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SPU Classes in February, March, April …and Much More

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:30:46 +0000

April Showers bring May Flowers… that's how the old saying goes. I truly believe this is a “blooming” time for solo practitioners because of all the changes in the economy. There are jewels to be mined. You just have to dig for the opportunities. This past March Solo Practice University celebrated three years of helping solos go solo….and we have only just begun! These are very exciting times. So, what has been going on at SPU?

Recent Classes

Stephanie Kimbro shared some valuable information in her posts: Building the Branch of a Virtual Law Firm and Update on Ethics Rules Impacting Virtual Practice
Jonathan Ginsberg shares great Practice Tips in his classroom – Winning Arguments When Your Client is Impaired by a Stroke and Mental Health Cases.
David Schnurman commences Building Blocks for Successful Entrepreneurship with Lesson 1 – Are you an Entrepreneur?, Lesson 2 – Crafting your Vision and Lesson 3 – Building Your Brand.
In the Labor Law classroom Michael Brown gave us Lesson 9 – Setting Up an Employee Rights Practice (Part 2) in his in-depth Employment Law course.
Entertainment Law Update Podcast 29 can now be seen in the Entertainment Classroom from Gordon Firemark as well as Entertainment Law Update Podcast 30.
Marc Garfinkle rolls out Class 5 Bail Hearing and Class 6 – Representing a Criminal Defendant in Court in the Criminal Law 101 Classroom
Gene Goodsell introduced his International Sports Law Course with Class 1 – What Is International Sports Law and followed up with Class 2 – Gambling with Sports.
The new class from Richard Maseles keeps providing great information in Real World Legal Research: New Chapter (Finally) Regulations.
In the Everything Google classom with Martha Sperry, she engages us with Lesson 4 – Intro To Google Documents & The Documents Word Processor and Lesson 5- Google Spreadsheets and Presentations. Google is free and simply awesome!
Susan Cartier Liebel continues How to Hang A Shingle Right Out of Law School…or Shortly Thereafter with her Lesson 9 – Business Plans (Part 2).
Chris Hill has shared two classes: Class 25 – Wrap Up & Preview and Class 26 – Why You Should Help Make Legislative Sausage in his popular Construction Law course.
Gerry Oginski's latest in Creating Online Videos for Lawyers is his newest release 90% of Online Content Will Soon Be Video.
Celeste H.G. Boyd returns to the Footloose and Fancy-Freelancing: Lawyering on your own terms Classroom with her latest her Lesson # 3 - Part 1 – Networking and Part 2 – Marketing.
In the Unemployment Appeals classroom we have a Lesson 6 – Fighting With Honor – UI Appeal Hearing Board Review – Tactics & Style, Lesson 7 – Getting Paid for Your Work followed by Lesson 8 – Starting and Building a UI Appeals Practice by Bruce Godfrey
Deborah Gonzalez continues her Social Media and the Law classroom with Lesson 4 – Employee Mishaps & Policies, Lesson 5 – Badvocacy, and Lesson 6 - Intellectual Property.
Greg Yaghmai updates his Trial Techniques Classroom with his latest Lesson 14 – The Fit Lawyer and Lesson 15 – Closing Arguments
In Introduction to Immigration Law Lessons 1, 2, and 3, Vonda Vandaveer delves into – Big Picture: Immigration, Non-Immigration, & Tourist Visas, Nonimmigrant Visas (Part II), and H-1B Temporary Work Visa.
Allison Wood kicked off Legal Ethics with Lesson 1 – Managing the Attorney-Client Relationship.
Brian Herrington discusses What's Wrong With Walmart in his Class Actions course as well as The Proffer of Proof: This is How We Will Try The Case.
What Are You Willing To Suck At? is the question Mark Merenda asks in Lesson 14 in his Smart Marketing Course
Trippe Fried addresses an interesting approach in his Business Law Class – Employment Law & Military Strategy

New Faculty Announcements, Guest Bloggers & Guest Lectures

New Faculty:

Anne-Marie Rábago joined SPU. Anne-Marie is a tax attorney in San Diego. She will teach the course, "Introduction to Taxes for the Solo/Small Firm Attorney" at Solo Practice University®. This is a course which we believe every solo practitioner should take!
"Building Blocks for Successful Entrepreneurship" will be taught at Solo Practice University® by David Schnurman . David will share his passion for being an entrepreneur and the mindset solo practitioner's require to succeed.
Allison Wood has joined SPU. Allison partners with solos and firms to provide ethics counsel. She will teach "Legal Ethics" at SPU.

