
What Is The Right Legal Structure For Your Law Firm
Posted on January 21, 2009My initial reaction to this question is usually -- NONE.I get these questions from time to time, and usually more around the first of a year when lawyers are changing law firms and going out on their own.Certainly there are times to partner up or incorporate out, but I much prefer the KISS principal -- KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID...
The Gun Trust Niche
Posted on January 20, 2009I want to continue to bring to you different or unusual legal niches so you can clearly see that law is much more than a few broad categories. In this regard, lawyers continue to amaze me with their ingenuity in discovering, isolating, marketing and making profitable legal niches for themselves...
Beware Of The U.S. News Law School Rankings
Posted on January 19, 2009We all want to feel good about ourselves. We want to think we are the best, or at least trying to be the best we can. The same is true for institutions like law schools. So, U.S. News & World Reports comes along and starts ranking law schools. Law schools in return start spending tons of money and molding their practices to game the U...
The QDRO Niche
Posted on January 18, 2009Third Wave style lawyers are nothing but innovative when it comes segregating out and developing what we like to call the Jiffy Lube model for the practice of law. What sliver of legal business can be carved out, that you can do yourself, and which is being neglected to some extent by the majority of practitioners? And man, if it is an area in which the client already has an established attorney, you do not have to necessarily meet face to face with the client, and there is not much in court work, that is all the better...
Niche Drift
Posted on January 18, 2009Yes. Yes. I guess you can say that my blog has taken a niche drift of late. I just blogged about a QDRO Niche and a Nanny Niche. But to tell the truth, I practice in a very dedicated niche. I prosecute automatic stay and discharge injunction violations...
Lawyers And Bumper Cars
Posted on January 17, 2009I have some experience with bumper cars, if in name only. It deals with Issac Newton's third law of interaction, which comes into play with bumper cars. This law says that if one body exerts a force on the second body, the second body exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in the direction on the first body...
The Nanny Niche
Posted on January 16, 2009I like interesting legal niches, and my friend Corine Tampas, a legal research and writing attorney at What's Your Authority, alerted me to this interesting website.Legally Nanny is a legal set of services developed by attorney Robert E. King in Irving, California...
Connie Francis Friday
Posted on January 16, 2009Today we are listening and remembering Connie Francis at the worldwide home office. The first video/song here probably is more remembered from the movie Uncle Buck. The second is one of her most famous songs. I like to listen to Who's Sorry Now when I am drafting discovery to serve, but that is just me.
Video Newsletter With Jay Fleischman
Posted on January 14, 2009Among the many hats he wears Jay Fleischman is a bankruptcy marketing expert. In this video newsletter he discusses the value of marketing for lead generation purpose. Although his advice is bankruptcy practice related, but it really applies to many or most practice areas...
Working Hard To Execute Against Your Client's Expectations
Posted on January 14, 2009You might ask, as I did, what this statement mean?I saw it written in a law firm office, no so much for the clients to see, but for the staff and attorneys to read. I was told they took the wording from some brochure of a foreign bank doing business in the United States...
Meet The Locals
Posted on January 12, 2009Growing up my father was a practicing ophthalmologist in Texarkana, Texas. He relied on optometrist from small towns in Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas to refer him business. I remember when growing up that my Dad would some days just get in his car and head out to drop in on the optoms to shoot the bull and to tell them thank you...
Gran Torino
Posted on January 11, 2009Over the weekend I went to see Clint Eastwood's newest movie, Gran Torino, with my son. My son Mark is a real movie buff. I am not that sophisticated in my taste or in the art. I very much liked the movie on a number of levels. But, the theme song I found to be just mesmerizing...
Clarity (Or The Lack Thereof)
Posted on January 09, 2009What is wrong with some lawyers (many lawyer) (maybe most lawyers). We are suppose to be the epitome of argument and persuasion, and we just lack clarity. Argument is not the opposite of clarity. Clarity should be the basis for any good argument.Now, do not get me wrong...
Now Is The Time To Consider Negotiating Or Renegotiating For Office Space
Posted on January 05, 2009Okay! Okay! I will admit it. I am not a big fan of commercial office space. I work at home and I run a virtual office. Therefore, commercial office space is not necessary for me. If this is not the boat in which you find yourself, or just feel or just need to have a more traditional office environment for your practice or your law firm, now might very well be the time to start negotiating for office space or to start trying to renegotiate the lease on the space you have...
Law Schools Of Ohio
Posted on January 04, 2009If you are thinking about law school, Ohio still has a lot going for it. First, it is centrally located in the Great Lakes region of the county, and is easily accessible to students from all of the surrounding states. The same is true for its position as part of the great Midwest...
Tonbo
Posted on January 02, 2009The word is Japanese for dragonfly. It is the "altruistic King of the insect world, and a bold and beautiful creature".Alright, that might be a bit of hype, but Tonbo Meadow is a new earth-friendly community to be located in Wilmington, North Carolina...
Our Third Wave Manifesto Is Published By Texas Bar Journal
Posted on January 02, 2009Acceptance ... at last.I am pleased to announce that the January issue of the Texas Bar Journal will contain our manifesto on the Third Wave Practice of Law. You can read a copy of the article in PDF by CLICKING HERE.The State Bar of Texas is a mandatory bar association, and it is one of the largest in the United States...
Overcapacity? What Overcapacity?
Posted on January 01, 2009With the downturn in the economy you are now starting to hear a lot about overcapacity. You hear, for example, that the U.S. car industry is suffering from a great deal of overcapacity. If you listen carefully enough you hear about some Big Law firms suffering from overcapacity...
Grand Theft Law Student?
Posted on December 31, 2008The law school ranking system created by U.S. News & World Reports is just destructive on so many levels. No telling how much of the tuition increases over the last 10 years have been a direct result of law schools competing in ways to trump this system instead of actually teaching lawyers to be good lawyers...
E-Waste
Posted on December 30, 2008Law firms are in the information and communication business. As a result, lawyers and law firms discard large numbers of computers, printers, computers, TVs, cell phones, monitors, smoke detectors and other instruments. E-waste is the term used to describe these discarded electronics and electrical products on which we, as lawyers, rely...
WARNING -- Lawyers Beware Of This Scam!!!
Posted on December 30, 2008Tom Kane of Legal Marketing Blog felt compelled to warn of this, and so will I. Reid Trautz of Reid My Blog reports the scam as follows:"This new scam is a version of the You-Won-The-Sweepstakes-But-Need-to-Send-Us-Money-to-Claim-It routine. The victim receives a call from the scammer with the "good news" and is given the law firm's website URL for the victim to confirm the lawyer's identity...
I Use Google Earth
Posted on December 29, 2008I am not a scientist. And, I am not traveling salesman. I am a simple attorney who works out of my home. You might not think that I have any reason to use Google Earth or Google Maps in the work that I do, but you would be wrong.I like Google because the company offer services that are functional, useful and FREE...
Whittier Might Well Be My New Favorite Law School
Posted on December 27, 2008If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times (thank you for that one Mom), the primary obligation of a law school is to get you to pass the bar exam. Forget all of the ranking crap, if you do not pass the bar exam, you have an expensive piece of paper, and almost nothing else, with your diploma...
Frank Sinatra - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Posted on December 24, 2008You need a little bit of Frank for Christmas.
Diana Krall-Jingle Bells
Posted on December 24, 2008I just love Diana Krall's music and style. So you know her Christmas music is good.
Bah, Humbug!!
Posted on December 24, 2008There is no surprise that Christmas brings out our inner curmudgeon. It must be especially true among lawyers. No matter what religion or upbringing or background, Christmas is suppose to inspire at least a short period of time in which charity and love prevail...
Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad
Posted on December 23, 2008You cannot, and I mean cannot, fully enjoy Christmas, at least in terms of music, without a little Jose Feliciano.
The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride
Posted on December 22, 2008The Ronettes provide for me one of the best versions of Sleigh Ride. The Ronettes were the only Girl Group to tour with the Beatles. I am not sure why I like this holiday song so well. First, I am not fond of the cold. Second, I do not think I have ever been on a sleigh ride...
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Posted on December 22, 2008div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nq5FrifTlZchl=enfs=1"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/paramparam name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/paramembed src="http://www...
Thank You Dennis Kennedy For Your Kind Words
Posted on December 22, 2008To those that have not read about it, my little blog won Dennis Kennedy's 2008 Law-Related Blogging Award ("The Blawggies"). Specifically, my blog was awarded The Sherry Fowler Best Writing On A Legal Blog award.Like Sally Fields' gushing acceptance speech in 1985 for Places in the Heart, I will say as well: "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect...
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Christmas
Posted on December 21, 2008A little Ella Fitzgerald Christmas music is what is needed. Here is a video of Ella, including some visuals.
Going Once ... Going Twice ... The Law School Naming Rights Go To ...
Posted on December 21, 2008Much like sport stadiums, product placement in movies and, really, advertising on the side of buses represents an interesting way these days to raise money, no longer it seems do you have venues and institutions named in honor of people who actually contribute something of importance in their respective fields, as we after buildings and libraries and the like named after extraneous people who offer little more than money...
The Mistake Made In Downsizing Is Not Being Brutally Fast About It
Posted on December 20, 2008You head a conventional law practice with outside offices, staff, and other overhead. It is too much in your mind and you start to feel there is the need for a change. How nice would it be to rid yourself of the chains of overhead, costs and debt? How wonderful it would be to downshift into an environment that would be more peaceful and less complicated? I personally think it is a thought that most solo and small firm lawyers encounter at some point in their careers, but there is some danger in making the change...
10 Things I Did Not Learn In Law School
Posted on December 20, 2008For some reason this has excited a little controversy, but I have got to admit that I found the 10 Things I Didn't Learn In Law School, published or posted by Gideon, more than a little humorous. I found it mainly true. I will let you search the web yourself for the criticisms of it, but some say that it is cynical...
Dean Martin's Christmas In California
Posted on December 20, 2008I have always loved this video. First, who does not like Dean. Second, I just love the mid century ranch furniture with which I grew up, and the big TV antenna at the end of the video.
Can A Law School Consultant Help You?
Posted on December 20, 2008I ran across this video on How Can A Consultant Help Me With My Applications? I have a hard time trying visualizing the help. After all, I did not employ a consultant to get into law school. Neither did my wife, my sister or my daughter. In fact, I really do not know anybody that has...
Bill White Announces He Will Run For The Senate From Texas In 2010. I Am Hooking My Horse To This Wagon.
Posted on December 20, 2008Bill White is the very popular three term mayor of Houston, Texas. He has announced that he is going to try to build the support base to run for and win the United States Senate seat in Texas in 2010.
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
Posted on December 20, 2008I thought we should all listen to a little Nat King Cole this Christmas season.
Is Virtual Virtually Impossible?
Posted on December 20, 2008I have been contacting lawyers in my state of late with ideas that I have about virtual law practices to get their feel and opinions. The almost universal response is "I think that is a bad idea". Strangely enough, I get this response even from lawyers that work with me presently in the virtual and collaborative practice of law...
When You Think Of Clients, Think Of Content First
Posted on December 18, 2008Websites. Blogs. Social Media. Variations of these. Multiple of these. We all spend some time primping, speculating, and publishing our media so as to get the best results. That is good. But, just because you have the slickest site in the world ultimately means nothing...
How About Housing Your Law Office In A Giant Wine Barrel
Posted on December 17, 2008Do you need a home office, a space next to your house so that you can find space for a home office, or a space away from your house that you can go to work. Cheaper, smaller and unusual office space is a problem with which attorneys must deal.How about housing your office or additional space in a giant wine barrel? Think that is crazy? Then check out the Hotel De Vrouwe van Stavoren in Holland...
Christian Brown Design Echo Furniture
Posted on December 17, 2008Whether you are a Third Wave attorney or not, you still need furniture. It might be for your home, your home office, or your out of the home office. You want to be stylish, but we advocate green as well.Check out the new furniture by Christian Brown Design...
The Uncomplicated Office
Posted on December 17, 2008I found this video on YouTube. It is the home office of Rosalind Gardner, who is an affiliate marketing guru, but that does not matter. She could be a lawyer or anything else. But, I like and identify with the video for one reason - just how uncomplicated setting up a serious home office and establishing a virtual law firm can be...
Surviving Law School
Posted on December 17, 2008div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/00tIbgOCYY4hl=enfs=1"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/paramparam name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/paramembed src="http://www...
We Have Been Doing More Design Changes
Posted on December 14, 2008We have been redesigning other blogs for the family.My oldest daughter drop off on her blogging when she started law school after returning from Japan. She promised to start blogging regularly, so we redesigned her blog to represent her interest in locations, food and education...
Third Wave Has A New Design And Look
Posted on December 14, 2008I have been working on an updated design for my Chuck Newton Rides The Third Wave blog. I guess we all need a little change. If you are reading this on a blog reader, please click through and let me know what you think.
Are You A Typewriter Repairman?
Posted on December 11, 2008I believe the youngsters today call it keyboarding instead of typing, but when I was in high school typing class was not conducive for most macho aspiring young men. Most gravitated toward football or shop. In the 70s it was just one step up from home economics, only you did not get to make french toast to eat during school...
So You Think You Are Better Than An 88 Year Old United States Supreme Court Justice
Posted on December 10, 2008My friend Corinne Tampas of What's Your Authority, an onshore outsource legal research and writing attorney, alerted me to this story. There is nobody better to find a nugget in an otherwise nondescript article than a legal research attorney. The issue probably thwarts our image of the United States Supreme Court, where the nine superior judges or justices in our county congregated in the Temple of Justice in Washington, D...
Mandy Newton, Trusted Legal Beagle, R.I.P
Posted on December 05, 2008I have written about Mandy, our legal Beagle, before. She was nine and had been fighting an autoimmune problem for some time. She passed away today. As they say here in Texas, she weren't people, but she were darn close. She was dedicated, as all Beagles are, to sniffing, snoozing and snacking...
Collaboration
Posted on December 04, 2008I have covered this a number of times, but it is worth repeating and exploring.Collaboration still has a somewhat negative connotation from WWII and the Cold War. It dealt with helping foreign occupiers in one's county. Nobody wanted to be referred to as a collaborator...
Maybe Law Schools Are Just For The Kids With Rich Parents
Posted on December 03, 2008When you read the article by Jeanie Kever in the Houston Chronicle detailing how rising tuition at our colleges is threatening the Texas economy, it has to make you wonder about law schools as well. After all, the piling on of debt for law school is obviously occurring after students and families have already piled on debt for undergraduate studies...
Greening Up Your Law Firm
Posted on December 02, 2008Green and being environmentally friendly is the in thing. It is also the responsible thing to do for reasons other than the environment. Many times the green movement will help you focus to reduce your overhead.I am sure there are a number of different ways you can green up your law firm or law office, such as using low VOC paints when or if you need to repaint your office, adding solar cells, tankless hot water heaters, and wind technologies...
No Blawg 100 For Me Again This Year
Posted on December 01, 2008Weep. Weep.There are two things that I seem to always miss. HGTV's Dream Home give-a-way each year and the Blawg 100. It is silly really. I really want that Dream Home! Every year I enter every day and for some selfish reason HGTV overlooks my entries in favor of the remaining millions of other entries they have...
Probate As Your Market Niche
Posted on November 29, 2008By probate I am not talking about just probating wills. I am talking about probate and administration of estates.A lot of communications come my way from recent or soon to be law school graduates who are planning to go out on their own. For some reason they seek my advice on what practice area they should concentrate their efforts...
Cut Your Law Practice Tax Bill Before Year End - Buy Stuff
Posted on November 28, 2008I guess I should start off by saying that I am not a tax expert, and do not intend to provide you individual tax advice.This said, private practice attorneys must employ some simple tax strategies to remain as competitive as possible. One of the best ways to do this, before the end of this year anyway, is to buy the equipment you want or need for your practice and employee it before the end of the year...
Is It A Good Idea To Start A New Law Firm During A Downturn?
Posted on November 25, 2008As Kinky Friedman would say, "Why the hell not"!Whether you are wanting to go out on your own or in with a few other attorneys, whether you want to start a traditional firm or just collaborate, or whether you wish to establish a Third Wave practice or something more traditional, a downturn in many aspects might be the best solution...
Skeeter Goes To Law School - Dog Earns Law Degree From Baylor University School Of Law
Posted on November 23, 2008Now we call our dog Mandy our "legal beagle", and when she snoozes in our home office we like to joke she is contemplating the law. But, Baylor University School of Law has one upped us. According to PetPulse the law school has awarded an honorary JD to a dog...
UNT - The $60 Million Dollar Law School
Posted on November 23, 2008The proposed new public law school of the University of North Texas is coming up for a vote of the Texas Legislature again this legislative session, and none to late. The funding bill for the law school past the Texas Senate the last time around, but failed in the House for technical reasons...
So Many Trends, What Do You Do?
Posted on November 22, 2008In the individual practice of law, there are so many trends it is sometimes hard to know how to put them together. There is the trend to move your practice-base home, there is the trend to downshift and move closer to town, there is the trend to green renovate older places that predominate older neighborhoods that are typically closer to town and court, and these places do not usually have a lot of space leading many to conceive of shed working...
Practicing The Black Arts
Posted on November 20, 2008I am not sure what some people take out of law school and the practice of law, but I think we all know some that practice the black arts.It is really the seeking of malevolent powers and malevolent acts, or maybe what should be called "side magic" to gain power over an opponent, or wealth or the admiration of clients that do not know better...
La Cumparsita - Hugo Winterhalter
Posted on November 19, 2008I am listing to a little Hugo Winterhalter today as I brief a Motion to Dismiss a Complaint filed against my client. What I find interesting about some people like Hugo Winterhalter is that these were instrumental people (pun I guess intended) in the error of music through most of the 1900s in this country, but they past before the advent of the Internet...
Cargotecture
Posted on November 17, 2008I have posted about using cargo shipping containers before as either a home office alternative, or just to create a small law office somewhere that is affordable. This project in Gandino, Italy is particularly entertaining because it substitutes glass for the non-supporting walls of the cargo shipping container...
