MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

Imagine a lawyer rating system that assigns lawyers different categories of grading and purports to provide an objective way to assess a lawyer and through "third party validation of ethics and legal ability provides that extra level of confidence that the right lawyer or firm has been selected." A ratings system that takes years of experience into account in issuing ratings and removes positive ratings where a lawyer has a negative disciplinary record. A ratings system that even generates enough profit to fund a fellowship. And a ratings system that includes some errors and omissions.

If you thought that the lawyer rating system that I just described would be the subject of class action lawsuits, you'd be wrong. But that rating system sure sounds like this one, which is the subject of a class action lawsuits. And indeed, many of the claims alleged in the class suit (which you can access here) would seem to apply to both ratings systems: such as complaints of arbitrariness of ratings or that the rating service makes deceptive and false representations that clients can rely on the ratings in choosing a lawyer.

So, one of these ratings systems is sued, while the other is not. And if you're wondering about the reasons for the differential treatment, I can think of at least one: consider the ratings of the class action's lead plaintiff by this ratings service and this one.

Note: for the record, I have criticized both ratings services for various reasons here and here and here. In my view, ratings systems aren't worth much because choosing a lawyer isn't like picking a restaurant or buying a house. So if we lawyers allow ratings system, we should explain that they're one of many, many factors in picking a lawyer. But more importantly, if we allow ratings systems, we must tolerate all systems; we shouldn't be able to pick and choose by filing class actions between those ratings systems that we want (because they grade us better) and those we don't.

• Print
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks

This article, Debt Relief May Be In Sight for Lawyers (Chicago Sun Times 11/27/06) reports on the status of legislation proposed by Senator Dick Durbin back in 2003, that would grant student loan relief to public sector lawyers in the criminal justice system.  From the article:

The average young lawyer from a private law school graduated with $78,763 in debt last year, according to the American Bar Association. The average graduate of a public law school owed $51,056. Durbin's office puts the numbers higher, with the average private law school graduate carrying $97,763 in debt, and public school graduates owing $66,810 .  According to Murray -- who had $14,000 in debt when he graduated in 1983 -- the trend is forcing lawyers to leave the state's attorney's office, and persuading third-year law students not to apply. "It definitely weighs on me. I'm going to be paying it for the rest of my life," said assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jullian Brevard, who owes about $90,000.

• Print
• Comments (15)
• Trackbacks

A small firm lawyer, Rob Fisher, has taken the helm at the West Virginia Bar as reported in this article. Based on what he has planned for his state, I sure wish they'd find more like him to lead the ABA.  According to the article, Fisher plans to focus on small firms and solos and to address lawyer malpractice by devising a mentoring program.  He also
wwants to create a handbook on starting a law firm, something I hope that MyShingle can help with.  Also on Fisher's to do list is to create a "lawyer liason" system to elp people find out who does what, encourage small firms to develop succession plans for when they close their practices and consider offering unbundled service.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

A Texas solo is missing, according to this Texas Lawyer article (4/20/06), State Bar of Texas Steps in After Solo is Reported Missing.  According  to the article, 

Britt Hall, a Houston solo, has not been seen since Jan. 3, according to a private investigator who is searching for him. And State Bar officials say Hall has not been to his leased law office for months.  While those close to the 41-year-old lawyer are worried about him, some of his clients are angry.

The State bar disciplinary commission has now taken over Hall's practice to protect his clients from any prejudice; it is not a disciplinary matter.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Harry Whittington has been in the news recently as the victim in a hunting accident involving Vice President Cheney, but before this event, he'd earned a reputation as a famous solo in his own right.  As this article from the Austin Statesman describes, Whittington's successful legal battles included ensuring that the state properly spent the proceeds of bond issuances and securing humane prison conditions for the mentally retarded.  As Whittington himself described, he wasn't a do-gooder per se, but a lawyer committed to making sure the state followed the law and to protecting people's constitutional rights.  And his career also exemplifies just how far a solo can soar.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

