We’ve put together a hand-picked list of recommended courses to help new solo lawyers get started. Those recommended courses are listed below. To view all courses, go to the Courses directory.
Featured Video
It’s Time to Work in the Future: And Here’s How It’s Done. From the Main State Bar Association’s 2013 Annual Meeting. Recorded on January 25th, 2013 featured Solo Practice University’s Founder and CEO, Susan Cartier Liebel.
How to Hang a Shingle Right Out of Law School…Or Shortly Thereafter
Instructor: Susan Cartier Liebel
Whether starting right out of law school, just after the clerkship, or after years in BigLaw, creating and building your own solo practice is a decidedly individual experience. This course will guide you through the thought process and building blocks necessary for a successful launch.
Law Practice Management
Instructor: Jared Correia
In this course, you’ll learn the basics managing your solo law practice.
Building a solo/small firm practice in the 21st century is the epitome of entrepreneurship though the legal profession has yet to realize it. In this course you will focus on entrepreneurship and how it can help you understand what’s involved building a solo/small firm practice and working employing yourself as the lawyer.
Legal Ethics
Instructor: Allison Wood
You can’t practice law successfully without fully understanding your professional ethics. This course will introduce you to the ethical issues faced by solos and small firm lawyers and how to handle them when they arise. And they will arise.
I’ve Been Grieved. Now What?
Instructor: Elizabeth Granoff
Nothing is worse than that sinking feeling when you’ve been grieved. This course will cover the defense of lawyers charged with disciplinary violations and the defense of law students before Character and Fitness.
Law Practice Management
Instructor: Ed Poll
Law Practice Management is a term you hear bandied about. What is it really? This course will cover various topics about the Business of Law® for solo/small firm lawyers. In addition, you can listen to several one-on-one coaching sessions which highlight how every firm has different issues and how every solo can come up with a different and appropriate solution.
Introduction to Billing and Accounting
Instructor: Caren Schwartz
Part of owning a business is understanding the importance of billing and accounting and then handling it properly. This course will introduce you to billing and accounting for law practice.
Introduction to E-Discovery
Instructor: Steven Teppler
This course approaches the subject of E-Discovery from a Federal rules perspective.
This course approaches the subject of eDiscovery from the perspective of a solo or small firm lawyer.
Virtual Law Practice
Instructor: Stephanie Kimbro
The 21st century is a virtual one. This course discusses creating a virtual law practice (e-lawyering and the virtual law office). This includes the nuts and bolts of opening and marketing a web-based virtual law office (VLO) and the daily responsibility handling the technology and ethics issues that may arise from a web-based law practice.
The Solo Practice of the Future
Instructor: Ronald J. Baker
This is a masters course in understanding the economics of pricing legal services and learning, if done correctly, it is an art, not a science. This course is designed to help lawyers, once and for all, bury the billable hour and timesheets.
Fixing Your Fees, Fixing Your Practice
Instructor: Jay Shepherd
Learning to value price is the most liberating and profitable move your solo/small firm can make. This course will show lawyers how they can improve their practices by tossing the billable hour and learning how to actually properly price their services – value to the client.
Time must be managed well in order to have a successful solo/small firm practice. This course will teach you how to maximize your productivity, serve clients more effectively, increase your profits, and increase your happiness as an attorney.
Marketing for Lawyers
Instructor: Mark Merenda
One thing they definitely don’t teach you in law school is how to market your solo/small firm practice. This course will offer powerful and responsible ideas and strategies for marketing your law practice in a way which works for you. Once you understand the principles, you’ll never question again why lawyers need to embrace marketing.
Copywriting and Branding
Instructor: James Chartrand
You only have a short window to capture a potential client’s interest. Learn tips, techniques and tricks for copywriting and branding to convey your message, create an authentic image and attract the clients you want to serve.
Social Media & the Law
Instructor: Deborah Gonzalez
Social media is the new frontier in the 21st century. This course will provide an overview of different ways social media is impacting the legal profession and how to use and respond to social media effectively to help you grow your practice.
Social Media Guest Lectures
Instructor: Toby Bloomberg
These lectures from one of this country’s top social media experts explains the power of social media to network which will only strengthen your professional ties and propel you forward in your legal career.
Real World Legal Research
Instructor: Richard Maseles
Don’t want to spend a fortune on legal research? You still have an obligation to get the right information, though. This course addresses the basic question – what does the new or transitioning lawyer do when Lexis or Westlaw aren’t free anymore? Learn how to research at low-to-no cost the right way.
Handling taxes is not fun. But it is necessary to understand especially for the solo/small firm lawyer. This course will cover key tax considerations in starting, running, and growing a solo or small firm law practice.
Sometimes a lawyer wants to do other attorneys’ work but doesn’t want to be employed full time by any one attorney. This course will introduce students to the practice of freelance lawyering.