MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

Much of the advice on learning new practice skills relates primarily to litigation oriented practices.  As I've discussed in Solo by Choice, a new solo or lawyer interested in trial work can spend a few days court-watching, accompany a more experienced lawyer to depositions or pick up a pro bono case which might entail representing a client a public benefits hearing or a collection action in court. 

But what about options for lawyers interested in acquiring hands on transactional experience?  Here are a few ideas.  Once again, pro bono programs are an option; here in the Washington D.C. area several clinics dealing with HIV or elderly clients offer training on drafting wills and trusts and opportunities to prepare these documents for clinic clients.   There are also pro bono organizations that promote economic and business development in low income communities; here, lawyers may learn how to incorporate non-profit corporations (a very useful skill) or other corporate documents. 

Many times, business networking groups will sponsor talks by lawyers on topics like top clauses to include in a contract.  Often, this advice is highly practical since it's geared towards business people - and therefore, these kinds of fora can prove more useful than say, a law school course or some CLEs.  Also, when you attend a session with other business people, you gain an added opportunity to look for business.

Finally, if you are a transactional lawyer or seeking to be one, Ken Adams' blog on contract drafting is indispensable.

Readers - if you have other tips on gaining hands on transactional experience, send your ideas below.

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Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity offers a great tip, echoed by What About Clients: reconnect with your business network so that you can continue to nurture and reinforce the trusted relationships that produce not only business referrals, but personal fulfillment. Taking a page from Curt Rosengren, Herz recommends that you try speaking with someone personally whom you know via email or the Internet, but haven't actually spoken with. Why don't you give it try?

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I realize that these days, alternative billing is all the rage - and I too am a proponent of alternatives to the billable hour. Still, there are times when you have to resort to the billable hour, either at the insistence of a client, or under some of the guidelines for submitting a fee petition to the court.

So if you're billing by the hour, what should your invoice look like? When I started my own practice, I had the benefit of knowing what a sample invoice looked like, having reviewed many of the outgoing bills at my former firm. Since then, I've seen many other invoices: as a contract attorney for a federal agency (a part time position that I held in the early years of my practice), my responsibilities included evauating and ruling on fee petitions submitted by lawyers on behalf of clients who prevailed in litigation against the agency. And I've come across other fee petitions in researching caselaw for fee petitions that I've submitted on behalf of my own clients (which favorable results, I'm happy to report).

So while invoices are second nature to me, I realized that some lawyers, either those starting a practice from government, or those straight out of law school may not know what an invoice looks like. And because I believe that the best examples are those straight from real life, rather than create a "pretend invoice," I'm presenting a copy of this Fee Petition, one of several submitted by the attorney representing the defendant in Capitol Records v. Foster, who was sued for allegedly downloading copyrighted materials. Ultimately, in this decision, the court granted $68,685.23 of the $105,680.7 total amount sought. While recovering only sixty percent of a bill doesn't seem like much of a victory, chances are that the individual defendant in this matter could not have afforded more than a fraction of that bill. Plus, the court noted in its decision that once it had decided preliminarily to grant attorneys' fees, the defendants' activity stepped up considerably, thereby suggesting that some of the work may have been performed to run up the bill since the record company would be paying.

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When it comes to ghostwriting law blogs, the majority view within the blawgosphere is "don't." (For the precedent on this, see these selected opinions at Death and Taxes;
f/k/a;
Georgia Bankruptcy Blog; Home Office Lawyer and Simple Justice). At the same time, we all recognize that content makes a blog valuable to readers. So what can busy lawyers do to improve the quality of their blogs if they can't spare the time to create original content themselves?

Here's one possible solution that I discovered at Pennsylvania attorney, Neil Hendershot's blog, Pennsylvania Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Blog: have a law student research and draft an articles for your blog, just as Hendershot did with Joshua Prince, a third year student in a class that Hendershot teaches on elder law. In the most recent of his three articles, Prince wrote a piece on the fascinating topic of Estate Planning Under the National Firearms Act. And Hendershot doubled the exposure of his article by soliciting input from firearms estate planning expert David Goldman, of Florida Estate Planning Blog, who cross referenced the article in his blog as well.