David Giacalone of f/k/a writes this post about a New Hampshire bill that would reduce the jurisdictional limit in small claims court in New Hampshire from $5000 to $2500.  Lest anyone think that this kind of legislation is a lawyers-relief bill in disguise, I can assure you that it is not.  A case valued at $2500, particularly of the sort commonly brought in small claims (contract disputes, lost earnings, individual attempt to collect a debt) are rarely worthwhile for a lawyer to take or a client to bring.  (do the math - it's going to take a lawyer at least 3 hours to gather facts, draft a complaint and file suit, which is $450 at a rate of $150 an hour, plus at least $100 for filing fees.  So you're out $550 at the outset, even if the lawyer doesn't bill another minute on the matter.  For a $2500 matter, that's 20 percent even before you start).  So in the absence of small claims court, most of these claims simply won't be brought at all. 

• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks

Remember back in the dotcom days, when everyone's goal was to develop that killer app, a computer program that is so useful that people will invest in a particular machine or hardware simply to run that program?  In law, a killer app is harder to come by, yet  Henry Zapruder, who died earlier this week of brain cancer (Wash. Post, 1/27/06) helped create one, by bringing the concept of IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts) to legal practice in our country.  According to the article, since their inception, IOLTA funds have raised more than $1 billion for legal fees for impoverished clients.  Reading on,  I also learned that though Zapruder eventually became a senior partner at biglaw firm Baker and Hostetler in 1998, for nine years prior to that, he was a shingler with a firm he'd formed,  Zapruder & Odell.

What's your killer app for our profession, the thing that will improve it measurably, the idea that will bring real meaning to concepts like "client service" and "equal justice" and "access to law"?  Because we need those killer apps now more than ever, before our profession kills itself.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Via this post at Greatest American Lawyer, I learned about the recent Delaware Supreme Court ruling that an elected official who's been criticized by an anonymous blogger cannot use a defamation suit to compel disclosure of the blogger's identity wihtou substantial evidence to prove the claim.  (See New York Times story).  But what really excited me was learning that David Finger, a Delaware solo whom I met years ago at a Solosez lunch was responsible for the anonymous blogger's victory.  It's further reinforcement that the work that we solo and small firm lawyers do, representing individuals and small companies and generally, ordinary people, carries with it the enormous potential to change and define the law for all of us. 

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

As a follow up to this earlier  post, it's been three weeks since Katrina and solo and small firm practitioners are starting to contemplate the consequences and plan for the future.  This article,  Many Small Law Firms May be Gone, Adrian Angelette, reports on small firms' biggest problem - loss of clients.  From the article:

The task of restarting a law practice will be particularly daunting for one-lawyer offices or small firms whose clientele was made up largely of New Orleanians who evacuated. Many lawyers will also have to cope with files and equipment destroyed by wind or water.  "A lot of lawyers lost their clients. I'm afraid many solo practitioners and small firms will be forced to leave the state," Baton Rouge Bar Association President Greg Bodin said. "There are probably a number of small firms that � have already moved once. How can they afford to move again?"

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Following up on this last post, there's another article, Small Law Firms Hit Hard by Katrin (Fulton County Daily Report - 9/8/05) on the impact of Katrina on small firms.  From the article:

"I'm worried about the ones that don't have friends. Some of the solos and real small outfits might not know other folks in other parts of the state," Neuner (Bar President) said.

Solo practitioners and even firms with 10 or 20 lawyers who've had their offices flooded can't send bills or get checks from clients, Neuner pointed out. "How do they pay employees?" he asked. Their client files and computers, in many cases, have been destroyed by floodwaters.

The bar is reaching out, with efforts to find housing and office space for displaced attorneys and has also started a fund to collect money to assist.  And on that topic, Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog is offering to help firms set up at no cost a free weblog to facilitate communication with clients and employees.

• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

Sandra Day O'Connor leaves two legacies as she departs the United State Supreme Court.  the legacy that will garner the most attention in today's weblogs and tomorrow's history books, of course, is that of her quarter of a century as the nation's first female Supreme Court justice.  But Sandra Day O'Connor leaves another equally important and even more inspiring legacy that will likely be overlooked.  That is O'Connor's legacy as an attorney who according to today's conventional wisdom, made all the wrong career moves and yet amazingly, wound up at the top of her field.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks (1)

This  article (Texas Lawyer, 6/1/05) reports on an online resource for starting a law firm that includes articles, manuals, guides - and even a place to purchase books on starting a practice.  No, the article's not reporting on MyShingle or our On Line Guide which has been up and running since December 2002 (with a brief gap from November 2004 until earlier this month) even though the program sounds suspiciously similar.  Instead, it's about the Texas Bar's online web resource for starting a law firm.  Congratulations to the Texas Bar for bringing this resource online and doing what we at MyShingle have been doing for almost three years. 

