As I got ready for work this morning, I found myself enumerating the things I absolutely MUST get done before Friday: Revise contracts for Clients A and B; Client C’s corporate documents are way past due; Client D’s  trial brief has been overlooked for far too long; Get the process server to serve the summons […]

A while back, I wrote about how to handle downtime in your firm. Well, today, I’m going to write about the flip side of downtime: what to do when you are so busy you can’t even take a bathroom break, much less lunch; so busy you can’t hang up from one call before the phone […]

We all remember the lecture from the Professional Responsibility class we were required to take in law school: ALWAYS use a written fee agreement! In addition to the obvious – a well-drafted fee agreement helps you avoid a bar complaint later on – putting your terms and conditions in writing is just common sense. Yes, […]

I am blessed to have a couple of law firms as clients. These are, by and large, lawyers that do not specialize in business law (as I do) or maybe really didn’t know much about running a business when they hung a shingle. I say I am “blessed” because lawyers make really wonderful clients. They […]

I’ve talked a lot on this blog about the differences between BigLaw and Solo. What I haven’t spent enough time on is what it took to make the transition from BigLaw to Solo. How exactly did I make the leap? First and foremost, I got fed up. Yes indeed. I had to hate being a […]

One year ago, in December 2010, I hung out my shingle as a solo. I thought I would look back on that year and the lessons that I learned. First and foremost, I learned that I can do this! When I initially left Big Law, I was convinced that I needed a partner, that I […]

We’ve all heard the jokes: Q: What is black and brown and looks good on a lawyer?  A: A doberman. A client who felt his legal bill was too high asked his lawyer to itemize costs. The statement included this item: ”Was walking down the street and saw you on the other side. Walked to the […]

These days, it doesn’t pay to take whatever work walks in the door. Jacks of all legal trades find themselves masters of none. Clients need *specialists* (not being used in the ‘not allowed’ designation unless you are certified as a specialist) who know their niches very well. They come to you with a problem that […]

On my SPU Small Business Law blog a while back, I discussed the Seven-to-Nine-Rule, which goes like this: during normal, day-to-day living, we can successfully juggle seven to nine things. Those “things” include the following: career, health & hygiene, marriage, family, social life, hobbies, volunteer work, etc. But, according to the Rule, when one of […]

Hanging on the wall in my office, right by the door so I see it every single day, is the Florida Bar Oath of Attorney: “I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida; “I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers; […]