Practice Management

(Video) 4 Ways To Fix Our Broken Legal System

Posted on February 22, 2010
The land of the free has become a legal minefield, says Philip K. Howard -- especially for teachers and doctors, whose work has been paralyzed by fear of suits. What's the answer? A lawyer himself, Howard has four propositions for simplifying US law. What do you think?

School, Debt, Governors And The Cultural Attack To Soak Our Students

Posted on February 22, 2010
There are any number of concerning stories of late abouta college education and debt. It makes you wonder about our priorities. I know Fox News believe that a college education make you liberal and dumbs you down, but still does this justify the attack on our children posed by rising debt and tuition? The Huffington Post has started a series entitled "Majoring In Debt" in which students hold up signs of how much debt they owe, and report their personal stories...

The Bloom Box

Posted on February 22, 2010
I have often thought electricity and the grid is the last tether for law practices and prosumers, not to mention that electric companies and the system they used are just infuriating. Like the Internet and applications it was thought in the 50s that electricity would become too cheap to meter...

In Reality All Legal Services Are Unbundled

Posted on February 21, 2010
Recently, I filed an adversary proceeding relate to a creditor violating the automatic stay issued in a bankruptcy. It was a relatively small claim, which might have cost the creditor a few thousand of dollars to resolve. The reason the lawsuit was filed was because the creditor (debt buyer) would not stop sending billing statements to the bankruptcy debtor despite the fact the bankruptcy attorney had called the creditor and reminded them to stop, and sent two demands by fax informing the creditor of the violations and asking the creditor to stop free of litigation...

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Florida International University College Of Law

Posted on February 13, 2010
It seems that in everything I read about Florida International University College of Law the one point that seems to be first made is that it is ranked a 4th tier law school by U.S News. But, I think who cares? The law school has three things that you need if you want to practice law, and rankings really only serve branding and are not an indicator of success in the legal profession...

(Video) Leadership Lessons From The Shirtless Dancing Guy

Posted on February 13, 2010
Strange video about the quality of leadership as illustrated by a shirtless dancing guy. Pretty fund and interesting all at the same time.

Short Course In Making Social Media Work For You

Posted on February 11, 2010
The Real Estate Marking SEO Blog always has some interesting posts. One is How To Dominate Social Media In Three And Half Minutes. I am not sure you can actually dominate social media, period, but I think the point of the post is to give you a down and dirty review, in bullet point form, of what you need to do, and that is good practice...

Agility

Posted on February 07, 2010
And no, I am not talking about a stat in the World of Warcraft, and I am not talking about the grandmaster pimp daddy of cheese and all things cheddary. I am talking about the power of moving quickly and easily. The act of being nimble. A kind of practice dexterity...

Shareholders' And Union Workers' Political Rights Law Niche

Posted on February 05, 2010
There is no secret that one of my favorite blogs to follow is Tom Kane's Legal Marketing Blog. His ideas and theories are concise, insightful and relevant. One thing that he makes clear, as with all great precedent changing court decisions, those "activist judges" tend to create new and dynamic niche practice areas for lawyers...

You Need To Be A Socialist!

Posted on February 05, 2010
Hold on Tea Party people! I am just pulling your chain. In explaining, however, do not expect me to show you my birth certificate. Socialism, in the broadest sense of the word, is a theory or system of social organization. At its root is the term social, which is the act of involvement in many social activities, a devotion to friendly companionship, and pertaining to human society...

Text-Hole

Posted on February 05, 2010
What is it with people and texting? Sure, I think it is neat and terribly convenient. It is nice at helping me stay top of my game in the practice of law. The new phones are great. But, come on! We do not all have to be text-holes. You know what a text-hole is...

Massachusetts Gets Its First Public Law School

Posted on February 05, 2010
Potential law students in Massachusetts now have a public option and, no, it is not healthcare. A state rich in expensive private law schools will now have its first public law school. The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education has approved a plan by UMass Dartmouth to acquire the private Southern New England School of Law, which is donating its campus and assets to the state...

Susan Cartier Liebel On What Is Holding You Back On Going Solo

Posted on January 31, 2010
Susan is the founder of Solo Practice University, and a great resource in a lawyer's quest to go solo. When she was selected as one of the ABA Journal's Legal Rebels, she discussed the objections some lawyers and law students have to going out on their own...

Louis Armstrong - Mack the Knife - In the Worldwide Home Office

Posted on January 30, 2010
Working this weekend. Big week next week trial wise. To help me through it, the worldwide home office is playing some Louis Armstrong.

Meet The OfficePOD

Posted on January 21, 2010
Commuting away from home to an office is a pain. A carpet commute is a joy. The problem with a carpet commute is that sometimes attorneys and staff do not feel they have the space at or near home in which to work. Often they do not feel they have a quality small space that is designed as a professional office that is away from all of the hub bub of the home...