Columnists & Guest Bloggers

Annie Tunheim, a savvy solo, wrote about her newly transplanted life in Australia in A Solo (A)Broad – Three Months into My Journey.
Suzanne Meehle’s column on flat fee billing, Are You On Your Client’s Side sparks a passionate debate. It also raises a lot of questions on exactly how she sets her fees. So she followed it up with Are You On Your Client's Side (Part 2) and tells you how she does it.
What Clients Want by Debra Bruce introduces while clients have many differences, there are a few things that almost all clients want, providing some tips on how to give them what they want.
Robert W. Minto, Jr. writes passionately about Retirement and the Solo Practice – A Gold Mine for a Young Lawyer. Bob Minto discusses says lawyers should take advantage of the old adage "old lawyers never die they just lose their appeal." But older lawyers are a new lawyer's best friend.
When Lawyer Meets iPad It’s Good Lawyering is the latest column by Rush Nigut. His column educates the solo on how to utilize the many capabilities of the iPad. More importantly is the unwritten implications, not using the latest technology can be the difference between winning and losing your case, keeping or losing clients. What conclusions do you draw?
Douglas Greenberg discusses how legal insurance referrals offer another source of revenue, a reliable albeit moderate one for the budding Solo in Generating Business Through Legal Insurance Referral Programs
ReZooming – The Tortoise and the Hare is Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton's lastest installment of "The Rezooming Attorney". It is an interesting choice. A worthy read, whether you’re newly minted, ReZooming or already a savvy Solo.

If you are interested in becoming faculty or guest posting, or contributing as a monthly columnist, please e-mail susan (at) solopracticeuniversity.com.

Faculty News and Accomplishments

Stephanie Kimbro is going to be speaking at Stanford Law School, sponsored by CodeX on May 2: She also just had her new book ' Limited Scope Legal Services' released. You can check it out as it is located under SPU’s Co-Op. The book is "must reading" for solo practitioners who want to expand the reach of their legal services to serve an expanding latent market for legal services plus provide innovative and responsive legal services to existing clients
Recently, Virginia Business Magazine announced its 2011 Legal Elite. The magazine received 1,483 completed ballots nominating nearly 3,900 lawyers. Of that number roughly 20 percent, made the cut for the Legal Elite. That being said, Christopher Hill was announced by his peers in Virginia as Legal Elite in the Construction category. Chris has been given this honor for the past 5 years!
ReZooming columnist Deborah Vey Voda-Hamilton was featured in the Wall Street Journal discussing mediation of pet disputes, her ReZoomed practice area. Congratulations to all!!

Best of the Season Blog Posts

SPU Keeps Growing

Our Bridges Program is expanding steadily! You will see more ‘public’ announcements soon as we grow our strategic partnerships with forward thinking law schools who recognize Solo Practice University® is an excellent resource for their law students and alumni who are or will be going solo.

Where's Susan?

Susan just spoke at University of Georgia Law School in March having the opportunity to meet up with two faculty members, Jonathan Ginsberg and Deborah Gonzalez, as well as a group of passionate law students who discussed the challenges they face graduating into this economy. The SPU Meetup was a blast.

If you're going to be in Orlando May 18th attending the Barry University School of Law 'How to Hang A Shingle' day long CLE, let me know so you can connect. She will be teaching her favorite topic, once again – How to Hang A Shingle! And, of course, there will be an SPU Meetup that evening. Details to follow.

Testimonials

"I'm so happy I joined! I can't get enough of the lectures that I've listened to so far. The information has been so much more relevant to my immediate needs than anything I've learned at traditional CLEs or in law school. I've always wanted to work for myself. Thank you for showing me the way." – Josh Kesselman.

Ready to Enroll?

Don't need CLE? Want a monthly tuition less than your cell phone bill? Check out our new monthly program. Stay just for the classes you need…or as long as you like. Tuition is never more than $45 per month after the first month. Check out our Tuition Prices, pick your plan and get started!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Should You Charge For An Initial Consult?

