MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

The January 2005 DC Bar's Washington Lawyer Magazine has this article Going Solo by Joan Rigdon.  I'm profiled in it, briefly (though not much but a passing mention of MyShingle), as are many of my DC solo colleagues.  The article reflects a great cross section of solo practice, with old timers like Joel Bennett (editor of Flying Solo, in which I have a chapter on "How Not to Be Lonely") and Linda Ravdin, biglaw converts and former government attorneys.  There's also lots of good quotes from fellow blogger Reid Trautz.   The article's a good read for anyone, but especially for DC area practitioners to give a sense of the kinds of opportunities out there (by the way, if you get the hard copy edition, you'll see that my photo even includes my deaf puppy, Francesca, who was cut out of the online picture)

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It's interesting how mobile technologies, like the cell phone or Blackberry, pager or laptop can serve as a leash or as liberation, depending on context.  This article, Blackberry:  High tech Ball and Chain for Lawyers, Boston Globe (12/22/05) reveals that law firm Burns & Levinson uses Blackberries to keep lawyers on a tight leash, always tethered to the law firm.  At least, that's according to a memo from Bill Bixby, one of the firm's partner's to firm attorneys:

''[Blackberries]  are not just accessories or collectors' items," Brian D. Bixby, cochairman of the firm's private clients group, wrote in his memo, which became public after being sent anonymously to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. ''They are not to be used only when you feel like sending an e-mail. They are supposed to make you more accessible for receiving e-mails after hours and on weekends."

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This article from the Sacramento Bee (12/26/05) reports on a new service by Legal Zoom:  online preparation of a small claims case.  According to the article, for $99.00, the company will draft up a small claims complaint based on an online questionnaire and for $60 more, will serve the defendant as well. 

So why would an attorney support this service?  Because, I sometimes get calls from clients who want to sue for a small home improvement matter or wages owed and from an economic perspective, it's not worth it for them to have to pay even $300 (which is two hours of almost any attorney's time) to recover maybe $800.  But they might be willing to pay $150 to bring the suit themselves and not have to wrestle with legal forms and figuring out service of process.

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I've posted quite a bit on the importance of retainer letters, here and here, but not as much on a declination letter which informs prospective clients that you've declined to take their case.  This post from Day on Torts discusses the perils of misinforming clients about the applicable statute of limitations in a declination letter.  Jon Stein picks up the conversation at this post, explaining why you shouldn't pin yourself down to specifics when giving statute of limitation information.

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Here's an interesting profile, Ex-lawyer on the case with biting court report, Kentucky Courier-Journal (Dec. 26, 2005) about Shannon Ragland, a disbarred attorney who publishes a popular newsletter/monthly verdict reporter covering Kentucky courts.  What sets Ragland's report apart from others is that he does it himself, adding insights, analysis, wit and sometime biting criticisms of the players involved.  Being disbarred gives Ragland this freedom, because after all, as he puts it, "What are they going to do?  Disbar me?"

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Someone on the Solosez listserve posted a link to this article from the Harvard  magazine on Samuel Williston, 20th century legal scholar, Harvard law professor and author of an authoratative contracts treatise.   But though Williston worked late into his life, he suffered a nervous breakdown in his mid thirties that almost derailed his career.  The article describes how Williston worked his way back and more poignantly, how he paid it forward, encouraging others through similarly dark times.  From the article:

Nonetheless, [Williston] understood that his breakdown had been a central event in his life and hoped his recovery might show those with similar problems that "some achievement may still be possible after years of incapacity." His sense of having overcome a potentially career-ending illness probably contributed to the serenity and compassion that people so often remarked on. "Having had much trouble himself," one faculty friend wrote in 1951, "he is quick to share and lighten the trouble of others. More than one colleague in a tough time has received an early visit from him and benefited from his encouragement and understanding." Williston himself liked to tell people that his own career had been like the path of a wobbling planet: he was proof that, however far off course one went, one could "wobble back."

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This article, Lincoln Lawyer Balances Business, Passion (12/25/05 - Lincoln Journal Star) profiles Lincoln, Nebraska lawyer Herb Friedman's forty years of small firm practice, which included arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court and pioneering television advertising in his state.  Now 70, Friedman has no plans to retire and reflects on his career as follows:

"I've really enjoyed what I've done. I've tried to be a credit to the profession. I've tried to make a good living."Won some. Lost some. But being a trial lawyer is an exhilarating way to make a living. You're kind of a modern-day warrior."

