You’ve got a nice little Saturday going: You didn’t get the job you wanted coming out of law school, but you’ve been running your own solo law practice for a few years now, and it feels like you’re starting to turn the corner. You’ve kept up on your networking, of course, and developed a number of key relationships with more experienced lawyers. Then, the unthinkable happens: One of your contacts offers you a job … as an associate at her law firm. Stop. The. Presses. You were cruising along, and now all of a sudden, you’re faced with a big, fat fork in your road, and you’re twisting like spaghetti.

Stop buying into the Superman complex and consider the ramifications of not taking care of yourself.

It's a win-win. The best strategies for keeping your startup on the straight and narrow, ethics-wise, are often the same strategies that help your practice grow. Mark Bassingthwaighte, risk advisor for malpractice insurance carrier ALPS, knows a bit about the common ethics traps and practice management missteps that can beat down solos and small firms. These tips from his e-book, "The ALPS Guide to Getting Started Solo," will help you rise to the challenge of starting your practice and hanging in for the long term. ... READ THE REST

How did we decide our days would be broken up into “weekdays” and “weekends” and “business hours” and “personal time?” If you are someone’s employee, these concepts make sense. But not necessarily if you’re an entrepreneur or in an eat-what-you-kill environment. I have long said that there’s no division between my professional and personal lives. I’m one person all the time. The same idea should apply to my time. I don’t have to divide my life into work hours and personal time. It’s all time. ... READ THE REST

“Your Honor, this is a motion to vacate the most recent order and request for rehearing. Unfortunately, our failure to appear was caused by a calendaring error in our office.” How embarrassing. Yet, “calendaring” or “docketing” (depending on your jurisdiction) errors happen regularly. Some of the causes of these mistakes can be eliminated by avoiding certain phrases when communicating about date and time setting.

You know that feeling you get when, brilliant as you almost always are, the words refuse to organize themselves into anything more than just ordinary? When the to-do list on your desk threatens to rise up and take over? When it seems that, in trying to please too many, you have pleased absolutely no one?

Getting it done. That's where good ideas can fall short. Making a list of action items is one thing. It’s another to start — and finish — checking those items off. Earlier this year, I rounded up a list of attorney “to-do’s” from law practice experts across the country. As we head toward the close of 2015, that advice (collected here in a pithy infographic) is seeming particularly relevant. Here are a few of my favorite tips. Keep them in mind as you stare down your own end-of-year to-do's and make plans for the new year. READ THE REST

When it was all over, I took a few days off. When I returned, the managing partner wanted to see me. I entered his office ready to be fired. It was the first big case I had led, and there had been quite a few problems.

In law as in child-rearing, your clients need you to do certain things for them. They need your love in the form of guidance and counsel. They need you to be the expert in their needs, to guide them through the best course of action, and to execute at your highest skill level. They do not need you to spend your time working on things below your skill level. Here are five tips to improve client service through hiring freelance attorneys.

If you are just opening your practice or can’t afford to hire a private investigator when you need one, consider applying for a subscription to an investigative database such as TLOxp, and do your own investigating. TLOxp’s database is made up of public records, publicly available information and proprietary information, including credit headers. TLOxp can be used to:... READ THE REST