Practice Management

I Am A Failure

Posted on May 15, 2008
I was reading Rick Georges Future Lawyer, which directed me to the post by Michael Wade of Execupundit, who writes about his difficulty defining himself as a success. Often I do not feel like a success, and often that get in the way of my wellbeing. This is not necessary because I, and you, can define success any old way we wish...

Last IPod Supper

Posted on May 15, 2008
Hmmm? I found this over at Luke Gilman's High On The Hog Blog. He discovered it elsewhere. Like him, it seems strange enough to be interesting, but I do not pretend to know what it really says about our society. And, forget how the name Job plays into this, or the almost reverent Apple supporters of this World.

Houston We Have A Problem - We Are Under Attack By Ants

Posted on May 14, 2008
And no, I do not mean from the three law schools located in the area. We have been overcome by "crazy rasberry ants. They are called crazy because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on...

Why Not Partnerships?

Posted on May 13, 2008
And, by partnership I mean a grossly legal structure of some kind such as actual partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, PAs, PC, and INCs. You can argue all day long as to whether it needs to be some type of formal partnership or some type of corporate structure, but too often lawyers find that being joined at the hip with some other lawyer rarely works long term...

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Speaking In Public

Posted on May 12, 2008
Duct Tape Marketing has a post in which it defines pubic speaking as a "competitive marketing skill". I do not know if that is a good definition, but I get the point. I just wonder if calling it "competitive" will just do more to discourage lawyers, especially new lawyers, from marketing their practice in this way...

God Lord, I Enjoyed But Had A Hard Enough Time Raising Four Chidren

Posted on May 11, 2008

Pleasure Interrupted. Happiness? Not So Much.

Posted on May 10, 2008
I am pretty much a happy guy. I like what I am doing even if it is not always cracked up to what I want it to be. Like everyone, I have moments, and clients, and cases, and events that get in the way. I try to move on. So, you might say that I am sometimes unhappy, or that happiness is fleeting...

Proof That You Can Practice Virtually From Anywhere

Posted on May 08, 2008
We talk about carpet commutes and work-life balance and blending, and in this I get a lot of resistance. I get emails daily as to why some lawyer or some firm just cannot do it, or how it is just not practically possible. Or, how my practice is an anomaly...

High Handshake Marks

Posted on May 08, 2008
Yahoo! News reports on another nutty research project about firm handshakes and handshake training bringing higher employability that week handshakes. I like the term that people receiving "high handshake marks" rated most hireable. The study, which appears in the September Journal of Applied Psychology, suggest that handshakes provide a glimpse of the real you...

Law Schools Of Louisiana

Posted on May 08, 2008
We now mainly remember Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina, but it is a state rich in history and culture. It also has a fair number of law schools for its size, and all of them are in either the state capital of Baton Rouge or New Orleans, both towns are not far from each other, and both are located in the Southern part of the state...

Tips For Doing What You Do Not Want To Do

Posted on May 08, 2008
What I have found is that there is nothing in this World that you like doing that does not have some displeasurable aspects. But, you know what? If you want to do what you like to do, you have to do some of that for which you do not care. And, you have to do it because it goes to marketing and money...

Oh, You Better Belive I Was Breast Fed!

Posted on May 07, 2008
I can see it now. Instead of those bumper stickers that say, "My Lawyer Can Beat Your Lawyer", they will now read, "My Lawyer Was Breast Fed". Are you smarter than the average bear? According to the study detailed on Live Science, children who were breast-fed exclusively for the first three months of life or longer scored nearly six points higher on IQ tests at the age of 6 than children who were not breast-fed exclusively...

I Answer The 10 Misconceptions Of Working From Home

Posted on May 07, 2008
A reader of mine sent me the 10 Misconceptions the Self-Employed Deal With Daily as published on LifeDev. I think the article is bigger than just working at home, but it primarily deals with this issue. Even though many of you do not know the secret handshake or have a decoder ring, I am willing to (partially) answer those misconceptions for you...

Kitchen Nightmares

Posted on May 06, 2008
First, I love the TV show Kitchen Nightmares. Second, I love Tom Kane's Legal Marketing Blog. Third, I live and really love the concept of the niche practice of law as something that is inherently enjoyable to practice and at which to make money. And, I appreciate the fact that Tom Kane has brought all of these concepts and programs together for his latest post...

Lawyer. Boxer. Am I Repeating Myself?

Posted on May 05, 2008
JD Bliss has a post about Buckhead, Georgia attorney Preston Halliburton in his pursuit of the practice of law and as a professional boxer. But, I have to ask, is boxing and the practice of law pretty much the same thing?