Susan Cartier Liebel — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:30:51 +0000

This is a very common question a new lawyer asks. The thought process goes something like this:

1. I want to get the (any) client in the door.

2. Everyone else gives a free initial consultation, I think?.

3. I'm too afraid to charge for a consultation because the potential client won't come in.

4. But my time is money.

5. So, how much should I charge?

6. No, I shouldn't charge for the consultation.

The dilemma is obvious. You want to get the potential client in the door but you also don't want to give your time away.

In my opinion, it all turns on where you are in the growth curve of your overall professional life and legal career. Notice, I said, "legal career" not growth curve of your solo practice.

These are my opinions based upon my experience and others but they present a smorgasbord of options from which you can choose. Or please debate or add to the list.

As a new solo your goal is to get as many potential clients in the door as possible so you can practice your client interviewing skills as well as actually having the opportunity to have clients hire you. Initially, you will not generally have many clients (unless you are a seasoned lawyer with hip-pocket business and are going solo). The real value and benefit in this approach when you first open your doors is not so much the exchange of dollars for time, but the opportunity to get clients into your office. Period.

You want as many chances as possible to practice these interviewing skills, polish your dialogue and get comfortable with discussing fees and collecting fees/retainers. You also want to develop your radar for the unwanted clients, those clients who will drain your time, resources and your very soul. You are also giving yourself an opportunity to canvas clients to find out how they heard about you, what they have heard about you and more importantly, are the clients who are coming to you the type of clients you want to service. This is the marketing aspect of the interviewing process which you need to perfect.

As a practicing solo developing your areas of concentration, depending upon the areas of law you are practicing, you may want to charge a consultation fee because;

1) as your knowledge grows, (or in your previous life you have twenty years of other professional experience) your 30 or 60 minutes with a client can be worth more than an inexperienced lawyer's three hours. You impart more experiential value.

2) Sometimes potential clients are consulting with you to eliminate you as the lawyer for the opposing party because your reputation precedes you. If you get eliminated without collecting money for your time it can be costly not to bill for the consultation. (For example, if you only represent men in the dissolution process, would you ever want to meet with a woman if they are just trying to conflict you out? Why take $250 and be bumped out of a $15,000 retainer?)

If you are now at a stage in your life where you are skilled in screening clients on the telephone and you have other options with your time, including billing out on another matter or a day at the beach with your child, you are at the stage where you can establish a real calculable 'value' for your time and should consider charging for that initial consultation.

If you are at this point, you should consider using a different marketing tool. Charge for your time with a catch. If you are hired, the fee collected for the consultation is used against the intial retainer or flat fee. Some will charge one hour at their normal hourly rate regardless of the actual length of the consultation so the client doesn't feel rushed. Others will charge hour for hour. Again, it is a personal choice. Potential clients now feel more invested in you with this leveraging tactic against the retainer.

Experienced solos with major reputations in their practice areas (except in contingency areas) generally will charge a fixed consultation fee for the consultation. The consultation fee is never leveraged against the retainer. These lawyers know the value of their knowledge and time and, most often, so does the client. These lawyers are not worried that another lawyer is doing free consultations.

Fees for initial consultations, in my opinion, turn on experience, marketing strategy, and the norm for the practice area. If you have a unique take on this common quandry, please share .

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Solo Practice University Turns 3!

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:30:30 +0000

It's the offical first day of Spring, 2012! Three years ago today on the first day of Spring 2009 Solo Practice University® opened it's virtual doors. Since then we have helped almost 1,000 enrollees create and grow their own solo/small firm practices.

Visually, as we've grown we've gone through many incarnations. Yet our mission has been unwavering: to cost-effectively provide education, mentorship, and networking opportunities for new (and not so new) lawyers, three of the greatest challenges for those who wish to go solo/small firm.

Solo Practice University's modest tuition pays for running the platform and now pays for our faculty to teach their great courses. Paying faculty for their investment of time and experience has been an important goal of ours since day one. And it is a goal we are thrilled to finally achieve. But most importantly, for those who have used Solo Practice University to its fullest, and based upon your feedback, the education and opportunities provided have proven priceless. For those who are thinking of going solo, we hope to meet you soon 'on the inside'.

So, as we share our special milestone, thank you everyone for helping us to to get here and continue to grow into the future!

Enjoy a visual trip down our memory lane.

Holding Page Before Launch

January 2010

June 2010

June 2010 (logged in)

January 2011

Right Now

The Future?

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

SPU Meetup in Georgia Saturday March 3rd

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:17:23 +0000

On Saturday, March 3rd I am going to be moderating a panel on going solo at WIPI (Working in the Public Interest) Conference being held at the University of Georgia Law School in Athens, Georgia. My session is co-hosted by the Black Law Students Association and runs from 1:30 – 3:00. (If you're interested in attending it is extremely reasonable – law students of any institution are free; $10 for community members; $30 for lawyers.)

Whenever I speak I always host an SPU meetup! This time you may meet some of our southern faculty, Deborah Gonzalez and Jonathan Ginsburg, who teach Social Media Law and Social Security and Disability Law respectively as they both live and work in the Atlanta area.

This meetup will take place at 5 p.m. near The Foundry Hotel. at The Winery. If you have any suggestions, I'm certainly open to it! I've never been to Athens so suggest away. I will post the final meeting place this week so check back!

As always, first round of drinks are on SPU! And you need not be enrolled at SPU. If you're a lawyer, law student, or just interested in SPU, join us. Bring a friend. It's all good. Hope to see you then!

If you are interested in saying 'hi', let me know in the comments and/or e-mail: susan (at) solopracticeuniversity.com.

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

SPU Classes in November, December, January …and Much More

Susan Cartier Liebel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:30:03 +0000

I can hardly believe it’s already February. What a great start to 2012 it’s been. Besides the fact the weather has been unseasonably warm in New England, we are pleased to say our SPU faculty members continue to produce outstanding classes:

Recent Classes

Stephanie Kimbro shared some valuable information in her post: Update on Ethics Rules Impacting Virtual Practice.
Daniel Gershburg made available his newest classes: Marketing a Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure and Practice Advice.
Jonathan Ginsberg shares a couple of great Practice Tips in his classroom – Using Social Security’s Forms to Prepare Your Direct Examination.
Fraudulent Financial Reporting by Roman Matatov is another classes in his course.
Michael Brown has Lesson 7 – Case Feasibility of an Employee Rights Matter and Lesson 8 – Setting Up an Employee Rights Practice in his in-depth Employment Law course.
Entertainment Law Update Podcast 25 can now be seen in the Entertainment Classroom from Gordon Firemark.
Marc Garfinkle rolls out Criminal Law 101 with Class 1 – Developing a Criminal Clientele, Class 2 – The Initial Client Interview and Class 3 – Jailhouse Visits.
Gene Goodsell kicks off International Sports Law with Class 1 – What Is International Sports Law?
Richard Maseles keeps providing great information in Real World Legal Research: Face the Rule, and New Chapter (Finally) Case Law.
If you've wanted to learn how Google can help our practice check out Lesson 1 – Introduction to Google and Lesson 2 – Everything Gmail which is now available with Martha Sperry
Susan Cartier Liebel continues How to Hang A Shingle Right Out of Law School…or Shortly Thereafter with her Lesson 8 – Business Plans (Part 1)
Chris Hill has shared Classes 23, 24 and 25, Use Your Solo Status to Your Advantage, The Necessity of Written Change Orders and A Wrap Up and Preview in his popular Construction Law course.
Gerry Oginski’s latest in Creating Online Videos for Lawyers. Also find out about The Most Powerful Testimonial Formula Ever.
Lesson 4 – Getting Started with WordPress, Lesson 5 – Maintaining Your WordPress Site, and Lesson 6 – Customizing Your WordPress Site by David Carson
Celeste H.G. Boyd returns with here latest Lesson # 2 – The Ethics of Freelancing.
Rochelle Richardson gives us Lesson 2 – Establishing Service Connection for PTSD and Other Psychological Disabilities and Lesson 3 – Navigating the VA Claims Process in the Introduction to Veterans Law classroom.
In the Unemployment Appeals classroom – Lesson 3, Unemployment Procedure from Claim to Judicial Review, Lesson 4 – Disqualifications for Misconduct , and Lesson 5 – Voluntary Quit and "Able and Available" by Bruce Godfrey
Want to understand Social Media and the Law? Deborah Gonzalez kicks off her Social Media and the Law classroom with Lesson 1 – Overview of Social Media & the Law, Lesson 2 – E-Professionalism, and Lesson 3 – Privacy and Ethics
Greg Yaghami updates his classroom Trial Techniques with Lesson 14 – The Fit Lawyer.
In Landlord Tenant Law Lesson 10 Kira Founteneau delves into The Proper Care and Feeding of Tenants