And equally inspiring, Friedman apparently has managed to raise his children to discover passion for what they do - even if it doesn't involve law.  Says his son:

"[My father would] say, 'You can do whatever you want, but you have to love what you do.' Like my dad, I'm going to the tune of my own drummer."

Yet another solo inspiration.

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This article, The Spice of Solo Life, (Recorder, 12/27/05) profiles San Francisco solo Michael Blacksburg's law practice, which has run the gamut from drafting animal trusts to preparing 
contracts for a triad relationship between two women and a man.  Actually, the bulk of Blacksburg's practice is trusts and estates and landlord tenant law, but he manages to intersperse that bread and butter work with more unusual cases.  Blacksburg's comment on solo practice:

It might not be the quickest route toward paying off your student loans, he said, but "it's a lot easier to be a solo than to be in a job you hate."

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One of the best things about a weblog is that it gives you proof that you said something first or spotted a trend way back when.  In my case, I first blogged about the outsourcing to India trend in this January 2003 post.  Now, almost three years later, outsourcing continues to grow.  As this article  from an Indian newspaper (December 25, 2005) reports:

The revenue from outsourcing of legal services from India is growing every year and is estimated to grow ten times in the next five years from the current level of US dollar 61 million.  In a recently released report 'Offshoring Legal Services to India', ValueNotes, a leading provider of intelligence and research services, estimated that the sector employs around 1,800 professionals and expects this to grow to 24,000 by 2010.

The increasing interest in offshore services shows that firms are pressured to keep costs low - and that should be good news for us solo and small firm lawyers, because it may open up new opportunities.

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It's still not too late to buy yourself and your law firm a holiday gift (not to mention a 2005 tax deduction) - so why not a website?  Jim Calloway explains why every firm needs a little website now in this post.

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Desperation isn't the greatest trait to display if you're trying to meet a mate.  But if you want to succeed in starting a law firm, desperation, or more accurately, the willingness to do something absolutely desperate to bail out a case or save your firm can serve you well.  I was reminded of the power of desperation when I read this article about a woman who dove into a disgusting fast food dumpster to salvage her thesis.  Yes, she should have had a back up copy so the mess was partly her fault anyway.   But sometimes in the practice of law, things go wrong despite our best efforts:  a client may neglect to tell us a critical fact until the eve of trial or a major client that accounts for a huge portion of our business may choose another lawyer or our practice area may dry up due to regulatory or legal changes.  Any of these events can put us in a desperate situation from which it seems there's no escape.   We can allow our desperation to overcome us - or like the dumpster-diving grad student, we can use our desperation to overcome our circumstances.   It's been my experience that the solo and small firm lawyers who've got it in them to take the latter path almost always succeed.

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Allison Shields of the new Legalease practice-building blog has a post taking inventory for the New Year  that contains some great advice:  you don't have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going.  That advice applies to many lawyers contemplating solo practice.  Sure, you don't want to just jump into it without thinking about it and if you have the time, you want to plan.  But on the other hand, if you don't get going at all, you may never have the chance to get it perfect - and as I've said before, you might miss an opportunity to start your firm at all.

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Most lawyers have duplicates of many things - we've got courtroom attire and officewear, dress glasses and regular ones, different sets of shoes and for women, handbags.  So why not have several business cards?  Most marketing experts advise against this because different cards means that we dilute our brand.  But I've found several uses for different business cards, as well as a source, Vista Print for printing them up quickly and cheaply (you can get them free if you're willing to accept a vistaprint ad on the back or for around $10-$20 for 250 if not). 

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It's still not too late to send out a holiday gift or thank you and there are some ideas listed in this article here, including Billable Hour timepieces by fellow solo Lisa Solomon.  Even if you can't order these gifts in time for holidays, you can stock up now and distribute them as thank yous throughout the year (when they're likely to get more attention than during the holiday rush).

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If you're a women or minority owned solo or small law firm, there's some new opportunities for you described in this Press Release.  According to the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), many major corporations have announced an initiative to increase utililization of minority and women owned firms - and have vowed to send at least $16 million in business to these firms in the upcoming year.