Some Realtors Need To Get A Life

Posted on May 05, 2008
Money sometimes brings out the worst in people. Even pretend money like some Realtor's perceived idea of what a property is worth can bring out the worst in both home sellers and Realtors. Do yo watch those real estate shows on HGTV, Fine Living, TLC, Discvoery Home and the like? The common result (if not the theme) of almost all of the shows on these channels is that Realtors have allowed their clients or customers to so greatly overpriced their homes that they have run off all potential buyers...

7 Common Cooking Mistakes

Posted on May 05, 2008
Cooking is part of work-life balance or blending. If you work at home full time or part time, you obviously have an opportunity to treat yourself with a home cooked meal. This is especially true once you cut out the long commute to and from work. So, this post is not irrelevant to Third Wave lawyers and carpet commuters...

Cinco De Mayo - Like You Mean It

Posted on May 04, 2008
I am originally from North East Texas, but I love the South Texas culture, if not the lack of pine trees. My wife (a/k/a my girlfriend) is from South Texas. I went to college at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. I love The Woodlands, Texas because it is in Southeast Texas on the cusp of what is deep South Texas, but still in the piney woods...

Thugs

Posted on May 04, 2008
According to CBS News, during the annual North Carolina Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner Hillary Clinton said she would not back Barack Obama if he is the party's nominee, and she will work hard for him. That resulted in the Obama people to shout her down...

Consumer Spending Is Up. Good News?

Posted on May 03, 2008
If so then we can herald the fact that prisoners are renting lofts and condos. It never ceases to amaze me that as soon as the economy starts to tank, inflation starts to rise, and prices go through the roof, that the press (and the administration) says all is not lost because the good news is that consumer spending is up...

Are High Gas Prices Greening The Practice Of Law?

Posted on May 03, 2008
I do not know for certain, but it certainly seems this way. More lawyers are moving home full time or part time. I get emails weekly from lawyers in transition. They are cutting overhead drastically as a result. They are wanting to end their long commutes...

Pros And Cons Of Working At Home

Posted on May 01, 2008

Starting Off

Posted on April 30, 2008
I continue to get inquiries as to how you start off doing a certain type of case when you have not worked as an associate or in the trenches of the practice area for years. I continue to give my typical answer -- you just start. Is this not what law school is about? To train you to research, experiment, and the learn as you go? No matter if you have practiced law for 20+ years as I have, you are still going to run into situations, or have to venture into other areas of law of which you know...

Cash vs. Profits

Posted on April 29, 2008
How many of us know lawyers or law firms that seem to generate lots of cash, but the lawyers or partners never have enough money? We all know some lawyers in which this is true, and we have all been in this position at some time. This is especially true with traditional law firms...

The Law Schools Of Washington D.C.

Posted on April 29, 2008
Maybe there is no greater concentration of law schools per population than Washington, D.C. But, then again there is probably no better place to go to law school than D.C. Below are the schools of the District of Columbia: American University Washington College of Law, Washington 4801 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington 20016, Phone: (202) 274-4000 Catholic University of America - School of Law, Washington 3600 John McCormack Rd...

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of '08 Election

Posted on April 29, 2008

Hint - When Going To The Courthouse Leave Your Illicit Drugs In The Car

Posted on April 29, 2008
... And, please do not chalk this up to work-life balance or blending issues. According to dothaneagle.com, when Malcom Williams entered the Houston County Courthouse in Alabama he poured out the contents of his pockets, like everyone else, to get through the metal detectors...

Should You Attend A Law School Based Upon Its Scholarship Award

Posted on April 29, 2008
It is law school acceptance time. Some of you have choices and you are trying to make a decision based upon the scholarships being offered to you. Well, Ann Levine at Law School Expert as some critical advice in this regard: For those of you considering law school scholarship offers right now, please consider (1) whether the scholarship is renewable and (2) what is required of you to renew it...

Hillary vs. Obama Death Match

Posted on April 29, 2008
The New York Post has an online game in which you can be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama and fight out the issues on a boxing ring until both candidates are bloodied and bruised. And, who says that online video games cannot be constructive or educational? You can play by CLICKING HERE.

Overhead And Message - I Have Traveled The Same Path As Peter Olson

Posted on April 28, 2008
Well, maybe not the same road to political enlightenment, but the one of lessons learned in the private practice of law. We practice. We learn. We try to express ourselves to others so that they might find the trip a little easier than we did. Peter Olson of Solo In Chicago posted about the two things he wish he knew or understood when he started his practice...

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