Shed Work Might Be A Solution For Many Work At Home Lawyer Hopefuls
Posted on November 16, 2008Prefabricated sheds are something that I have discussed before. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles. They come from pretty small to pretty big, but one that measures 10'x12' makes a pretty good addition to your property, that can be used for an office, a meeting space, or something else so as to make room for your home office at your home...
Invite People To Your Blog!
Posted on November 13, 2008LexBlog announced it latest incarnations. One is the Marketing Technologies For Law Firms blog. It has an interesting post that got me to thinking, entitled Invite People To Your Site. I think a good many of us, especially those with expert niches, think that we can throw up a blog, post some script, a few thoughts, and the people we need in order to make a living will come a calling...
Websites And Blogging For New Lawyer / Ask Grant Griffiths
Posted on November 12, 2008Oh goodness, the things they do not teach new lawyers in law school. One issue will prove tantamount to any new lawyer -- how to make yourself known, and get clients in your front door. It is tantamount because you are not going to get known if you cannot get information about yourself and your practice before the public cheaply...
Political, Governmental, Teaching, And Public Service Jobs
Posted on November 12, 2008You know, many go to law school but they have other interest. There is nothing wrong with that, and in fact a law degree represents such a broad education in ways that are both beneficial and practical. I have known many that either before or after law school pursued political, governmental, teaching and public service jobs...
The Law Schools That Give Away The Most Money
Posted on November 09, 2008First, let me say I love the traditional glossy magazine layout of The National Jurist online. You need to read it, especially if you want to go to law school or you are currently in law school or might be looking for an LL.M. program to attend upon graduation...
Having Fun Watching Dean Martin Cutting Up While Singing Blue Moon
Posted on November 09, 2008Oh, we miss you Dino.
Appalachian School of Law
Posted on November 08, 2008You know, it is probably not fair, but I still remember Appalachia from the Bobby Kennedy film clips of 1968 of the unrivaled abject poverty of a people. None were more shocking than from this area. But, if you will look online, or if you have ever been there recently, you cannot deny that the Appalachia region of our country is so naturally beautiful...
Avoiding the Fate Of Lawyer Burnout
Posted on November 06, 2008Lawyer burnout is real. It is not limited to lawyers as every profession and every business can produce the same feeling of exhaustion. It is an occupational hazard. I have myself had bouts with it over the years. I am not sure you can avoid this feeling completely, but there are some precautions you can take...
It Is Historic - Watch The Obama Victory Speech Here, Again
Posted on November 05, 2008Other than all of the other reason this campaign will be remembered, I think it is important to understand that more than not it represented the first social media campaign.
zBoards. It Might Be a Fun ... Green ... Simple Solution For Your Home, Office Or Home/Office
Posted on November 04, 2008When lawyers think about opening an office, even a home offices or meeting space, there is always a concern about furniture and design. This is often complicated now by the lean toward green, the expense and the ease of putting the furniture together, or making furniture meet the space...
Analysis -- Where Do You Meet With Clients When You Want To Work From Home?
Posted on November 03, 2008I have received this question from lawyers five times in the past week. Then it dawned on me that I have not discussed this subject much in a long time. It is a serious component for many home office attorneys even if it is not so big of a problem for me and my practice...
Low Maintenance Law Practice
Posted on November 01, 2008Back when I ran a large bankruptcy practice I recall too often going into the office most day to get out much substantive work only to feel stymied by all of the maintenance issues that would just pop up. The receptionist did not show up, the equipment was not operating property, a lawyer could not cover court, the TV stations wanted to discuss the next quarter's spot buys, the lease was coming up, we were out of supplies, the ads were not working and, most frustrating of all, meeting with the firm's bookeeper only to be told we need $30,000...
Would You Rather Be A Third World Lawyer With No Money Or A Traditional Lawyer With Less Than No Money -- Debt!
Posted on October 30, 2008Boy, have we had a rough time in Houston, Texas of late. Not only are we dealing with the terrible economy, but we were hit by hurricane Ike not long go. As for me it meant the lost of about three weeks worth of income, lost time, and an even larger delay in other attorneys getting around to discussing settlement...
Elections And Trial Strategy
Posted on October 27, 2008I do not know if this is really what they teach in law school, but it seems it is how the world divides itself. I recently completed a trial and it occurred to me that the arguments pretty much reflect the style of the campaigns during this election cycle...
A Lawyer Walks Into A Bar . . .
Posted on October 26, 2008This is an interesting movie or documentary. Go here to see the clip. I think it represents the love - hate relationship between lawyers, business, people, plaintiffs, defendants and, as it turns out Christian fundamentalist.
FREE Tuition For UC Irving
Posted on October 23, 2008How cool is this? I have already graduated from law school and yet this makes me want to go to University of California - Irvine. A top tier university with a brand spanking new law school that wants to attract you to attend while it works toward accreditation...
Slackitude
Posted on October 23, 2008I have got it. Do you? Slackitude! (Well, the exclamation mark probably represents the opposite of the term). It applies to anyone that gets by pretending to be hard at work. In Big Law or high-rise law firms it is usually the partner that hangs out near the coffee machine for most of the day...
Ronnie, Howard & Andy For Obama
Posted on October 23, 2008See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die
By By Barkley Good By
Posted on October 23, 2008There have been established some pretty good for-profit law schools in this country in the last so many years, but as it turns out that has not been true for Barkely School of Law. According to Law.Com, what was formally known as American Justice School of Law, a new group of investors took over the school after American Justice filed for bankruptcy...
What McCain / Palin Wrought
Posted on October 22, 2008I do not know what is worse, whether this video was shot by Aljazzera or the real life interviews they capture at this Palin rally. But, this is what I am talking about. It is absolutely frightening. Lawyers I know parrot this trash in slightly more coded ways, but it is nonetheless not pleasant...
No Reaching Out
Posted on October 21, 2008I have always asked, do I have to agree with you in order to work with you, share with you, talk to you, without being judged? I have listen to attorneys of late that I like and respect resort to hatred and name calling all because of this election. Although I have not been a huge Obama fan, and had thought well of McCain over the years, their convention was frightening as it was nothing but saber rattling...
Party For Profit
Posted on October 21, 2008Oops, I guess I am guilty of this. And no, I am not talking about the Republican Party (although that would be a nice jab). All I can say is if my mother asks, please tell her I do not do this at a church function, unless someone specifically asks me what I do...
Banking On The Good Old Days
Posted on October 21, 2008I saw this spot some time back on CBS News and I just cannot seem to get it out of my mind. It is not that a 100 year old bank in Orwell, Vermont is not a quaint little story, it is that a small bank founded in 1832 really demonstrates what the Third Wave practice could be and should be -- even with banks...
Imba
Posted on October 15, 2008Is the Third Wave practice of law imba? Oh yeah, I have thought about it. It is pronounced phonetically as if it is a full word. Imba means imbalanced. It is mostly used in online games that have patches or different versions. It is used by newbies in WarCraft III who are not acquainted with armor and attack types...
The Problems We Face, Why We Are Now Facing Them, And What You As An Attorney Need To Do To Survive It
Posted on October 12, 2008I think it has begun to dawn on people that we are in for a hard patch ahead, and most people are worried. Attorneys should be worried. Many ordinary people have been worried for some time because the issue of the economy has been impacting them longer...
Avoid The FUD
Posted on October 05, 2008It is an acronym that stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt". Originally, it was created to refer to the smear campaigns used by IBM against it's competitors. The tag line went, "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". From a personal standpoint I can tell you this is not true...
A Game Of Chicken
Posted on October 02, 2008Do you like the iPod? I like the iPod. But, will it be around here much longer? According to Wired, Apple is playing a game of chicken with music publishers about the royalties paid for their tunes in which Apple is threatening to just close the popular site down...
Client Financing
Posted on October 01, 2008I have spoken to, read posts from, and have shared emails with lawyers all over the country that are vitally concerned about the so-called liquidity crises. My advice is do not be. Want a new car, want to sell your house, or want to make other changes in your life? Wait...
Are Lawyers Tag Hags
Posted on September 28, 2008Well, maybe tag hag is not the right term. That is a person who is obsessed with brand name clothing, but I think it gets the point across. Certainly there are lawyers that concern themselves with wearing the right suit, the right shoes, the right shirt, and the right tie...
Is It Time To Look For Office Space?
Posted on September 27, 2008Everybody knows that I am not a big fan of commercial office space. I tend to look at it as a long term debt with the build up of zero equity -- no benefit. That is not always a good investment. Also, rent (debt) takes money out of your pocket that broadband and a home office can allow you to keep...
Interesting - Fox News Focus Group Went For Obama
Posted on September 27, 2008Let's watch this video of Fox News undecided focus group that watched the debate. Obama moved more people.
Containter Housing - Ultra Low Cost - Maybe an Office Too?
Posted on September 25, 2008Here is a video of the prototype container home to provide ultra low housing. Could they also be used for small home or away from home offices? I think so.
Quark
Posted on September 23, 2008No, I am not talking about the character in Star Trek Deep Space who ran the bar. Quarks are the smallest known building blocks of matter. Protons and neutrons are each made of 3 quarks. Quarks are never found alone, and are only found in groups of two or more...
Tommy Dorsey : Opus One
Posted on September 22, 2008Listening to a lot of Tommy Dorsey today, with various singers. Here is Opus One, which is pretty darn good. Enjoy.
Oh, Burn !!!
Posted on September 22, 2008Burn is an exclamatory response, generally by a third party, after someone has just received an insult. It is slang for disrespecting someone or to make fun of someone. It is so humiliating or insulting to the point where you cannot return with a comeback...
Trial Success
Posted on September 21, 2008I got an email that says I never seem to discuss anything about actually trying a case, and that is what new lawyers and solos need to know. I returned the email and asked what they wanted to know. The writer said the technique I use to try a successful case...
Twitter Revisited
Posted on September 20, 2008I got a lot of criticism after my post on the general uselessness of Twitter without having much tried it. I took that to heart and have used it this week. After all, I do not want to be some kind of technology-lacking Mennonite plain person looking back and shunning the First Wave Amish and their total lack of convenience only to see that the larger world has also left me behind...
My Name Is Chuck Newton And I Am A PC
Posted on September 19, 2008Jerry Seinfeld was paid $10 million for two spots for Microsoft, which were so weird they made no sense. The new spots are well done and I think make the point.
Marketing Is An Expense That You Should Make Sure You Can Afford
Posted on September 19, 2008You know it is time to get out of the consulting business when: 1. You use the term "value-added" without falling down laughing. 2. Your three meals a day are a morning consumption function, a noontime consumption function, and an evening consumption function...
10 Largest Bankruptcies Of All Time
Posted on September 18, 2008With Lehman Brothers filing the largest bankruptcy in history, there are a couple interesting points to make. First, in a democracy, what is a right for the biggest and most powerful corporations among us, should be a right extended to the least consumer among us...
The Last Known Use For Sticky Notes
Posted on September 18, 2008I no longer use sticky notes or post it notes. However, this video shows the only use for which a sticky note should be used -- entertainment. Otherwise, stickies are not green, they are not even that helpful. They cost money either in terms of purchase costs or the costs of goods that allow you to get the stickies for free...
Coming Back Online Only To See The Economy In Turmoil
Posted on September 17, 2008The electricity in the world wide home office came back up last night. It is amazing how much I have missed. I still need to go out and wait in food lines and gas lines today, but it is great to be connected again to the outside World. It is truly impressive to see how much we communicate, in all of the forms and avenues, everyday of our lives...
Sorry. Temporarily Out Of Business.
Posted on September 15, 2008I found someone to let me use Internet a short time. It looks likely that this blog will be out of business for a couple or few weeks in that Hurricane Ike hit The Woodlands especially hard. Currently, we are told that the destruction to the electric grid is catastrophic...
I (Don't) Like Ike
Posted on September 12, 2008I did the smart thing by demanding that my grown children get the hell out of Houston. They live near downtown and the University of Houston. On Thursday morning they did not want to miss their classes and leave, but I did the Dad thing and yelled at them...
Federal Judges Increasingly Look For Clerks With Experience
Posted on September 11, 2008It use to be that one of the coveted positions some students looked forward to upon graduating from law school was clerking for a federal judge. A year of so with the Judge would teach them a lot and would allow them to either move up to an appellate clerkship or a good Big Law, in-house or law school position...
Lead Them Not Into Temptation
Posted on September 11, 2008The problem for many big corporations, insurance companies, financial institutions and even consumers to a lesser degree is that it is easy for a lawyer to lead them into temptation. To the lawyer it is the means of getting paid more per case. To the entity it is the feeling of feeling vindicated, even if the final result does not necessarily turn out that way (kind of like the last act of defiance)...
What Can We Do?
Posted on September 11, 2008To me the law school experience is financially depressing, and I cannot be alone in this regard. It is not that I do not see it as a wonderful opportunity still, or a reward, because I do. It has just become (or it is at least becoming) unaffordable except for students with the best off of parents and family...
Joad Cressbeckler For President And Obama Is A Snob
Posted on September 10, 2008I dedicate this video to Rick Georges. No reason why except that if he likes McCain he should love Joad Cressbeckler. I guess I'll dedicate the second video to me, because Rick should not get all of the blame.
Robert Ambrogi Is On The Warpath
Posted on September 10, 2008And no, by "warpath" I am not referring to the video game, the music group, or the Washington Redskins' official website. So please, nobody sue me for using the term. I am talking about its original or literal meaning. A path to war taken by native Americans when traveling to an enemy's territory to engage in battle...
Twitter Does Not Seem To Be In Future Lawyer's Future
Posted on September 10, 2008There is probably nobody more astute as to tech than is Rick Georges of Future Lawyer, but what he basically says in a new post is that tech and time are not necessarily the same. Good tech is suppose to save you time and be beneficial, and he does not see much of either of those traits in Twitter...
A Field Of Law Professors
Posted on September 09, 2008Following up on my post about Joe Biden, it is interesting to note that at least at the Democratic Convention many of the named speakers were or are law professors. Barack Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004...
VP Candidate By Week, Law Professor On The Weekend
Posted on September 09, 2008United States Senator, Democratic vice presidential nominee, and law school professor? Where does Joe Biden find the time. According to CNN PoliticalTicker, after a week of criss-crossing the country, Senator Joe Biden returns home to Wilmington in time to teach his law school class on Saturday morning, as he has done since since 1991...
"The Practice Of Law School"
Posted on September 09, 2008I receive emails constantly from those that are or wish to be carpet commuters, spare room tycoons, connected lawyers, home office lawyers, collaborators , future lawyers, or plain old solo practitioners -- Third Wavers all -- who are looking for one source or resource where they can venture to find what they need, to learn what the must, and to excel as they can, in this righteous pursuit...
Kevin Spacey - As Long As We are Singing
Posted on September 09, 2008A taste of what we are listening to today at the World Wide Home Office.
Say Hello To Ike!
Posted on September 09, 2008The problem is whether those that live on the Gulf are too weary to flee the coast again? Let us hope not.
Business People Pay Business Debts Before Their Mortgages
Posted on September 08, 2008This probably goes under the topic of work-life balance or blending (or the lack of work-life balance or blending). BusinessWeek is reporting that a study by Experian of small business owners found that they protect their companies at the expense of their homes...
This Is Not The Third Wave As We Intend It
Posted on September 08, 2008I guess anybody can use the term Third Wave, as does Jesus Camp and Sarah Palin, but I do not buy into the "Third Wave of the Holy Spirit" or what is also known as the New Apostolic Reformation movement that believe they need to train armies to take dominion over the United States and the World...
Twitter - Work Or Job = Less Income
Posted on September 08, 2008Man-o-man, I like to blog. I am not very good at it necessarily, but I enjoy it. And, as a result, I am interested in venturing further into the social media thing. This in my mind includes the possibility of Twitter. I have set up an account, but I have not really set up the site and I have not used it...
Thumb It To Me
Posted on September 07, 2008I actually found myself in the last couple of weeks trying to encourage an attorney to "thumb it to me". It is the process or encouraging someone to send you a SMS on their cell phone, with their thumb being the key finger used in texting the message...
Germy Surfaces In The Home Office Or Small Office
Posted on September 06, 2008There was a time in my life when I think I always had a cold. Mainly it was when my kids were younger. It got a little better when I got older (or they got older). It was a frustrating situation because my kids would seem to have the cold or flu for a day or two, and then it would seem I would have it for a week or two and come close to having my last rites given me...
Twitpitch
Posted on September 05, 2008They use to call it your elevator speech. Now they are calling it the "Twitpitch". It is taken from the Twitter phenomena, or microblogging. A Twitpitch means you can convey your law firm's practice area or niche, in a compelling way, in 140 characters or about 20 words...
I Just Do Not Get It
Posted on September 05, 2008And, unlike many of my brethren, I like a lot of Microsoft's products. I did not care for the TV show Seinfeld, and so maybe I just do not care about commercials that are about nothing. Microsoft pays Seinfeld $10 million dollars to participate in $300 million dollars worth of ads to make Microsoft hip (kind of like Apple)...
An Old Way To Think Of The World
Posted on September 04, 2008Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Chrome was designed to address the shift to using software from within a Web browser rather than as locally installed computer applications running inside Microsoft Windows or some other operating system."I think operating systems are kind of an old way to think of the world," Brin told a group of reporters after the news conference at Google's Mountain View, California headquarters...
Close To Home
Posted on September 04, 2008This cartoon is so close to home -- and reality -- it just hurts. I did list this under "Fun and Humor", because I do not have a section called "Sad and Depressing".
Hypocrites!
Posted on September 04, 2008None of us is perfect. I understand that. But, the problem with this crap that is dished out is it does not represent change in any form. It represents the same B.S. on which the current administration has led going on 8 years. Palin is ready to lead or she is not...
The Grunt Work Barrier
Posted on September 03, 2008I have given a great deal of thought as to why attorneys often ache over the thought of going out on their own. Sure money and building a practice has a lot to do with it. But, the main reason, or related reason, is that they do not want to do grunt work...
