Business of Law

Outsourcing Adviser: Law Firm Helps Clients Manage LPO Services

Yuson & Irvine is betting U.S. companies could use a little help navigating the increasingly thorny world of legal process outsourcing. The boutique law firm, which specializes in helping clients wring efficiencies from their legal operations, launched a practice dedicated to LPO management in June. Services range from assistance selecting…

Dec 1, 2012 8:00 AM CST

Pet Friendly: It’s a Dog’s Life at Some Solo Offices

These days it’s not uncommon for dogs, cats and other animal companions to hang out in law offices, even when clients are present. Attorneys say bringing pets to work creates a more relaxed atmosphere and offers a welcome distraction from the intensity of legal pursuits. And it’s a perk of…

Nov 1, 2012 7:40 AM CDT

A Debate on the Future of Legal Ed Breaks Down to the Real Versus the Ideal

“If you are not going to law school … what is your alternative path?” asks Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California at Irvine School of Law. “And in purely economic terms, is it better than law school? … It’s not just monetary. … There are all sorts…

Nov 1, 2012 7:30 AM CDT

No Twitters: Law Blogs Hold Their Own

While some digital doomsayers warn that a Twitter post will soon be the most our attention spans can deal with, don’t write off the unapologetically cerebral just yet. According to findings from a Pew Research Center Internet study, longer-form Web media—specifically blogging—is actually gaining in popularity among people 34 and…

Nov 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

‘Facing’ It: It Can Be Worth It to Join the Social Media Giant

Now that Facebook has hit 1 billion users and the term facebook has become a verb, the world’s biggest social networking platform has become difficult for lawyers to ignore. Many lawyers feel pressure from friends, family and marketing consultants to use it. Yet they struggle with quantifying the value of…

Nov 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT

An A for Alternatives: AFAs Are Here to Stay

While the study ALM Legal Intelligence did for LexisNexis CounselLink is cautious in its analysis, it shows some progress in the use and the future of alternative fee arrangements, or AFAs, as a replacement for standard billable-hour invoicing. Citing “the economic collapse of 2008 to 2010,” the study notes, “alternative…

Nov 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Hay from a Hated Task: 2 Big-Firm Refugees Offer Online Help for Contract Signings

What was once the bane of their existence as junior associates is now the cornerstone of a new startup for two major law firm refugees-turned-entrepreneurs. Edwin Hermawan, 27, and Andrew Knepley, 31, got together earlier this year to form Signature Pages, a Web-based software offering that creates, sends out, collects…

Nov 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Google+ Plus or Minus? Opinions Vary Widely on the Social Network’s Value

In June 2011 Google launched Google+, which according to the Internet giant “aims to make sharing on the Web more like sharing in real life.” But a year and 250 million subscribers later, just what does that mean for lawyers? We asked two legal professionals to take sides on whether…

Oct 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT

Burgeoning Blogs: Can They Give BigLaw Firms an Edge?

LexBlog’s 2012 survey of large U.S. law firms has found 155 firms now have blogs or lawyers blogging. That is 77 percent of the Am Law 200. It’s also a 26 percent increase over when LexBlog last did its report in November 2010. As the August report notes in its…

Oct 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Making Mediators: As the Field Grows, So Does the Need for Negotiation Skills

“Lawyers tell me all the time, mediation seems like the perfect profession,” quips Lee Jay Berman, a Los Angeles-based trainer at the American Institute of Mediation, “because you don’t have clients and you don’t have partners.” But it’s more than a wish for a bachelor occupation that’s inspiring interest in…

Oct 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Clogged Pipeline: Lack of Growth at Firms Has Women Skipping Law School

Phoenix attorney Stephanie McCoy Loquvam faces a tough audience when she tries to sell female undergraduates on legal careers. “They’re assessing whether the investment in law school will be worthwhile, and the bottom line is that the legal profession is not doing a very good job of convincing qualified women,”…

Oct 1, 2012 6:40 AM CDT

Growing Justice: Law Schools Hop on the Incubator Trend

When Yogi Patel decided to start a solo practice last year, he turned to his alma mater for help. Since 2007 the City University of New York School of Law has offered an incubator for fledging solos. And the trend is spreading throughout the country with at least six schools…

Oct 1, 2012 6:30 AM CDT

A Dope Niche: With State Law Changes, It’s Pot That’s Hot

W. Michael Walz calls himself a pot lawyer. But he doesn’t represent drug dealers—and there’s a difference. “I don’t defend people who are in business to make money,” explains the Phoenix-based solo who began specializing in marijuana cases in 1996 and launched the site PotLawyer.com in ’98. “Those people carry…

Sep 1, 2012 7:29 AM CDT

Florida Lawyer Starts Residency Program for Recent Grads

In July 2011, nearly 2,900 first-time would-be lawyers sat for the Florida bar exam. More than 2,300 of those test-takers were licensed that September. And there’s one thing estates and trusts lawyer Laird A. Lile was certain of: There were not enough jobs in the state for all of them.…

Sep 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

The Superlong Commute: Recession Has Workers Opting for Travel over Relocation

Most Wednesday afternoons last fall, attorney Nicole Iannarone drove to work. Which wouldn’t seem like a big deal, except that Iannarone and her husband live in Atlanta, and her job teaching legal writing was 250 miles away at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Iannarone is a “supercommuter,” part of a…

Sep 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT