In 2003, when Seattle-based lawyer Kevin O’Keefe needed to think, he sat alone, blank sheet of paper in hand, in the garage.
For 25 years, Seattle-based litigator Ralph Palumbo followed the unchanging path of success within BigLaw even as he guided his corporate clients through dramatic changes. He saw them embrace technology to increase efficiency and cut overhead costs.
Christopher Marston graduated from Suffolk University Law School in Boston five years ago wanting to change the legal profession. A former CFO at JSA Technologies in Bedford, Mass., during the technology boom, Marston pursued a juris doctor and a graduate finance degree with the intention of attracting a business clientele.
Think arguing cases in the U.S. Supreme Court is a lofty goal? Think again, says Thomas C. Goldstein, known for his business development and as someone who came to the Supreme Court bar without an Ivy League law degree, a high court clerkship or a solicitor general stint.
It started out as a two-month road trip. Now, more than a year and a half later, Asheville, N.C., attorney J. Kim Wright is finally resting (temporarily) from crisscrossing the country and producing hundreds of video clips while she chronicles the collaborative law and restorative justice movements in the United States.
In 2005, New York lawyer Nicole Black read a disturbing article: A study warned that female professionals who take more than a three-year hiatus from their careers have a difficult time getting back in the market from a personal psychological standpoint, as well as in the eyes of prospective employers.
James F. Holderman, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, has been trying cases for 40 years. And while the jurors in his courtroom aren’t getting any younger, he says, one thing is certain: If lawyers and judges want to keep the attention of today’s jurors, new courtroom tactics are a must.
Firms of all sizes generally have a laser focus on profits. But if you ask partners how much a specific filing costs, most have no idea, says Pamela H. Woldow, a consultant whose work targets alternative billing and social media presence.
Some people say Max F. Miller is a great networker. He doesn’t like that word.
For Matthew Homann, a plane ticket to Chicago and a cab ride through 18 inches of swirling snow brought him to the perfect place. The spacious, open downtown loft peppered with brightly colored chairs and giant easels exuded the creative energy Homann hoped to inspire in the select group of tech-savvy lawyers he’d invited to attend an unconventional legal discussion in 2004.
With his messenger bag, short-sleeved dress shirts and straightforward demeanor, Ronald W. Staudt sometimes seems more like an engineer than a law professor or legal aid lawyer. That’s part of his charm, say colleagues.
Mark Britton was living in Italy teaching finance at Gonzaga University’s Florence campus in 2007 when inspiration struck for Avvo, his much-debated online lawyer-rating website.
Besides a Plan B, Emery K. Harlan almost always has a Plan C, D, E and F. So when he decided to leave a large Chicago law firm to practice in Milwaukee—for substantially less money—friends were surprised but not worried.
Michael Roster is trying very hard to be retired—or at least live in only one city—for the first time in 27 years. He’s having very little success.
When talking to Timothy J. Stanley, one gets the impression from the FindLaw founder that making no money from legal information websites could be the best approach.
On May 21, 2007, the Australian law firm Slater & Gordon pulled off a first that may change the way law is practiced worldwide. The Melbourne-based firm became the first in the world to be publicly traded.
If he doesn’t have the right answers, that’s OK with Charles Nesson. In fact, many say the legendary eccentric—a proud pot smoker who loves poker, almost always records everything and has taught at Harvard Law School for more than 30 years—prefers exploring the unknown.
On Oct. 15 during 24 Hour of Rebels, Carolyn Elefant and Lisa Solomon joined us for a live chat.
Law firms are notoriously bad at training newly-minted attorneys and developing them into meaningful contributors.
I am a career-long legal educator who knows that the law school experience that I loved and that has served the profession well for decades, while not broken, is cracked in places.