Looks Like I Left Comcast Just In Time
Posted on September 01, 2008My little firm is greatly dependent on broadband. It is my practice's lifeblood. And, there are those that want to find ways to charge greatly for the service. Like gas and cell phones and electricity there are those that yearn for the day that they can make you beg for the service and make then make you pay through the teeth to keep it...
Of Assumed Names, Integrity and Dikshits
Posted on August 31, 2008As far as law firms are concerned in Texas, it is probably a moot point. You cannot use trade names. Many lawyers in many other states do, however. Generally speaking, I do not understand it. Have you ever noticed that lawyers and business people seem to adopt a trade name that is the complete opposite of what they actually are...
The Real Things You Learn In Law School
Posted on August 30, 2008There was an interesting post by a recent law graduate on The Good Kind of Random, in which he expounded on the 5 things he learned in law school. These are all good. I believe they are worth highlighting here. Good study habits. My first semester of law school was pretty unimpressive...
Leanover
Posted on August 30, 2008I hardly drink anything but tea and diet sodas, so it is not what you think. Typically, a leanover means a small-sized hangover with a mild headache, some fatigue and some regret. But, it seems that I have spent my entire summer, unlike many of you who vacationed, in Court, meeting too many deadlines, researching and drafting...
How Bad Is This?
Posted on August 29, 2008The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the 99 Cents Only retail chain may have to hike its prices. Because inflation is soaring, it is not sure it can continue selling its goods for 99 cents or less. They think they will have to break the one dollar barrier for the first time in their 26-year history...
LEED-H Platium Home
Posted on August 29, 2008The Margarido House is a posh, modern home that is the first LEED-H Platinum home in Northern California. Green. Comfortable. It would wonderful if we could all head in this direction. Also, if we could incorporate LEED Platinum into homes that contain workable home office environments, which would go even further to reduce our carbon footprint buy cutting down on commuting and driving in this World...
I Don't Have Nothin', And I Am Happy That Way
Posted on August 29, 2008What small firms really should not looking to hire staff and space. I have nothing. I do not have any of the trappings. In fact, my diplomas are under my bed. But, I do not care. I have learned to hire staff is to lose time, energy and capital on hiring and rehiring people...
Looking For Your Own Type Of God - Beyond Belief
Posted on August 26, 2008I am Catholic. Really more of a Marianist. A convert when I was 14. I am moderately devout, I guess. I do not think I am too pushy about it. I certainly do not evangelize (much). I do not get upset with off color jokes and if you have been around teenagers you are going to hear the Lords name taken in vain, or worse...
I Don't Want No Freakin' Flex Time
Posted on August 26, 2008Working Mother Magazine has published the 50 Best Law Firms For Women. Well, I am not a mother, but I understand the dynamics involved having worked with my wife, who is a lawyer, as we try to raise 4 children in the best environment possible. So, I think I am competent to comment on this...
There Is A Lesson To Learn From MSNBC
Posted on August 26, 2008... That is in what not to do, or how to act, or how come across. For MSNBC is started with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell stating that the coverage of Barack Obama "was embarrassing". And he was not discussing the negative coverage of Obama. He was talking about what one observer saw as on a scale of not supporting Barack Obama to supporting Barack Obama, MSNBC was at the level of "I want to have Obama's baby"...
Cutting Your Grocery Bill
Posted on August 25, 2008Good Morning America has a piece on a family that cut their grocery bill in half. I thought my wife and I were pretty good at shopping, but then you see a video like this and you realize how bad you really are. But, here is the truth of the matter. If you can cut your food bill substantially, while grocery prices are rising, without sacrificing much, then you have so much left that you can spend on other things...
The Top Mistakes When Re-Applying To Law School
Posted on August 24, 2008Ann Levine at Law School Expert has posted a list of the 5 top mistakes applicants make when re-applying to law school. The point of the article is that people who are unsuccessful in their attempts in applying to law school, or are not happy with their choices of schools, often re-apply...
"I Have To Get Ready"
Posted on August 23, 2008If you are the ultimate procrastinator like I can be sometimes, you will understand why this is probably one of my favorite video.
Bullshit Bingo
Posted on August 23, 2008This is a private little game that we like to play down here in Texas. Admittedly, it is best to play at Big Law firms and large in-house legal departments, but it works well in law school settings, courthouses, in surfing then Net and blogs, and in general discussions with people about how to operate your law practice...
Abe Lincoln Quotes
Posted on August 22, 2008Sorry, I have either been preparing for or in trial all week, and I have not posted as much as I normally do. And then today I was mainly brain dead. In the meantime, I do not know why, but I like to read quotes while preparing for trial. They are quick respites that kind of break the monotony of it all, and they can be a little uplifting...
1 In 4 College Students Graduate With $5,000 In Credit Card Debt (Or, The University of Houston Should Be Ashamed Of Themselves)
Posted on August 21, 2008This is from a poll commissioned by TrueCredit.Com and conducted by Zogby International. I have one child in a JD/MBA program and two in college, at the University of Houston. I can tell you I am fighting hard to keep this from happening to my children...
Ivy Bean - The Oldest Person On Facebook
Posted on August 17, 2008As reported by Silicon Alley Insider, Ivy Bean appears to be the oldest person to join Facebook, which is a site mainly populated by college students and other 20-somethings. Bean is 102. She was born 46 years before the first computer was invented. She joined Facebook last year, when she moved to her most recent nursing home in Bradford, England...
Hamline Univesity School Of Law
Posted on August 16, 2008Even all of the way down here in Texas, I know a very good lawyer who graduated from Hamline University School of Law. And, now even though he is most of the time in California, his daughter decided to attend Hamline. Why? Two reasons that I understand...
Where In The Hell Is My $2 Million Bonus!
Posted on August 16, 2008My wife watches Martha Stewart's show almost every day. Hence, I watch good parts of Martha's show every day. My wife even applies some of what she learns from Martha's show, which has proved very satisfying for my tummy. But, what I took away from this article about Martha Stewart's agreement with MSO was that she literally gets a $2 million bonus for working at home...
Thompson & Knight Just Does Not Get It
Posted on August 16, 2008In reality it would seem that most Big Law firms do not get it. They, like too many other companies in our nation, treat Green as nothing more than a marketing or publicity ploy. This comes from the fact that Thompson & Knight, one of Dallas' oldest law firms, is moving into six floors totaling 180,000 square feet in One Arts Plaza in the DallasArts District...
Destinesia
Posted on August 16, 2008You know, it is an interesting word. Destinesia is when you get to where you were intending to go, but then you forget why you were going there in the first place. It often occurs during the working hours. We have all experienced it. You get up from your computer, go to where you keep your file or office products and forget completely why you went there in the first place...
Are Lawyers In Financial Trouble?
Posted on August 13, 2008You know, what we talk about all of the time is how lawyers can and should increase the amount of money they make through a niche practice, social marketing, with the help of cheap tech, keeping costs under control by downshifting, moving home or to small offices, and ending long commutes, as well as other means...
Counter Programming
Posted on August 12, 2008The term counter programming might be a bit old school, but I think it properly reflects how you can succeed well at the practice of law. Counter programming is a strategy used by movie studios, TV networks, radio stations, cable companies and the like to attract audiences from whom their competitors might not be appealing...
Big Law Lays Off Attorneys
Posted on August 11, 2008Law students work so hard to get to join the ranks of Big Law. The money. The prestige. Sure you have to essentially sell your soul, ignore your family, and work crazy long hours to climb the ladder, but it is worth it. Right? You will make partner some day and live above comfortably...
Working At Home Can Shape Your Child' Perspective
Posted on August 10, 2008No, I am not a psychologist. I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a sociologist. I do not know ology for a whole in the ground. I am pure and simply an attorney that works from his home, and has since 1999 or so. But, I am also a dad, a parent, and somebody that had an opportunity, as short as it was, to actually know what my kids were doing, what they were up to, and had an opportunity to give them a different perspective on life...
Creative Uses For Junk Mail
Posted on August 10, 2008ProQuo has a post about some of the creative uses for all of the junk mail all of us receive. Some of the ones demonstrated on ProQuo are: 1. Make 3D trees out of it as illustrated on A Little Hut. 2. Make furniture out of it as illustrated on Chrissie Macdonald's site...
Leave It To The Banks To Overreact
Posted on August 09, 2008Banks and other lenders get drunk with enthusiasm of making the big time with increasingly risky loans where they can charge a lot and spread the bounty around. Almost everybody that knew anything about it knew this would come back to bite, but greed is a terrible thing to waste...
Talk About Work-Life Balance - There Is Nothing Like Suing Your Own Family
Posted on August 09, 2008You have to love it really, unless you are related to him. Movie star Richard Dreyfuss has filed suit against his own father and uncle over a loan he claims to have made them in 1984 and which remains unpaid now, 24 years later. In his lawsuit filed Friday, Dreyfuss says his uncle, Gilbert Dreyfuss, has repeatedly refused to turn over records that would show its financial status of an office building the purchase of which the money money was borrowed...
The Dreaded LSAT Score
Posted on August 06, 2008Here is a news flash, if not a couple decades old -- I do not do well on standardized tests. A lot of those applying to law school do not. This presents a problem in regard to the LSAT because a number of law schools heavily weight their selection process on the LSAT score...
Paris Hilton Gives Her Take To John McCain's Celebrity TV Ad
Posted on August 05, 2008I think Paris Hilton does a good job of responding to the silliness of John McCain's Obama attack ad including her, and the even sillier debate that followed. See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com See more funny videos at Funny or Die
Calling Cards (And I Do Not Mean Cards That Provide Free Telephone Minutes)
Posted on August 05, 2008No ... not phone cards ... not gift cards ... not business cards. We are talking about old fashion Victorian calling cards. In the old days when you went to pay a call you would see the person you were calling on and your leave a card announcing your presence in a new town, or that you returned after a trip, or that you were leaving town (in which case you would right PPC for pour prendre conge or I am leaving)...
Yikes! It Looks Like We Could Get It.
Posted on August 04, 2008The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for the coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas. Edouard is still a tropical storm, but it is still possible for it to turn into a hurricane. Regardless, most tropical storms are not fun either...
Ecycle Your Old Electronics
Posted on August 03, 2008If you are like me it is ease to allow the carcases of old electronics pile up in your home, office or home-office. You get something new, somethings quits working, or it just becomes obsolete. I cannot even begin to imagine what someone like Rick Georges over at Future Lawyer must tolerate in this regard, with all of the new stuff and old stuff that he tests...
Health Savings Accounts Are A Scam
Posted on August 03, 2008... And, the problem plagues solo practitioners and attorneys as well. I recently posted about health insurance being the bane of my existence. Two things have happened since them. First, I received a notice in the mail that informs me that my $5,000...
Ice Cream As An Antidepressant
Posted on August 03, 2008Finally, someone has cleared that up. I love ice cream, and I am generally happy. What more research does anybody need. One scoop or two? ABC News covered this issue recently on its website. New research published in Nature Neuroscience shed some light on the biological relationship between depression and appetite...
Jimmy Justice
Posted on August 03, 2008I do not much care about the direct confrontation and the mouth on this guy in New York City, but you have to think about the overarching attempts by Jimmy Justice to expose law enforcement officers who do not comply with the own laws they are retained to enforce...
Tiny Tim Weekend
Posted on August 02, 2008Maybe it is just warped, but for some reason I was reminded of Tiny Tim, as I remember it in the late 60s and early 70s. I am not sure if he made the talk show and comedy circuit back then because he was funny or just bizarre -- or for that matter who cares...
Hey, I Know You!
Posted on August 02, 2008Talk about network or relationship marketing. As reported in the Washington Post it turns out that this is a small world. With records of 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 million people from around the world, researchers have concluded that any two people on average are distanced by just 6...
Better To Be A Happy Satisficer
Posted on August 02, 2008Psychology Today and Kirsten Vala deal with whether it is better to be a happy satisficer or a successful maximizer. The point of the article is that students in particular graduate with a multitude of skills and interests, but often are overwhelmed when it comes to choosing the ultimate career goal...
Transparent Billing And Payment Policy - Control High Expectations
Posted on August 01, 2008There are nothing like fee disputes. Sometimes they come in the form of an objection to your fees, and sometimes they come as an objection to your services. Generally, they relate to the same thing -- overly high expectations. There are a lot of lawyers now recommending fixed fees even involving one-shot litigation...
THE BIGGEST QUARTERLY PROFIT IN UNITED STATES HISTORY!
Posted on July 31, 2008Does not that headline really say enough? Exxon Mobile Corp reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion. It is the largest quarterly profit really in World history. But, what is really the icing on the cake is that these gargantuan earnings fell short of Wall Streets expectations and so despite this embarrassment of wealth, the company's stock actually fell on this news...
I Am A Flaming Liberal But This Is Just Plain Stupid!
Posted on July 30, 2008Maybe you should make that a flamed broiled liberal. But, this news upsets me. As you might have heard, Los Angeles has placed a ban on fast food establishment in its poor areas. Do not get me wrong. We all eat too much of this junk. We -- especially me and Roger Moore for that matter -- are too damn fat...
Bar Exam Time - It Will Drive You Insane
Posted on July 30, 2008YUK!! I do not know anybody that really liked the bar exam. But, many of those of us who are a little better established now forget that we are in the middle of bar exam season. (Or, maybe we just do not want to remember -- post traumatic stress and all of that)...
Elon University School Of Law
Posted on July 30, 2008There are new choices for those wanting to attend law school every day, and this is especially so in North Carolina. I recently posted about Charlotte School of Law in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, it is time to highlight Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, North Carolina...
Ella Sings "Georgia On My Mind"
Posted on July 29, 2008It is a beautiful sunny day in The Woodlands. Looking out of my window, it is hard to stay focused on work. So, I am trying to fight through the urge not to work, and I am listening to Ella.
Voicemail Is Dead!
Posted on July 29, 2008Michael Arrington and The Greatest American Lawyer are right. Voicemail is at least on the precipice overlooking its grave, at least in the business environment. I do not think it will take much of a push to send it over the edge. As Michel Arrington states in his article on TechCrunch: "Typical voicemail messages today include things like 'Please don?t leave me a voicemail, I rarely listen to them...
This Ain't Cuil
Posted on July 28, 2008It is pronounced "cool", and it is the new Internet search engine of Anna Patterson. Her last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system. She now thinks she has invented an even better search engine with Cuil...
Self Helpless
Posted on July 28, 2008I understand that this is SEP (someone else's problem), but I have spoken or communicated with a number of lawyers lately that just cannot seem to get out of their house, out of their office, on the phone, on the net, or anywhere else to get their practice off the ground...
I Feel Like I Have Not Accomplsihed Squat
Posted on July 27, 2008Randy Pauscher has died. Below is his "last lecture". Funny and smart. Today, as I have been trying to mask the fact that I am strangely ill today, ticking off my wife who does not like symptoms, and trying to get past it, I watched this video and thought (1) I do not have real problems, and (2) I have not accomplished squat in my first 50 years...
Textpectation
Posted on July 27, 2008We all know by going to movies or renown restaurants and the like that your treatment or experience of the theater, the restaurant or whatever is just as important as the content of the food itself. Politics is much the same way. Policy is important, but meeting expectations is critical to success...
Critical Ass
Posted on July 26, 2008Typically this terms means the state in fat accumulation when fabric can no longer contain the enormity of one's buttocks. However, in the practice of law (or in the conducting of any business for that matter) I think in can also refer to a state in lawyers (and a few judges I guess) when the fabric of their fake, for the benefit of the court, disposition can no longer restrain their otherwise abhorrent, obnoxious, malignant, repugnant, or simply ugly personality or behavior...
When I Suggested We Downsize, I Really Was Did Not Mean ...
Posted on July 24, 2008Look, I agree, and I have advocated for years, that all of us need to downsize our practices, our homes, our home offices to a level that is not so ... well ... ostentatious, or chichi, extravagant, showy, or not flamboyant, or I guess pompous. Why? It is just not necessary...
You Cannot Rampage More Than A Couple Hours A day - Executricks
Posted on July 23, 2008Fortune Magazine's blogger Stanley Bing or CBS' Gil Schwartz -- call him what you will, he's interviewed by WallStrip's Julie Alexandra and talks about his new book, Executricks. Schwartz calls Attila the Hun one of his favorite "executricksters," saying, "You can't rampage more than a couple of hours a day, you have to have grog...
Rational Market?
Posted on July 19, 2008I have to admit that I have always been more interested in the average Doug Jones than the Dow Jones average, but then I am just a common guy. But, the big drop in Google stock price is just proof positive that the stock market is gambling with all of the precision of betting on a horse race...
Screw The Scales Of Justice -- Lawyers Need To Go To Online Video
Posted on July 19, 2008Okay! Okay! I am guilty of avoiding it myself. So, who am I to preach? Besides, such language. And, who taught me to talk this way? My mother is likely to wash my mouth out with soap. But, here is the thing. In lawyer marketing I am so sick and tired of viewing the scales of justice...
Do Not Chase After Cases And Clients You Do Not Want
Posted on July 19, 2008I have said it time and again. Life is to short going through it looking homely, tired and ugly. And yet I get calls and emails every day from attorneys, especially new attorneys or those just going into private practice, that feel a little uneasy and want to start chasing clients and cases they do not really want...
I Feel Somewhat Vindicated
Posted on July 19, 2008It is all over the legal press like it is something new and amazing -- and it is amazing. A law firm that is virtual, it is web-based and it forgoes bricks and mortar, and where all of the attorneys work from home. Wow, I wish I had thought of that. But, I can tell you what makes me feel better about the new kid on the block -- Virtual Law Partners (VLP)...
I Do Not Do That -- You Do -- What Do You Want Me To Do?
Posted on July 17, 2008I am always playing around with a new market idea, a new niche, a new practice area (maybe with a twist). First, I am intrigued by this. Second, I have made the best choices in my career thinking not necessarily outside of the box but around it. But, here is the truth of the matter...