Hiring a law student to write an article for your blog presents a win-win situation for all involved. The lawyer obtains quality content at reasonable rates (or perhaps at no charge, if the student can use the research for a class). The student gains valuable feedback from the lawyer as well as an opportunity to publish his or her article on the national scene. And because the student receives credit for the article, the concerns underlying ghostwriting aren't implicated.

Related post: Make A Positive Contact, Write Away.

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John Day of Day On Torts offers some good tips on the proper way to memorialize conversations with other lawyers. Among other things, write objectively, repeat your understanding of the agreement accurately, and if you can't remember what was discussed, admit it. Then, give your adversary a chance to make corrections.

All of Day's advice should be common sense, of course. Unfortunately, it's not. But if you follow Day's tips, you can protect your clients' interests and minimize the stress and distrust in dealing with other lawyers.

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It's the perennial question for lawyers starting a law firm - what do you call yourself? As I wrote here over two years ago, Enrico Schaefer maintains that the term "solo" is inaccurate. And more recently, the topic has been discussed on Solosez. As for me, I've always regarded the term "solo" as a catch phrase for lawyers who start a firm - be it one lawyer or multiples. And my upcoming book, Solo by Choice uses the term "solo" in the title because it's the most universally recognized phrase for lawyers who choose to step out on their own to work for themselves, rather than others.

Still, though I don't have a problem using the term solo descriptively, I'd never use it to describe myself. When I meet other attorneys, I explain that I'm an independent practitioner or (more preferable) that I have my own law firm. But even if you have a close attachment to the term solo, please - don't ever sign off on a pleading the way the way that this Phelps Family lawyer did: Margie Phelps, A Sole Practitioner. In fact, the entire pleading makes me cringe - and is an example of why, despite all of our best efforts, we self-starting lawyers still face image problems.

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As you've probably heard on the news by now, turns out that obesity isn't exclusively hereditary; it's also socially contagious (US News, 7/25/07). A recent study to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that if you're close friends with people who are obese, you're more likely to gain weight yourself either because you adopt the same unhealthful lifestyle, you don't feel as much pressure to stay thin in front of an obese friend or you alter your perception of acceptable appearance when you see that your friends have gained weight.

All very interesting, but what does a study about obesity have to do with solos? Plenty. The study reinforces a basic concept: that our behavior, action and self-worth are affected significantly by those around us - even to the point where we compromise our health and well being. And we solos and aspiring solos, independent and bold as we may like to believer, are not impervious to this phenomenon. Thus, much as we believe in our ability to start and run a successful practice, if we surround ourselves with naysayers, we may begin to have doubts. And if we've already got a pretty decent practice up and running, we're more likely to look down on our accomplishments when colleagues belittle solos.

So just as you may want to seek out fit people if you're trying to lose weight, you need to seek out supportive, go-getting, self-starters if you're thinking about starting a practice or if you already run one. Doesn't matter if they share your practice area or if they're 20 years older or younger than you, but just that they share your drive and optimism. And fortunately, with blogs and listserves, this kind of supportive crowd is only an internet connection away.

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These days, most bar associations make information about a lawyer's bar membership publicly accessible, so that consumers can ensure that the lawyer they've retained is actually licensed to practice. But these bar data bases are important for lawyers. For example, perhaps you're suspicious that your opposing counsel isn't licensed in the court where he's filed or defended a suit. Or you'd like to refer a case to a colleague, but would like to confirm that she's in good standing.

Now, there's an easy way to find an attorney's bar status - at least in the 40 states that retain an online database. Maryland attorney Terry Berger recently created the site, Is He Really A Lawyer , which serves as a convenient portal to each bar's attorney membership site. It's a simple site, but it will quickly direct you to the information you need. And while you're there, why not check your online status, just to make sure it's up to date.

