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Solo Practice

Solo In Chicago

Empowering the Second City's entrepreneurial legal community.
By Peter Olson

Post Frequency: 2.2/day

Last Entry: March 13, 2009 at 12:21:00

Freebie Law Firm Management Rag

Posted on January 22, 2008
No guarantees from the management and I don't know much about this but a free offer to Law Firm, Inc. dropped into my inbox the other day. Granted it can't replace this blog...but every bit helps and it's FREE!!

Home Office Even Works w/ 2 at Home

Posted on January 22, 2008
An interesting overview of the workings of a two-income family where both spouses work from the home office (2 separate home offices really). I'm not quite at that level although Mr. Third Wave may be. Some funny interplay over the course of the day...

International Family Law Resource

Posted on January 19, 2008
Here's a free eBook download available entitled, Litigating International Child Abduction Cases Under the Hague Convention. I know we get the multi-state cases quite regularly...I imagine the international disputes aren't far behind.

Does Anyone Know what an Ascot is??

Posted on January 19, 2008
I didn't until I did a smidgen of research. Saw this where a Milwaukee lawyer almost went to the pokey for violating the court's neck-tie requirement. An ascot is NOT a neck-tie...at least not in Milwaukee. I for one have appeared in court without a tie or an ascot without much ado.

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I Just Got my First MLK Day Card!

Posted on January 19, 2008
"I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers...

Our Image Takes a Hit

Posted on January 17, 2008
Ya know I really do support the ISBA advertisements that show a picture of Abraham Lincoln with the tag line that Illinois has a pretty good history of lawyers. But then you get something like this from today's Trib. and the image polishing seems all for naught: Personal injury lawyer Gerald Penovich sat in his Loop office discussing a car crash with two clients...

Drew Peterson & an Almost "Solo In Chicago"

Posted on January 15, 2008
Nice little overview piece of Attorney Joel A. Brodsky in the news today, Drew Peterson's lawyer. An interesting tale of many personal and professional experiences. He's in a two person firm on Michigan Ave. Sounds like an interesting tale of a real "Chicago" guy...

The Unauthorized Practice of Law...It's Now More Than

Posted on January 14, 2008
Just us lawyers standing around and yelling about it. The Illinois Attorney Act (705 ILCS 205/1) has been amended to actually allow for the recovery of damages ($$) against nonlawyers doin' stuff only lawyers can do. The new law creates statutory remedies for the unauthorized practice of law (UPL), including: a) appropriate equitable relief; b) a civil penalty up to $5k with monies going to the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation; and, c) actual damages...

2 Years in Solo Practice...a Great Overview Article

Posted on January 10, 2008
There's a great article in January's General Practice, Solo and Small Firm newsletter from the I.S.B.A. 10 dos/don'ts regarding starting a law firm. I know the author real well! Unfortunately it's password protected...drop me an e-mail if you want a copy.

"Home-Office Life and its Discontents"

Posted on January 10, 2008
That's the title of the piece that recently appeared in the NYTimes. A nice overview of some of the "new" challenges faced as soooo many people work from home. Some funny examples of couples where now both spouses were working at home and one of them HAD to move out...

Attract Clients Online

Posted on January 10, 2008
Saw this free Webinar offered by The Rainmaker Institute.

Lawyer Just Phones it in...

Posted on January 10, 2008
Saw this one come down from Washington, Wright v. Van Patten, No. 07-212, (January 7, 2008). The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that nothing in its own precedent prevented a lawyer from participating in a plea hearing by speaker phone. However, the unsigned opinion cautioned that the justices weren't ruling on whether such a practice should be allowed...

Try to Avoid Disbarment; Oh, and Jail Too...

Posted on January 10, 2008
Don't see this everyday...an IL lawyer continued taking client retainers despite his law license having been suspended and subsequently got prosecuted criminally and now he's behind bars.

Are you a Bad Boss??

Posted on January 10, 2008
12 questions from the National Federation of Independent Business to help you decide:1. Have you ever berated an employee in public?2. Have you ever taken credit for something an employee did?3. Are your employees afraid of you?4. Are you a "no excuses allowed" type?5...

"Reed Smith Hires Two to Run Firm as Global Business"

Posted on January 09, 2008
An intriguing headline about Reed Smith's hiring of two non-lawyers in executive roles. If you read the piece it includes all the usual rhetoric about "running a law firm like a business." How should small firms grow their personnel?? Our first hire was a part-time non-lawyer secretary whose primarily role is to oversee billing/collections and the non-lawyer aspects of residential real estate closings...

