Avvo Grows, Ranks Lawyers From All 50 States

Lawyer-ranking website Avvo announced today the addition of attorney lists and ratings in nine additional states—which means the Seattle-based start-up now covers every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. Launched in 2007, Avvo rates listed lawyers on a 1-to-10 scale and includes areas of concentration and disciplinary sanctions. The…

Apr 14, 2010 9:57 PM CDT

Law Grad’s Part-Time, Low-Paid Job Is More Than Many Have, Consultant Says

Make lemonade and count your blessings, a consultant tells a recent graduate of a low-ranked California law school who seeks advice about the low-paid part-time job she has finally found in a small corporate boutique in Chicago. “Breaking-In” should simultaneously make every effort to wow her part-time employer into offering…

Apr 12, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

Vegas Lawyer Reprimanded for Ad that ‘Grossly Misstated the Law’

Las Vegas lawyer Anthony “Tony the Tiger” Lopez Jr. has received a reprimand for running a radio ad that “grossly misstated the law.” The Nevada Supreme Court reprimanded Lopez for a 10-second Spanish-language radio ad that said, “If you have had an auto accident, by law you have the right…

Apr 12, 2010 3:01 PM CDT

DLA Piper Hires Former Business School Dean as Consultant

DLA Piper has hired the former dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management as a consultant. Dipak Jain left his position at Northwestern last summer, the Chicago Tribune reports. He joins two other business experts who are working as consultants at the law firm: former LaSalle Bank chairman Norman…

Apr 9, 2010 12:00 PM CDT

‘Involuntary Law Firms’ Turn to Outsourcing for Business Help

The tight job market for lawyers is forcing more of them to start their own law firms, boosting the outlook for individuals and companies that help with the business aspects of a law practice. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on the trend and cites anecdotal evidence that more lawyers are striking…

Apr 7, 2010 12:11 PM CDT

Branding Applies to Lawyers as Well as Wheaties, Life Coach Says

Branding and packaging aren’t just concepts for Wheaties (the breakfast of champions) or Bounty paper towels (the quicker picker-upper). Lawyers need to differentiate themselves, and they can do it through branding, a life coach says. Writing at the Legal Intelligencer, lawyer and life coach Karen Shapiro says lawyers can set…

Apr 7, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyers and ‘Suited Geeks’ Turn Out for Cannabis Convention

Lawyers hoping to find new clients were among those attending the Colorado Cannabis Convention this past weekend. More than half a dozen lawyers that are gaining experience in medical marijuana law showed up at the convention, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports. Medicial marijuana dispensaries started springing up like weeds…

Apr 6, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Virtual Offices May Violate Ethics Rules, New Jersey Opinion Says

Lawyers who rent offices under time-sharing arrangements may violate New Jersey ethics rules if they hold out these workplaces as their principal place of business, according to a recent ethics opinion. Such “virtual offices” violate the state requirement for a bona fide office, according to a joint opinion by the…

Apr 6, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

PI Law Firm Plans Seven-Day a Week Operation with Drive-Through

A personal injury law firm in Connecticut plans to keep the drive-through window when it completes renovation of a building that previously housed a dry cleaners and a fast-food restaurant. The Kocian Law Group plans to hire four lawyers to staff the rehabbed building in Manchester, the Hartford Courant reports.…

Apr 2, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Making a Case for Casemaker

Apr 1, 2010 9:10 AM CDT

Does Connecticut Hate the Net?

State is a battleground for online legal services

Apr 1, 2010 6:30 AM CDT

Inexpensive Web Tools and Straight Talk Help Build Client Relationships

North Carolina divorce attorney Lee Rosen loses sleep at night over his payroll, particularly when business is slow. Rosen confessed his fear to a packed crowd of lawyers at the ABA Techshow seminar, Crossing the Digital Divide: eMarketing to Clients and Prospects. Many of those in attendance Thursday, mostly solo-…

Mar 26, 2010 1:57 PM CDT

From Snow Cones to Law Practice: Solo Makes the Best of Bad Marketing Ideas

According to solo practitioner David Koller, even a bad marketing idea may help his fledgling legal practice. The intent, he says, is to generate referrals. Before starting his legal practice last year, Koller writes in the Legal Intelligencer, his only prior business experience was making snow cones from his Snoopy…

Mar 24, 2010 2:38 PM CDT

Promoting Others Can Promote Yourself, Lawyer Consultant Says

Self-promotion is more about promoting others than yourself, according to a former McDermott Will & Emery associate who is now a legal consultant. Ari Kaplan, who is in Chicago to give his advice at the ABA’s Techshow, gave the Chicago Tribune two examples. An associate who would like to work…

Mar 23, 2010 2:43 PM CDT

Lawyer Warns of Blogging Burden, Even as Top Law Firms Embrace It

A former law firm blogger has written a cautionary tale for those who would like to follow in his footsteps, even as new data shows nearly half of the large law firms are blogging. Ninety-six of the nation’s top 200 law firms have blogs, a 149 percent increase from August…

Mar 15, 2010 4:24 PM CDT