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There's a new solo blogger on the block - Susan Cartier-Liebel and today, she offers a simple, but important tip - don't quit if you want your practice to succeed.

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One of the legacies of the first conference that I attended over a year ago is that I'm still reading other women's blogs that I'd have never encountered but for the conference.  And it's through one of those blogs that I learned about a franchise called Dinner My Way where you pay to cook your own meals to take home and freeze for meals throughout the next few weeks.  Dinner My Way pre-cuts all of the ingredients, provides recipes and utensils, but you still do the work.  The apparent appeal of this set up is that you retain control over the food, you prepare all your meals at once (so you save time) and get the satisfaction of claiming credit for a home cooked meal.

Reading about this insane idea (really, what it boils down to is that you are paying someone to do your own work), I marvelled at the way the idea has been packaged - and then wondered whether there was some way that lawyers could make this work for us.  Could we set up forms in our office for simple legal transactions and have clients pay to come in and fill them out themselves?  Would clients pay a few hundred dollars to draft their own uncontested divorce petition or simple will or any of the other documents that groups like We the People provide?  If something like this can work for food, seems that there should be a way to make it work for law.

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This month's issues of GP Solo Magazine has an article by Elio Martinez entitled Of Counsel:  An Alternative to Solo and Firm Practice.  The article tells a little bit about Martinez's of counsel arrangement (all of them differ, I think):

My of counsel arrangement is simple. I maintain a separate and independent practice while occupying an office at my friend's firm. I keep my own schedule, develop my own clients, and run my own firm. In exchange for the office space and a percentage of fees collected for my work on my friend's cases, I guarantee that I will work a certain number of hours per month on those cases. This arrangement is beneficial to us both: He has some of the burdens of the practice lifted from his shoulders by someone he knows and trusts, and I have guaranteed work and income every month, as well as an office where I can grow my practice. The of counsel arrangement also provides me the added benefit of always having someone with whom to discuss issues and ideas, as well as assurance that, in my absence, someone will be there to step in and handle emergencies on my cases.

Unfortunately (and as is the case with many GP Solo articles, which is why I don't reference them often), the article does not offer much detail on how to find an of counsel arrangement, nor does it link to any sample contracts for "of counsel" relationships (a frequent request to me from readers).  But the article shows the advantages of an "of counsel" relationship, so it may be something you want to pursue.

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Maybe, we can't all be as happy as this lawyer.   But we shouldn't give up on finding happiness in our profession and this week, a couple of bloggers have some suggestions on how to make that happen.  First up, Dave Swanner offers a post, Do You Enjoy Practicing Law? where he gives som ideas on how you might change what you don't like about your practice.  He suggests reducing the number of cases you handle, working towards making more money or changing the kinds of cases you typically handle.  Perhaps all easier said than done, but the point is that you ought to try those approaches before junking your career.

Greatest American Lawyer also has this advice that biglaw attorneys might consider to lift that spirit:  Stand out from other firms, don't be a lawyer.  "Blow off that mega firm.  Jump out of that partnership." 

Do any of these work for you?

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Human Lawyer, a UK Blogger, posts about an article by Susan Singleton in this quarter's issue of the Solicitors Sole Practitoners Group Quarterly Magazine that talks about how to save money off big legal publishers and stay current with developments in your field."  The list includes these tips:

    * Subscribe to nothing unless there is a major business case for it
    * Write for as many publications as you can
    * Join relevant legal committees for areas where you are involved
    * Never buy any product which is free or available on the internet elsewhere
    * Do not assume that because another firm or many firms have a product that a sole practice "has to have it."

This list works well for my energy regulatory practice, which subscription fees can be exhorbitant.  But I've managed to avoid paying out money in part because I've done many of the things that Singleton recommends.

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The ABA GP Section just posted a list of quality of life resources that offer information on work-family balance, de-stressing and some silling "time wasters."  In the three years that I've been blogging MyShingle, I've noticed a proliferation in work balance resources, but not much improvement on the part of lawyers to strike a better balance.   So while these resources are important, the next step you need to take is to stop reading or thinking about a better balance and start taking action to achieve one for yourself.