New Faculty Announcements, Guest Bloggers & Guest Lectures

Martha Sperry Joined SPU and will teach Everything Google – Using Free & Cheap Tools To Ease Your Workload And Budget
Gene Goodsell will teach on the very hot topic of International Sports Law.
Douglas Greenberg joined SPU as a columnist discussing his experiences going solo. There are already eight columns filled with great info.
Rush Nigut has joined as our new columnist discussing Business Law & Tech. Learn about the best advice he ever received as a lawyer in his inaugural column.
Rania Combs, Annie Tunheim, Roy Ginsburg, and Micheal Whelan provided excellent guest blog posts ranging from their adventures as savvy solos to lessons on networking.
Jared Correia gave a phenomenal guest lecture answering new solos frequently asked questions. It's a must listen if you are new to practice (and not so new!)
Omar Ha-Redeye , also a Savvy Solo, gave a riveting guest lecture on GIS – Geographic Information Services. Seriously, you need to listen to this area of law which affects all of us!

If you are interested in becoming faculty or guest posting, please e-mail susan@solopracticeuniversity.com

Faculty News and Accomplishments

First, we want to congratulate Stephanie Kimbro, as she celebrates her 7th year of practicing law virtually. She lives what she teaches. Very Impressive Stephanie!
Recently, Virginia Business Magazine announced its 2011 Legal Elite. The magazine received 1,483 completed ballots nominating nearly 3,900 lawyers. Of that number roughly 20 percent, made the cut for the Legal Elite. That being said, Christopher Hill was announced by his peers in Virginia as Legal Elite in the Construction category. Chris has been given this honor for the past 5 years!
Then back in December, Toby Bloomberg who teaches Social Media at SPU, was awarded the “Social Media Leader” award by the Atlanta Women in Social Media. Wonderful news, Toby!
One of our founding sponsors, Clio, announced a $6 million Series B financing for its cloud-based legal services package. The company principals Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau made the announcement at the opening of the ALM LegalTech conference and trade show. These funds will enable Clio to implement their vision of moving many more solos into the cloud with their excellent practice management services.
Solo Practice University was featured on Forbes.com in an article called 'Occupy Solo Practice University'. Check it out. I also had an opportunity to contribute to Forbes.com in an article touting the virtues of virtual practice and women who have used this technology to their advantage in Women Lawyers Without Borders Rock Legal Practice.

Best of the Season Blog Posts

SPU Keeps Growing

Our Bridges Program is expanding steadily! Chapman University and UALR Bowen School of Law have just recently brought our program to their current students and alumni. You will see more ‘public’ announcements soon as we grow our strategic partnerships with forward thinking law schools who recognize Solo Practice University® is an excellent resource for their law students and alumni who are or will be going solo.

Where's Susan?

If you're going to be in Athens, Georgia on March 3rd participating in the WIPI (7th Annual Working In the Public Interest Conference) sponsored by the University of Georgia Law School, let me know. I will be moderating a panel on, you guessed it, going solo.

Or, if you are going to be in Orlando May 18th attending the Barry University School of Law 'How to Hang A Shingle' day long CLE, let me know so we can connect. I will be teaching on my favorite topic, once again.

Law Without Walls

I have also been very privileged to be invited to participate as an Entrepreneur Mentor in the Law Without Walls Program created by the incredible team of Michele DeStefano and Michael Bossone out of the University of Miami School of Law.

