Solo Practice

EU Data Protection Rules Online

Posted on March 01, 2008
Legal Technology Insider reports that e-discovery and litigation support specialist Trilantic has posted the data protection rules for each EU member country.  Find out more here.

Microsoft Cuts Price of Vista

Posted on March 01, 2008
Microsoft is slashing the price on new boxes of Vista by 20 to 48%.  FutureLawyer asks if this is too little, too late and recommends waiting for Microsoft to get it right before upgrading to Vista.

Interview with PSS Systems President & CEO Deidre Paknad

Posted on February 20, 2008
PSS Systems makes Atlas, a powerful piece of EDD software. The following is an interview I recently conducted by e-mail with PSS Systems President and CEO Deidre Paknad. 1. How does PSS Systems’ Atlas software differ from other EDD software? Does Atlas provide its users with greater efficiency than competing software? One of the [...

Plain Communication

Posted on February 19, 2008
Sometimes legalese is necessary. For example, a lawyer may want to incorporate language used in case law or statutes. More often than not, however, lawyers go too far and write documents that are virtually unintelligible. I’ve been reading Steven D...

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Free Research Tools

Posted on February 15, 2008
Legal research on the internet has virtually replaced trips to the law library (or the costs of starting a law library at your firm), but it’s still costly. Above the Law posted links to a few free legal research sites that might come in handy...

50 Ways to Finish Tasks Faster

Posted on February 15, 2008
Lifehack.org has a great list of 50 tricks to get things done faster, better and more easily. My favorite: structured procrastination.

YouTube for Lawyers

Posted on February 15, 2008
Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites featured a post on Martindale-Hubbell’s latest offering: law firm videos. Sounds great, but there’s a catch. Ambrogi notes: It appears from the announcement that law firms opting for videos must use Martindale’s “video solutions” provider, a company by the name of TurnHere Inc...

How Not to Blawg

Posted on February 13, 2008
Kevin O’Keefe of Real Lawyers Have Blogs analyzed Winston & Strawn’s Maritime Environmental Crimes “blog” and determined that it was not, in fact, a blog. O’Keefe notes that Winston & Strawn’s effort is essentially nothing more than periodically updated static pages with no comments, RSS feed or other standard blog components...

Keep Marketing in Down Markets

Posted on February 13, 2008
Bruce Alan of Marketing Catalyst argues that in a down market the best strategy is to bolster your marketing.  Most firms will cut their marketing budgets during a recession or an economic downturn and this gives you the opportunity to stand out and attract more clients.

5 Rainmaking Skills

Posted on February 13, 2008
Julie Fleming-Brown of Life at the Bar says rainmakers are made, not born.  She then lists the five skills lawyers learn to become rainmakers.

Israel a Destination for Legal Outsourcing

Posted on February 13, 2008
Legal Process Outsourcing reports that Israel may develop into a lucrative destination for legal offshoring.  While there are geopolitical stability and other problems, LPO notes that at least one American company, PowerLegal, has successfully outsourced discovery and document review to Israel.

Small Firms in a Global Market

Posted on February 12, 2008
I recently wrote a post on opportunities for solos and small firms in China. Paramjit Mahli of Sun Communications Group notes that while emerging technologies have made it easier to develop a global client base, there are certain skills that lawyers must possess to be effective in the global marketplace.

Stay in Contact the Easy Way

Posted on February 11, 2008
A couple days ago, I discussed how using snail mail provides a competitive advantage. I just came across another low-tech, cost-effective method to keep in contact with clients from Allison Shields of Legal Ease. Shields suggests you write clients a short note to stay in touch...

An Example of Going Viral

Posted on February 10, 2008
Just after writing a post on Patrick Lamb’s contemplation of viral marketing and law firms, I came across an interesting example of something going viral.   Dane Carlson writes a business opportunities blog…not the same as legal services, but not exactly the iPhone either...

How to Prepare to Pitch a Prospective Client

Posted on February 10, 2008
Larry Bodine provides the highlights of Stacy West Clark’s Law.com article on preparing for a pitch meeting with a prospective client. If you don’t have time to check out the full article, this is a nice overview of some useful information.

Viral Marketing for Law Firms?

Posted on February 10, 2008
Patrick Lamb wonders why no legal websites have gone viral. Why is it that lawyers, who are supposed to be skilled communicators, have failed to make presentations as compelling as Steve Jobs’ introduction of the iPhone?   At first blush, the answer is simple...