An iPhone App To Take On BarBri

Posted on January 18, 2010
Are we starting to see a crack and maybe the eventually crumbling of BarBri in terms of bar preparation? I hope so. I thought it was too expensive when I took the bar exam in the 80s and I especially think it is too expensive now. We pay the ransom and go broke because we all feel we need some organized assistance in getting ready for the hardest test we will every take, but like sub-prime lenders, prescription drug companies, or vulture funds, BarBri seems a little too eager to take advantage of our fears...

What Kills Most Small Businesses Kills Most Law Practices

Posted on January 17, 2010
There is a problem with this view by attorneys that the practice of law is not a business. It is a profession. We are professionals. That we are, but it is also a business. When that aspect is denied a lawyer does so believing the profession is not subject to the same business pressures with which most small businesses must endure...

The World's Shortest eBook

Posted on January 15, 2010
Oh, brevity! It was not a talent with which I was blessed. I do still appreciate it, and it is a good trait for management consultants. Get to the crux of the matter or problem and get to it quickly. Michael McLaughlin of the blog Beating Feast of Famine has The World's Shortest eBook: 34 Sources of Client Value available on his site...

Protecting The Institute Of Marriage One Divorce At A Time

Posted on January 12, 2010
Most of us, as lawyers, have a secular self and a religious self, and too often it makes us appear hypocritical as we try to reconcile our legal duties with our personal beliefs. It is not always easy. But, the moral aspects of marriage as a sacrament that needs to be protected by the state has always seemed contradictory to me as a lawyer, given that our obligation its to divorce those religious obligations...

DIY Lawyers

Posted on January 12, 2010
I sometimes like to toot my own horn, like at the first of the year when I posted the 10 trends that lawyers need to follow concerning the practice of law. There, I stated one area of growing interest will be unbundled legal services. I am not wrong. At the same time as I was posting these trends John T...

Bill Maher Says Leave Your Loveless, Abusive Relationship With Your Big Bank

Posted on January 12, 2010
Love him or hate him, Bill Maher says that moving your money from the Big Banks to a community bank or credit union "is not a conservative idea or a liberal idea. It's not left or right. It's populism at its best." So, go to MoveYourMoney.Info and figure out how.

A Niche Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Posted on January 10, 2010
Yet, many lawyers do. They do not believe in their niche, or they are just scared they might not make enough money, or they just get mesmerized by some cash that might be available by agreeing to do something else. I know it does not help that the economy is not doing so well but, just like starting out, the reasons for niching and not varying too much are the same...

Fewer Black And Mexican-American Lawyers

Posted on January 09, 2010
Glenn Beck has admitted that he does not have "a lot of African-American friends", and recently stated that the term African-American is a "bogus, PC, made-up term ... that is not a race." Regardless, diversity in law school and, hence, diversity in the practice of law is so very important...

Would You Live In A Blob?

Posted on January 09, 2010
I do not know about this. It seems interesting, but the Blob reminds me of the egg from the old sitcom Mork & Mindy. Maybe the Blob is a little bit bigger. But, if you are looking for an attention getting design that might house your small one person law office, maybe something like this is just the ticket...

North Carolina Central University School of Law

Posted on January 03, 2010
Located in Durham, North Carolina, this is one law school you need to consider attending. It is located in the ever-expanding Research Triangle Park, close to Duke University. The First thing you need to know about North Carolina Central University School of Law is probably more important than any other ranking a law school might have for prospective students...

Law Schools Are Like Junior High Students

Posted on December 31, 2009
Sometimes law schools these days remind me of junior high school students. The want to dress like everyone else, act like everyone else, be seen with all of the other cool kids, be accepted, and spend a whole lot of their parents money doing it they do not need to be doing...

Home Office Tech Should Be Easy Or Trashed

Posted on December 30, 2009
As most everyone knows I work from home and I work in collaboration with other attorneys online. I do not have any staff much less an IT person. And, I am not a techie myself. So, how do I survive? First and foremost all I do and all I have ever done as a home office attorney is look for cheap and easy, and often online, solutions to my needs...

Move Your Money

Posted on December 30, 2009
It is not secret that Big Banks are one of the main causes for the fall of our economic system, which has affected so many, including attorneys. Then they had to be bailed out, while so many smaller banks are being allowed to fail. The Big Banks are now paying their executives obscene bonuses made possible by the government's help, either directly or indirectly...

10 Trends Lawyers Need To Follow In The New Decade

Posted on December 30, 2009
I am not a futurist and I do not have a crystal ball, but here are some of the changes I see in the next decade, of which attorneys need to be tuned into if they wish to thrive. 1. Death to the desktop. In fact, probably death to the computer as we know it...

Higher Education Is Mortgaging The Future Of Our Children And The Price Is Too High

Posted on December 29, 2009
I know there are those that proclaim that a private education is fiscally more promising than a public one, but the statistics would not indicate this is true. The war is not necessarily one for or against public options as it is a war by our education systems against those they actually represent, with private institutions acting out a little worse...

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