LawWithoutWalls is a part-virtual, collaborative academic model, created by Michele DeStefano and Michael Bossone at the University of Miami School of Law, that brings together students, faculty, practitioners, business professionals, and entrepreneurs from around the country and the world to innovate legal education and practice. It is motivated by a desire to help those engaged in the education and practice of law to realize the impact our changing world is having upon our shared legal enterprise and to embrace that change to create a resonant, efficient, and sustainable future. Our goal is to jointly develop creative solutions to real problems in the way law is taught and practiced.

You can learn more about the program here as well as see who the 'players' are. It's innovative legal education at its finest.

SPU Classes Can Now Be Enjoyed on Your iPad and iPhone!

Ready to Enroll?

Don't need CLE? Want a monthly tuition less than your cell phone bill? Check out our new Solo For Life program. Stay just for the classes you need…or as long as you like. Tuition is never more than $45 per month after the first month. Check out our Tuition Prices, pick your plan and get started!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Meet Us in Boston Tonight – November 30th!

Susan Cartier Liebel — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:48:13 +0000

I know this was a little late. However, I will be presenting at the FirmFuture conference tomorrow at the Boston Copley Marriott. And tonight there is an SPU meetup at the Lennox Hotel from 6 – 8 if you happen to be in the Boston area and free. Also in attendance will be faculty members Jay Shepherd and Martha Sperry, as well as Ed Wiest, Gabriel Cheong and others. Please stop by and say hello if you can. We'd love to meet you!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

SPU Classes in August, September, October…and Much More!

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:30:20 +0000

The summer flew by and we barely had a fall before we got walloped with the Great Snow Storm of October, 2011! Hopefully you have power back on so you can read about all the great happenings at SPU!

Recent Classes

Stephanie Kimbro shared a Podcast: Updates in Virtual Law Practice, as well as new classes on How to Create a Virtual Law Practice and Online Branded Networks – Compete or Collaborate?
Lessons 3 and 4 of Bankruptcy Law by Daniel Gershburg are available: Bankruptcy Law and Exemptions Post January, 2011
Jonathan Ginsberg shares a couple of great Practice Tips in his classroom – Using VA Records in a Social Security Disability Claim, How Do Work Attempts Impact Your Client’s Social Security Disability Application?
Catch up on Principles of Financial Forensics with Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 – Financial Analysis, Parts 1 and 2 by Roman Matatov
D. Todd Smith discusses Preparing to Cut the Umbilical Cord
In the Labor Law classroom Michael Brown has Lesson 5 – Caller Intake and Lesson 6 – Case Evaluation
Entertainment Law Update Podcast 23 and 24 can now be obtained in the Entertainment Classroom. And don't miss Monkeying Around with Copyright Law all from Gordon Firemark.
Marc Garfinkle kicks of Criminal Law 101 with The Criminal Practice.
Ed Poll has Tips for Increased Revenue, Preference is Perishable and Collecting Your Fee Begins At the Intake
New classes from Richard Maseles in Real World Legal Research: Economics of Legal Research; Where do you look when you (think you have) run out of places to look? and Statutes.
Keep improving your Storytelling Skills with Organize the Story and Dramatize the Story – Delivery Elements from Diane F. Wyzga
Lots of ground was covered in the How to Hang a Shingle classroom from Susan Cartier Liebel including Lesson 5 – Location (Part 3), Lesson 6 – Don’t Write A Mission Statement. Be On A Mission! and Lesson 7 – To Partner or Not to Partner. That Is the Question!
In Child Custody Start to Finish with Lesson 8 Katherine Frye delves into Post Trial Work.
Chris Hill has shared Classes 21 and 22, Miller Act Claim Increases and Mechanic’s Lien Practicalities
To learn How to Maximize the Chance Your Video is Watched catch Gerry Oginski's latest in Creating Online Videos for Lawyers. Also find out How to Use a Watch Ad for Your Video Marketing.
Continue learning the basics behind the scenes of your blog with Lesson 2 – Basic HTML by David Carson; Lesson 3 – Styling HTML with CSS
So You Wanna Be a Freelancer? asks Celeste H.G. Boyd in the premiere of Footloose and Fancy Freelancing.
Rochelle Richardson gives us the very first class, Overview of Veterans Law, in the Introduction to Veterans Law classroom.
Another Lesson 1, this time in the Unemployment Appeals classroom – 2011 Unemployment Overview for Solos and Lesson 2 – The Law of UI Benefits, Eligibility and Disqualifications by Bruce Godfrey
Trippe Fried discusses Employer/Employee Relations in Business Law