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Here's a story, Plan for Supermarket Legal Advice (BBC, 3/20/05) about a proposal that will shake up the legal profession in England and Wales by allowing commercial businesses to own and run law firms.   The intent of the proposal, known as the Tesco law, is to make legal services "a better deal for consumers."  Under the plan, commercial interests like insurance companies or supermarkets can invest in, own and manage legal services.  In addition, the new plan would allow lawyers to work in partnership with non-lawyers such as accountants or financial advisors.  (incidentally, I have no idea where the ABA and the various state bars stand on multi-disciplinary practice.  I took a look at the ABA Web Resources on Multi-Disciplinary Practice but it's not clear whether much has happened beyond debate (as with the seemingly endless debates and commissioned studies over the billable hour)

I'm all for proposals that open up competition in the legal profession and reduce costs.  But when I read about this idea, all I could think was Enron.  And surprisingly, even though the Tesco multidisciplinary proposal is being debated overseas, I wasn't the only one who thought of the Enron analogy either. 

• Print
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks (3)

October marks the Supreme Court's return to the bench after summer recess.  But for the past four years, it's also marked the Supreme Court group admission of roughly thirty solo attorney from all over the country and members of the ABA's Solosez  listserve.  The group event was devised by Maryland solo, Terry Berger who continues to organize it each year.  ABA Journal writer Meg Tebo describes the 2004 swearing in ceremony in this article, Admit One, ABA Journal (February 2005).

I  was fortunate enough to be part of the first group admission back in October 2001.  The experience of meeting my fellow solos from all over the country and standing a few feet before the nine justices for the swearing in gave me a sense of belonging to both the lineage of attorneys who took that oath before me and to the "firm" of solos standing beside me.  (of course, I should note that despite these warm feelings, I did cringe during the swearing in itself because I could hear my then two year old, who'd been banned from the chamber, screaming audibly all the way down the hallway)  Even if you think that you may never argue a case before the Supreme Court, if you should experience the in person swearing in process if you ever have the opportunity.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

As lawyers, we all want our work to be regarded as "out of this world" - but just not in this way.   According to this article, South Gate Chases Legal Firms, LA Times (1/23/05),  a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, ruling that the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton had overcharged its municipal client, described the firm's fees as:

were more than excessive and unreasonable, transcending beyond the stratosphere into deep outer space," Shook wrote in his opinion.

The city had already paid $551,837 to defend Robles, its former treasurer and the firm was seeking $445,087 more that it said it was due.  But the judge found that the city
should not have been charged more than $150,000 for the defense of Robles.
In October, another judge ruled that Sheppard had to repay the city $517,000 in legal fees related to defending Robles in a separate criminal investigation.

• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks (1)

This story's been heavily covered all around the blawg world: the unmasking of the formerly anonymous Anonymous Lawyer as Harvard Law Third Year Jeremy Blachman.   You can learn all of the details from this New York Times article, Revealing the Soul of a Soulless Lawyer.   Though Blachman never thought his hoax would last longer than a week, the blog's voice "stuck a nerve" amongst many many blawgers, lawyers, students who frequently posted comments at AL's site or linked to his postings. 

While I always enjoyed AL, I personally never understood why the insights were considered so groundbreaking.  For example, I thought that Cameron Stracher had covered much of the same ground, albeit from an associate's perspective.  Perhaps the power of the blog enable AL to get more exposure or perhaps people really believed that a hiring partner was writing it and gave it a different type of authenticity.  Whatever the reason, I'm glad that these kinds of views like AL's are so widely available both to law students who are currently making career choices and biglaw attorneys who may be looking for more but feel they're the only ones who feel that way.  Maybe the end result will be a happier profession.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks