Will Your Law School Loans Be Cancelled?

They made misleading claims about how many of their students were likely to find a job, obscuring the grim reality of how few get employment in their field. They buried their graduates in piles of debt they could not reasonably repay, and admitted unqualified students in pursuit of tuition revenue. They often failed to educate their students well enough to pass the tests required to land a job. And the watchdog that oversees them is facing sanctions from the Education Department.

This might sound very much like the scandal-ridden world of for-profit colleges. But since the recession, it has also become an accurate way to describe some American law schools. So, will the government step in and cancel your student loans?

When New Lawyers (and a Few Old) Leave Money On The Table For All the Wrong Reasons

If I hear one more lawyer tell me they referred out a case to another lawyer ‘just because’ and maybe that lawyer will send something their way down the road, I want to scream, ‘You are leaving money on the table.’ Do you not understand what a referral fee is? Do you not understand the value of this fee to provide you some financial stability for your practice?

We Need More Law Schools. Yes. We Really Do. Here’s Why.

Many people talk about Access to Justice (A2J), the big legal movement of the 21st century. But the biggest hurdle to A2J is the delivery of the legal education itself. The organization who controls what constitutes a valid education to gain a license to practice law is the American Bar Association (ABA). They determine accreditation. And as we all know, in order to sit for the bar exam you have to have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school (with the exception of California, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming).

Yes, it’s true. The ABA is the greatest hurdle to providing access to justice for the millions in this country who need affordable legal services. Let me tell you why.

Are You Poisoning Your Solo Practice?

It’s Spring, traditionally time for a little Spring Cleaning. Toss out the old, start fresh. For the solo attorney, that often means purging ourselves of bad habits and setting some new goals.

This Spring, I recommend that you stop being toxic to your business. Yeah – you heard me. YOU are toxic to your business. And you need to stop it!

10 Ways to Avoid the Legal Fees Lawsuit Counterclaim

You finally finish a client matter.

You believe you did good work and got a good result for your client; but as sometimes happens, you find that the client still owes you quite a bit of money, and on top of that, has stopped making any payments.

You certainly deserve to be paid so what are your options?

For a number of attorneys who find themselves in this situation they make a decision to sue for fees based upon a belief that they did good work and got a good outcome. Of course, post fee suit, none of that will matter to the client. If you do decide to sue for fees based upon the reasons set forth above, don’t be surprised if and when a malpractice counterclaim is filed and things start to get ugly. Seems to me the better approach would be to do all you can to avoid the necessity of ever having to consider suing for fees. With this in mind I offer the following thoughts.

It begins at intake and the best advice I can share is this. Read more….

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