by David Carson
Mini-Communities at Solo Practice University™
September 16, 2008 in Announcements by David Carson
Professional growth is limitless when you connect with others. We make connecting easy.
One of the features at Solo Practice University™ that we are the most excited about is Groups. As we’ve said before, Solo Practice University™ will be an educational community where lawyers and law students can share information and ideas.
But all of that information needs to be organized.
Groups, or mini-communities as we like to call them, will aggregate all of the content generated by faculty and students.
Anyone can create a public or private group. For example, we created a group for our alpha-testers (screenshot below).
Once a group is created, the group administrator can send out invites or allow others to join on their own.
And Groups will have another really cool feature. Let’s say you create a group called ‘Solos in Seattle.’ Instead of you having to specifically upload relevant text, audio, video or photos into the group from your blog, you or a group member can ‘tag’ the content with a unique group tag like ‘SinS‘ (Solos in Seattle) and it will be either accepted or rejected by you as the administrator and then posted on the ‘Solos in Seattle’ overview page.
Each group will have its own forum, too, where group members can post questions, answers or anything really.
The Groups feature will also be a great way to connect with like-minded individuals. We’ll leave it up to our students and faculty to decide, but we imagine groups being created based upon geography, practice areas, law schools, hobbies, and interests. It’s about connectivity with a common thread. The possibilities are endless.
And on your personal profile page, you will have a button called ‘Groups’ that provides one-click access to your select groups. It couldn’t be easier.
The bottom line – Solo Practice University™ will provide a highly focused, organized, and very easy way for you to make friends, network, and build relationships that can positively impact your personal and professional futures.
Can you tell we’re excited?
In case you see even the slightest resemblance between Dave and the geek in the photo used for our Alpha Testers @ SPU Group…it’s not him. Dave doesn’t cook.
I am looking forward to “going back to school!”
I am hoping there will be a group related to attorneys practicing labor and employment law and faculty expert in same.
Looking forward to it!
Mary Ann,
Welcome to Solo Practice University and thanks for commenting.
There absolutely will be faculty teaching labor and employment law. And the beauty of the mini-groups is you will be able to create a group on the topic if you wish, or create one for the community, state or region of country where you live, or someone else may create the group and you can join.
Having laser-focused mini-communities at SPU will make your time spent learning and networking that much more valuable as you grow in your practice. If we are sticking with the law school theme, think of them as mini-study groups – learn in class then discuss in your study group!
Looking forward to you enrolling
I look forward to participating in mini groups on family law and marketing. I have practiced for a long time, but I enjoy learning new approaches to making my practice more successful for me and productive for clients.
Dick – you’ve expressed a very common and serious need by solos that we’ve recognized – focused groups on specific topics but all within one much larger educational environment. By providing mini-communities at SPU; being able to pick and choose where you spend your time and who you spend your time with will make a huge difference to you and your practice.
Will there be faculty and mini-groups directed to intellectual property practice. In particular, writing and prosecuting patents through the Patent Office. I have been a solo writing patents for some time, but would like to increase my client base.
James, We have two IP lawyers on board. The recent one announced is Brett Trout http://solopracticeuniversity.com/faculty/ and he has an extensive practice prosecuting patents. I fully expect there to be mini-communities on the topic and the faculty to be fully involved!!!
Will there be a group for estate planning & elder law? Specifically Medicaid Planning & VA Benefits Planning? What about Personal Bankruptcy?
@Scott – Welcome to SPU! Yes, we are bringing in a 30 year distinguished veteran in the Estate Planning arena. And, there will be a mini-community for this practice area, too. All practice areas will have mini-communities.
Hoping you will join them as a valued contributor.
I would like to create a group for solos in Michigan. How do I do that?
Also, will you be encouraging a group to form on appellate practice as a specialty. Thanks!
@Patrick Rose, Hi, Patrick.
To create a group, you must first enroll (link to enroll).
Once you’re enrolled, you can create a group in seconds.
In fact, there is already a group inside for solo lawyers and law students from Michigan!
And there is already a course called “Appellate Practice and Procedure” taught by D. Todd Smith. There is a study group for that course, too. View public course listing.
Let us know if you have other questions.
Hi, Dave. I ran across your new endeavor via a link on the ABA site. Mary tried to explain it to me in February, but now I’ve seen for myself. Very impressive. Best wishes for success.
Thanks, Otto. Believe it or not, we already have six students and alumni from Cooley here at SPU.