Solos/Small Firms

Speak Up

Public speaking continues to reign as a rainmaking tool

May 1, 2010 6:30 AM CDT

Panel: Suspended Lawyer Only Pretended Not to Practice and Should Be Disbarred

After his law license was suspended, a prominent Kansas attorney essentially kept right on practicing, bringing in another lawyer to serve as the public front of his law firm but continuing to operate it himself from behind the scenes, contends a state attorney disciplinary panel. It is now recommending that…

Apr 29, 2010 7:13 PM CDT

Poker-Playing Sole Practitioner Is Charged in Alleged Mortgage Scam

A New York lawyer who placed second in the U.S. Poker Championship in 2005 has been charged in an alleged mortgage scam. Sole practitioner Ralph Pecorale of Long Island is accused, along with six other defendants, of grand larceny and conspiracy, reports the New York Law Journal in an article…

Apr 21, 2010 8:33 PM CDT

Lanny Davis Is Latest BigLaw Lawyer to Form His Own Firm

Add another lawyer to the growing tally of seasoned BigLaw attorneys who are moving to smaller firms. Lanny Davis, a well-known lawyer in the nation’s capital who formerly worked as special counsel to President Bill Clinton, is leaving McDermott Will & Emery to form his own partnership, reports the DealBook…

Apr 15, 2010 11:02 PM CDT

Feds Say Lawyer Promoted Tax Fraud Using Roth IRAs and Claimed Charity

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking a court order permanently barring a Missouri lawyer from promoting what it describes as fraudulent tax schemes. Many of the claimed schemes allegedly promoted by Philip Kaiser of The Kaiser Law Firm in St. Louis involve abusive use of deductions for charitable contributions or…

Apr 15, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

How an Arthur Andersen Lawyer Rebuilt Her Career

Arthur Andersen in-house lawyer Nancy Temple hit bottom in 2002 when she was advised to hire a criminal defense lawyer. Although she was never charged, her document cleanup advice was cited when the accounting giant went on trial for obstruction of justice for destroying some of its Enron files. “It…

Apr 14, 2010 10:30 AM 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

As Attorney Went on Trust Account-Funded Spending Spree, Client Slept in Car, He Tells Judge

While she was still in practice, attorney Jessica Miller intended to repay the money she stole from clients, a prosecutor told a Florida judge at her sentencing hearing. But what he described as Miller’s plan to start an exotic animal sales business and borrow against her home to replace the…

Apr 6, 2010 11:52 PM CDT

5 Years of Small-Town Practice Was Plenty, John Grisham Tells Yale Law Students

John Grisham spent a decade in small-town law practice before his success as a best-selling writer of legal thrillers made it possible for him to stop working as an attorney. And that was at least five years more than he wanted to spend at the job, Grisham told students at…

Apr 6, 2010 6:47 PM 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

After 17 Years as a Stay-at-Home Mom & Contract Lawyer, Amy Beckett Lands a New Job

After she began having children in 1992, Amy Beckett wanted to stay at home to take care of them and, fortunately, her husband earned enough that she was able to do so. A 1982 graduate of New York University School of Law, she had completed a judicial clerkship and had…

Apr 2, 2010 10:55 PM CDT

NJ Solo Faces Possible Admonishment for Secretary’s Thieving

A New Jersey solo practitioner faces a possible sanction for failing to safeguard client funds because his secretary stole money from his trust account. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Review Board recommended admonishment for lawyer Nathan Snyder of Vorhees, N.J., the New Jersey Law Journal reports. The secretary had…

Apr 2, 2010 2:52 PM CDT

Rural Lawyers a Rarity in Georgia

Georgia has lots of lawyers, but few of them are in rural areas. Nearly 70 percent of the state’s 28,200 lawyers practice in Atlanta’s core metropolitan areas, leaving just 8,700 lawyers sprinkled across the state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Thirty-five counties have fewer than four practicing lawyers, and some have…

Apr 2, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Play it Safe

Tax lawyers urge solo and small-firm practitioners to err on the side of caution

Apr 1, 2010 6:10 AM CDT

Alternative Billing Gains Traction for Solos, Small Firms

While contingent and fixed-fee models aren’t new, a fresh look at alternative billing may help established small-firm attorneys and solos distinguish themselves from the surge of laid-off lawyers and unemployed law graduates now wading into solo practice. Alternative fees are very useful marketing tools for consumer clients who like to…

Mar 27, 2010 7:39 PM CDT