New Faculty Announcements and Guest Bloggers

Bruce Godfrey joined SPU is presenting a class entitled Unemployment Appeals, Law, Practice and Procedure
Celeste Boyd will teach on the very hot topic of Freelance Lawyering.
Another red hot practice area – Introduction to Veteran's Law – will be taught by new faculty member Rochelle Richardson.
It just keeps getting hotter! Want to understand Social Media and the Law? Learn with Deborah Gonzalez our newest faculty member.
Erin McClarty guest posted about the value of pro bono work in building your law practice.

If you are interested in becoming faculty or guest posting, please e-mail susan (at) solopracticeuniversity.com

Faculty News and Accomplishments

Daniel Gershburg is proud to participate in a great initiative teaching financial literacy to kids.
Marc Garfinkle shared with us recently that the Colorado Bar Association has agreed to publish their own version of his book, ”Solo Contendere: How to Go Directly from Law School into the Practice of Law Without Getting a Job.” Missouri and Ohio already publish special versions. On February 22-26, 2012, Marc will watch the Iditerod as the guest of the Alaska Bar while doing two programs in Anchorage. Busy guy!!
If you are a great adventure enthusiast, Deborah Gonzalez will be leading an amazing Legal Leadership Bootcamp to Antarctica in December of 2012. If you are interested, let Susan know: susan (at) solopracticeuniversity.com
Gordon Firemark shares a great video to help aspiring producers: Learn how to produce plays and musicals without going crazy
Susan Cartier Liebel participated in a discussion at LOMAP about Global Economics & Your Law Practice. Susan will also be speaking at the Firm Future Conference on December 1, 2011. If you're in town, join her!

Best of the Season Blog Posts

SPU Keeps Growing

Our Bridges Program is expanding steadily! You will see more 'public' announcements soon about our strategic partnerships with forward thinking law schools who recognize Solo Practice University® is an excellent resource for their law students and alumni who are or will be going solo.

SPU Classes Can Now Be Viewed on Your iPad and iPhone!

Ready to Enroll?

Check out our Tuition Prices, pick your plan and get started!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Think Like A Lawyer. Speak Like a Fish.

Lurie Daniel-Favors — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:30:10 +0000

“Think like a lawyer.” This phrase is pounded into our heads during three years of legal education like no other. In fact, so much emphasis is based on acquiring this skill set, that we spend the first few months of law school seemingly learning a new language. When we observe classmates suffer through formulating their responses in exactly the right way, we learn that just being right is not enough. You have to be right and you have to be able to phrase the right response in a lawyerly way. Otherwise, you might end up on the receiving end of a probing Civil Procedure professor’s seemingly unending list of questions on something like the Erie doctrine.

When we enter the profession, this phrase, “think like a lawyer” is repeated ad nauseum by colleagues and co-workers. We spend so much time learning to think like a lawyer that it is easy to forget that lawyers do not think like other people. In fact, lawyers tend to think in ways that non-lawyers may find confusing – if not down right obnoxious. What’s worse is when our highly lawyerly thoughts take over our voice and come out in the way that we speak.

I have yet to find anyone who actually likes to listen to “lawyer speak.” But if you spend all of your early years in the profession learning to think and talk like a lawyer – it can be very easy to lose your own voice.

You know what voice I’m talking about. It’s the voice your clients use when they call and ask for advice. It’s the voice your friends and family members may use when they pick your brain for legal tidbits. It’s very likely the same voice that you used before you bought wholesale into the “think like a lawyer, speak like a lawyer” mandate.

The challenge with learning to think and speak like a lawyer is that it can alienate you from the very people you want to serve.

I learned this first hand when it came to designing my website. My first website was a “think like a lawyers” dream. It was full of legalease, accolades and footnotes that I thought would make me more appealing to my audience. And if my audience were judges for a moot court competition – then I would have had no problems whatsoever.

But that was not my audience. My audience was full of working class people who needed to talk to someone who was able to speak in a voice to which they could relate. My audience did not have time to check my cross references and confirm the accuracy of my citations. They needed answers in plain English.

