I regularly receive letters from incarcerated individuals. It’s not lost on me that after reading the preceding statement, those of you who regularly follow this column and know I practice criminal defense likely think, “Well, duh. ... You probably have clients in jail, and they probably send you mail.”
Did you know that bringing in new business is one of the top challenges for lawyers? The good news is that effective marketing is a perfect antidote to this problem. Unfortunately, most lawyers know very little about legal marketing, and with so many online and offline marketing choices available, it can be difficult to determine which ones will work best for a law firm's needs.
It’s rare to find a dramatic character who becomes synonymous with a particular area of the legal profession. Think about it: Try to name a fictional attorney off the top of your head who is commonly associated with personal injury, product liability, taxation, immigration or any other legal field. It’s challenging.
I am not crazy about the company. No, I don’t mean the people near me. Let me explain. I am retired from my practice, but I am still reflecting on what about the legal system bugs me.
At the end of November, the 2022 Report on the State of the Legal Market: A Challenging Road to Recovery noted, “all law firms were edging dangerously close to losing almost one-quarter of their associates in 2021.” That statistic reflects just how drastic—and rapid—the change in the talent landscape has…
The U.S. Supreme Court's October 2021 term was one of the momentous in history. The only analogy I can think of is 1937 for its dramatic changes in constitutional law. This is the first full term with Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the high court, and we saw the enormous effects of having a 6-3 conservative majority.
In honor of World Refugee Day and National Immigrant Heritage Month, the ABA Commission on Immigration offered this inspiring essay from Abdullahi Abdigaani, a former ProBAR client. For the last 16 years, Abdullahi has pursued the American dream by working day and night to support his family and achieve academic…
It was no surprise that the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the New York law limiting concealed weapons in public. Given the ideological composition of the court and the tenor of the oral argument in the case, that result was expected. The surprise was how the court did this, providing greater protection for Second Amendment rights than virtually any other in the Constitution.
Ten years ago, most lawyers hand-filed paper documents with courts; however, that changed over time as online document storage became increasingly common and lawyers began to transition to paperless practices. As a result, even before the pandemic, court e-filing systems were in place in many jurisdictions; some even required it.
“I want this case dismissed.” That’s how many of my new client intakes start, to one degree or another. It may not be the first phrase out of my prospective patron’s mouth, but it comes quickly nonetheless. The demand is often followed by an explanation of the person’s perspective: “I looked at the results on your website, and I know you’ve gotten these types of cases dismissed before,” or “I know (insert previous client’s name), and they said you’re the best and can get rid of this.”