Worried About The Marketability Of Your Home Office
Posted on July 15, 2008If you are a Third Wave lawyer you home means so much to you. You probably not only live there, it is the source or hub of your work-life balance or blending, but you probably also work at home much of the time. As such, if you are concerned about selling your home office - hence your home - in this market, or just want to make sure you keep it marketable for when the market turns around, this video provides some tips.
The Treadmill Workstation
Posted on July 15, 2008Man - o -man, I cannot even walk and chew gum at the same time. Heck, I cannot even much run. So, it is beside me how I would be able to run and type (keyboard to you younger crowd). Yet, according to Yahoo News, reports on a new product that combines a treadmill and a computer workstation that is suppose to keep us home office workers and others moving...
World Oldest Blogger Dies At 108 Years Of Age
Posted on July 15, 2008According to HuffPo and other sources, A 108-year-old Australian woman who was promoted as the world's oldest blogger has died two weeks after making her last post about "singing a happy song," her great-grand son and her online forum said. A friend introduced Olive Riley to blogging early in 2007, and was hooked...
Marketing Is Muscle, Not Fat
Posted on July 13, 2008I once invested in a bankrupted electronics company. It had fallen on hard times. The father who had started the business had nursed it to where it was. It was left to his children. When the economy went through a down cycle and money needed to be saved, the children did what? They fired all of the sales people and the marketing people...
Charlotte School Of Law Wins ABA Approval
Posted on July 13, 2008As the new law school from The InfiLaw System, which is a for-profit consortium of independent law schools, this is really good news for upstart Charlotte School of Law, . Charlotte School of Law is a new, student-centered law school offering flexible part-time and full-time programs...
Do Not Discount. Let Me Repeat, Do Not Discount.
Posted on July 13, 2008I understand that times are getting very tough. This is especially true for attorneys that represent consumers. And, when times get tough, depending on the practice area, business sometimes falls off (or at least that is the impression). When business falls off (or your fear that it might) there is a strong tendency to discount your legal services to get businesses coming through the door...
Do Not Fakebook
Posted on July 13, 2008The term "fakebook", as I understand it, is the adding of people to your Facebook who you do not particularly like, socialize with or care to really befriend. I am here to tell you that outside of the Facebook genre a similar phenomena happens every day in lawyer marketing and rainmaking...
12 Of The Greenest Colleges In America
Posted on July 12, 2008Downsizing or downshifting is green. Working from home or carpet commuting is green. Cutting your long commutes to and from work is green. Reducing your carbon footprint anywhere you can is great. Now, should you have a choice to advise a college student on where to attend or have a student who will soon be off to college, The Students' Blog has listed 12 of the greenest colleges in America...
Ice Creams With The Most Fat
Posted on July 12, 2008I guess it is pretty obvious from my girth and demeanor that I enjoy ice cream. Now, damnit, ABC News is reporting on the 6 most fattening ice cream brands and flavors. This is the reason that people hate the liberal news media. They have a video on their site reviewing these...
Networking Should Begin In Law School
Posted on July 12, 2008Do you want a good job immediately after law school? Or, do you want to successfully transition into the profitable private practice of law after passing the bar? If so, you should start networking or building relationships while in law school. I know, especially the first year, that law school takes up so much time that this is difficult...
The Only Desk Rage I Have To Suffer Is My Own
Posted on July 12, 2008HuffPo has an article on "desk rage" -- anger at the workplace. It concerns employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse. And, it is apparently very common. Bob Sutton, author of The No Asshole Rule refers to these people as such...
Long Name Law Firms
Posted on July 11, 2008I liked Rhymes With Orange and I thought I would share it with you. Frankly, I have never understood the reason for over long firm name, except for ego. In Texas you cannot use trade names, but you can use a name of a lawyer associated with the firm, or a lawyer formally associated with the firm in the death, retirement, etc...
Ave Maria School Of Law Retains Its ABA Accrediation
Posted on July 11, 2008Over the last year or so I think most people, including many prospective law students, could have gotten the wrong impression about Ave Maria School of Law as it heads down from Michigan to joint its namesake town outside of Naples, Florida and its namesake university...
Who Let The Blog Out? Who! Who! Who! -- Northeast Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer
Posted on July 10, 2008There is a new blog on the block concerning consumer bankruptcy issues in Northeast Texas -- my old stompin' grounds. Welcome J. Brian Allen and his new blow (or blawg) Northeast Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer. You can view it by CLICKING HERE. As you can tell, Brian has a good deal of experience in both this legal and geographic area...
Heath Insurance Is The Bane Of My Existence!!!
Posted on July 10, 2008I have said it before, health insurance (and insurance in general) is the bane of my existence as a home office practitioner. I have crappy health insurance coverage from a crappy insurance company that charges a ton of money every month so they can elect not to provide me or my family any real services for the money...
Boone Pickens Discusses How To Help Solve The Energy Crises
Posted on July 09, 2008I am not always a big fan of Boone Pickens, but he does give a compelling argument was to why we need to act now and what we can move to solve the energy crises in this country.
Bandwidth Metering Looms!
Posted on July 09, 2008We are in trouble as the big three - Comcast, AT&T and Time-Warner - try to turn the Internet into the equivalent of the cell phone bill system. They want to begin metering bandwidth used by you, and me and the next guy or gal. One of the problems with capitalistic greed is that once anything becomes almost a necessity -- oil, water, electricity -- some bigwig wants to figure out how to use it to suppress advancement, personal freedom, and the economic livelihood of many by trying to contrive a way or means to charge the bejesus out of...
Let Us Be Clear - Network Marketing Should Be A Matter Of Relationship Building
Posted on July 08, 2008There can be a difference between network marketing and relationship building. The former can become too artificial, too unnatural, less ductile or supple, or too much of a contraption, contrivance or device to be effective. I do not care what you call it, but once the process becomes too methodical, too architectonic, or too tactical it will not work well...
Gas Prices Will Likely Change The Commercial Real Estate Landscape
Posted on July 07, 2008The selling point in real estate is still - location - location - location! The problem for many is that the definition of the right location is changing as gas prices skyrocket. According to the Dallas Business Journal, companies (and that assumes law firms) will have to re-examine where they set up shop...
Airport = Laptop Trash Can?
Posted on July 07, 2008Losing a laptop or notebook computer could be disastrous to many attorneys. Yet, we tend to carry them were we go so that we may stay in touch. We dare not check our computers because we want to do some work on the Plane while flying, or at least impress others we do not know with your importance...
Major Destruction In The U.S. - Many Left Homeless, Without Food, Many In Need Of Healthcare
Posted on July 07, 2008This would be funny if it was not so true.
4 Myths That Keep Attorneys From Building A Referral Based Practice
Posted on July 05, 2008This is a good video from Stephen Fairley at Top Law Firm Marketing Tips.
Dignity Is Overrated
Posted on July 05, 2008I run into poor, pitiful lawyers every day. Many contact me asking for advice on how to break free from their poor, pitiful ways. I am always glad to tell them from my experience what has worked for me and what has not. Namely that they have to get out and pound the pavement...
Don't Commute - Compute!
Posted on July 04, 2008I absolutely hate this fake gas crises in which we are stuck. It is not that we do have a future gas and oil problem, it is just that we do not have one now. That said, this bout with insanity will probably lead us to finally making the decisions that many of us, and many of our employers and courts, find so hard...
On This 4th Of July We Need To Remember Thomas Paine
Posted on July 04, 2008We pay so much attention to the named founding fathers. This video from American News Project tells us that on this Independence Day we need to look back at the radical influence of Thomas Paine.
Medical Myths
Posted on July 04, 2008I do not know about you, but sitting at home and avoiding the long commute does allow me to eat better and regulate myself a little better. It also gives me more time to fret about all of this stuff you read concerning health. I find myself following some of it, and feeling guilty about not following the rest...
The Law Accordion to Hanson Bridgett
Posted on July 03, 2008This is an interesting video promoting the Big Law firm of HansonBridgett. I like it. But, I am just not sure it sells the benefit of Big Law at the end. In fact, at the end of the video is when they leave the free wheeling world outside (you know where smaller, happier, more responsive law firms exist) and enter the stale and expensive and encasing world of Big Law.
Just How Much Of A Change Are Our Change Candidates?
Posted on July 03, 2008Do you get a letters from your colleagues, which are attached to emails, and think this attorney just does not get the technological advances. You know what I am talking about. They treat email like it is an envelope, but they still insist on dictating out their correspondence, having their secretary type it, then they proof it, have the secretary retype it, print it off on stationary, sign it, somehow scan it, and attach it to an email that says little more than "attached please find ...
Supreme Court Term Has Ended
Posted on July 03, 2008The term has ended for the United States Supreme Court for this year. We are finally safe for a little while. Well, except that now everybody will be carrying a gun!
Microsoft Buys Powerset
Posted on July 02, 2008If you cannot build it, buy it. If you cannot get your first choice, move on to your second choice. Neither represents bad advice. In this regard, Microsoft did not manage to snag Yahoo to launch its revival into Web 2.0 or to compete effectively with Google...
Telecoms And Cable Companies Are Going To Be The Death Of Us
Posted on July 01, 2008My cable high speed Internet access stinks of late. It appears that Comcast has finally started slowing down certain types of content. In return, they have against reduced service and hiked prices higher into the stratosphere. AT&T, for whom I have no love loss, has finally strung fiber optic to my neighborhood, and I can replace my cable with their fiber optic...
British Snobbery?
Posted on June 30, 2008Either I do not get it, or rich Brits do not get it. I have always found something profoundly humorous even in their serious efforts. Reality is not one of their strong points. Now this is rich. Literally. According to the Daily Mail, Prince Charles has converted his Aston Martin to run on English wine...
Reasons To Go Paperless
Posted on June 30, 2008Sam Glover over at Solo Small Tech has a good video listing the main reason he has gone paperless and how it has benefited him. I found this video through a link and post provided by Rick Georges at Future Lawyer. Three (four, really) good reasons to go paperless from Sam Glover on Vimeo.
Balance And Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Posted on June 29, 2008We came home early from the Lake Highland area of the Texas Hill Country because my wife became ill. Not from the area but from some bug she picked up. Having not gone shopping, my youngest daughter, P.J., and I went to get some Chinese food for lunch before we went grocery shopping...
Sticks And Stones Might Break By Bones, But Words Will Never ... (Oops)
Posted on June 29, 2008Social media I would think has pretty much killed this little saying. Of course words hurt. Some of them can really cut. There are a bunch of words that can really sting. The bottom line is that words matter. Sure, sticks and stones can cause physical pain, but psychological pain ...
How In The Hell Did We Get To This Point - This Is Simply Not A Good Day For The Plaintiff's Bar
Posted on June 28, 2008Good grief! Dickie Scruggs gets 5 years in prison for trying to bribe a judge. Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, who became one of the wealthiest civil lawsuit attorneys in the country by taking on tobacco, asbestos and insurance companies, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for conspiring to bribe a judge...
Everybody Can Take Part In Pretending To Take Part In The Presidential Election
Posted on June 28, 2008I like The Onion because this has the look and feel, and shallowness, of the morning shows.
Do Not Buy Into The Zapper
Posted on June 27, 2008I am leaving for the weekend, and so you will not hear much from me. However, I wanted to leave you with this little something. Sometimes we all buy into the new dream zapper when we ought to know better. Leave the expensive stuff alone -- expensive homes, expensive cars, expensive tech, expensive overhead, expensive habits -- and stick with the dream catcher...
"Interesting"
Posted on June 26, 2008I was speaking with an attorney that I knew scorned my position in a case, or at least had no intellectual interest in my position. Every single time I stated my position or one of my points to her she would respond by saying, "interesting". It really started to chap my ass...
When You Assume You Make An Ass Out Of You And Me
Posted on June 26, 2008I like stealing material from Tom Kane at Legal Marketing Blog because he is just smarter than me, but I still like to impress. He is better at capsuling a group of thoughts or ideas that are important to remember and implement. He is better at scouring the Internet to bring you what is truly important...
PWSD
Posted on June 25, 2008I found this on Lifehack. It stands for post-workaholic stress disorder (PWSD). Now I know this is more of a lay person's off take on other mental illnesses, but I do appreciate the point. Most lawyers, I think, call it burnout, when they recognize it...
Referral Motivation
Posted on June 25, 2008John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing has a great post on what is the perfect referral motivation. Although his post speaks to a market larger than the practice of law, I have found what he states to be particular true as to referral or network marketing in the practice of law...
Should You Gain Law Firm Experience Before You Go To Law School?
Posted on June 24, 2008It is an interesting question, and it is one that Lisa Solomom shared with an student with whom she was communicating. She shared it with me. I would like to share my preliminary thoughts with you. I really did not have much knowledge of how a law firm operated or how law was actually practice before I went to law school...
Homes. Offices. Home Offices.
Posted on June 24, 2008Nothing merges the concept of life and work like your home. It is the essence of work-life balance or blending. That is one of the primary reasons that both my wife and I have decided to work out of our home. After all, we are already paying for our home...
Barkley School Of Law
Posted on June 24, 2008I have to think what a mess. In 2004 Dean Paul Hendrick, the founding dean of Florida Coastal School of Law, really the first of the really successful for-profit law schools founded American Justice School of Law in Paducah, Kentucky of all places. The law school was suppose to be different because it was to require law students to work in one of its law clinics and take practice skills courses before they were allowed to graduate...
Building A Personal Injury Practice
Posted on June 23, 2008Ronald V. Miller, Jr. (for some reason lawyers better than I have to have a middle initial) has a very good post on The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on how to build a personal injury law practice based upon lawyer referrals. It is a great resource that demonstrates what I and others, and now Ronald V...
Dead Dead Dailies!
Posted on June 23, 2008With the growth of the Internet, and especially broadband, blogs and social media of all sorts, most newspapers are in their death throes. The good old days of charging lawyers and others by the column inch at levels that would make big city real estate developers jealous are simply gone...
YouTube Reaches Out For More
Posted on June 23, 2008If Microsoft represents Web 0.0, and poor old Yahoo represents Web 1.0, then Google and YouTube certainly represent Web 2.0, or at least the beginning of that revolution or the foundation on which it is based. And, in its wake it has royally ticked off all of those people that want to charge money and subscription fees for tech and information...
Virtual Appointments
Posted on June 23, 2008They are coming. It is only a matter of time. The Houston Business Journal recently published an article on MDWebLive. It is a rich content website as to conditions and symptoms. But, it allows you to visit with your medical doctor over the web live, to ask questions and to get a consultation...
Remembering George Carlin
Posted on June 23, 2008Comedian George Carlin, best known for his scabrous, unflinching style and his rivetingly observant social satire, died of heart failure at 71 years old. Below are a couple of his best routines on language and stuff.
Do We Need New Law Schools?
Posted on June 22, 2008Do we need new law schools in this country? If so, where should these law schools be located? How will a new law school differentiate itself from all of the others, or be beneficial to students where other law schools succeed? I recently posted about the new law school at University of California - Irvine, so I obviously believe there is a need for new innovative law schools in some places of this country...
F. Lee Bailey - Legal Talk Network
Posted on June 22, 2008I finally had a chance today to sit down and listen to the podcasts with F. Lee Bailey on the Legal Talk Network, and I found then to be very good. They are worth a listen.
University of California - Irving - Donald Bren School Of Law
Posted on June 22, 2008It is always interesting and intriguing to see a major state university opening a new law school. First, what are the chances that the law school will not receive ABA accreditation? Little I think. Second, a public law school ultimately provides access to a cheaper quality law school education for many...
Ways To Cope With $5 A Gallon Gasoline?
Posted on June 22, 2008I was reading a post by Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent, which was entitled 5 Ways To Cope With A $5 Gallon. You can read it yourself. They were trying, I guess, to be helpful, but how exactly do you deal with the traders and hedge funds of the World ripping you off so badly, and impoverishing you and your family, with $5 gasoline prices? I found their solution, however, a bit lame...
I Am Not Sure I Am Really Linked In To Linkedin
Posted on June 21, 2008You know when the Internet bubble was growing (before the burst) there were so many companies raising money and expanding that I could not figure out how their market strategy made sense (or money). But, I thought, what did I know? Investment bankers and Yahoo were throwing fortunes at these companies even though they were not making money, they were eating through cash, and there really did not seem to be a way for them to make money...
The Icahn Report
Posted on June 19, 2008Famed corporate raider, private equity investor and multi-billionaire, Carl Icahn, has finally started blogging. Welcome to The Icahn Report. And, if any of you guys and gals out there are thinking about ripping off Carl's title, do not even think about it...
How To Nap
Posted on June 19, 2008I have always said that napping is one of the possibilities that makes the home office just wonderful. Even if you never take a nap, you know that you can do so without anybody being the wiser. The Boston Globe has a very interesting and detailed graphic on exactly how and when to take a nap...
9th Circuit Court Of Appeals Upholds Privacy Of Text Messages
Posted on June 18, 2008I guess I can sleep a little easier knowing that my devious criminal acts cannot be discovered just because I bothered to text about what I did or am about to do. All joking aside, this issue of privacy in the Third Wave is very important regardless of how one interprets one's rights in relation to their conduct...
Less Brawn, More Brains
Posted on June 18, 2008The reason the Third Wave works now, where it did not work well in, let us say, the 80s is that we are finally completing the arduous, hurtful and mournful task of transforming from a brawn based society to a brains based society. We can see this still in what they call the innovation sector which constantly complains about a lack of "skilled workers"...
Unfortunately, This Might Describe Most Of Us
Posted on June 18, 2008At least there is some truth to what is says.
The Falling Economy Roundup
Posted on June 17, 2008A falling economy is not necessarily bad for the practice of law. There is nothing like fights over money to spur disagreements and force companies and individuals into divorce and bankruptcy and lawsuits (or even arbitration). Then there are those that are trying to correct the problem, such as some alternative energy companies, that have to force through approval for their plans...
The Bottom Line - Most Law Firm Websites Stink
Posted on June 17, 2008I just found this report by The Bloom Group concerning the effectiveness of professional services websites, including those of law firms. It is a couple of years old, but do those of us that look at a lot of lawyer websites need a study to confirm that most of these sites are simply ineffective? The Bloom study found law firms rate prospective clients as their most important audience for websites, which should be true...