I knew this intuitively, but when it came to my website – I was pulled in two directions. On the one hand I wanted to attract clients. But on the other hand, I was concerned with how other lawyers would see me if my website did not use legalease. In a profession that is highly image driven, I was concerned with what other lawyers would think if I did not demonstrate my “think like a lawyer” skills on my website.

Classic rookie mistake.

When we spend our formative years in the profession surrounded by other attorneys in the making, we want to seem…well…lawyerly. For people who are caught up in thinking like a lawyer, using legalease is a surefire way to pull off the “I’m a lawyer” presentation.

We don’t often realize that there is a subtle hierarchy at play when we learn to “think” like a lawyer. We tend to place a higher value on that skill than on our ability to translate those thoughts into a communication style that works for our clients. Typically when I speak with other lawyers about this issue, they think I am advocating for “dumbing down” the conversation. They miss the point.

Thinking like a lawyer is important. But speaking like a human is key to your ability to attract and keep the type of clients that you want. Instead, focus on the words your clients use to describe their issues. Take note of the phrases and lexicon so that you can begin incorporating them into your own voice. When clients (or prospective clients) call with a question – write down the way they phrased it so that you can use similar phrases in the future.

When you write a blog article – remember who you are writing for and include those phrases and terminology in your article. Try to describe legal concepts in a way that might infuriate your Civ Pro professor – but that would make your parents proud.

I recently heard the phrase that in order to get good clients then you have to “fish where the fish are.” That may be true – but the end of the day – if your clients speak fish, then being where they are is just the first step. Growing and keeping a successful practice will also require that you to learn to speak fish.

Written by Lurie Daniel-Favors

Faculty Announcement – Bruce Godfrey

Susan Cartier Liebel — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:30:29 +0000

Bruce Godfrey will teach the course "Unemployment Appeals – Law, Practice and Procedure" at Solo Practice University®.

Bruce Godfrey practices in unemployment benefits litigation, wage and hour claims and traffic and criminal defense throughout Maryland’s metropolitan core. His practice has become recognized as one of the leading unemployment litigation firms in Maryland through its innovative online marketing and informational outreach techniques. Bruce has been practicing law in Maryland since December 1994.

His practice has adopted a “human-centered law practice” mission that governs the firm’s areas of concentration, client selection policies and office practices while using current technology to stay even with, and advance ahead of, larger opponents with greater financial means than his individual worker clients.

Bruce is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and of Princeton University. He lives and practices in Owings Mills, Maryland and is the father of two boys, Sam and Noah. Bruce is a die-hard Ravens fan and remembers the Orioles of his youth with wistful fondness.

You can follow Bruce's blog here.

Syllabus

Unemployment Appeals – Law, Practice and Procedure

Basic Overview of Unemployment Law Environment
Eligibility and Disqualifications
UI Procedure
Gross Misconduct
Voluntary Quit
Hearing and Appellate Tactics
Getting Paid – Ethically
Starting a UI Practice
Optimizing a UI Practice
State by State Comparative View
UI: The Big Picture for the Solo Attorney

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

SPU Classes Can Now Be Viewed on Your iPad and iPhone

Susan Cartier Liebel — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:30:50 +0000

Enjoy SPU Classes on your iPad and iPhone.

The vast majority of video and audio lessons at Solo Practice University® are now available to students using iPhones and iPads.

Two weeks ago, we quietly rolled out a new video player that detects the playback capabilities of each student and serves the most appropriate video player based on those capabilities. That means if you're using a device or browser that doesn't support Adobe® Flash®, including the iPhone or iPad, the video will instead be served up using an HTML5 player and controls.

Even if you're not using an iPhone or iPad, you should notice faster video load times and enhanced playback when skipping ahead in the video player timeline.

While there are still a few older video and audio files that are in the process of being converted to the new format, we expect to have those last few files converted within the next couple weeks.

If you're not already enrolled at Solo Practice University® and want to take this new technology for a test drive, you can preview the new video playback using the sample videos on our about page.

What's next? We're working on a new and improved interface that focuses on simplicity, fast loading, and device responsiveness. Stay tuned!

Written by Susan Cartier Liebel