Solos/Small Firms

Explore the World of Web Tools Behind Google’s ‘More’

Take a trip behind the “more” link at the top of the Google homepage. Behind that link lies a world of free Web-based tools that can help the average solo and small-firm practitioner compete with the big firm lawyers without busting the technology budget. And at the bottom of that…

Mar 26, 2010 8:02 PM CDT

Chat Over Red Sox Hat Led Suffolk Grads to Start Law Practice in Garage

It all began with a conversation over a Red Sox baseball cap at an Arizona bar review course. Realizing they rooted for the same team, Christopher Corso and John Rhude started talking. Although both are graduates of Suffolk University Law School in Boston, they had never before met. That was…

Mar 26, 2010 5:14 PM CDT

Attorney Suspended for 6 Months Due to Paralegal’s Alleged Embezzlement of $80K

A New Hampshire attorney has had his license suspended for six months because his paralegal allegedly embezzled $80,000 from clients. Joseph Ritzo breached his duty to safeguard client settlement funds and to ensure that his paralegal was performing her job in compliance with the law, the state Professional Conduct Committee…

Mar 25, 2010 10:01 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

Meet S. Gerald Davidson, MP of Growing 21-Attorney Firm

When S. Gerald Davidson helped found the law firm that carries his name in 1968, he and a friend were its mainstays. Now, there are 21 lawyers working for Davidson Fink, and the firm has been in an expansion mode in recent years despite its focus on certain practice areas—such…

Mar 22, 2010 9:31 PM CDT

Simplicity Law Has 3 Attorneys & Big Plan: A Presence in Top 100 Markets

After Dion Persson graduated from Yale Law School, he worked for Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Johns Manville, eventually rising to the position of general counsel. Now he operates a small Jefferson County, Colo.-based business law firm that calls itself Simplicity Law. The firm posts its prices on…

Mar 19, 2010 5:00 PM CDT

When Not Working for Paying Clients, Lawyer Is Suing Officials ... and Growing Veggies

Larry Loigman has a general practice in New Jersey. But the 55-year-old Middletown practitioner is best-known for what amounts to volunteer work litigating against local government, reports the Asbury Park Press. From alleged fiscal mismanagement by government officials to illegal duck crossings, Loigman doesn’t hesitate to step in and file…

Mar 15, 2010 7:33 PM CDT

USC Law Prof’s Lament: Why Can’t Wal-Mart Provide Legal Services?

In the United Kingdom, legal clients will have a new option next year: They can seek advice from corporations. That means Tesco, the European equivalent of Wal-Mart, could get into the legal business. A law professor at the University of Southern California says the United States should take note. Writing…

Mar 12, 2010 5:33 PM CST

Complacency Puts Midsize Law Firms at ‘Serious Risk,’ Consultant Says

Midsize law firms weren’t hit as hard by the economy as their larger counterparts, but in the long run they may be at a disadvantage. The reason: Complacent midsize firms aren’t reacting to streamline their work processes and cut costs, according to law firm consultant Joe Altonji, the leader of…

Mar 8, 2010 1:04 PM CST

Benesch Friedlander Snaps Up Century-Old Indy Firm

Cleveland-based Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff announced this week that it has merged with Indianapolis-based Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman as part of its continuing growth strategy. Benesch now counts 145 attorneys and 288 support staff in seven offices in the United States and Shanghai, according to a news release.…

Mar 3, 2010 12:36 PM CST

Summer Associate Offers Plummet, Hitting 17-Year Low

Reports of layoffs, deferrals and frustration for graduating law students competing for a scarcity of jobs are plentiful. The news didn’t get any better from National Association for Law Placement, which has been collecting recruiting data since 1993. As the U.S. and global economies were battered by “the Great Recession”…

Mar 3, 2010 11:22 AM CST

Turnaround

Solos seek advice to survive a struggling economy

Mar 1, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Having Faith in Marketing

Houses of worship offer affordable and effective advertising possibilities

Mar 1, 2010 8:49 AM CST

ABA Halves Dues for Solos

Cuts also made for judges and for lawyers in government and legal services

Mar 1, 2010 8:10 AM CST

Body of Victim in Lotto Winner Murder Case Found in Law Firm’s Back Yard

Life hasn’t been going well for attorney D. Howard Stitzel III in recent years, as he struggled with six-figure debt and health problems and got pushed out of his law firm. Then a new problem arose for the 45-year-old Plant City, Fla., attorney: The body of a man murdered after…

Feb 23, 2010 6:04 PM CST