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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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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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The Greatest American Lawyer has been on the greatest of blog-posting frenzies this past week, with a number of must-read posts.  But the one I've selected to focus on is this, which asks Have you ever considered waiving fees even when you did nothing wrong?   There, GAL describes his decision to forego several thousand dollars in fees when his client suffered summary disposition as a result of a court's completely unanticipated reversal of longstanding precedent, which it then applied retroactively to pending suits.   As GAL points out, he wasn't to blame for the state's highest court overruling precedent nor did his retainer absolve the client from paying if he received an adverse result.  But GAL felt:

it was the right thing to do given our constant push to share a level of risk with the client. Many firms would be shocked by an approach which penalized the firm for essentially doing nothing wrong. I think that it is critical that attorneys always have some skin in the game, as they would if the matter was being handled purely on a contingency fee. The goal is not simply to collect as much money from the client as possible. The goal is to deliver results. When those results are not achieved, even when the lawyer has done their very best, there ought to be some sharing of the risk.

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Since many of us solos may find ourselves working on more less universally observed federal holidays like Columbus Day or Veterans' Day Solo, Brandi Karl has a great idea to compensate:  proclaim your own holiday!  Of course, Brandi's holidays are more productive than observant:  she suggests Brainstorming Day (to devote to a certain project), Work at Home Day (to break up the mix of the office routine) or email day (seems self-explanatory).  (Meanwhile, it appears that GAL has been observing (won't call it celebrating here) work at home day with his wife out of town and his sons under the weather, though he's still blogging prolifically)   

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In this article, Clearing the Cobwebs, (Meg Tebo, ABA Journal, October 2005), solos share some ideas on what they do to get unstuck.  Solutions include working the New York Times crossword puzzle, surfing the web, seeing a matinee and restarting the day by eating breakfast.  The last one sound odd, but Barbara Kessler, who recommends it, swears it works. 

As for me, I'd add blogging to the list!

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Most of us have read about folks from other professions, ranging from school teacher to police officer to doctor, who've gone to law school and started practicing law.  But this article, Bridging the Legal gap for Nurses (10/2/05) got me to thinking about whether this path can work in reverse, i.e., would it make sense for a lawyer to get a degree in nursing or accounting or computer science to help build an existing practice?

The article just mentioned discusses a profession called "certified legal nurse consultant."  According to the article, a certified legal nurse consultant is a nurse who uses existing expertise as a health care professional plus specialized training to consult on medical cases.  I'm wondering whether an attorney who obtains a nursing degree might be an equally effective or desireable nurse consultant as a nurse who obtains some legal training.

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For all of you home office shinglers, fellow solo Lisa Solomon authored this guest post at Home Office Lawyer entitled "Putting the Office Back in the Home Office."  Lisa offers a couple of quick tips to professionalize your home office so that you can keep your home-office and home-life separate from each other.

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Thanks so much to Ernie the Attorney for this link to a commencement speech by Steve Jobs.  In his speech, Jobs describes a rocky path to different types of success, beginnings and endings and new opportunities.  It's worthwhile reading for us solos who many times, find ourselves dead-ended or uninspired in our practice and need to pick ourselves up and recreate.  It's nice to know that we're in good company.

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Not all networking needs to be as formal and nervewracking as a singles party.  Sometimes, you get to know colleagues in a more relaxed environment through activities like a bar softball  softball league, as described in this article, League Creates Connections On and Off the Field, Baltimore Business Journal (7/3/05).  The article describes how one solo found an office through participating in the league, while other lawyers have located court reporters or even settled cases on the field.  So if your bar doesn't have a league, maybe it's time it did.