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Following up on this earlier post here is yet another article on alumni networks, this time from the Chicago Tribune, entitled Companies Learn to Value Alumni (December 18, 2005).  As the article reports, law firms are the latest to join the trend:

Law firms are among the latest adopters. Their practice of forcing out lawyers who don't make partner scatters their former members far and wide. "The more successful our alumni are, the more it builds our brand," said Stephen Patton, a senior litigation partner at Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which launched an alumni network Nov. 1.  "Our alums are friends and cohorts, but they're also our current or future clients. It just makes sense to strengthen our relationship with them."

So, is it awkward hobnobbing with a firm that pushed you out the door?  I don't think so (and that's based on personal experience), especially if you've moved on to something even better, like starting your own firm.  And sometimes you find that there are people whom you get along with much better when you don't have to work with them.

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I came across this article, Lawyer killed head-on in accident (12/9/05, NH Republic) about Massachusett criminal defense lawyer Geri Laventis tragic death in a head on car wreck.  I did now know her at all, but here is how she was described by her colleagues:   

Judge William B. McDonough, who presides over Holyoke District Court where Laventis frequently served as a bar advocate, said he was saddened to hear of her death.

"She was a tireless worker for her clients. She often found very imaginative ways to view the law and the facts, quite successfully for her clients. She will be sorely missed by her clients and members of the bar," McDonough said.

David G. Mintz, a defense lawyer in the area for the past 18 years, said Laventis was notable as "one of the most vigorous and relentless advocates for criminal defendants."

"She was smart. She was tough. She was incredibly thick-skinned. She was just unparalleled. She went to the mat for everyone. She was shrewd and savvy and creative and always determined to see that justice was done for her clients. She had a big heart and was very generous with her time," Mintz said.

Judge W. Michael Ryan of Northampton, who also sits in Holyoke District Court, said Laventis maintained her passion for her work for many years.

"She was very aggressive in representing people who had very little. She seemed to have boundless energy and enthusiasm and optimism. She gave great representation and a lot of hope to people who don't have much," Ryan said.

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This article, Tiffed by Staff, John Gibeaut (ABA e-Report 12/16/05) shows the benefits of coming clean when you've committed an ethical infraction - or even think that you might have committed one.  The article describes the case of a Delaware solo real estate lawyer who recently received a public reprimand for mishandling client funds.  The lawyer  himself hadn't taken the money, rather, he learned in November 2001 that his paralegal had stolen $94,000 from the escrow account.  Eventually, the lawyer took out a second mortgage on his  home to replace the stolen money.  Yet he still couldn't avoid a reprimand because he'd waited three years before replacing the money or contacting the authorities.

So the next time you think that you may have done something wrong, make amends as soon as you can and turn yourself in.  It may not be pleasant in the short run, but you'll avoid unnecessary disciplinary action in the long run.

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Solo Wannabee wonders whether you can start a law practice part time.  Surprisingly, the conventional wisdom on this question is no, that solo practice demands full time commitment to make it and that client demands are full time.  But that's not my view.  As I've said before, there are as many right ways to hang a shingle as there are shinglers - and a part time practice can work just fine provided you manage expectations properly.

One of the misconceptions of part time practice, and one that I made myself when I was working part time, is that part time means a twenty  or twenty five hour billable work week.  But that's not the case.  I mean, you could just work 20 billable hours a week - but what happens when that work dries up and you've not been diligently marketing? 

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Three years ago last night, MyShingle made its entry into the blogworld with this inaugural post and our declaration of intent:

We seek to serve a broad audience -- solos and small firm lawyers foremost of course, but also lawyers who dream of hanging out a shingle and law students for whom solo and small firm practice might some day offer a career option. Here's the place to learn the basics about starting and running a law practice, read about solo and small law firm concerns, learn about solo and small firm accomplishments, discuss new models for collaboration between large and small firms and ponder the place that we solos and small firms occupy in the legal universe.

Three years later, we're still doing that, but now, we're no longer the sole voice of solo practice, which is probably the best birthday present ever.  Thanks readers and fellow bloggers!

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Every four months for the past fifteen years, I've avidly read the Alumni Notes section of my alma mater's publication,the Cornell Law Forum  to see what my classmates have been up to since graduation.  In addition to alumni notes, the Forum publishes a couple of articles by professors and students.  While some have been moderately interesting, none have really captured my attention until now.

