Year: 2018

Categories : Business & Corporate Law Law Practice Management

The Importance of Outsourced General Counsel

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By Robert Conca

One important decision in the lifecycle of a growing company is when to hire its first in-house counsel.  Frequently, this issue arises at a time in the evolution of an organization before there is a need for a full-time employee in this role or room in the corporate budget for a highly compensated general counsel.  Other factors may drive the decision of whether to hire an internal attorney including costs, how the function will integrate with the current management and whether there is enough work for a full time employee.  When to devote resources to this role is equally important as how to devote those resources. Read More

Categories : Law Practice Management

The Referral Rules: A Few Guidelines for Professionally Handling Referrals

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By James Crosby

Referrals are the lifeblood of law practices – they are the “coin of the realm” for most attorneys. There are attorneys with large loyal clients providing cases year after year. But, for most attorneys, it’s not 20 cases from one client, it’s 20 cases from 20 different referral sources. Yet, despite the significance of referrals as a source of business, attorneys often mishandle referrals and torch referral sources. So, as a public service to the “referral-source-torchers” out there, I offer “The Referral Rules!” Read More

Categories : Social Media & Marketing

Social Media Marketing For the Solo and Small Firm

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By Renée Galente

Why social media?

Go to your audience: Worldwide, in hard numbers, Facebook has 1.55 billion active users. Twitter has 320 million active users.1 LinkedIn reported 414 million members in the fourth quarter of 2015.2
An August 2015 article highlights that 72% of online American adults use Facebook. 70% of Facebook users log in daily, 43% log in several times a day. 25% of online American adult Internet users use LinkedIn. 46% of online adults who have graduated from college are LinkedIn users. 23% of all Internet users are on Twitter. 38% of those who use Twitter use the site daily.3 Read More

Categories : Technology

You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me (AKA Litigation Hold Considerations)

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By Bill Kammer

No area of discovery requires such immediate attention as the necessity of preserving relevant data and documents. And no area results in more sanctions than a failure to do so and to institute and monitor reasonable legal holds. The significant risk of sanctions for both clients and counsel should get our attention because reasonable, proportionate processes can probably avoid the sanction minefields. Read More

Categories : Law Practice Management

How Freelance Attorneys Can Help Your Practice Grow

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By Meghan Dohoney

For those practicing as solo attorneys or at small firms, it can be difficult to manage the demands of running a law practice without a safety net of associates around to pick up the slack when things get busy or if an emergency comes up. Hiring freelance attorneys for discrete legal projects (writing a motion to dismiss, drafting discovery responses, preparing a complaint, etc.) is one way of managing the strains of a busy practice, without having to hire a full-time employee. Freelance attorneys are a tool — or a possible career option — with which attorneys may not be familiar. Read More

Categories : Legal Ethics

Ethical Issues When Your Client Threatens to Harm Themselves

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By Michael Crowley

Most criminal defense attorneys, along with attorneys in other areas of practice, have encountered the situation where a client says something to the effect of, “I would rather die” than face some other outcome. Such a statement may trigger certain obligations by counsel under California’s legal ethics rules, which vary from much of the rest of the country. Read More