Setting Up a Law Practice

Last week I turned sixty-five and realized that I am not far off being eligible for Social Security and Medicare. The problem is I don't feel old enough to be eligible for either, and I have no desire to retire. Sixty-five used to be the milestone that people kept in mind as the date when they got the gold watch and started drawing their retirement from their employers defined benefit pension. Very few of those exist anymore and most of them have been turned over to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) as part of a corporate chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Now for many of us it's just another birthday with no meaning greater than any other. This thought string got me thinking about lawyers and retirement generally.

The world has...

For years my kids viewed me as not very tech savvy. I suspect that was because I wasn’t a power gamer or perhaps they believed that parental units just don’t get it. Over time however, I have found it ironic that several of these now young adults occasionally call home for instructional help and guidance with their laptops and smart phones. One call of note occurred a few years ago and concerned a laptop that was dying a painful death due an inordinate number of nasty viruses and Trojans that had erased restore points and data as well as turned over control of that laptop to someone else. I was not able to help with this problem since we were separated by several thousand miles at the time. My only advice was to suggest that the time had...

The past few years have been a bit rough in terms of the economy and there are few signs that things will dramatically improve anytime soon. The national debt continues to rise and there are still way too many who are unemployed or under employed. For those who went into this downturn living paycheck to paycheck, the past few years have been particularly hard. One lesson that can be taken from all this is the following. There is value in planning ahead in order to be financially prepared for the unexpected. So, how prepared are you? Not surprisingly, I see the failure of an attorney to appropriately plan ahead, not only as a financial misstep, but a risk management concern as well.

I constantly meet and work with attorneys who have done,...

First of all, thanks to the great folks at ALPS for the kind invitation to post here at the ALPS411 blog. I've been a reader for a while, particularly since I set up a solo law practice almost 2 years ago. Since that time, I've had my feet firmly planted with one foot on the ground and another in the cloud.

(Quick Aside: If you are looking for a post on cyber securtiy, client confidence issues, or other tech oriented  thoughts about the "Cloud" as it relates to the practice of law, this is not the post for you. There are many wonderful posts here at the ALPS 411 blog for that and I commend them to you.)

While that last statement could be (properly) interpreted as my being happy with the move and the better work/life balance that I've achieved...

I have always been blessed with excellent vision. In fact, I used to play a game with my kids, which was basically to see who could first read a sign in the distance. I never lost that one; but they kept trying. Of course, and as is to be expected, presbyopia finally settled in. While I still have great long distance vision, trying to read a wine list in low light has become more than a mild irritant and I’m rather frustrated about that. If that weren’t enough, well, let’s just say the kids feel like their comeuppance has finally arrived and a little ribbing comes my way now and again. That’s ok; I’ll still claim them as mine. Now, a fair question might be what does this have to do practicing law? The answer is quite a bit actually. 

Let me...

Some attorneys still ask about how to purchase a tail policy or tell me that they have purchased a tail policy to cover their retirement years. Truth be told, there is no such thing as a tail “policy;” and unfortunately, this type of confusion over what a tail is and what it isn’t can lead to serious repercussions down the line.   

Prior to discussing tail coverage, one must first understand a few malpractice insurance basics. All legal malpractice insurance policies are claims-made products. When a claims-made policy is purchased, the attorneys named under the policy will have coverage for claims that arise and are reported to the insurance company while that policy is in force. Further, and this is important, any act, error or omission...

Recently a lawyer called to ask whether or not intake forms are useful. As is often the case the answer to that is “it depends.”

A basic intake form that is very general in content may do little to improve your intake process. But a well thought out intake form focused on a particular practice area can be very beneficial for streamlining and gathering useful information from the client.

To be used effectively you should develop a different intake form for different areas of practice. This will allow you to obtain the types of information required for each area of practice. For example, if you practice in wills and trusts, business formation, and family law, these areas each require different types of information. In a wills and trusts...

Ok. I get it. How many malpractice claims are there that have been the result of a failure to write a declination letter? You know the one that says thanks but no. Truth be told, not many; but there are a few. Some are conflict problems because the creation of this letter is what normally would trigger the entering of the names of declined clients into the conflict database. When the letter isn’t written, the names can’t be entered and a conflict problem sometimes arises down the road. Others are a bit more concerning and represent the real reason why these letters should be used. Sometimes a non-client who did speak with you eventually sues you for failing to do something. They allege that you were indeed their attorney, at least as they...