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How many times have you taken a seat next to an anonymous soul in the courtroom or CLE seminar, averted your eyes and opened up your Palm Pilot or newspaper to entertain yourself while waiting for the session to start?  I've done that more times than I should, but I won't be doing it anymore.  Yes, that person next to me could be dullard or a jerk.  But he or she could also be my next big break, just like the older gentleman who Bob Woodward struck up a conversation with in a White House waiting room back in 1970 turned out to be for him (from Woodward's piece How Mark Felt Became Deepthroat, Wash Post, 6/2/05) (long excerpt follows, then my comments):

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Are you a biglaw expatriate who's just started a law firm or been running one for years?  Either way, this article on law firm alumni programs, Nixon Peabody Starts Alumni Program, Business Review (5/16/05) may interest you.  The article reports on Nixon Peabody's alumni program, comprised of 500 former firm attorneys who now work at other corporations or public bodies.  Some, however, may have gone solo - and a law firm alumni network lets colleagues know about them, which can lead to business referrals.   You may want to see if your former firm has a similar program - and investigate how it can benefit you. 

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Greatest American Lawyer has another great law practice idea:    using a bike to get around town for lunch meetings and errands.  Not only does a bike add some exercise to our otherwise sedentary days, but as GAL rights, it's a way to gain visibility and stand out from the crowd.

GAL's post is also an example of why blogs are so great.  His idea isn't the kind of practice tip you'd find in any of the established ABA or Bar LPM materials, but it's definitely one worth learning.  Without blogs, however, we'd never know about it.

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The greatest thing about blogs is that they give small lawyers like you and me access to resources that were once completely out of our grasp.  The reason is that at least now, most bloggers still blog because they're completely enthusiastic about their field or enjoy sharing information. 

Tom Lincoln at the Trial Prep blog has this great post about his positive experience in seeking help from a fellow blogger:

I can recall only last summer when I was working on an important Blakely issue, and had done an enormous amount of research, drafting and redrafting, but still felt somewhat uncertain on whether my planned approach was the best.  I had seen a few comments posted by noted attorney Peter Goldberger over at Sentencing Law and Policy, as well as having seen a few postings to a listserv from him. Although I had never met Peter, I decided that he was the person I should ask for help, and had the nerve to send him an email one evening. A few minutes later I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Peter and after a few more exchanged emails, felt very much assured of what path to take.  I grant you that not every lawyer approaches Peter in having both great knowledge and a willingness to share, but I can assure you that many more than you might think do have plenty of knowledge and that same willingness to help others.  Moreover, at times the things we are uncertain of have nothing to do with substantive aspects, but "dumb" things such as (I recall these from my first oral argument before the First Circuit) where are the lights?, where do I sit?  So, please, don't be afraid to ask for help.

I really hope that the free discussion of information continues in the blog world.  And I hope that years from now, we don't look back at the nascent days of blogging and reminisce about how so many law bloggers used to answer questions, willingly and freely and wonder why they don't do it anymore.

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Here's a news item about the Law School Consortium.  It's a program that recognizes the role that solo and small firm lawyers play in meeting the legal needs of the poor - and provides support for those who choose that route:

[CUNY Program Director Fred] Rooney calls this Low Bono legal assistance. By joining forces, he says attorneys can save time and money - savings they can then pass on to their clients. More than 200 graduates have joined the network since it started in 1998 with private grants. They can take classes on running a small business. They get access to legal research tools over the internet which many of them couldn't otherwise afford. And they can take their required continuing legal education courses at the law school campus in Queens.

For those starting a practice or who hope to serve low income clients, it may be worthwhile to check the Law School Consortium website to see if there's a program near you.

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Solo practice keeps a lawyer so hopping, what with networking lunches, new client consultations, sending out bills and studying up on new areas of law that it's hard to believe in those early years that it can ever turn dull or boring.  But it does.  And if that's how you're feeling about your practice now, Reid Trautz has some tips at his blog on How To Energize Your Professional Life.   Some ideas include exploring new practice areas, changing your mix of clients and changing your attitude.