Too Little, Too Lame
Posted on June 17, 2008Marketing includes advertising and all other forms of marketing, such a referral base marketing, but lawyers have a bad habit of doing too little marketing and doing it in a way that is often lame. My advice, having done most all of it, is simply to develop a competent plan that avoids tricks and fanfare and which avoids diminishing markets such as yellow pages...
Put The Kibosh On Junk Snail Mail
Posted on June 16, 2008Well, even if you cannot stop it completely, you can probably reduce the amount of junk mail you receive through the USPS USPS every day. How much is that? If it is anything like the mail I receive, it is the overwhelming majority of the snail mail that I receive...
Loopholes
Posted on June 16, 2008You have got to love father's day humor, and what is essentially lawyer humor. Put them both together, and it is just great.
Blogs vs. Email
Posted on June 16, 2008I get between 100 and 200 emails a day. In the past I would have thought that would have been a problem. Although I have to admit that some days it keeps me on a treadmill of responding, I find it so much better than using the phone or switching between various media...
Some Unusual Cost Savings As A Result Of Working At Home
Posted on June 15, 2008Times are getting tough. Part of it is that prices are just going up, but a lot of it is nothing more than our extravagances coming back to roost. Often when we talk about moving our law offices home we speak in terms of large savings such as the cost of a separate office, staff, and cutting the costs of commuting...
Vanity Fair's Blogoticon
Posted on June 14, 2008First, I was over looked (read, ignored) by the ABA Blawg 100, and now Vanity Fair has left me out of its Blogoticon. I am not legal enough, opinionated enough, and now not even scurrilous enough to get on the Blogoticon. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! My mother must be so ashamed...
This Pretty Much Describes My Morning
Posted on June 14, 2008My wife and daughters headed out this morning to Austin, Texas for a confab and gabfest of sorts in an all girl day among the mothers and daughters on her side of the family. Last night I had big plans for today. Catch up on work, do a little work in the back yard, and/or work on some of my ideas...
Grand Theft Election
Posted on June 14, 2008. . . Or, maybe she just wants to be the John Madden of the court world. Whatever, but according to Multiplayer and other sources, Sandra Day O'Connor is not just sitting on her laurels as the grand dame of the United States Supreme Court, she is entering the high stakes digital gaming world with the introduction of the game Our Courts...
Virginia Law Schools
Posted on June 12, 2008Virginia has a lot of history and landmarks. It is known as the "Mother of Presidents", and it traces is founding back to the Virginia Colony in 1607, it was the first permanent New World English colony and was one of the original 13 colonies that took part in the American Revolution...
Maybe Your Next Employer Should Be You
Posted on June 12, 2008Not all that long ago I sat with recent law school graduate in court and just shot the bull while we waited for our case to be called. She was on her second job in 18 months, and she was working for a bankruptcy and consumer law litigation boutique. It represented an area of law with which she had no interest and it showed...
You Tell Them Katy!
Posted on June 11, 2008I tend to think, as Katy Couric indicates, that we have come a lot further in this country, and especially in regard to the Democratic Party, in resolving racism than in sexism. I have a wife who is a lawyer, and went to law school well before entering law school admissions were anything but equal...
John McCain Does Not Know How To Use A Computer
Posted on June 11, 2008. . . And he is campaigning to work from home. How is that going to work?
Internet Sabbath? NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on June 10, 2008When my youngest son was very young he was such a TV junkie that during the day the only way the sitter could get him to turn off the set without a fight was to tell him that it was time for the TV to take its nap. Now, come forward 14 years and I am afraid his father treats the computer with the same regard, only I know the computer does not have to take a nap...
Law Schools Of Indianna
Posted on June 08, 2008If you are looking for a good law school to attend in the Midwest, you might want to consider Indiana. The state is known for its sports teams and athletic events, such as the Colts, the Pacers and the Indianapolis 500. Bound by Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky the state is centrally located...
Making Going It Alone Easier
Posted on June 08, 2008I advocate for lawyers and law graduates going out on their own. But, I never said it was easy. Nothing is and going it alone is no exception. You need a certain minimum number of set skills to make it easier. Here are a few things that I suggest will make going it alone more pleasurable: 1...
Governor's Mansion In Austin, Texas Destroyed
Posted on June 08, 2008This is just terrible news. The Texas Governor's Mansion was destroyed by fire. The 150-year-old mansion was undergoing renovations. The damage is being reported as "bordering on catastrophic". From the time I was just a child visiting Austin for the first time, I have always loved that house...
You Must Be Proactive!
Posted on June 08, 2008Susan Cartier Liebel of Build A Solo Practice has written a great post on the need for those who want to enter into a solo practice to be proactive. She rights, "If you want to open your own solo practice and are waiting for the 'perfect' time to do so, when all the stars align, you have enough money in the bank, your child is in school full days, your spouse gets their promotion, when the world will be sunshine, lollipops and rainbows ...
Listening And Remembering Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Pearl Bailey This Saturday Morning
Posted on June 07, 2008June Year's Resolution
Posted on June 07, 2008Or, better yet, do you pay a fat tax? A fat tax is when you, like me, joint the YMCA or gym in your area in December because in anticipation of fulfilling your New Year's resolution of getting off of your home office butt, get yourself in better shape and losing some weight, only to look up and it is June and you have never been to the place...
Digital Disaster Or Soft Serve Distress? You Be The Judge.
Posted on June 07, 2008On the one hand I think this is shocking like most Americans, but at the same time I am not sure why it should be considered all that unusual. But, as we all have heard, Amazon.Com's Website went down for 2 hours. Apparently, the company's retail Web site shut down, giving an error code to anyone visiting it...
What???
Posted on June 06, 2008I get this message over the Internet asking me "Are Your Affairs In Order"? My first reaction is what businesses is it of anybodies and I am sick and tired of these risque, salty, suggestive, and provocative things being sent to me via email, the Internet, blogs, and now my instant messenger...
Man, I Knew I Was Feeling Poorly
Posted on June 06, 2008You would think that our economy is going to hell in a handbag. We are burning through fuel, money and jobs at an astonishing rate. According to CNNMoney we Americans saw our net worth decline by $1.7 trillion (that is with a 'T') in just the first quarter of the year...
Is Box Wine Greener?
Posted on June 05, 2008You know I do not drink wine daily, but I do like wine tastings and like to visit Texas wineries. My wife and I have fun with the taste, the process followed to make wine a particular wine, the bottles, the labels, and even the name chosen. By the way, we did not much care for Joe Blow Red that we tried recently...
Hybrid SUVs Are Bombing
Posted on June 05, 2008Do you commute to work? I have a carpet commute so transportation in that sense is not that concerning to me. But, if you are trying to decide in the future what you might drive to work, you might wish to follow the public's lead on green. According to The New York Times the public is rejecting the American automaker's sales job of the hybrid SUVs...
Bloggers Are Upset And Rightfully So
Posted on June 04, 2008When you think that Beaumont, Texas of all places, the heart of cancer ally of the petro-chemical trade, and the town that was flattened by the last hurricane that hit the gulf coast, and an area made up of very moderate blue collar workers is going to be the place for the showdown between Time Warner Cable and the concept of the open Internet is a bid strang...
Oh Ed, I Am So Very Sorry To Hear This
Posted on June 04, 2008You know, I grew up with Ed McMahon. Almost every night of my childhood and young adult life I would watch The Tonight Show Staring Johnny Carson and think that Ed McMahon was the fun loving uncle that most people wish they had. He was the ultimate "second fiddle" and I think most of us can identify with being the second fiddle in this World...
The States Are About To Rain On The Internet's Parade
Posted on June 03, 2008The dreaded sales tax. It is costly for consumers, but more importantly it would be difficult for small Internet outlets to comply with every state collecting sales tax on products or services sold. In the past there has been a ban on taxing Internet sales...
Scrap The Magazines
Posted on June 02, 2008Gretchen Rubin, a writer working on The Happiness Project, writes in HuffPo that if you feel overwhelmed because of the huge stack of magazines you have cluttering your house, to throw them out right now! With the exception that you should recycle them, I agreed...
Notebook Computers In The Law School Classroom
Posted on June 02, 2008TaxProf Blog and Future Lawyer, as well as others over time, have blog in support and in opposition to pulling or banning notebook computers from the classroom. I somehow find the concept of banning notebooks from a law school classroom a medieval, feudal, antiquated, and something from the dark ages of the 80s and 90s...
The Future Home Office?
Posted on June 01, 2008Is this the future? Homes so green, so organized, so tech, you can operate enjoyably, functionally, and efficiently from where you are, both in your personal life and your business life. Why do you need to leave for anything other than entertainment and socialization?
Do You Flaunt Your Fatigue?
Posted on May 31, 2008"Man am I tired". "I've got so much work, I'll be up all night". "I can't seem to catch up". Deep breaths taken. A slight moan or wheeze for others to hear. How about just letting your head fall a little too quickly to the desk in front of you. Better yet, leaving to go get a caffeine-hyped power drink...
Reliving The 70s Today And Listening To The Bee Gees
Posted on May 31, 2008For some reason Stayin' Alive has some meaning today as I do some work on this Saturday. But, I am afraid that I cannot wear tight pants anymore, and my hair is a lot shorter. And, I shaved my beard when my babies kept pulling on it to get my attention.
A Perfect Reflection Of Third Wave Lawyers As Compared To Lawyers Who Have Vision Of Building An Empire
Posted on May 31, 2008Cash Pedal
Posted on May 31, 2008You know what I am talking about, right? The accelerator pedal in our cars during times of high gasoline prices. The prodigious use of the accelerator pedal now basically leads to less money on which to live. And, the biggest problem is not so much that what I do only affects me...
Finally, A Little Recognition For The City
Posted on May 29, 2008I call the Houston area home. I actually live in The Woodlands. It just paid agreed to pay Houston a ton of money to be allowed to incorporate as its own town. Since the money is coming from my tax dollars and HOA dues, I feel that The Woodlands might be getting a little too generous with my money...
Attention Spam
Posted on May 29, 2008It is a condition that I believe I am suffering from more and more both in my case analysis and in my practice wants. I have attempted to build a highly niche practice to avoid it, but I have been trying to adventure out a little of late. Attention spam is a condition resulting in a failure to process facts or comprehend common knowledge, due largely to having a mind full of useless information...
Should You Be Using Credit Cards In Your Practice?
Posted on May 27, 2008I do not think so. That is why I refuse to have a credit card. First, they encourage you to spend in ways that is not health, and to buy extravagances. Second, we all know the tricks credit card providers play to make money off you that you do not suspect and which only make your situation worse...
Staycation
Posted on May 26, 2008Texas changed the law about when schools should start in August starting last year. Now schools have to start later so parents and kids can have their late August vacations. The problem is that in the past schools typically let out for the summer beginning on the start of the Memorial holiday weekend...
Three Keys To Law Firm Marketing
Posted on May 26, 2008Over at Content for Reprint I found an article The Rainmaker Institute, which upon reading I found to basically true and helpful. The article is more in depth that what I write hear, but the principals are universal in network and relationship marketing if you want this practice to work...
Early Nerd Special
Posted on May 25, 2008I do not know what comes over me sometimes. Things just pop into my head and I repeat them when I know I probably should not. One is a term those younger than me like to use today - Early Nerd Special. It means the midnight showing on the day of release of a highly-anticipated film, which is typically a science-fiction or fantasy film...
FREE Blogs?
Posted on May 24, 2008Oh dear. This is going to get me in trouble with someone I deeply respect. But, Susan Cartier Liebel is offering FREE blogs at Solo Practice University? Now I do not mean to pick, but I guess I am a little bit of a gadfly. I know what Susan means. She means that the blogs are without expense or money to you...
The $100 Million Dollar Man
Posted on May 24, 2008CNNMoney reviewed what it might cost to build the $6 Million Man, who was played on TV by Lee Majors in 1974 in today's dollars. It is a strange comparison because there really was not a $6 Million Man in 1974. There was only just an estimate of what it would take to put Lee Major's back together as one if it were possible...
Have A Good Memorial Day Weekend
Posted on May 24, 2008But, while we are out shopping, traveling or just relaxing let's try to remember for a few minutes what the holiday represents.
Fear Of Marketing
Posted on May 23, 2008As I have said in the past, F.E.A.R. is an acrostic which stands for FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL. But, to most lawyers, if it appears real, then it is real, and if it is real in this sense they will not act against the false evidence. Could you imagine being in the building trade and having an unrealistic fear of nails...
Do Not Take The LSAT Unprepared
Posted on May 21, 2008If you are thinking about applying to law schools for the Fall 2009 or Winter 2009 class (for the limited number of law schools that take students mid year), it is best not to go into the test cold. The LSAT might very well not test learned knowledge, but that does not mean it is unstructured or that you cannot prepare for the exam...
Ring! Ring! Goes The Social Media Tool Most Overlooked
Posted on May 21, 2008I like John Jantsch's Duct Tape Marketing, and now he reminds us that the telephone is a social media tool as well. Talking about the forgotten telephone might just be getting back to basics. I am not so sure about all of the requests I get from all of the social networking sites, or how effective they are or might be in getting business...
Money And Clients. Answer To A Prayer Or Temptation Of The Devil?
Posted on May 21, 2008A stranger stopped into an open church for a few minutes of quiet contemplation and found a wallet full of money in the pew in front of him. Since no one else was in the church, the question popped into his mind - Was this a temptation of the devil, or the answer to a prayer? And so I think is the question that most new Third Wavers ask themselves when a new client walks in the door as well...
Diana Krall - Fly Me To The Moon
Posted on May 20, 2008If this does not put you in a good mood, I do not know what will.
Homes Are Biggest Bargain Since 2004
Posted on May 20, 2008According to CNNMoney with substantial lower pricing on homes around the nation, home price affordability has improved in many cities. 53.8% of all new and existing homes sold nationwide during the first three months of 2008 were affordable to families earning the median household income of $61,500, according to the latest Housing Opportunity Index released Tuesday by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)...
Pouring Whiskey
Posted on May 19, 2008Just a little back story first. Not long ago I was at the supermarket getting ready for a get together, and my wife and I bought a big jug of red wine. While checking out the kid bagging the groceries exclaimed, "That is the biggest bottle of wine I have ever seen"...
Do My Eyes Decieve Me - ABC Lists Blogging As A Painful Profession
Posted on May 19, 2008I am a blogger, so that must make me a daredevil, a risk taker, a person will to jeopardizes my health and safety for the sake of a profession. Indiana Jones must have nothing on me. You can check it out for yourselves. ABC News lists blogging as one of the top 10 Painful Professions...
14 Tons Of Double-Stuffed Oreos
Posted on May 19, 2008... Now, that requires a lot of milk. Apparently, in or around Morris, Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos overturned, spilling the cookies into the median and roadway. The driver of the truck was traveling from Chicago when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the median...
Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
Posted on May 19, 2008Start you day off with a little Tony.
Law Schools Of North Carolina
Posted on May 18, 2008North Carolina is rich in southern charm and history. Maybe it is for this reason or that the recent presidential primaries just drew my attention to the state, but it has a lot of law schools - a lot of good law schools - from which to chose. You should check them out...
Code
Posted on May 18, 2008I have been communicating with several different lawyers of late who are in the process of, or who wish to start, new practices. They write me because they are interested in my blog and in my method of practice. I have noticed a trend, however. They start down this road of practice because they see the utility of it, but then they talk themselves out of it based upon that imaginary client they are after...
I Hate To Whine ...
Posted on May 16, 2008According to the AP wire, Robert Mondavi of Robert Mondavi Winery has died. He was 94, which goes to show you the wonderful effects of drinking red wine. I like Mondavi's story because he was 52 in 1966, when he opened his winery that would help turn Napa Valley into a world center of the industry, demonstrating that us old codgers to make a difference...
Art As A Niche
Posted on May 16, 2008I am always interested in what other lawyers do, and I am always on the look out for interesting niches. You know the ones? Those that they do not discuss much in law school. That is why I found interesting the launch by LexBlog of the Art Law Blog of Fox Rothchild...
I Am A Failure
Posted on May 15, 2008I was reading Rick Georges Future Lawyer, which directed me to the post by Michael Wade of Execupundit, who writes about his difficulty defining himself as a success. Often I do not feel like a success, and often that get in the way of my wellbeing. This is not necessary because I, and you, can define success any old way we wish...
Last IPod Supper
Posted on May 15, 2008Hmmm? I found this over at Luke Gilman's High On The Hog Blog. He discovered it elsewhere. Like him, it seems strange enough to be interesting, but I do not pretend to know what it really says about our society. And, forget how the name Job plays into this, or the almost reverent Apple supporters of this World.
Houston We Have A Problem - We Are Under Attack By Ants
Posted on May 14, 2008And no, I do not mean from the three law schools located in the area. We have been overcome by "crazy rasberry ants. They are called crazy because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on...
Why Not Partnerships?
Posted on May 13, 2008And, by partnership I mean a grossly legal structure of some kind such as actual partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, PAs, PC, and INCs. You can argue all day long as to whether it needs to be some type of formal partnership or some type of corporate structure, but too often lawyers find that being joined at the hip with some other lawyer rarely works long term...
Speaking In Public
Posted on May 12, 2008Duct Tape Marketing has a post in which it defines pubic speaking as a "competitive marketing skill". I do not know if that is a good definition, but I get the point. I just wonder if calling it "competitive" will just do more to discourage lawyers, especially new lawyers, from marketing their practice in this way...
Pleasure Interrupted. Happiness? Not So Much.
Posted on May 10, 2008I am pretty much a happy guy. I like what I am doing even if it is not always cracked up to what I want it to be. Like everyone, I have moments, and clients, and cases, and events that get in the way. I try to move on. So, you might say that I am sometimes unhappy, or that happiness is fleeting...
Proof That You Can Practice Virtually From Anywhere
Posted on May 08, 2008We talk about carpet commutes and work-life balance and blending, and in this I get a lot of resistance. I get emails daily as to why some lawyer or some firm just cannot do it, or how it is just not practically possible. Or, how my practice is an anomaly...