This month's issue includes Amie Ely's (Cornell Law '05) convocation speech entitled In search of Truth and Justice - Without Becoming An Empty Suit.  The speech describes Ely's own personal quest for truth, as she sought to uncover the story behind her father's murder in 1979 and his killer's eventual acquittal, and justice, in embarking on a career in law to change or improve the system that failed her family.  But more powerful than her personal journey is Ely's reminder to all of us of our responsibility as lawyers:

At the same time, law is built on what came before it - on precedent.  And so are we.  Without knowing where we've been, we can't chart where we're going.  Without remembering what drew us to the law, and feeding that fire no matter where we go, we risk losing a sense of purpose, of urgency and of grace[...]

We matter.  In our hands, we will soon hold other people's lives and hopes, and their last chance for justice.  Let's hold on to what brought us here, honor what came before us and do all that we can to never become empty suits. 

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Denise Howell modestly offers some tips to enhance your effiency.  They include (1) picking 1-2 devices you like best and consolidate your activities on them (Denise's personal choices are cell phone and Power Book); (2) get a gmail account to eliminate time spent searching email (Evan Schaeffer endorses the gmail tip also) and (3) make online communications secondary to offline tasks like meetings, calls and errands, since you can schedule most onoline communications during your downtime.  The post is short enough for efficient consumption and the tips are simple enough for efficient implementation.

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Fellow solo and blogger Grant Griffiths has yet another blog, Blogging Tips - and in this  post, he blogs about linkbaiting, the practice of writing good content for the sole purpose of attracting links.  Grant explains that he links to other posts that offer good content - and he gives some ideas on ways that you can generate good content for your site.

While the advice is useful, personally, I think that bloggers ought to write good content because, well...that's what bloggers do but more importantly, that's what our readers deserve.  So above all, I try to post on content that will serve my solo/small firm and wannabee-solo constituents.  If my content brings links, that's a secondary benefit, but it's not the point.

Update:  Grant continues the linkbaiting conversation over here at Home Office Lawyer.  I'm interested to see the comments as well.

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If you're not reading the weekly Blawg Review, you should; it's a great summary of what's happening in the blawg-o-sphere.  This week's edition Blawg Review #35, hosted by Colin Samuel's at Infamy and Praise is an especially great example of the Blawg Review genre. 

One of the items mentioned in Blawg Review that I enjoyed (and would have otherwise missed) is this list of Top Ten Worthless Tips for Appellate Practice from Appellate Law & Practice.  The list includes some real winning ideas like "follow the rules," make your point clearly and don't mis-state the law.  And yet people charge CLE money for tips like that (which is yet another reason why I don't endorse mandatory CLE requirements.  You'd be better off reading a pile of appellate briefs and spending a day observing argument at your local appellate court than taking a class that restates the obvious). 

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I love the blog The Practice, written by three practicing solos, Jon Stein, Shane Jimison and Barry Kaufman.  And generally, I generally agree with most of the advice that the trifecta dispenses.  But I part company with Jon's recent post that the value of a top law school is overrated for those who want to be solos.  Jon points out that most clients never ask lawyers where they went to school, which is true enough, but it's only one side of the equation.  The reason that I feel compelled to devote a post to respond to Jon is that his view, which I believe is shared by most in the "how-to-start-a-practice" field, is not just inaccurate, but is probably one of the greatest deterrents to biglaw associates and top law grads who are thinking about starting a law firm.

Lest you all attack me for being a "school snob," let me start with the caveat that I believe that solo practice is one of the greatest equalizers in out otherwise strategied legal profession.  A last place graduate from the lowest ranked law school in the country can succeed just as big in solo practice as a top grad from from an Ivy League law school.  And in fact, I am certain that there are dozens of examples of lawyers from lower tiered schools with successful solo or small firm practices who out-earn their upper tiered peers ten times over.

At the same time, the fact that lower tiered graduates are successful in solo practice doesn't mean that a degree from a top law school (which I'm going to define as Top 25 or First Tier) doesn't matter.  Here are some reasons why a degree from a great law school can provide you a ticket to success in small firm practice.

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Let me proclaim here and now, for the record, that I'm the founding partner in a law firm, The Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant.  Yes, it's a law firm of one and I'm the only partner, but my firm is just as legitimate and real as any of these.  So why is it then, that the DC Bar feels it necessary to issue a special opinion (Opinion 332 - November 2005) warning me and every other solo that while it's alright for us to refer to our law practice as a firm without violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, at the same time, "[we] must exercise caution to insure that the manner in which [we] conduct [our] practices does not mislead clients or potential clients."  (for a summary, see this article, Washington Lawyer (Dec. 2005).      

