Solos/Small Firms

How much do solo lawyers make? More than IRS data suggests, law profs assert

How much do solo lawyers make? According to a University of Tennessee law professor who examined IRS data, the answer was an average of about $49,000 a year in 2012. But can the IRS data be trusted? The question is being debated by two blogging law professors who are challenging…

Aug 1, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

Hillary Clinton’s VP pick once litigated fair-housing cases and won a record $100M verdict

Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, is a Harvard law graduate who once worked at small law firms litigating civil-rights and fair-housing cases. The Virginia senator’s biggest financial win of his legal career was a $100 million jury verdict against Nationwide Insurance, report Law.com and Mother…

Jul 25, 2016 12:42 PM CDT

Why go solo? Some have no choice, but discover they like the flexibility and client interaction

Some lawyers who go solo make the choice after discovering they don’t like doing document review or working for others. Others can’t find a job. About 4.4 percent of the law school class of 2014 went solo, according to statistics compiled by the National Association for Law Placement in 2015.…

Jul 20, 2016 9:59 AM CDT

What happens to judicial nominees who never get a vote? Some take a big financial hit

Congress has entered its summer recess without acting on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, along with 49 others nominated to lower federal courts. Will they get a vote? Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution who tracks nominations, expects the number will be “pretty paltry” because…

Jul 19, 2016 9:37 AM CDT

Trump’s VP pick practiced law at a small firm; he wouldn’t wish law school ‘on a dog I didn’t like’

Donald Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, once practiced law at a small firm that handled a variety of legal work, including contract disputes and negotiations, real-estate transactions and landlord-tenant issues. Pence graduated from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1986, but he didn’t enjoy his…

Jul 18, 2016 11:10 AM CDT

Document-scanning firms can save lawyers money and space

Coleman Watson has an almost paperless law office. He achieved the near-zero-paper state when starting a solo (now two-lawyer) practice in Orlando, Florida, by digitizing all practice-related documents he had from his previous work with a bigger firm.

Jul 1, 2016 1:30 AM CDT

Celebrity divorce lawyer says hacking fears are partly why her law firm joined Blank Rome

Divorce lawyer Stacy Phillips says she wanted to concentrate on law practice rather than worry about hacking that could compromise the information of her celebrity clients. That concern is partly why Phillips’ four-lawyer boutique law firm, Phillips Lerner, decided to be acquired by Blank Rome, report Law.com, Bloomberg Big Law…

Jun 29, 2016 9:37 AM CDT

Small civil-rights law firm wins reversal of $282K sanction

A small civil-rights law firm in Minnesota has won reversal of a $281,900 sanction imposed by a federal judge who found its claims in a Native American land rights case to be “completely frivolous.” The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Minneapolis attorney Erick Kaardal and…

Jun 28, 2016 11:45 AM CDT

Law firms are already inside some US Wal-Marts

When Evan Kaine, a personal injury attorney in Atlanta read a story in the May 2016 issue of the ABA Journal about Axess Law opening up offices in Wal-Mart in Canada, he remembered reading a line about whether these firms would soon be in your backyard. “My reaction was: ‘Yes…

Jun 21, 2016 1:15 PM CDT

FTC sues 2 law firms over claimed mortgage-rescue scheme that cost clients $15M in 2014

The Federal Trade Commission has sued two Southern California law firms, seeking to freeze their assets and appoint a receiver. It says Brookstone Law and Advantis Law raked in $15 million in 2014 by charging clients upfront fees for work such as “legal analysis” and promises of mass joinder in…

Jun 10, 2016 12:30 PM CDT

Eleanor Alter leads 6-attorney Kasowitz team to new matrimonial boutique

Sought-after matrimonial lawyer Eleanor Alter has exited Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, along with five other lawyers, to form a new family practice boutique. She said her decision to establish Alter Wolff & Foley last week after 20 years at Kasowitz Benson had “nothing to do with money” and cited…

Jun 3, 2016 12:25 PM CDT

15 lawyers to exit Miami IP boutique for Cozen O’Connor; 5 more left earlier for another firm

Most of the lawyers at a Miami-based intellectual property boutique will be exiting for Cozen O’Connor later this month. The two name partners of Feldman Gale will be in charge of a new national intellectual property litigation practice group at the Philadelphia-based Cozen firm, which lists more than 600 attorneys…

Jun 2, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Anderson Kill adds 10-attorney firm known for representation of HOA boards

Anderson Kill has added to its ranks a 10-attorney New York corporate firm known for its real estate work, as well as the representation of the boards and management companies of condominiums, cooperatives and homeowner associations. The New York-based Anderson Kill, announced the acquisition in a Wednesday news release, which…

Jun 2, 2016 11:15 AM CDT

Replicas and animations can help present a winning case

To illustrate a key piece of evidence in an insurance fraud case, model maker Roland Benson was hired to build a life-size replica of the back of a car and the walls of a garage. The case hinged on whether the deceased died accidentally or as a result of suicide.

Jun 1, 2016 1:20 AM CDT

Indiana law partnership closes after 100 years

After nearly 100 years in business, an Indiana law firm closed its doors last month after a partner exodus. It began in December, when three partners left Campbell Kyle Proffitt to form Cate Terry & Gookins. “That shook the ground for us, but we were still going to survive,” former…

May 31, 2016 11:00 AM CDT