Topics like unbundling of legal services or limited-scope-representation may sound like academic exercises or impractical theories to many busy practicing lawyers. But when John T. Broderick Jr., the chief justice of New Hampshire, and Ronald M. George, the chief justice of California, pen an Op-Ed piece titled A Nation of Do-it-Yourself Lawyers for The New
Law Firm Management
The Digital Edge Podcast: Cloud Computing for Lawyers
By Jim Calloway on
Cloud computing was one of the hottest topics of 2009. Can a lawyer be comfortable with a third party hosting confidential client data? We decided to attempt to shed some light on the subject with our December Digital Edge podcast Cloud Computing for Lawyers. Sharon Nelson and I asked Erik Mazzone, practice management…
Get Your Hand Out of My (Law Firm’s) Pocket!
By Jim Calloway on
"Get Your Hand Out of My Pocket" is the title of a great blog post on law firm financial controls by the Alabama Bar's Laura Calloway. As many of you know, Laura was the Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2009. Too many small law firm lawyers feel that they know and trust each other so…
Closing the Client File
By Jim Calloway on
My July 2009 Lawyers USA column is Closing the Client File. I hope this column is useful to all of you and would encourage you to forward the link to others. This is an extremely important topic and I think it is key to close the client file properly with the ultimate destruction of the…
Do FTC “Red Flag” Rules Apply to Law Firms?
By Jim Calloway on
UPDATE: The FTC announced this week that it will delay enforcement of the Red Flags Rule until November 1, 2009.
A new Federal Trade Commission rule proposes requiring businesses to have a written plan to identify and respond to "Red Flags" indicating possible identity theft. Failure to comply may result in several government sanctions. Many feel that these should not apply…
Law Practice Today “Suddenly Solo” Issue: Great Resource for the New Lawyer as Well as Newly Solo Lawyer
By Jim Calloway on
Many lawyers are finding themselves in the position of opening a law practice due to circumstances that were not entirely voluntary. The July, 2009 edition of Law Practice Today has the theme Suddenly Solo and it is a great collection of articles and links to many online resources. This webzine is an incredible resource for…
New ABA Book: Effectively Staffing Your Law Firm
By Jim Calloway on
"Effectively Staffing Your Law Firm" was just released by the ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division. It addresses an important area of law firm management from the smaller firm perspective. I made a modest contribution to the book with a chapter on "Care and Feeding of the Law Office Staff." You can see the…
Heading off to Oklahoma Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference
By Jim Calloway on
Lawyers from all across Oklahoma are heading out to the Oklahoma Bar's Solo and Small Firm Conference today. It is a great event with lots of fun and great CLE presentations. If you are not able to attend, you can read about the details here and see the complete list of programs (PDF) here.
GPSOLO Mag “Small” Issue is Big Hit
By Jim Calloway on
I meant to mention this earlier. The GPSolo Magazine for April/May 2009 has a theme of "small" and a lot of great material worth reading. From small marketing ideas to small town practice to representing small business, this issue certainly delivers. I deem it a big hit. Of particular note are two features: How the…
Matt Homann’s E-book: Thinking About Law Practice in 140 Characters or Less
By Jim Calloway on
Bob Ambrogi once called Matt Homann the "Confucius of the legal profession."
I've known Matt for several years, so long ago that it was back when his blog, the [non]billable hour, used to discuss alternative billing. I congratulated Bob on that characterization because Matt does provide a lot of information in a form that would fit perfectly if you…