Unethical to Bill by the Hour

Posted on February 10, 2008
Consultant and author Alan Weiss of ContrarianConsulting.com says billing by the hour is unethical because it places our interests at odds with those of the client. Weiss argues that clients should be charged based on outcomes rather than time:   “Our time isn?t valuable...

Fear Keeps Lawyers from Using Home Offices

Posted on February 10, 2008
Chuck Newton contends that fear keeps many lawyers from moving their offices home. While practicing from a home office may have been significantly more difficult in former years, technology has made this a very feasible proposition.   Newton argues that paying for an office outside the home is not in attorneys’ financial best interest...

Pump Up Your Word of Mouth by Focusing on the Last Interaction

Posted on February 10, 2008
Michelle Golden of Golden Practices says if you want to get great word of mouth for your firm, you need to focus on your last interaction with clients. Commenting on Seth Godin’s post on the last interaction, she notes: The last interaction, in my experience, is responsible for virtually all of the word of mouth [...

Competitive Analysis of Other Blawgs

Posted on February 09, 2008
DIYBlawgs recently featured a post on how to do a competitive analysis of another blawg.  It’s a pretty straightforward process and requires no technical expertise.  You might want to try it out to see where you stand in the legal blogosphere. If you don’t stack up against the competition as much as you would like, check [...

Passionate About Marketing

Posted on February 09, 2008
Peter Darling revealed General Patton’s marketing secret yesterday: “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”  Darling discusses a post written by Pamela Slim of Escape from Cubicle Nation where Slim urges entrepreneurs to find marketing techniques that they enjoy performing and are passionate about...

Snail Mail Provides a Competitive Advantage

Posted on February 09, 2008
With all this talk of marketing legal services online, it’s easy to forget about other avenues of communication.  David Ward of AttorneyMarketing.com argues that direct mail can give lawyers a competitive advantage.  Ward notes that physical mailboxes are emptier than they’ve been in years because so much marketing has moved online or to other media...

China?s New Laws Create Opportunities for International Lawyers

Posted on February 08, 2008
New Chinese laws have created opportunities for international lawyers focusing on China. Dan Harris of the China Law Blog noted five new laws that will significantly change how business is conducted in China. Here’s a list of the legal areas discussed: 1...

Software as a Service Makes Virtual Law Offices Easier to Start

Posted on February 08, 2008
The application of emerging technology to the legal profession offers more opportunities than ever before.  I’ve become fascinated with the concept of virtual law offices and have written posts on the topic here and here.  Susan Cartier Liebel recently posted a guest blog on Build a Solo Practice, LLC written by virtual solo Stephanie Kimbro...

No Need to Fear E-Discovery, Litigation Support Software

Posted on February 05, 2008
Legal technology is advancing with lightning speed and is changing the way law is practiced. Although legal technology such as e-discovery and litigation support software can make practicing law easier when properly used, it is often the source of frustration...

Staying Committed to Your Marketing Plan

Posted on February 03, 2008
Marketing can be a frustrating, even depressing, endeavor. In a world of instant global communication, it seems reasonable enough that even the slightest marketing effort would bring instant results. Although technology has changed the way we communicate with prospective clients, it has not altered fundamental marketing truths...

Your Clients Don?t Care About You

Posted on February 01, 2008
This may come as a surprise, but your clients don’t care about you. Go to any respectable law firm’s website and you’ll find an extensive “About Our Firm” page and maybe even an “Our History” page. Why wouldn’t clients want to know about your firm’s accomplishments and storied past? After all, a firm’s experience [...

Marketing Begins with Your ?Product? - PART FOUR: Pricing Analysis

Posted on February 01, 2008
We’ve discussed identifying problems, providing solutions and packaging legal services in the first three parts of this series. In Part Four, I’ll discuss pricing analysis and how this affects inbound marketing. When it comes to pricing, there are two techniques that are imprecise, but widespread...

Midsize Firms Grew in 2007 - Were there better options?

Posted on January 29, 2008
Law.com reports that midsize firms in Pennsylvania saw significant increases in revenue, staffing and clientele. Much of this growth can be attributed to those firms raising their rates. Managing partner Kevin McKeegan also pointed to increasingly ambitious asking prices as a major source of new income...

Do You Have a Legal Podcast?

Posted on January 29, 2008
I am currently compiling a list of law-related audio and video podcasts to feature on GarrettWorley.com.  If you have one that you’d like to submit, or know of one, please let me know by commenting on this post. Thanks, Garrett

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