High Handshake Marks
Posted on May 08, 2008Yahoo! News reports on another nutty research project about firm handshakes and handshake training bringing higher employability that week handshakes. I like the term that people receiving "high handshake marks" rated most hireable. The study, which appears in the September Journal of Applied Psychology, suggest that handshakes provide a glimpse of the real you...
Law Schools Of Louisiana
Posted on May 08, 2008We now mainly remember Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina, but it is a state rich in history and culture. It also has a fair number of law schools for its size, and all of them are in either the state capital of Baton Rouge or New Orleans, both towns are not far from each other, and both are located in the Southern part of the state...
Tips For Doing What You Do Not Want To Do
Posted on May 08, 2008What I have found is that there is nothing in this World that you like doing that does not have some displeasurable aspects. But, you know what? If you want to do what you like to do, you have to do some of that for which you do not care. And, you have to do it because it goes to marketing and money...
Oh, You Better Belive I Was Breast Fed!
Posted on May 07, 2008I can see it now. Instead of those bumper stickers that say, "My Lawyer Can Beat Your Lawyer", they will now read, "My Lawyer Was Breast Fed". Are you smarter than the average bear? According to the study detailed on Live Science, children who were breast-fed exclusively for the first three months of life or longer scored nearly six points higher on IQ tests at the age of 6 than children who were not breast-fed exclusively...
I Answer The 10 Misconceptions Of Working From Home
Posted on May 07, 2008A reader of mine sent me the 10 Misconceptions the Self-Employed Deal With Daily as published on LifeDev. I think the article is bigger than just working at home, but it primarily deals with this issue. Even though many of you do not know the secret handshake or have a decoder ring, I am willing to (partially) answer those misconceptions for you...
Kitchen Nightmares
Posted on May 06, 2008First, I love the TV show Kitchen Nightmares. Second, I love Tom Kane's Legal Marketing Blog. Third, I live and really love the concept of the niche practice of law as something that is inherently enjoyable to practice and at which to make money. And, I appreciate the fact that Tom Kane has brought all of these concepts and programs together for his latest post...
Lawyer. Boxer. Am I Repeating Myself?
Posted on May 05, 2008JD Bliss has a post about Buckhead, Georgia attorney Preston Halliburton in his pursuit of the practice of law and as a professional boxer. But, I have to ask, is boxing and the practice of law pretty much the same thing?
Some Realtors Need To Get A Life
Posted on May 05, 2008Money sometimes brings out the worst in people. Even pretend money like some Realtor's perceived idea of what a property is worth can bring out the worst in both home sellers and Realtors. Do yo watch those real estate shows on HGTV, Fine Living, TLC, Discvoery Home and the like? The common result (if not the theme) of almost all of the shows on these channels is that Realtors have allowed their clients or customers to so greatly overpriced their homes that they have run off all potential buyers...
7 Common Cooking Mistakes
Posted on May 05, 2008Cooking is part of work-life balance or blending. If you work at home full time or part time, you obviously have an opportunity to treat yourself with a home cooked meal. This is especially true once you cut out the long commute to and from work. So, this post is not irrelevant to Third Wave lawyers and carpet commuters...
Cinco De Mayo - Like You Mean It
Posted on May 04, 2008I am originally from North East Texas, but I love the South Texas culture, if not the lack of pine trees. My wife (a/k/a my girlfriend) is from South Texas. I went to college at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. I love The Woodlands, Texas because it is in Southeast Texas on the cusp of what is deep South Texas, but still in the piney woods...
Thugs
Posted on May 04, 2008According to CBS News, during the annual North Carolina Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner Hillary Clinton said she would not back Barack Obama if he is the party's nominee, and she will work hard for him. That resulted in the Obama people to shout her down...
Consumer Spending Is Up. Good News?
Posted on May 03, 2008If so then we can herald the fact that prisoners are renting lofts and condos. It never ceases to amaze me that as soon as the economy starts to tank, inflation starts to rise, and prices go through the roof, that the press (and the administration) says all is not lost because the good news is that consumer spending is up...
Are High Gas Prices Greening The Practice Of Law?
Posted on May 03, 2008I do not know for certain, but it certainly seems this way. More lawyers are moving home full time or part time. I get emails weekly from lawyers in transition. They are cutting overhead drastically as a result. They are wanting to end their long commutes...
Starting Off
Posted on April 30, 2008I continue to get inquiries as to how you start off doing a certain type of case when you have not worked as an associate or in the trenches of the practice area for years. I continue to give my typical answer -- you just start. Is this not what law school is about? To train you to research, experiment, and the learn as you go? No matter if you have practiced law for 20+ years as I have, you are still going to run into situations, or have to venture into other areas of law of which you know...
Cash vs. Profits
Posted on April 29, 2008How many of us know lawyers or law firms that seem to generate lots of cash, but the lawyers or partners never have enough money? We all know some lawyers in which this is true, and we have all been in this position at some time. This is especially true with traditional law firms...
The Law Schools Of Washington D.C.
Posted on April 29, 2008Maybe there is no greater concentration of law schools per population than Washington, D.C. But, then again there is probably no better place to go to law school than D.C. Below are the schools of the District of Columbia: American University Washington College of Law, Washington 4801 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington 20016, Phone: (202) 274-4000 Catholic University of America - School of Law, Washington 3600 John McCormack Rd...
Hint - When Going To The Courthouse Leave Your Illicit Drugs In The Car
Posted on April 29, 2008... And, please do not chalk this up to work-life balance or blending issues. According to dothaneagle.com, when Malcom Williams entered the Houston County Courthouse in Alabama he poured out the contents of his pockets, like everyone else, to get through the metal detectors...
Should You Attend A Law School Based Upon Its Scholarship Award
Posted on April 29, 2008It is law school acceptance time. Some of you have choices and you are trying to make a decision based upon the scholarships being offered to you. Well, Ann Levine at Law School Expert as some critical advice in this regard: For those of you considering law school scholarship offers right now, please consider (1) whether the scholarship is renewable and (2) what is required of you to renew it...
Hillary vs. Obama Death Match
Posted on April 29, 2008The New York Post has an online game in which you can be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama and fight out the issues on a boxing ring until both candidates are bloodied and bruised. And, who says that online video games cannot be constructive or educational? You can play by CLICKING HERE.
Overhead And Message - I Have Traveled The Same Path As Peter Olson
Posted on April 28, 2008Well, maybe not the same road to political enlightenment, but the one of lessons learned in the private practice of law. We practice. We learn. We try to express ourselves to others so that they might find the trip a little easier than we did. Peter Olson of Solo In Chicago posted about the two things he wish he knew or understood when he started his practice...
I Am Not Sure Why I Did Not Make Time Magazine's List Of Least Influential Americans
Posted on April 27, 2008It is really hard to say how this happened. I work out of my home. I do not have any staff. I write a blog that a few read but the advice of which nobody follows. Heck, my beagle, Mandy, will not even listen to me. All I can do is promise that I will work harder at continuing to decrease my profile and influence until I can make this list...
Of Football Coaches And Law School Deans
Posted on April 27, 2008Do you think that a person interviewing for the job of a football coach every goes into the interview explaining that he does not care if the team is the number one team in the country? I seriously doubt a potential NFL coach can interview with a team and not talk about his plans to take the team to the Super Bowl in just a few years...
Baylor University Law School
Posted on April 26, 2008Smack dab in the middle of Texas in the smaller, away from the big city, Waco (pronouned with a long 'A' sound and not a short 'a' sound), not far from George Bush country (Crawford), sits an outstanding little law school on the Baptist campus of Baylor University...
Important Information For All Of You Lawyers Who Just Cannot Make Yourselves Give Up Commuting In Traffic
Posted on April 26, 2008So Much Work To Do This Friday And This Weekend, This Pretty Much Represents How I Feel
Posted on April 25, 2008The Sweet Leaf Tea Lesson On Marketing
Posted on April 25, 2008I was reading an article in the Austin Business Journal about Sweet Leaf Tea and its marketing lesson, and I wondered how that can be adapted to legal marketing. Sweet Leaf Tea is one of the fastest-growing makers of ready-to-drink iced teas and sells its products on a national level through grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Safeway...
What Does How You Sleep Suggest The Type Of Lawyer You Are?
Posted on April 24, 2008What is your preferred sleep position, and what does this say about you as a person and a lawyer? I am not sure I buy all of this but Janet Kinosian recently posted about this on HuffPo. She reviews the prevailing wisdom about what position you take when you fall off to sleep says about you as a person...
Dull Jobs Numb The Mind
Posted on April 23, 2008... Sorry ... where was I ... um, I was saying ... oh yeah ... According to an article on BBC News, boring jobs turn our minds to autopilot or rest mode, whether we like it or not, which foreshadows mistakes. So you real estate closing attorneys take head...
Hillary Clinton Now Leads In The Popular Vote
Posted on April 23, 2008The Obama camp and the old media can distort numbers any way they want, but the truth now remains, according to The Fact Hub, that Hillary Clinton's decisive victory in Pennsylvania leaves more people having voted for her than Barack Obama. According to Real Clear Politics, Hillary Clinton has received 15,095,662 votes to Barack Obama's 14,973,720, a margin of 120,000 votes...
How to Arrange An Office Desk Ergonomically
Posted on April 23, 2008This does seem so simple, but straight on is the best way to organize a monitor and keypad.
Election Reform
Posted on April 23, 2008Yeah it matters to solos, carpet commuters, Third Wavers and all attorneys because in this day of cheap tech our current system is antiquated and wrong.
A Palace Of Pain
Posted on April 23, 2008These are the stories that you must wonder about. According to the Dallas Business Journal the Dallas office of the Washington, D.C. based law firm Patton Boggs has leased 114,000 square feet, or 4 and a half stories, of a new class A office space in Uptown Dallas, off downtown...
The World's Youngest Billionaires
Posted on April 22, 2008The ranks of which I will probably never join, Forbes profiles the youngest billionaires in the World today. I guess we should not gloat that our billionaires are be best, but what I observed in viewing the profiles of the World's youngest billionaires is that all of them from all other countries obtained their money through inheritance, whereas all of the young billionaires of the United States made the money themselves...
The Fear Of Disposing Of Paper
Posted on April 22, 2008I have received several emails of late, and one in particular and on point, concerning what I might describe as the fear of disposing of paper. Fear might be an over-exaggeration, but many of you know what I mean. You are scanning documents, saving files online or on DVDs, cutting down on paper, but feel apprehensive about disposing of originally signed documents, such as retainer agreements and settlement documents...
What Goes Around, Comes Around
Posted on April 21, 2008Do you not have a favorable opinion of e Moms at Home changing to Sparkplugging and abandoning its loyal audience? If so, you can read my comments on this at Home Office Warrior.
Wo! Money Does Buy Happiness? Man, Did I Make A Wrong Turn.
Posted on April 18, 2008Now I figure out why I have been miserable all of these years. The old wives tell that money does not buy happiness is wrong. In fact, money can buy happiness according to an article in Wall Street Journal Bog. The WSJ looks at the findings of two economists from the University of Pennsylvania who conclude money does indeed bring happiness, even if it doesn?t guarantee it...
America's Fastest Dying Industries
Posted on April 17, 2008Forbes presents us with a pictorial of America's Fastest-Dying industries. Most of them have been terribly affected by the Internet, telecom and social changes. Most of them you will find obvious like newspapers and publishing, and pay phones. Other might not be so obvious, such as bowling alleys (no longer cool as it was when I was younger), laundromats, beer production (the market is not dying so much as it is saturated), arcades (you can play cool games now at home), tobacco farming (although it is scoffed at, there are still a lot of people smoking), and DVD rental (can...
This Pretty Much Describes My Beagle Mandy
Posted on April 17, 2008Come to think of it, this pretty much describes and defines me and most other lawyers as well.
The Best Law School In Houston? Let Us Compare.
Posted on April 16, 2008Let me qualify what I am about to say by stating that you need to attend the law schools at which you get accepted. You can succeed at any law school, but each do have their qualities and preferences. If you are considering law school, and you want to judge your chances, you cannot ignore Houston, Texas as the place for your legal education...
Maybe You Should Tell Some Law Schools To Take Their Rankings And Shove Them ...
Posted on April 16, 2008We all know lawyers who planned big only to be disenfranchised by the size of the obligations they ran up. That is nowhere more true than choosing an overpriced law school because of the image that you believe it reflects due to its U.S. News rankings...
Online Certified Mail
Posted on April 15, 2008Lyndon Johnson use to pound on his desk and exclaim, "I hate war"! Well, I am here to tell you that this Texan hates mail. Apart from the fact that I have become good friends with many of the postal workers over the years, I do not like going to the post office...
Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men
Posted on April 14, 2008I have never really wondered why my wife chose to marry me, go to law school with me, have four children with me, and practice with me in our secluded home office. After all, we all know that Ziggy is the ideal look for which most women are looking, and I have those very desirable quality...
Buyer Beware! Regional Law Schools May Offer A Better Value?
Posted on April 14, 2008Are Ivy League schools overrated? The answer might be generally no, but I do not believe they produce better students than many good regional law schools. And, often good regional schools produce comparable lawyers at a lower cost to the student. I was once up against a trial lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law...
Insurance Companies Stink!
Posted on April 14, 2008The Third Wave practice of law has many, many advantages, but health insurance is not one of them. I would say that it is the bane of our existence, but the truth of the matter is that it is becoming the bane of everyone existence in life. I already pay a ton of money for the worst kind of coverage, and it is likely to get worse...
Do Not Make This Real Estate Mistake
Posted on April 14, 2008An article in HuffPo detailed an Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance Poll, which found that more that 60% of the respondents said they definitely would not buy a home in the next two years, which was up from 53% from the previous year. More interestingly, just 11% are certain or very likely to buy a house soon, which is down 15% from two years ago...
How To Avoid The Upcoming Credit Crunch
Posted on April 12, 2008A credit crunch is keenly visible to a law firm. Things start going bad for vendors and landlords and cell phone companies, and gas companies, and utilities, and banks, and employees, and most everybody around you. The crunch is not so dramatic as it might appear on TV, but it is real...
What Are Your Soft Skills?
Posted on April 11, 2008I am really one of the lucky ones. Big Law probably does not want me. Not only am I too old and too fat, but I probably do not have the hard skills that pop off the page on a résumé. I graduated from Bob's Really Big Law School (formally Fred's). That for one is not a good start...
Law Schools Of The Pacific States
Posted on April 11, 2008The American West is a big place, but an important part of it is what is known as the Pacific States of Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii. Of these states Alaska has no law school. Hawaii only has one law school, and California has most of the choices...
Drinking For Clients?
Posted on April 11, 2008That does it. I will just have to take up drinking. Oh, I have a glass of wine every now and then, but I am mainly hooked on diet sodas and tea. But, I want to earn more money and if I have got to be bashed, plastered, tanked, stoned, soused, stewed, zonked or totally wasted in public to achieve this, then so be it...
There Is Hopefully A Lesson Learned By An Employee Working Remotely
Posted on April 11, 2008I think the term "telecommuting" is a bit old school, but I like this article about Rebecca Bell, Operations Manager for Lee Esposito Associates, being allowed to work remotely from It aly. The article appeared in Business First of Columbus. It is not a story about a law firm in that Lee Esposito Associates is a public relation firm, but that is close enough...
Cash Flow An Important Metric For Law Firms
Posted on April 10, 2008This was the headline screaming at me over my blog reader today from More Partner Income. I read it and thought to myself - WELL DA! That is kind of an understatement. And, what is with all of this language like "metric". Cash flow is not a "matric", is it? It is the lifeblood of any lawyer or any law firm...
Watch What You Say
Posted on April 10, 2008Maybe we lawyers need to be careful about picking up and repeating words and phrases from used car dealers, cell phone companies and the like.
Super Wealthy Line Up For Souped-Up Jets
Posted on April 09, 2008I guess this is not quite working at home?
Magnetic Table?
Posted on April 09, 2008Gizmodo posted about the magnetic table that will eliminate the need for cabinets. Yeah, right. The table allows you to attach dinnerware or most other things underneath the table. All I can say is keep on thinking. See pictures below.
Apple Accuses NYC Of Ripping Off Its Logo - You Be The Judge
Posted on April 09, 2008I tend to think that Apple is getting a little too big for its britches. Apple Computer is "challenging" the City of New York's travel and tourism office over its use of an apple logo based upon the city's nickname "The Big Apple". It is running a campaign called "GreeNYC to convince New Yorkers to take steps to reduce greenhouse gases, and hired New York design firm Turf to designed a stylized apple, which has been the symbol of NYC since well before Steve Jobs was born...
My Wife Must Be So Terribly Disappointed
Posted on April 09, 2008As reported on HuffPo, if you are a brunette you are more likely to marry a successful man than your blonde counterparts. Experts at LOVE@LYCOS, the dating channel of Lycos.co.uk analysed the WAG's hair colour of the world's top 100 billionaires to determine if there is a predominant hair colour wealthy men seen to go for...
Bringing Your Baby To Work?
Posted on April 09, 2008In the United States some companies are encouraging new parents to bring their babies to the office before they have learned to crawl. The Guardian in the UK decided to test out whether you could actually work with a baby at your desk and this is what happened...
#^%$&* Scanner, Or Hints From Heloise
Posted on April 08, 2008You know technology is often good, but it not always fun. Case in point is the ScanSnap scanner that I use in my office. It is small, it is relatively easy to use. I can scan to print if I need a copy, or I can scan to native PDF for saving documents and getting them off my desk...
If You Are In Law Practice Hell Think Cheese
Posted on April 08, 2008CNNMoney reports on the help being offered by Barbara Hanley, owner of the real estate appraisal company Golf & Land Economics, to save dairy farms in her area. This from a lady who lives off helping to turn such farms into fairways. But, her new goal is to see continue the family dairy farm survive for generations to come...
Al Gore - New Thinking On The Climate Crises
Posted on April 08, 2008If you have never viewed TED you ought to do so. They have the new thoughts and presentation by Al Gore on the climate crises. It is very telling and very concerning. You need to watch this video and do so by CLICKING HERE.
