Solos/Small Firms

Lunch Bunch

Monthly D.C. gathering reaches milestone

Jul 1, 2008 1:20 PM CDT

Defensive Tactics

Teaming up with the competition can pay off for small firms

Jul 1, 2008 1:10 PM CDT

Michigan Solo Learns the Hard Way About Himself and the Law

Before Michael Burke can reverse the revocation of his law license, he must pay back the $1.6 million he stole from clients. Except it’s all gone now—blown on blackjack and slot machines. Once a Howell, Mich., solo practitioner, Burke pleaded guilty to embezzlement in 2001 and spent almost three years…

May 19, 2008 3:22 PM CDT

Promise Kept: Lawyer Quits Firm to Continue Juvenile Client’s Defense

After a conflict arose that made a Pittsburgh lawyer have to choose between his six-figure law firm salary or keeping a promise to a juvenile he was defending, Keenan Holmes says the choice became clear. “How can I tell my kids to do the right thing if I don’t? A…

May 16, 2008 7:28 PM CDT

Summer Shadows

One-to-one mentoring makes it easier to show summer associates the ropes

May 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Law Firm’s Office Hours: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Clients seeking to meet with their counsel at one downtown Boston law firm are encouraged to try to do so during its regular office hours—between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., Monday to Friday—although special arrangements can be made to meet at other times. But for many individual and small business…

Apr 8, 2008 5:47 PM CDT

Building the Road Less Traveled

Alabama solo puts practice on hold to answer military’s call to Afghanistan

Apr 1, 2008 3:16 PM CDT

Ala. Solo Answers Military Call to Afghanistan

When Alabama attorney and Navy Reserve officer Sterling DeRamus got married, his wife felt reasonably sure he would be a full-time solo practitioner and weekend soldier. After all, the Berlin Wall had fallen and the Soviet Union had shattered into several small nations. It was years before al-Qaida flew planes…

Mar 28, 2008 8:28 PM CDT

Associates Get Cut of New Biz at this Flex-Schedule Friendly Firm

Chicago lawyer Deane B. Brown set her sights on looking for a new firm, with more realistic expectations, after she gave birth in 1996. Nights, weekends away from home left her feeling cheated. So in 2002, she joined a smaller shop, Beermann Swerdlove, where she told Business Week recently, “We…

Mar 28, 2008 7:42 PM CDT

2 Small N.C. Firms With Big History Will Soon Merge

For years, two small law firms with adjacent offices in Lexington, N.C., have been friendly competitors with multiple social connections between their respective attorneys. But now they are going to practice together, starting Tuesday. By joining forces, seven-attorney Brinkley Walser, which opened in 1886 and is now one of the…

Mar 27, 2008 3:36 PM CDT

From Solo Practice to Tort King: Meet Jere Beasley

Almost broke and looking for work as an Alabama lawyer 30 years ago, Jere Beasley wasn’t having any luck. “I couldn’t get a job, so I opened a one-person law firm,” he tells the Associated Press. Now recognized as one of the nation’s tort kings, the 72-year-old attorney reigns at…

Mar 22, 2008 12:34 AM CDT

Small Pa. Law Firm Hit With $5.2M Overbilling Judgment

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered a small practitioner to pay a $5.2 million judgment, including $1 million in punitive damages, for charging unlawful attorney fees while collecting delinquent municipal and school district property taxes. Ruling in an unjust enrichment case, Judge Mark Bernstein of the Court of Common Pleas held…

Mar 17, 2008 7:27 PM CDT

Author to Would-Be Solos: Do It Now

Lawyers who are longing to pursue a solo practice shouldn’t hesitate because of a bad economy, advises an author who is herself a sole practitioner. Current technology makes it easier than ever before for a law firm associate to hang up a shingle and establish an individual law office. Meanwhile,…

Mar 7, 2008 9:43 PM CST

Ahead of the Curve

This former solo lawyer built his thriving practice on a website and a hunch

Mar 1, 2008 3:41 PM CST

Practicing on Faith

In an unassuming office park in a quiet Chicago suburb, six lawyers are planning a revolution. The six are American women of the Muslim faith, and they have started what they believe is a first-of-its-kind law firm. They hope to change the way others think about their religion and culture,…

Mar 1, 2008 9:14 AM CST