For those  inclined to simply suck up boredom as an unavoidable fact of practice, think again.  Because as Reid points out, boredom can breed carelessness which in turn can lead to career ending mistakes.  So if you're feeling bored and uninspired now, take some action.  The boredom you're experiencing now is nothing compared to how bored you might feel if your license is revoked and you can't practice law at all.

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Any lawyer who's been in practice more than a week has been there, on the losing side.  It may be losing  a massive multi-million dollar trial or simply being bested by an opponent in a heated negotiation.  But while getting clobbered is never enjoyable, we've got to get back up and ready ourselves for more.  This article, Getting Clobbered - and How to Deal With It, Raymond Dowd, NY Law Journal (3/28/05) offers up both a little bit of empathy and some short bits of advice on how to react when a set back knocks you off your feet.  Not surprisingly, most of Dowd's tips counsel a change in attitude or perception, such as recognizing that the worst thing that could have happened didn't, using the loss to motivate yourself to do better next time and recognizing that in the long run, a loss can teach some good lessons. 

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As I've always understood, one of the premises underlying the Socratic Method is that much of the knowledge of a subject (like law) lies within us and can be teased out through questioning and dialogue.  So too, many of us already hold within us the basics for  starting or running a law practice as Jim Calloway points out in this straight-talking essay, Everthing I Need to Know About Practicing Law, I Learned From My Mom.   

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It's hard enough getting ready for a trial, but as a solo, there's even more to think about because of staffing constraints, as Kimberly Fanady points out  in this piece, Flying Solo at Trial, Small Firm Business (3/10/05).  Among other tips, Fanady suggests retaining a temp to put files and exhibits in order and calling in colleagues to practice cross examination with clients.  And then of course, there's all that work that could pile up at the office while you're tied up at court.

But for all of the tribulations involved with going to trial as a solo, there's one major benefit that outweighs all the drawbacks:  you actually get to first chair - to handle the witnesses, make opening and closing arguments and pick the jury.  And if you don't think that's a great perk, why don't you talk to some of the senior associates or even junior partners in biglaw litigation departments who have yet to come off the bench and into the game.

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Kudos to the Texas Young Lawyers Association for this innovative project, tenminutementor.com, an online library of video presentations on topics like substantive law (mostly Texas, but some, like the talk on Ten Tips for Federal Court, can apply more broadly), ethics, building a firm and personal development.  Here's the Press Release (2/28/05) that further describes the project.

What's really remarkable about this project is that given the time that went into preparing it, the prsentations are available for FREE, even to non-bar members.  The press release reports that:

This online mentoring effort is unique in its range and depth. For months, a film crew criss-crossed the state to tape the first wave of more than 60 video lectures by luminaries, including Harry Reasoner of Vinson & Elkins, LLP, "King of Torts" Joe Jamail and Mike Boone, co-founder of Haynes and Boone LLP of Dallas. When the website officially launches March 1, nearly 100 presentations will be available at the click of a mouse.

Of course, keeping the resource free is important given the educational purpose behind the program:

The numbers tell the story," says Mr. McAtee. "With more and more lawyers entering the market each year, it has become more and more difficult for our profession's wisest leaders to mentor the next generation."

An overall rise in billable hours and heightened expectations of demanding clients have exacerbated the problem, McAtee says. "And, when law school graduates move first into the market -- especially if they choose to join smaller firms -- it's often impossible to obtain the kind of mentoring once enjoyed by those who preceded them."

The only possible improvement that I could suggest to this amazing service is to consider a podcast format.  That way, lawyers could pop those presentations onto an MP3 player and listen to them over and over again en route to work or at the gym or while waiting in court.   But even as a computer-based service, this project is amazing.   Thank you to the Texas Young Lawyers division for thinking as big as...the state of Texas!

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There's plenty written - both at MyShingle and elsewhere - about the right way to start a law practice.  But there's also a right way to close one down when a solo decides to move on to another position.  The attorney described in this article, State details misconduct charges, Rick Hepp, Star Ledger (2/23/2005) took the wrong approach when she continued to run her private law practice while employed as chief of staff for a New Jersey State Commerce Commision.  The attorney, Lesly Deveraux, has now been indicted for misconduct, theft and various other charges.