South Texas College Of Law Continues To Win Big
Posted on April 08, 2008In legal education you had better look for an environment that provides you some positive and practice teaching practices. In this regard, South Texas College of Law (STCL) continues to excel in a big way. In the effort of complete disclosure, my wife and I attended STCL...
Two Lawyers - One Rich - One Poor
Posted on April 08, 2008Peter Olson at Solo In Chicago highlights well a Chicago Tribune's article on lawyer disparity. It is a very informative article and you ought to read it. The gist of the article is what I have been saying for some time. Increasingly there are small practices of law and their are large ones, but those that have a hard time competing are the ones in between...
Japanese Health Drinks And Products Are Too Much For Me To Handle
Posted on April 08, 2008Look, I understand what you put into your body matters. I understand that I put too much in my body, hence the weight problem. And, I understand that Asians, most of which are skinny, have always had some inside knowledge that proceeds the knowledge base of Western medicine...
The Poor Lawyer's MacBook Air
Posted on April 07, 2008I normally leave tech to Rick Georges over at Future Lawyer. But, if anything, the Third Wave is about ease and portability. It is about being to operate with a the smallest footprint possible in the legal world. It is also about being connected. PDAs and smart phones just do not hack it for me in this regard...
New Niche -- Keeping Personal Injury Lawyers Honest
Posted on April 06, 2008Maybe I am the last to know, but I want to bring you ideas of niche practices that you can develop, especially if it is the type of practice in which you can operate out of your home without the need to visit clients very often. The one I learned about recently was representing physicians, clinics, hospitals and chiropractors in monitoring the ongoing litigation and settlement of personal injury cases in which they did, or should have with your help, filed a lien for payment out of the settlement proceeds of the personal injury case...
Dean Martin - Houston
Posted on April 06, 2008Having some fun today, and watching Dean Martin cut up while trying to sing Houston. What a card. As for me, I am going back to Houston, Houston, Houston.
New Niche -- Keeping Personal Injury Lawyers Honest
Posted on April 05, 2008Maybe I am the last to know, but I want to bring you ideas of niche practices that you can develop, especially if it is the type of practice in which you can operate out of your home without the need to visit clients very often. The one I learned about recently was representing physicians, clinics, hospitals and chiropractors in monitoring the ongoing litigation and settlement of personal injury cases in which they did, or should have with your help, filed a lien for payment out of the settlement proceeds of the personal injury case...
Lawyers Are Miserable People
Posted on April 04, 2008By and large this is true. You do not have to take my word for it. Study after study states that the majority of lawyers are not happy with themselves, their professions, or their place in life. The question is how to reverse this trend? You have to organize your practice to bring you joy or at least contentment...
I Love The Comparison
Posted on April 03, 2008My son and I love the Rocky Balboa movies. And, you have got to love Photoshop. And, whether or not you like Hillary Clinton, you have got to love this picture of her as Rocky.
British Paper Declares USA 2008 Great Depression - Bankruptcy Practice Anybody?
Posted on April 01, 2008The British paper The Independent has declared the USA is headed for the Great Depression of 2008. Shocking? Yes. But, to them none of the economic indicators appear sound, especially in the area of jobs and the need for food stamps. The paper declares that things are not only bad on Wall Street, but that they are worse on Main Street, stating that as official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families...
Pretty Much Describes My Day
Posted on April 01, 2008I have been a little slow on posting recently. Been working on taxes the last couple of days, and this picture pretty much captures how I look and feel at at this point.
First, Fire The Managers!
Posted on April 01, 2008The Third Wave is all about flattening management structures. Therefore, when I read this article about Neil Johnson getting rid of his managment to improve business at International Merchant Services I knew this would be enlightening. Before starting International Merchant Services Inc...
Good Lord!
Posted on March 31, 2008According to several sources I have read, according to the Vatican newspaper Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion. "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano...
Al Gore Launches $300 Million Ad Campaign For The Climate
Posted on March 31, 2008Former Vice President Al Gore is set to unveil a three-year, $300 million climate change campaign Wednesday, one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. Wow. Can I say that moving your work and office home is generally good for the climate.
Carolyn Elephant Can Speak For Me Anytime
Posted on March 28, 2008Law.Com reports that Carolyn Elefant wants to be the voice for solo lawyers. Well, let me tell you something. Carolyn can be my voice and speak for me as a solo any little ol' time she wants. Read the article. And, buy her book -- her roadmap -- Solo By Choice.
Oh No! Say It Is Not So! My Idol Has Passed.
Posted on March 28, 2008I generally do not care for McDonalds, but I love the Egg McMuffin. I fear, however, that it is not good for me now that I have crossed the half century mark. See that stack of Egg McMuffin in the picture. Left to my own terrible devices, I could eat every one of those...
Carolyn Elephant Can Speak For Me Anytime
Posted on March 27, 2008Law.Com reports that Carolyn Elefant wants to be the voice for solo lawyers. Well, let me tell you something. Carolyn can be my voice and speak for me as a solo any little ol' time she wants. Read the article. And, buy her book -- her roadmap -- Solo By Choice.
Oh No! Say It Is Not So! My Idol Has Passed.
Posted on March 27, 2008I generally do not care for McDonalds, but I love the Egg McMuffin. I fear, however, that it is not good for me now that I have crossed the half century mark. See that stack of Egg McMuffin in the picture. Left to my own terrible devices, I could eat every one of those...
The Evolution of Dad - But Do Not Call Me "Mr. Mom"
Posted on March 27, 2008Being a good Dad. In a way that is one of the main reasons for downshifting, the carpet commute, going solo, and working at home. It is the benefit of the Third Wave. It is the ability to just be around your kids and see them grow up. To have some degree of impact on their lives that they might remember in later life...
The Evolution of Dad - But Do Not Call Me "Mr. Mom"
Posted on March 26, 2008Being a good Dad. In a way that is one of the main reasons for downshifting, the carpet commute, going solo, and working at home. It is the benefit of the Third Wave. It is the ability to just be around your kids and see them grow up. To have some degree of impact on their lives that they might remember in later life...
Marketing Straight Down The Middle
Posted on March 26, 2008Talk about innovative marketing that is subtle and makes a statement. This divorce lawyer has stationary, business cards and envelopes with a line cutting right down the middle. What more has to be said. It is easy to remember. It makes the point just looking at it...
Marketing Straight Down The Middle
Posted on March 25, 2008Talk about innovative marketing that is subtle and makes a statement. This divorce lawyer has stationary, business cards and envelopes with a line cutting right down the middle. What more has to be said. It is easy to remember. It makes the point just looking at it...
The Ego Is Big
Posted on March 25, 2008It amazes me sometimes how highly people think of themselves, and in particular how much they think others think of them. (By the way we do not think about you). I guess it is just natural that people that gravitate toward law have big egos. The self-esteem of many lawyers is fragile...
A Plastic Banana Guard?
Posted on March 24, 2008Oh come on! HuffPo had a list of the "Top 10 Most Useless Items of Crapola". I thought a lot were just silly. The fact that the Auto-Adjusting Wrench was listed as first on the list just demonstrates that the article was written by a girl. What good Texas boy would not want an Auto-Adjusting wrench...
One Year Of Practical Legal Education
Posted on March 24, 2008According to The National Law Journal, Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va., has announced a plan to reform its third year by replacing all academic classes with "experiential" learning, such as actual interactions with clients...
The Ego Is Big
Posted on March 24, 2008It amazes me sometimes how highly people think of themselves, and in particular how much they think others think of them. (By the way we do not think about you). I guess it is just natural that people that gravitate toward law have big egos. The self-esteem of many lawyers is fragile...
Easter
Posted on March 23, 2008I went to Mass early this morning and very much enjoyed it. It made me feel better, and that is good. I have not had the best couple of weeks. I cannot get any work completed because I have come to suspect most lawyers are not really working, or if they are their staffs are not working, or certainly their clients are not working...
Rockin' Saturday - And Then We Move To Disco - I Did Grow Up In The 70s After All
Posted on March 22, 2008The Beatles - Rock and Roll Music
Posted on March 22, 2008This is what I am listing to today. I like mid-century stuff and listen to the old crooners during the work week. But, on Saturday you sometimes just need to rock!
Failure To Launch
Posted on March 22, 2008I have been speaking on the phone lately to a few attorneys who simply do not like the place they are in, they want to change by going out on their own or moving their practices home, but they just have this inability to launch. I understand this because even in my own life I have often been pushed to the wall emotionally or financially before forcing myself to make the BIG decision...
Borders May Be Sold - And That Concerns Me How?
Posted on March 20, 2008I know I am not new to this story. But, HuffPo and most media outlets are reporting that Borders, the second largest book seller in the nation, may put itself up for sale, and that it is living now on borrowed time and money. (Who is not). I cannot remember when I was in a book store last...
But ... Exactly How Do You Network? What Do You Say? What Do You Do?
Posted on March 19, 2008I received a number of these questions of late. They go beyond or beneath the general answers to the question of how you market by networking, to exactly how do you market by networking? How do you make introductions? How should you approach someone? These readers are wanting to know not so much weather they should dive into the pool, but how to dive into the pool...
Grant Giffiths and Ben Stevens Should Be So Proud Of Charlie Rose
Posted on March 18, 2008According to TechCrunch, PBS personality Charlie Rose appeared on camera with a bandaged forehead and a black eye not because he made a pass at his best friends girl or because of a bar fight, but because he was trying to protect his new MacBook Air. Oh, it is a story that will make the Macaholics so proud...
10 Low Costs Ways To Market To Referral Sources
Posted on March 18, 2008Referral sources are everything in the Third Wave practice of law. Title companies and other call it steerage. The point is that the most cost effective way to obtain clients is to have people who can steer or refer cases and clients to you. Getting these sources is not as hard as you might think...
Do Not Use Stock Photos
Posted on March 18, 2008Not long ago my wife and I drove out to a Texas winery. We had visited the website for the winery and thought that this would be an interesting place to visit on a sunny Sunday afternoon. As we looked for the place while driving the back roads of rural Texas we had difficulty visually identifying the place and passed by it initially...
Need Help With Your Mac - Ask Rush Limbaugh
Posted on March 17, 2008According to The New York Times, Mac users who want to back up their e-mail archives have Rush Limbaugh to thank. This raises two very interesting points. First, contrary to the nuts-about-mac group, Macs do have problems, which they do not like to blabber on about...
The Flat Fee Is One Of The Culprits
Posted on March 15, 2008Parsley is most popularly used as a garnish and a breath freshener. That might well be the ultimate presentation of the Bankruptcy Court in In re William Allen Parsley handed down in the Southern District of Texas recently. (Review the decision in two parts by clicking here and here)...
Ave Maria School Of Law
Posted on March 14, 2008Maybe it is just because I try to be a good Catholic boy, but I very much like the concept of Ave Maria School of Law, and there is no reason why you should not give it serious consideration when trying to decide on which law schools to which you should apply...
What Is Wrong With You People?
Posted on March 14, 2008As reported on MyFox New York, Girl Scout cookie sales are down. This begs the question, what is going through your ever-lovin' minds people? I tend to blame this entire trend on Grant Griffiths who put down the thin mint cookie, which is just unpatriotic at best...
What Is Wrong With You People?
Posted on March 13, 2008As reported on MyFox New York, Girl Scout cookie sales are down. This begs the question, what is going through your ever-lovin' minds people? I tend to blame this entire trend on Grant Griffiths who put down the thin mint cookie, which is just unpatriotic at best...
It Is Checkers, Not Chess
Posted on March 12, 2008Too me anyway, checkers is a much easier board game than is chess. Although checkers requires some strategic thinking it is a quick game and does not require the advanced logical models and understanding of future moves that chess requires to be a good player...
Find The Empty Chair - Example, Election Lawyer
Posted on March 11, 2008Tom Kane at Legal Marketing Blog recently listed one of the secrets to small firm success is the establishment of a niche practice. Whether as part of a firm, on your own, and whether practicing in an office tower or a tree house, it is still be best way to market your practice...
What Is A Solo Practitioner?
Posted on March 10, 2008When I am asked "what should I call you", my typical response is "call me anything you want as long as you call me for lunch". I guess the this is pretty much the same answer I would give to Eric Turkewitz over at New York Personal Injury Law Blog concerning his question about who might be and who might not be a solo practitioner...
Bigger Is Better
Posted on March 10, 2008Do not tell that to the nanotechnology people. But, according to The Wall Street Journal, researchers at the University of Utah tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets while using different size monitors...
The Truth About Daylight Saving
Posted on March 09, 2008The rule is that in the Spring you spring forward. In the Fall you fall back. So, tonight we lose an hour of our precious time. It does not make a whole lot of sense to me, but then, like Jeff Foxworthy, I do not understand how Jello works. But, beneath all of the hype, here is the down and dirty truth about this crazy system: 1...
Niche Practice Idea - Auction Law
Posted on March 07, 2008I am telling you, if you want to find inspiration and want to discover what practice area or niche law practice that might just interest you and make your career, you just have to look around and ask questions. Explore the Internet some. Then find others that are doing what you want to do...
I Hate Paper! I Hate Files! Paper And Files Ruin Your Peace Of Mind. They Hamper Your Life. The Third Wave Is Here. It Is Time To Let Paper Go.
Posted on March 07, 2008Cheap Tech Marketing Solutions
Posted on March 06, 2008John Jantsch over at Duct Tape Marketing lists the following cheap tech and automation systems that can make a small practice sing from a marketing and solicitation standpoint: SwiftPage - email lead tracking and scoring that helps identify hot prospects Infusion Software - the best all in one solution for contacts, sales, orders and email marketing Vtrenz - automation for direct marketers Get Friday - outsourcing that is automated Wufoo - creates forms of all type on the fly GotVMail - automates phone messaging, extensions and message deliverability Jott - lets you post to Google Calender, post to blogs, Twitter...
What I Am Listening To Today - Louis Armstrong - Kiss To Build A Dream On - 1962
Posted on March 06, 2008Forget Multitasking, You Need To Be Multi-Asking
Posted on March 06, 2008I received an email from a reader a few weeks ago that suggested to succeed at the solo or Third Wave practice of law, in any of its forms, relies first and foremost on the ability to multitask. I have thought about it now for a while, and although I do not necessarily disagree that multitasking may or may not be a component of work in the solo or Third Wave practice of law, the ability to survive and thrive depends on the ability to MULTI-ASK...
I Hate Paper! I Hate Files! Paper And Files Ruin Your Peace Of Mind. They Hamper Your Life. The Third Wave Is Here. It Is Time To Let Paper Go.
Posted on March 06, 2008Poor Poor Bill
Posted on March 06, 2008I just do not know what is going to become of Bill Gates. He has fallen on such hard times. Try as he might, he has fallen to only the third richest man in the World. It is sad really. You try so hard. You put so much into your little start up. You gamble everything you and your family have, only to see it all wither down to a mere $58 billion...
You Feel What You Consume
Posted on March 05, 2008ABC News report on foods that can have a direct impact on your emotional state. Now all of us attorneys have to maintain a good frame of mind, and we need to be able to smile and enjoy life. So, a few of the devices that ABC recommends is salmon for its omega-3 fatty acids, milk for its calcium and amino acid tryptophan, Coffee for its aroma and caffine, dark chocolate for its poyphenols, and alcohol because it can dull your nervous system...
Music Video Banned Because Of Potential Medical Harm
Posted on March 05, 2008Have you ever heard of such a thing ... and, what a legal niche this might be. Apparently, the new Gnarls Barkley video of his new single "Run", below, has been banned from MTV because the clip fails the so-called "Harding Test". I guess, unlike this blog, TV represents push technology, which is a style of communication protocol, often associated with the Internet, where the request for a given transaction originates with the publisher -- in this case the TV station or cable outlet...
Poor Poor Bill
Posted on March 05, 2008I just do not know what is going to become of Bill Gates. He has fallen on such hard times. Try as he might, he has fallen to only the third richest man in the World. It is sad really. You try so hard. You put so much into your little start up. You gamble everything you and your family have, only to see it all wither down to a mere $58 billion...
Mac Gaudy
Posted on March 04, 2008I am not sure who I despise more. The people who design gaudy stuff (because they think it is artful) or the self-centered people who pay outrageous sums for this crap. Well, thanks to the wonderful people at Bling My Thing the Mac-niacs can now be chic...
Law Schools Of The Mid-Atlantic
Posted on March 03, 2008There is probably no higher than concentration in law school than the Mid-Atlantic region of our Country. That is the East Coast essentially. So, these are the law schools of the Mid-Atlantic: Delaware Widener University School of Law, Wilmington 4601 Concord Pike, Wilmington 19803-0474, Phone: 302-477-2100 Pennsylvania Dickinson School of Law, Carlisle 150 South College Street, Carlisle 17013-0043, Phone: (717) 240-5000 Drexel University College of Law, Philadelphia 3320 Market Street, Philadelphia 19104, Phone: (215) 571...
What Is Your Too Much Crap Tipping Point?
Posted on March 03, 2008David Allen , the expert on personal and organizational productivity, in a recent post asked, "What's Your Standard for 'Stuff'"? Mr. Allen is a lot nicer than I am. I call it "crap". Comedian and word smith, George Carlin, defines the difference by looking at it from each side's perspective...
A Little Snooze - Another Reason To Work At Home
Posted on March 03, 2008If you work at home you might get enough sleep by avoiding the commute in the morning, which would let you avoid taking a nap. But, it is nice to know that your favorite bed and pillow is just a carpet commute away. HuffPo reports that American workers are desperately short on sleep...
The Itch To Niche
Posted on March 02, 2008Well, it rhymes in my part of the country where we pronounce it as nich. Some how, and I am not sure as exactly why this is true, law school or our legal education just does not seem to expose you to the wide variety of law that might allow you to satisfy this itch...
Forget These Diet Devices
Posted on March 01, 2008Good Lord, one thing with a home office or Third Wave practice is that you might not get as much exercise. You need to make sure you do. And, when you can go rumble through the frig at will, you might want to be careful about what you consume...
