Solos/Small Firms

4 Adorno & Yoss Lawyers Form New Litigation Boutique

Partner Cary Ichter and three other Adorno & Yoss attorneys have left to form their own Atlanta litigation boutique, which will be known as Ichter Thomas. After practicing at three big firms in a lttle more than six years, Ichter says he decided that he was just more comfortable running…

Oct 21, 2009 8:43 PM CDT

Retiring MP Shunned ‘Eat What You Kill’ Rewards

Indiana lawyer Alan Shovers is proud that the law firm he managed for 30 years never adopted an “eat what you kill” compensation system. Shovers, 70, is managing partner of the 28-lawyer Evansville law firm Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn. He told the Evansville Courier & Press that there are…

Oct 7, 2009 4:08 PM CDT

BigLaw Refugees Confess to Money, Branding Worries at Newly Formed Firms

Several big firm lawyers have made the leap to form their own law firms, where they have new freedoms—and fears. Among them are two lawyers who were classmates at American University, Richard Rochlin and Scott Sigman, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports. The two friends had previously discussed striking out on…

Oct 2, 2009 2:16 PM CDT

Make Lemonade

Just because your practice is slow doesn’t mean you should be

Oct 2, 2009 1:20 AM CDT

How Selling Mary Kay Cosmetics Helped ‘My Pink Lawyer’ in Practice

Her former career selling Mary Kay cosmetics and driving the pink Cadillac that is awarded for doing so successfully helped launch her law practice, a Florida lawyer says. Attorney Kristen Marks got the idea of trademarking her woman-oriented estate-planning practice as My Pink Lawyer from the experience, reports the Gulf…

Oct 1, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Sued for Malpractice, Law Firm Must Now Fight for Insurance Coverage

Two lawyers in a Washington, D.C., firm already were facing a $10 million malpractice claim over a tax shelter matter when their situation changed for the worse. Now their insurance carrier, Carolina Casualty Insurance Co., is seeking a declaratory judgment that it doesn’t have to defend the claim. It contends…

Sep 28, 2009 6:06 PM CDT

D.C. Court of Appeals Details Rules for Escrowing Up-Front Legal Fee

In one of the few decisions that addresses the proper handling of legal fees paid up front by the client before they are earned, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that they should be escrowed in the attorney’s trust account—and explains the rules for doing so. At issue…

Sep 24, 2009 9:57 PM CDT

As OCIs Drop at Top Law Schools, NALP Official Predicts More Grads Will Go Solo

Even students at the nation’s top law schools are getting fewer on-campus interviews, leading one career official to predict that more graduates will end up going solo or entering alternative careers. Bloomberg reports on the dreary job picture for law students, even at Harvard and New York University law schools.…

Sep 23, 2009 12:54 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Got JD to Represent Brother Wins $10.7M for Wrongful Conviction

A high-school dropout with two children who went on to get her general educational development certificate, graduate from college and earn a juris doctor degree so that she could represent her brother in a wrongful conviction case has now won $10.7 million in damages from a federal judge in Massachusetts.…

Sep 18, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Attorney Accused of Trying to Hire a Hit Man to Kill Another Lawyer

A 58-year-old South Carolina criminal defense attorney has been charged with solicitation of a felony for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill another attorney with whom he formerly shared a law office. Horry County Police say that Irby Walker talked repeatedly with a purported hit man, who…

Sep 18, 2009 7:14 PM CDT

Despite Recession, 2 Quinn Associates Hang Their Own Shingle

As the legal profession copes with the worst economic conditions many practitioners have ever experienced, it might not seem like the right time for anyone with a secure job to give it up for an entrepreneurial new venture. But that’s just what two senior associates at Quinn Emanuel have done,…

Sep 15, 2009 5:47 PM CDT

‘Rip Van Winkle’ Rejoins Aviation Firm After 7 Years as a High School Teacher

A founding partner of a San Mateo, Calif., law firm who took a seven-year detour from his legal career to teach algebra at a public high school is now back in practice there again. Jim Collins, 57, has rejoined the O’Reilly Law Firm, which is now known as O’Reilly ||…

Sep 9, 2009 7:26 PM CDT

How a Solo Gained More than 600 Facebook Fans for His Fledgling Firm

A solo practitioner in Massachusetts who struck out on his own about six months ago already has more than 600 Facebook fans for his law firm. Solo lawyer Richard Vetstein tells the ABA Journal that the accomplishment, touted in a press release, has “absolutely” brought in new business. His goal…

Sep 9, 2009 3:29 PM CDT

How a Kentucky Solo Exposed the Fen-Phen Lawyers

The exposure of the fen-phen lawyers accused of bilking their clients out of $94 million in settlement money began in 2004 when a woman walked into the office of Lexington, Ky., solo Angela Ford. The woman wanted to know whether a lawyer could give away settlement money without her consent,…

Sep 8, 2009 1:36 PM CDT

Sued By Both Parties in N.J. Store Sale, Pa. Lawyer Wins Both Cases

A Pennsylvania solo who was sued by both parties over the papers she drew up for the $1.9 million sale of a New Jersey liquor store has won dismissals of both malpractice cases. But despite the rare double play executed by her defense lawyer, Michael Malin, the disgruntled liquor store…

Sep 2, 2009 7:22 PM CDT