Daily Dispatch

As lawyers we’re required to do CLEs every year. (Groan.) My experience has taught me that Sean Carter was right when he said that CLEs are really CLAs—"Continuing Legal Attendance." You get credit just for showing up—no one really cares if you ...

There's a lot going on in Chicago this weekend, from Lollapalooza to the ABA Annual Meeting and the accompanying ABA Expo. In town and want a peek at the exhibitors' new offerings for lawyers? Friday's expo hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ...

The deal is done. The case is tried. It's over—now you can go home and rest. Tomorrow, you'll clean up this mess. Repeat. Soon, though, colleagues begin to comment about the federal disaster area your office has become. Next, you only take ...

Your firm makes you a partner based on potential—a belief that everything the partners have observed indicates you have the characteristics to be successful. You've got what it takes! But making partner is one thing. Staying partner ...

We've been talking a lot these past few weeks about how much it costs to start a solo practice from scratch. We've had some terrific responses, including litigator John Snyder's checklist. This got us wondering, if you had the chance to pick all ...

You might think the gift of the gab is an essential skill for a successful lawyer. And it's true that knowing how to think fast on your feet and verbalize points quickly and understandably can be important qualities. But it can be just as ...

Creating legal documents can be something like playing with Legos. How so, you might ask? Well, typically lawyers assemble new and individualized documents—contracts, briefs, opinions—by plugging together existing sentences and paragraphs from a ...

Most lawyers are wary of sending confidential client information via email. They understand that email isn’t 100 percent secure and many go to great lengths to set up cloud exchange systems where they can more securely transmit client documents. ...

In a previous post, How Much Does It Cost to Start a New Solo Firm?, Ruth Carter, Carolyn Elefant, Stephanie Kimbro, Debbie Foster, Donna Seyle & Greg Siskind told us how much they think it would cost a new lawyer to start up a solo practice ...

The Allied Command in World War II spent more than two years preparing for D-Day. When asked about the plan—which resulted in the successful Allied invasion of occupied France—General Dwight D. Eisenhower commented, “The plans were useless, but ...