Good Ol' Murphy Beds
Posted on February 29, 2008The truth of the matter is that I hear a lot of excuses for not working at home. Some are better than others, but the one that I hear often is that there is no room. Well, how much room do you think you need? Do you have an extra bedroom? The response is often yes, but that is a guest room...
Having Trouble Getting Up In The Mornings
Posted on February 28, 2008Well if you tend to ignore your opportunity clock ringing in the morning (some people call it an alarm clock), and you just like to roll over and hit the snooze button repeatedly, then maybe you need a water gun alarm clock.
What In Hades Are We Allowing The Patent Office To Do?
Posted on February 28, 2008EBay purchased the patents that MercExchange had accused Ebay of infringing. So, what did EBay infringe upon that cost it a $30 million judgment? Software? No. An unusual product? No. It was the bold and highly unusual, really revolutionary, idea (reach concept) that you can purchase a product online for one, fixed, predetermined, exact, advertised price...
How To Find Money To Borrow For Your Practice
Posted on February 28, 2008It is I guess against my better judgment to blog about borrow money to run your practice. I think one of the main benefits of the Third Wave practice, and especially working from home, is that you can get your overhead down and your upfront costs low enough that you do not need to borrow money...
The Basic Home Office Lawyer Starter Kit
Posted on February 28, 2008When I say this picture in an ad for McGraw-Hill Companies, I thought what more does a home office lawyer really need?
The "Rootenest, Tootenest, Shootenest, Meanest Ombre This Side Of The Pacos", And Other Basic Intellectual Property Law Issues Of Which You Need To Be Aware
Posted on February 28, 2008It is common, I think, for people, including lawyers (after all, we are people too), to think about concepts like intellectual property law in the abstract, and they fail to see how these laws impact them in their daily lives. When you think about it, your blog, your letterhead, the polo shirt you wear with your office logo, the broadcast email, the fax you send out, your business cards, the way you and your staff answer the phone, and some of the words that come out of your mouth all involve intellectual property law...
Law Schools Of The Southwest
Posted on February 28, 2008Oh, the Great Southwest -- Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. It is now one of the fastest growing areas of the country in terms of population, which means that law school positions are probably not keeping up. A drier climate than most states in the Union, it is rich in Mexican-American and Native-American culture...
How To Save Money And Make Your Bathroom Eco=Friendly
Posted on February 27, 2008You know if you have a home, an office, or especially a home office, there is nothing better that you can do than to begin to make you office and office eco-friendly. This can start with your bathroom, which is one of the biggest eco-unfriendly places in the World...
Doggone Recall!
Posted on February 27, 2008Maybe it can be said, and maybe everybody should be reminded, about what they post online, no matter what the intent, can come back to hurt you. You need to keep in mind that blogging is essentially email to the World. If you do not wish the entire World to potentially see something, then you might need to share it with a much smaller potential audience, such as as an email attachment (although there is no guarantee that someone else will not post it online)...
Who Woulda Thunk It
Posted on February 27, 2008Pictured is lawyer Stephen A. Kennedy holding a "base plug" the intent of which is to fill the holdes left behind when bases are removed from baseball diamonds. Not only would I have never thought of such a thing, but Anchor Sports I, Inc...
I Would Say I Am A Clutter Butt, But I Am Not
Posted on February 26, 2008I do not know, maybe Peter Walsh is on to something with his new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? Well, does it? Peter Walsh is the organizational mastermind behind Peter Walsh Design, and he says that if you clean up the clutter in your home, your office (your home office), then you will trim down...
Just Start Your Own Networking Group
Posted on February 26, 2008The Austin Business Journal reports that after 18 years in Austin, Texas, career coach, author and president of Career Strategists, Renée Trudeau, could not find a group that met her need to connect with women entrepreneurs who where "as passionate about their businesses as their babies", so she started her own...
Example Of Targeted Direct Mail To Your Referral Sources
Posted on February 24, 2008I receive email arguing with me about the use of targeted direct mail (TDM) to my referral sources, and also wanting to know exactly what it is I mail out. First as to the argument, TDM in my case goes to my referral sources or my potential referral sources...
The Peace Sign
Posted on February 21, 2008For all of the change that has taken place in the World, we seem to be in the same place we have always been. This month I turned 50. The peace sign turned 50 as well. I was born seeking peace and with the exception of some of the Clinton years we are still fighting unpopular wars...
Billy Price And His New G2 Web Media Site
Posted on February 21, 2008As I have always stated, blogging is a necessary tool to any solo practitioner. And, there is no easier way to incorporate a blog than by starting with blog software. The reason is that blogging allows you to organically increase your presence on the web but, more importantly, it allows you to build a wealth of content that your clients (and perspective clients) need and appreciate...
Cooperation
Posted on February 21, 2008Ernie The Attorney posts about the reluctance of adversaries to cooperate to solve a problem. I have posted many time about what I have not too kindly called the asshole effect the pervades too many practices -- especially litigation practices. I know this is a term that might be a little too indelicate for Ernie, who is a gentleman, but it stems from the bestselling book Bob Sutton's bestselling book, the No Asshole Rule: Building A Civilized Workplace And Surviving One That Isn't...
An Idea For Thinking Inside The Box
Posted on February 20, 2008I just posted again about using shipping containers as office space. From the web here is one person's perception of how two shipping containers can be easily stacked and used as a living arrangement. However, this would make for a swanky work and relaxation area as well...
Thinking Inside The Box
Posted on February 20, 2008I have posted about alternatives for office space before, and I have posted about the possibility of using shipping containers to construct a law office. A great example of this idea is the Office Cabin concept by Containex. The company simply take a shipping container, or a combination of them, cuts out holes for windows, and a door, finish it out inside, and ship it to you on a truck to where you need it...
Example Of A Broadcast Email
Posted on February 19, 2008I have received a few emails from readers that want to know exactly what I send out to stay "top of the mind" with my referral sources using Constant Contact. Well, it is not much. The point is that it does not have to be that much. It does the job as it is of keeping those people and organization (and in my case law firms) that can and do refer me business up to date on what we are doing and can do for them...
Jackass!
Posted on February 19, 2008Tim Gunn, the creative director for Liz Claiborne, star Bravo's "Project Runway" and host of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" stopped by Conan to offer some fashion criticism about Hillary Clinton. In a recent Newsweek he broached the subject, suggesting Senator Clinton could learn from Nancy Pelosi's dress sense, which is fine to say...
Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot ... ?
Posted on February 19, 2008We are now into the new year and we are forced to face the question raised by the old Scottish poet Robert Burns, as popularized big band leader by Guy Lombardo. As translated from the original Scots verse, "Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind"? The answer of course is no but, the truth of the matter is that often times unintended, we are just bad about keeping up with people...
Poser
Posted on February 18, 2008This is the problem that I posted about earlier. Obama borrowing liberally from other speakers is not plagiarism, as the pundits want to describe it. That is putting it in a legal context. It does mean that Obama is a poser of some renown. The question now is how big a renown? Obama is a completely scripted candidate...
Law Schools Of The Deep South
Posted on February 17, 2008The "deep south" is often defined a number of different way and to include a number of different states, but generally most believe it to refer to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Caroline. To those who wish to stay in this region to go to law school, you will have carve out the schools of Florida and Texas...
Eugene Dupuch Law School
Posted on February 17, 2008The Eugene Dupuch Law School maybe fun or different for the American student. It is not ABA approved, but is located in Nassau, Bahamas. Just as with the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, and others, the law school offers both a 2 year program to new law students wanting to practice in one of the Caribbean nations, or a 6 month program for those who graduate from approved legal institutes around the World that want to be licensed to practice law in the Caribbean...
You Are A Lawyer - You Haggle
Posted on February 17, 2008I think that Rick Georges at Future Lawer is right that lawyers should not feel bad about haggling over money. Most of us somehow grow up thinking professionals do not quibble over prices and services. After all, we are in the service business and we do not like it...
The Trammps-Disco Inferno
Posted on February 16, 2008We are leaving mid-century crooners behind this weekend and we are all disco today and the Worldwide Home Office.
Want To Make A Living, Stop Pussyfooting Around And Tell People Straight Up What You Can Do For Them!
Posted on February 16, 2008I will not mention names, but I was communicating with a young lawyer about the sorry state of his practice. I seem to get a lot of this as if I am the guru of non-profitable law practices. I guess I do not mind because everybody needs a sounding board sometimes to allow them to just think through the problems and solutions...
Home Office And Third Wave Attorneys Can Have A Political Point Of View
Posted on February 14, 2008I get much grief and praise for taking a political position now and then in a blog about the Third Wave practice of law. But, law and politics when you think about it are inextricably bound. In fact, the promises on the campaign trail (or lack thereof) probably effect the practice of law, and hence lawyers, more than anything or anybody else...
Law Schools Of Minnesota
Posted on February 14, 2008Minnesota is an interesting state from a law school perspective. It has four ABA approved law school. One is public and three are private. All of them are in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area, which makes this one of the largest number of law schools and law school seats per the population...
Indiana Jones - May 22, 2008
Posted on February 14, 2008One small benefit I have in working from home is that I can sneak out to the cheap, early features of movies that I want to see, and still be back to get work done in the afternoon. Come May 22, 2008, the girlfriend and I will be sneaking out to see the new Indiana Jones movie...
The Law Schools Of Pennsylvania
Posted on February 13, 2008Pennsylvania is rich in history and is a diverse place. The state also have a number of very good law schools at which to attend. Some like Drexel are relatively new, but Drexel University is not knew. Drexel excels at creating graduate programs based on extensive practical training...
Sanity After You Lose Your Law Job
Posted on February 13, 2008I use to run into an attorney named Buddy Britt in court in East Texas. Buddy was a good 'ol boy. He was a friend of my father's when I was growing up. I remember him representing me in a speeding ticket during my speed demon teenage days. Buddy was a master at East Tex understatement...
The Law Schools Of Michigan
Posted on February 13, 2008Michigan has a number of different and unusual law schools. Detroit Mercy is one of the most innovative in the range of teaching, creating joint degrees to allow you to actually practice law in Canada and Mexico. Thomas M. Cooley is an affordable community law school now located in several different towns...
Walking Through A Green Home
Posted on February 13, 2008Green is the future. A well designed, green home can be a well designed home office as well. Here is an example.
Do You Know Home Office Lawyers That Have Failed?
Posted on February 13, 2008It is a very interesting question that was asked of me, and the answer is yes. I have know great successes, great failures, and a lot of in betwees. We have to face it that people fail in all walks of life. To suggest that someone is immune from failure because they move their office home just would not be true...
History In The Making!!!!!!
Posted on February 13, 2008Okay! Okay! It might not be the same as the first woman or the first African-American winning the presidency of the United States, but it is pretty darn close. UNO THE BEAGLE WINS BEST IN SHOW at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Uno became the first beagle in history to win best in show, as a sold out crowd in Madison Square Garden jumped to their feet when Uno was chosen...
Facebookable
Posted on February 12, 2008There is a new word in the English lexicon and in the Urban Dictionary. It is "facebookable", and it stands for content that is considered appropriate enough to be viewed by the general public of the Facebook community, such as your friends, family, coworkers, and employers without having to worry about explaining a sketchy situation...
Scalia Says Government Can Smack A Suspect In The Face
Posted on February 12, 2008Justice Scalia is a very bright guy, but here is the proposition that we see in the law way too much. You take an outrageous position and then in a low mellow tone act like it is everybody else that is out of whack. We have to put up with it everyday in court where some attorney walks in and tries to argue that it is night when the Court is obviously being conducted during the day...
How About A kitHAUS Office?
Posted on February 12, 2008You either want your own office away from the home, or you need additional space at your home for an office. You might want to try prefab. One example is the kitHAUS, as the company is called. The produce a series of small prefab units or pods that can be decked out as a house of office either individually, or you can combine them into a larger unit or office...
The Law Schools Of Illinois
Posted on February 12, 2008The State of Illinois is generally a fruitful place for obtaining a legal education. Six of the State's nine law schools are located directly in Chicago. The law schools are: DePaul University's College of Law, Chicago 25 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago 60604, Phone: (312) 362-8701 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago 565 West Adams Street, Chicago 60661-3691, Phone: (312) 906-5000 John Marshall Law School, Chicago 315 S...
Law School GPA-LSAT Grid
Posted on February 11, 2008Wondering where you can get into law school with your particular GPA and LSAT? AdmissionsYNC.Com recently provided this grid.
No Mo' Money For Lawyers
Posted on February 11, 2008CareerBuilder.Com has released America's 20 Fastest-Growing Salaries, and guess what? Except for #20, Law Clerks at a growth rate of 4.4% and an average salary of $42,754, lawyers are not anywhere on the list. Well anyway, not real practicing lawyers...
New Law School Building At Florida A&M University
Posted on February 11, 2008Florida A&M University College of Law is one of the newest ABA approved law schools in Florida. They have built an amazing building in downtown Orlando to house the law school. Their architects posted this video of the new facility on YouTube. But, what continually amazes me is the staidness of most law school websites...
"I Love You" In 101 Languages
Posted on February 11, 2008I found this on the blog Pig Latin. As Valentine's Day approaches I thought the romantic in all of you would want to know how to say "I love you" in 101 different languages. In East Texan you just say, "Hey!" English - I love you Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief Albanian - Te dua Arabic - Ana behibak (to male) Arabic - Ana behibek (to female) Armenian - Yes kez sirumen Bambara - M'bi fe Bangla - Aamee tuma ke bhalo aashi Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo Bulgarian - Obicham te Cambodian -...
Home Wind Energy
Posted on February 11, 2008One of my regrets about living in a master planned community, even one as nice as The Woodlands, is the difficulty of going green. Part of being independent and working at home (reducing expenses and costs) is to become more energy independent. It is the Third Wave way...
The Third Wave Manifesto On Election Reform
Posted on February 11, 2008It occurs to me that back in 2000 and 2001 everybody, especially the Democrats, were talking about election reform because we ended up with a President that simply was not elected by anybody other than Antonin Scalia. And, there was some money appropriated, and there were some machines bought and argued over, and all the while both the Democrats and the Republicans are sitting on a dilapidated system of caucuses and vote counting that makes Florida (and now includes Florida) look sane...
Detroit Mercy School Of Law - The First North American Law School?
Posted on February 10, 2008I have posted about the University of Detroit / Mercy School of Law before. (You can click here to read that post). Mercy Law continues to challenge the way law is both taught and is packaged in truly amazing ways. It gears its education toward developing practice ready graduates...
Today Is My Anniversary
Posted on February 10, 2008Today, I celebrate, however modestly, the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday. Yep, I am the big 5-0. I am not sure how I got here so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I graduated from law school and was rocking my oldest daughter so she would quit crying long enough so that her mother and I could study for the bar exam...
Finally, A Truthful Law School Personal Statement
Posted on February 10, 2008I take it that this person does not intend to work out of his home.
Are You Related To A President?
Posted on February 10, 2008Okay, this might be a tad cheeky or crass, but what kind of marketing advantage would you have if you were related to one or more of the 43 Presidents of the United States? What kind of cachet does that information buy you? I do not care if it is Millard Filmore or James Garfield...
Are You A Small Scale Clinton, Obama Or McCain?
Posted on February 10, 2008If your response is "Yuk, no" then you are likely not succeeding. Last year Chris Matthews wrote a book called Life's a Campaign. I am not sure it did very well and I recall it receiving a lot of criticism from people like Jon Stewart, which prompted Matthews to complain that his book interview on The Daily Show was "the worst interview I've ever had in my life!" Jon Stewart called it a "self-hurt book" and told Matthews that "I'm not trashing your book, I'm trashing your philosophy of life"...
Another Reason To Go Paperless - Less Painful
Posted on February 09, 2008Experts offer theories as to why such little paper cuts can hurt so much , apart from the fact that we are all big sissies. Do not get me wrong, I still get a paper cut from time to time. Most often I get one while feeding paper through my scanner. Damn lawyers and clients who will not give up paper! The medical mystery after all of these years is that doctors and scientist do not seem to know why the microscopic cuts hurt so much...
Rejected!
Posted on February 09, 2008Snap!! Oh no they di-ent! Yahoo! rejects Microsoft's $44.6 billion takeover bid, stating that it undervalues the company. The question now is whether or not Microsoft will go over the heads of Yahoo's management, and take its $31 per share offer directly to the shareholders...
Need A Free Or Cheaper Legal Education?
Posted on February 08, 2008Do not get me wrong, the tuition charged by law schools is very important, but you also have to take into account the costs of your legal education. Some law schools perform better than others in the area of scholarships. The king is Liberty University School of Law...
The Client Is Not Always Right
Posted on February 08, 2008Susan Cartier Liebel at Build a Solo Practice had a good question from a reader who wanted to get rid of a pro bono client who was out of control, and she had some good advice. I guess none of us really wants to be a Donald Trump and say "you're fired" to our clients but, apart from Trump's bad hairdo, I am not sure why this is so...
All Of The Florida Law Schools
Posted on February 07, 2008If you are trying to decide where to spend the next 3 to 5 years of your life while in law school and studying for the bar exam, maybe Florida would not be a bad choice. In the 80s there were such a shortage of law schools and positions in Florida that even their own in-state students had a rough time getting in law school and staying in-state...
Maybe Republican Colorado State Legislators Are Sluts
Posted on February 07, 2008You know, I consider myself a fairly moral person. I often fail in this regard, but I try to do the right things. I go to Mass often. I pray. I try to be a good example. I guess we all fight our demons. I do not approve necessarily of young love and lust...
A Home Office
Posted on February 07, 2008This gentleman is not a lawyer and the video is kind of basic, but I think it is an important look into somebody's personal life that demonstrates that a home office does not have to be centrally located in the house or geographically, does not have to be overly decorated, complicated or expensive...
Solo By Choice - What Business Entity Do You Choose
Posted on February 07, 2008I have covered Carolyn Elefant's book Solo by Choice a few times previously. (You can read these review by clicking here, here, and here). I call the book a road map really of the decision that must be made and the thought process that you must go through before taking the leap into th