Bar Exam & Post-bar

Well, it's almost time for the harrowed bar exam. I took the dreaded test this time last year. It was nerve-racking and stressful, but I tell you, you will get through it! Good luck!

Valuable Resources

There are some resources that are simply too valuable for you not to take advantage of in your law practice. The ABA's publications for the Law Practice Management section are just those. This month's issue of the LPM e-zine, Law Practice Today, contains some helpful information for all individuals.

I found two of the articles, Using Windows on Your Mac, and How Much Money Do You Need to Start a Law Firm, very pertinent to my own practice. I also enjoyed, A Formula for Shy Attorneys, which gives some helpful tips to encourage everyone to be more outgoing in your practice marketing/networking.

Keep your promises

My friend, Eric Urbach, has a great post at his website titled, "You Have a Great Case!" His article discusses one of the biggest traps you'll face as a young attorney: The inclination to tell the client what they want to hear. Eric notes that these fateful words can be misleading, especially when you consider the complexity of many cases.

I'll affirm Eric's warnings, and note one other thing: never feel sorry for a client. I don't want to sound harsh, you should feel sorry so you can advocate, but never get so emotionally involved with a client or the client's case that you lose perspective. I had a client who fired me, then asked that I return back as the attorney. I took the client back because I felt sorry for the position the client was in. What I didn't realize was that by breaking my cardinal rule, I essentially enabled or encouraged the client to "walk all over me." This mistake didn't affect the outcome of the case (the client fired me a 2nd time), but it certainly affected our relationship.

Advice for Building a Profession Services Firm

There's this great post that discusses some of the beneficial habits for building your firm. Anything that reminds you of customer service is something to grab hold of.

I especially like habit # 9: Don’t keep people waiting in your reception area. Imagine every minute they wait reduces their trust by 5%.

Citigroup v. Students

I'm not sure how I feel about this story. Apparently Citigroup is lobbying for people to oppose the President's new proposal to lend government-backed student loans directly to students. This would eliminate the "middleman," and possibly create a new department/agency/"bloated government wasteful entity" to handle student loan lending.

On one hand, I like the concept of not having to work through institutions like SallieMae to get money for college, but I'm partially opposed to bigger government.

There's a few things about Citigroup's letter that offend me. I don't believe that privatization of student loans actually has any beneficial effect on students. I know in my lending experience, I rarely examined the lender, and regualarly went with my school's suggestion. Also, I don't think that counseling programs are beneficial in helping students establish good behaviors (i.e. the bankruptcy process), rather they're simply another way to inform borrowers about the responsibility of paying back the loans.

I can't tell how to vote or feel, because I don't know, but you should definitely be aware of this push.

Hosted vs. Unhosted Exchange

I've noticed that the number 1 thing a lot solos and smaller law firms wonder is, "how can we share calendars among our attorneys and staff?" The simple answer is Microsoft Exchange. It's the standard, and the best.

However, most people gasp when they examine the price. Everyone is looking for "shortcuts" to capitalize on the Exchange platform, without the price. One program, ShareO, does the trick. It's not difficult to set up, and it works well. There are some glitches, but in general, can you beat the price tag? See a review here.

As Mr. Ross Kodner pointed out recently in a Solosez thread, Exchange comes with the system if you purchase MS Small Business Server software. This is a great advantage because you're getting all of the benefits of Exchange SBS, without compromising on the quality. We purchased a new server over 1 year ago in the office with SBS 2003 from Dell. It's a great product, great price, and it's wonderful to have synchronized calendars. Be advised though, there are some maintenance requirements that you must be aware of. It's not for the faint of heart to manage, but once it's up, you're doing great. Note: you can find some excellent (more affordable) server options by visiting the Dell Outlet. If you're not opposed to purchasing a computer someone else owned (and why would you with a Dell warranty), then this is a great option.

One final suggestion is hosted Exchange. This is often a simple alternative for a lot of firms who are concerned about the mechanics of their own Exchange system. I've opted (for a number of reason) to move my stuff to Sherweb. It's a great service, and at $9 per month, it's an unbeatable price. It took me less than 30 minutes to signup and setup my systems.

There are so many choices, but you can hardly go wrong with the one you make.

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Solo Practice University

I have to hand it to Susan Cartier Liebel, she has created a valuable tool for solo practitioners with her Solo Practice University.

I signed up as a "test" before the price increase deadline, thinking, "I'll try it out for a week, then quit." Man, I'm hooked!

There's so many different things to experience on the site, that one week or month, couldn't get you through. While I find that some topics may be "for beginners," there's so much advice in every class, that it's not worth passing up. You're getting a valuable "education" from real-life lawyers (like the adjuncts we all loved in law school), who actually, versus theoretically, know what the real world is like. This is the education you thought you were getting when you went to law school.

Twitter Marketing

Jay Fleischman posted this gem regarding Twitter on his Bankruptcy Practice Pro site. Jay is (in my opinion) the bankruptcy guru (see here for proof).

This post give an excellent analysis of using Twitter to your advantage. A lot of the older generation (and some young ones) are scoffing at Twitter and Facebook, because they seem childish or "stupid." If you're just starting out as a new attorney/solo, there's no better place to be. Twitter's a great way to get information quickly, and make sure you're staying ahead.

Workplace Visibility

There's a new article in the ABA Journal that at more BigLaw firms, young associates are opting for more time in the office, "being seen", as opposed to flexible schedules and part-time schedules. The reason: layoffs.

This got me thinking about whether face time is really that important. Obviously if you're a "home-office lawyer," then face time isn't important. How about situations like mine, where you're in a small firm or office-sharing arrangement?

I know that for some folks, being seen is as important as the work you're doing. We have one attorney in the office who quite commonly goes into each office at the start of the day to chat. He's the proverbial "social butterfly," and often imparts much wisdom. Another attorney is rarely in the office because of his demanding criminal/family law practice.

Both of these attorneys are quite successful, and each receives a fair number of referrals from attorneys in the office based on their specialties. I believe that your success then isn't necessarily based on the office time you're putting in, but rather, it's based on the connections you're making while you're at or away from your office.