November was a month for Thanksgiving, and here at SPU we are especially thankful for our faculty and students and we saw some great classes added to our more than 550 already! These include:

Recent Classes:

Lesson 5 of Landlord Tenant Law by Kira Fonteneau, Helping Your Client Collect

Mark Merenda interviewed attorney/coach Steve Riley in Marketing for Lawyers

In Entertainment Law Gordon Firemark shared two -  his Entertainment Law Update Podcast- Episode 15 as well as Lesson 14 – Design Your Life, Be Known as the Expert, Commentary on Management Agreements

Elizabeth Granoff posted Lesson 3 in her I’ve Been Grieved. Now What? class -  A complaint was filed against me, now what do I do?

Information Typically Considered by the Financial Forensics Professional was the topic of Lesson 2 of Principles of Financial Forensics by Roman Matatov

Lesson 11 of Trial Techniques was Balance from marathon extraordinaire Greg Yaghmai (

After running a 100-mile race that took him 29 hours and 37 minutes to finish, Birmingham lawyer Greg Yaghmai is still standing.

Yaghmai ran the Third Annual Pinhoti 100 earlier this month in an effort to raise at least $10,000 to help a Hoover girl and her family pay for medical expenses connected to her fight with a form of ovarian cancer. Yaghmai asked supporters to donate at least $10.

As of Wednesday, he’d raised $9,300 for 7-year-old Emily Knerr, who is taking medication to maintain her remission.

A Modern Day David And Goliath Story (Rule 23 In Action) was the latest from Brian Herrington in Class Action Law

Ed Poll covered a variety of topics including Cash Flow Needs, Charging for the Initial Consultation, and Reducing Client Fees Without Discounting Legal Service at LawBiz Management

In the Virtual Law Practice classroom we learn about What’s Going on in the World of Virtual Law Practice? and we get an  Updated Lesson: Marketing a Virtual Law Office from Stephanie Kimbro

Katherine Frye gave us Lesson 3 – Custodial Evaluations in Child Custody: Start to finish…is there an end??

Most Talked About Posts:

Third Year of Law School Should Be Practical. Period.

In a similar topic, Should Law School Come With a Warning Label is a must read post.

The Value of Hard Work is the topic of 3L Jack Whittington’s post in his monthly column ‘Graduating Into A New Economy’.

In her monthly column Debra Bruce discusses Negotiating with Belligerent Opposing Counsel.  This is a topic near and dear to many commenters.

Is Unbundling in Your Future? This post features a lively comment discussion!

The 10% Philosophy – Charity and the Legal Profession gave food for thought.

Spotlight on Students and Their Blogs:

Bruce Cameron has been asked to write a book on rural lawyering!

“I have a new project – converting Rural Lawyer the blog into Rural Lawyer the book. I’m looking for mall town/rural solos at all stages of their careers who are interested in sharing their insights and experiences practicing law in rural America. If you would be interested in adding your input, please contact me.Specifics, progress reports and, in all likelihood, general mutterings about this project will be made available on my blog rurallawyer.com.”

This is Your Life: 25 Things You Can Do Right Now to Reach Your Professional Goal – Rachel Rodgers. Rachel has also become a new columnist for SPU writing about ‘The Adventures of a Gen Y Solo Practitioner’. She has a very engaging style if her fans are any indication!

New question: Games VS Art – Jay Moffitt is serious about Gamer’s Rights!

Welcome to The Gap. The Wealth Gap, That Is. Part 1. – Lurie Daniel Favors has become must reading regarding debt/bankruptcy, the impact on the consumer and how you can avoid the many traps waiting for the unwary.

Guest Lecture

This month’s guest lecture was from Jack Newton of CLIO who discussed Avoiding Malpractice Issues with Effective use of Practice Management Software.

Around Campus

The SPU/MyShingle meetup was a great success - read all about it! Look for more meetups in the coming year.

SPU started the SPU/KIVA group to help empower entrepreneurs around the world. Although not specifically geared towards lawyers (although we actually did find a few!) it is a great program and matches SPU’s mission to empower those who want to help themselves. Our group is open to anyone who wishes to join. You can learn more here.

Our Solo Practice University Co-Op is expanding as we’ve learned our students truly value the additional benefits and discounts they receive from service providers and vendors who have become proud sponsors of Solo Practice University. You can find reduced premium professional liability insurance, practice management software and much more with SPU students getting additional discounts and benefits.  Learn more here.

We have also moved our free guest lectures from our facebook page to  SPU.  You can access them all for free right here 24/7 as well as download them to your MP3 player. So bookmark the page, listen often, tell a friend and continue learning!

Happy Holidays!

P.S.  If you have a lawyer or law student in your life who would benefit from the gift of education at SPU, you can now purchase  SPU gift certificates.  The education is priceless!

P.P.S. – Or ask for one yourself!! Better yet, give yourself a gift and enroll today!