I guess I should be grateful for the decision, since it doesn't outlaw solos from referring to ourselves as law firms.  At the same time, just once, I'd love to see a decision,  cautioning large firms about deceptive practices when they promise to deliver expertise and years of experience to a matter and then assign newbie associates to handle it.   Or what about large firms that shorten their names so that they sound smaller and more congenial than they actually are?  Until that happens, I'll continue to endure this and all the other silly little indignities that the Bars dispense to us solos whenever they have time on their hand.  Those indignities after all are but a small price to pay for all the benefits that go with being a law firm of one.   

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This piece, Tri-Cities Lawyer Arrested for Contempt (November 30, 2005), reports on a lawyer arrested for contempt for pressuring his client to lie at trial.  The laywyer was caught when the client presented the judge with the email exchanges documenting the lawyer's advice to the client to lie - and her response that "I understand that in defense cases you cannot always tell the entire truth. I am just concerned that I am telling a complete lie."

At the other end of the spectrum is this case, North Adams Client Loses Claim Against Lawyer (Berkshire Eagle Staff, December 4, 2005), where a client apparently chose to lie about the facts of his case in Bankruptcy Court and then sued his lawyer for malpractice, blaming him both for the outcome and forcing the client to lie.  The lawyer denied the accusation and the judge found that a client could not sue his lawyer
for his own decision to lie under oath. 

The lessons here is don't advise a client to lie in writing or in fact, ever!  And the corollary is that you should be sure to document your advise so that you can't later be accused of asking your client to lie.
Update:  We agree with the commenter below, of course, and changed the above to reflect that you should never, ever tell a client to lie, period!  That's where writing can help too, because if you write an email like the one that the Tri-Cities attorney did and then read it over, chances are that you'll  realize that you've stepped over the line.

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Matt Homann of Non Billable Hour is asking all of us lawyers to share our resolutions for 2006 as part of his "Resolutions for Lawyers" blog series.  I haven't yet decided what I'm going to submit, but I do have plenty of ideas.  Which in itself makes me grateful because there was a time in my practice several years ago when I stopped dreaming and gave up on thinking about the future of my firm.

Submit your ideas to Matt over at his site so that we can all see what great things you have planned for next year.

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As most of my readers know, I started my law firm twelve years ago, after five years of practicing as an energy attorney, first for the government and then as an associate with a boutique practice.  My firm unceremoniously gave me notice and six months to find a new job, saying that I wasn't partnership material...and that's how I came to start my firm.

I think if I hadn't started my own firm, I probably would have wound up leaving the law or taking a dead end job in government.  At the time I lost my job (in late 1992), the economy was in recession and law firms weren't hiring much.  As a result, when I learned that I was losing my job, I wasn't able to find other employment or even temp work (back in those days, the ginormous document review project that keep unemployed associates busy now weren't very common).   So my guess is that had I not started my firm, I'd have kept trying for government jobs until maybe one came through - or might have tried getting pregnant sooner, had kids and left the law entirely.  And after my kids were older, I probably would have changed careers, maybe going to nursing school like one of my sisters (still one of my goals).

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Debra Koven's ranting appellate brief (see excerpts at 5-8) isn't something that as a lawyer, I'd ever write and as a judge I'd ever want to read.  Among other things, Koven accused opposing counsel of suborning perjury and claimed in her brief that "the fix was in."  As a result, the court ordered a $2000 sanction and a referral to the State bar for investigation, as reported here in  California Appellate Panel Unleashes Its Contempt on Lawyer, Mike McKee, The Recorder (12/1/2005).   

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I really enjoyed this piece by Mark Donald, An Ode to Okra (Texas Lawyer - 12/1/05, law.com) about Dale Wooten, a Texas bankruptcy solo lawyer, who's also a "restaurateur, raconteur and gardener."  Wooten, who's enjoyed a successful 35 years law practice and generally interesting side businesses, is now winding down a 35 year solo career in large part because of changes in his practice area wrought by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Protection Act of 2005.  But because Wooten's had such a great run, he's hardly bitter, but instead, looking forward to spending time on his true joys like the garden and restaurant.

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