Business of Law

Program helps profs teach students how they can be the lawyers they want to be

Legal education is more than teaching students how to think like lawyers, Neil Hamilton says: They should graduate with a sense of how to act like one, too, in a way that works for them individually.

Sep 1, 2016 2:20 AM CDT

Can it be? Fun CLE?

Anyone who’s ever been in a law school lecture hall knows the feeling: Your foot has fallen asleep and your mind is wandering to a sunny beach when you realize your coffee cup is empty and drinking more isn’t necessarily going to spark your interest in the lecture at hand.

Sep 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT

Does learning to code make you a better lawyer?

When V. David Zvenyach was general counsel for the Council of the District of Columbia, a local activist named Tom MacWright asked for help making the Code of the District of Columbia accessible to the public online. Zvenyach thought it was a simple request—until he took a look at the actual law, which was nearly impossible to work with due to copyright and formatting complications.

Sep 1, 2016 2:00 AM CDT

How much money can you make in different practice areas?

Chart by Stephen Ravenscraft This summer the ABA, along with Glassdoor, Salary.com, LawyerEdu.org and the National Association for Law Placement published statistics about attorney salaries by practice area. And the makers of Practice Panther law practice management software combined the data to create this list. They suggest it might be…

Sep 1, 2016 1:50 AM CDT

Association of Corporate Counsel honors efforts to control corporate legal costs

“We can’t go on like this” is an oft-heard expression of trouble on the horizon, but it took the financial crisis of 2008 to force meaningful changes in how corporate counsel work with outside firms. That year the Association of Corporate Counsel seized the initiative with its ACC Value Challenge, which honors law departments and outside law firms for promoting adoption of management practices that control spending.

Sep 1, 2016 1:40 AM CDT

Formerly opposing counsel took the plunge to merge firms

Opposing counsel become mutual admirers, eventually decide to merge firms.

Aug 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT

Tech training helps lawyers meet client expectations

Tech training helps lawyers get up to speed to meet client expectations.

Aug 1, 2016 1:50 AM CDT

Experts advise new tactics to fight data breaches

Evolving past focusing only on keeping malicious software out, attorneys and law firms are now also learning to plan for a breach.

Aug 1, 2016 1:45 AM CDT

Does SEO relate to law-firm success?

Study finds strong tie between search engine visits and new phone calls to firms.

Aug 1, 2016 1:40 AM CDT

‘Preventative law’ practice aims to stem the tide of heroin addiction

America's heroin problem is hardly a secret anymore. Broached in the New Hampshire presidential primary, heroin addiction has been a subject for newspapers, magazine articles, television shows and books.

Jul 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT

Third-party financing is growing, and lawyers are big players

Lawyers have used a lot of bad words to describe litigation funding over the years—words such as champerty and maintenance. These and other terms were created hundreds of years ago to describe third parties who finance litigation for personal gain.

Jul 1, 2016 2:00 AM CDT

Legal aid agencies are using webchat to answer queries

South Australia is big—and empty. With almost 1.7 million residents (the vast majority in its capital city of Adelaide) spread over 379,725 square miles, the state's size makes it hard for the 40 attorneys at the Legal Services Commission of South Australia to be everywhere. Some residents are 800 miles from one of the public legal aid organization's seven brick-and-mortar offices.

Jul 1, 2016 1:50 AM CDT

Fewer lawyers—and jobs—for the Class of ‘15

Chart by Stephen Ravenscraft This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of the ABA Journal with this headline: “Fewer Lawyers–And Jobs: Class of ‘15 gains only in percentages.”

Jul 1, 2016 1:40 AM CDT

Document-scanning firms can save lawyers money and space

Coleman Watson has an almost paperless law office. He achieved the near-zero-paper state when starting a solo (now two-lawyer) practice in Orlando, Florida, by digitizing all practice-related documents he had from his previous work with a bigger firm.

Jul 1, 2016 1:30 AM CDT

Howard Law grads get major law firm attention

In the race for first-year, big money BigLaw jobs, some schools can place graduates based solely on the school's academic reputation; others must find a way to stand out from the crowd.

Jun 1, 2016 1:50 AM CDT