According to the article:

[Deveraux]  carried on her private law practice from her state office, and even hired her former law secretary to a $45,000-a-year state job to help handle her clients, state prosecutors asserted yesterday...[P]rosecutors said Devereaux had her state-paid secretary do everything from personal shopping and picking up mail to drafting legal documents and working on real estate transactions for her law practice.

"Instead of simply leaving that practice, she actually hired that secretary as a public employee and paid her illegally with commerce funds," said Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel. The secretary has agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating the case.

Defense attorney Walter Timpone denied during the hearing that Devereaux did any legal work beyond finishing a few cases that she had listed in her disclosure forms when she took the state job. He also claimed prosecutors were exaggerating when they said Devereaux's use of the secretary cost taxpayers $90,000.

When leaving solo practice, particularly for a state position, close out or transfer casefiles before you leave.  The money you'll forego in giving up the cases is far less than the potential liability you might face if you don't.

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Via Jim Calloway comes a link to  Dave Swanner's guest post at Legal Underground entitled "Twelve Ways Technology Can Make You A Better Trial Lawyer."  There's some great advice here for both new and seasoned attorneys who have full time litigation practices or just dabble in trial work from time to time.

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Here's an interesting idea:  The Iowa Bar Association Wants Lawyers to Speak Spanish AP (December 8, 2004).   The bar would have the state's lawyers take Spanish lessons  to help the state's fast-growing Hispanic population.    Wonder if this might qualify as CLE?

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Let's say two law students, neck and neck in class rank graduate law school with $80,000 in student loan debt (including interest) - or roughly $8000/year over a ten year period.  Student A goes on to his dream job at a large New York firm, starting salary $125K while Student B follows his dream to work as a Legal Aid attorney, starting salary $40,000.  Clearly, Student B is going to be facing financial disaster while Student A should be able to repay his loans with minimal impact.  But what if instead of each student repaying $9000/year, each paid a set percentage of his respective salary - say, $12,500 (10 percent) for Student A and $4000 for Student B.  That's the proposal that Michelle  Singletary highlights in her recent column A New Idea on Student Loans ,  (11/28/04).

Would this kind of proposal encourage law students to follow their dreams?  It's not clear since the biglaw attorney would still come out way ahead in terms of salary, even while subsidizing his legal aid classmate's loan repayments.   And would large firm attorneys want to do this?  What about a situation where a large firm attorney subsidizes a starting solo who's gone solo, frankly, because he couldn't find another job?  Would the subsidy system penalize lawyers who've done well enough to snag high paying jobs and force them to pay for those who didn't work hard enough to do as well?

I'm intrigued by this concept, but not sure where I come down.  Sure, I'd like to see more financial support for new solo attorneys because I think that helping solos is one way to expand access to law for a larger segment of the population.  But I've never given much thought to where the money should come from.   So I'd love to hear comments from readers on this idea.

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These days, the legal profession is sending work out to India.  But here's an idea from India that might be worth a look over here.  According to this article, Lawyers Demand Stipends, Loans cities.expressindia (11/26/04), the Kharar Bar Association is demanding stipends and interest free loans from the government for junior lawyers to enable them to start their law practices.  The loans, which would last for five years, would help new lawyers pay for books, offices and vehicles.  The Kharar Bar also urged the government to set up libraries at every district in the state to benefit lawyers.  Finally, the bar argued that the Bar Council of India should constitute special committees, comprising senior lawyers, at each district headquarter to train the junior lawyers, also demanded the KBA, besides urging that it should be made mandatory for each senior lawyer to train a fixed number of junior lawyers and senior lawyers should also be asked to pay monthly emolument to the junior lawyers, attached with them.

All ideas that could help new solos in the U.S. get their practices off the ground.  Wonder where we'll see these ideas implemented first?

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