Sexual Relations with Clients...

Posted on January 09, 2008
Informative piece here about the above and some "difficulty" lawyers have faced from our friends at ARDC when they've engaged in such contact with clients. Ahh, and most of the cases involve domestic relations cases...our primary practice area. Illinois does not have a specific rule prohibiting sexual relations with clients that many states have...

The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Sun-Times and Now...

Posted on January 09, 2008
Chicago Lawyer magazine. They've decreased the physical size of the publication and dropped content. Too bad! No more appellate case summaries in the hard copy. All that said, they did upgrade the Website.Hey and look at this they've starting a competing blog.

Don't Waste Time!

Posted on January 07, 2008
Saw this top 10 list of lawyer time wasters. Interesting list...personal Internet usage and too much e-mail checking I think are the biggest time wasters lawyers or otherwise. I'm not sure I'm mature enough to handle a Blackberry myself. But back to the lawyer exclusive list...

Happy 2008 from Chicago's Premier Lawyer Blog...

Posted on January 05, 2008
Alright that sounds a bit extravagant but it's all in good humor. Have you renewed your ARDC registration for '08? My annual fee was up to $268...yikes! Sorry for the sparse postings over the last couple weeks. I had that 10 day flu over the holiday season...

Blog Post = Disbarment

Posted on December 20, 2007
A Florida lawyer faces ethics charges for a blog post critical of a local judge. Sounds like there are some interesting first amendment issues: do we as bar members have restricted first amendment privileges when discussing judicial conduct? As for us here at Solo In Chicago we'll continue to not name names...

Lawyer "Directory" News

Posted on December 20, 2007
Quite a bit of news out in the last few days regarding various lawyer "directories"...i.e. Martindale-Hubbell, Avvo. News stories here and here plus commentary from the venerable Chuck Newton here. The Martindale-Hubble piece discusses its waning usage...

We Make Up Our Own Law...

Posted on December 18, 2007
Had a frustrating example of judge-made law in court yesterday. We took an approx. $20k judgment against a defendant. I always try to get a Memorandum of Judgment signed simultaneously with entry of Judgment to immediately lock-up any real estate. This is proper...

Legal Service Outsourcing...

Posted on December 18, 2007
I got my first contact by an offshore "Legal Outsourcing Consultant" as it called itself. They were pitching to me for assistance in the real estate lease administration, mortgage and title areas.

The Dwindling Status of Laywers...

Posted on December 18, 2007
A piece about the dwindling income of lawyers compared to others in the business world. Of course the legal field has never been a get rich field. The corporate world has always been where the big money is. More greater concern is plight of many, many young attorneys as profiled here.

Snail Mail Isn't Dead...

Posted on December 18, 2007
How should lawyers discriminate between the use of e-mail versus snail mail? As reported, Monday, December 17, 2007, was supposedly the heaviest mail day of the year and it got me to thinking...I don't think this is "mission critical" so to speak but I think there might be some client perception issues...

BigLaw confesses: Solos do better work than BigLaw Associates...

Posted on December 12, 2007
Here's a list of advise for "newbie" BigLaw associates. Here's #10 on the list:Consider yourself a solo practitioner doing work for senior associates and partners. This mindset will help you realize the need to consistently deliver ?good work, value-added creativity and efficiency...

Dyslexia and sole practitioners?

Posted on December 12, 2007
This piece has gotten a lot of attention on the Web, it's title, Tracing Business Acumen to Dyslexia, is descriptive. The theme of piece is that persons with dyslexia need to sort of "create their own way" due to rejection by the "system." And that skill set has often turned greatly successful, particularly for entrepreneurs...

Good for career shifting or starting a solo law practice

Posted on December 12, 2007
Here's a good interview with tips about career change. A lot of the points are useful for the new solo attorney.

A Personal Marketing Plan for '08

Posted on December 12, 2007
My weekly e-mail from John Remsen included a pitch to create a personal marketing plan. There's a pdf with some "workbook" materials to really help yourself establish clear goals with follow-thru. These were a couple good points:How Much Time Should You Invest?Of course, implementing your plan is the key to success?...

Now you can be even more ready for your Supreme Court oral argument...

Posted on December 10, 2007
The IL Supreme Court has announced it will now post audio/video of oral arguments the day after the hearing on its Website. Now if the Court can just agree on a standardized electronic filing system statewide and we'll be getting somewhere...

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