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Someone in the last thread had some useful advice about picking up clients that aren't quite poor enough to meet the requirements for Legal Aid but not having enough money to hire an attorney at market rate. I searched 20 pages or so in the last thread but didn't find it. I believe they said something along the lines of some jurisdictions having some sort of list or service in order to find these potential clients for some cheap work. Anyone know what those services are called? Better yet, whether Oregon specifically has such a service?
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May 8, 2010 22:07
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IrritationX posted:That would be me.
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May 9, 2010 01:28
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quepasa18 posted:I don't know that it's quite as stressful the second time because you have a better idea of what to expect. Of course, I've only taken one bar exam so what do I know?
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May 12, 2010 23:14
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Kemper Boyd posted:Asked this in another thread, but this seems to be a good thread too to ask it. I have the names of a few expert witnesses in different fields and a PI guy and its all been word of mouth and meeting them at events. It seems like everyone and their mother knows the successful ones. Lawyers are busy, so mass-marketing materials I feel like are far less effective, as I know i just throw all that poo poo in the recycle immediately.
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Nov 8, 2010 16:03
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Rrail posted:I assume that #2, the post-nup, is basically going to determine who I go with (and I also understand it will require her to get a separate attorney, as well)? What is the best way to go about searching for an attorney? I don't just want to open the phone book and pick at random, and I certainly don't want to get ripped off. If you literally don't know anyone that has ever used an attorney, then the lawyer referral service is probably your best bet. That being said, remember you don't have to hire the first firm or lawyer you talk to. A lot of people do, but you have no obligation to do so. Ask the referral service for several names if they don't give you more than one, and talk to all of them and hire the one that meets your needs the best/doesn't treat you like a piece of poo poo. If you're in Washington or Oregon you can PM me and I can probably give you a few leads that might be better than the lawyer referral service. I'm in Oregon though, so other than a few attorneys on the Washington side of the river here in Portland, any Washington names would just be a "know someone who knows someone" type of deal. edit: I'm dumb and I just read your question a little closer. You meant your fiancee or new wife will also need to get her own attorney. That isn't strictly required, but any attorney who drafts the post-nup should jump up and down and tell you to make sure both parties have independent counsel. It is a good idea to have your wife get her own lawyer, both to make sure her interests are well-represented and to cover your own rear end in the future if anything were to go wrong, she wouldn't be able to claim she was strong-armed into signing it without knowing what it meant. mushi fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Nov 27, 2010 |
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Nov 27, 2010 18:13
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Forever Zero posted:I hope none of you guys forget to "give back" to your Universities and Law Schools which gave you the opportunity to acquire any wealth you will attain in the future.
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Nov 27, 2010 20:51
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Kumo posted:I know a few attorneys in my class who took this route and most seem to be doing pretty well (although, if you're not it's not like you're likely to advertise). Basically the question of starting your own law practice boils down to: are you ready to start and run your own business? This isn't the first time the world has ever seen an over-saturation of lawyers (though arguably the level of debt most law grads face is a new development) and fundamentally starting your own practice is really no different than starting your own restaurant, except for the obvious norms and expectations of the profession. It's up to you to work your rear end off to differentiate your law practice from every other lawyer in town and convince people they should hire you to represent them or do legal work for them. I started typing up a few of the things I deal with on a daily/regular basis, but it would be far too long. I'll just summarize and say that right now, around 2/3rd of my working time is learning about and running a business, and the other 1/3rd is "practicing law". I put that in quotes because that's not even billable hours right now. Obviously, I expect that to change as I build a client base, though I have talked to established solos, and if they can average 4-5 billable hours a day, they're satisfied. edit: I'm happy to talk about it more, but this thread seems more attuned to firm practice and law school, so feel free to PM me about it. mushi fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Dec 3, 2010 |
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Dec 3, 2010 22:12
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Solomon Grundy posted:If I worked out of my basement and billed and collected 1000 hours per year at $100 per hour with no overhead, that would be pretty good, too. But I don't generate enough of my own clients to make that feasible. I think it's possible to have an office that has a very professional presentation without killing yourself on overhead. I like to think I've done a good job at keeping my overhead low - I'm in an office share and split an office with a close friend of mine from law school. I use Google Voice for a free business number and an online fax number for faxes (even though faxes are so loving outdated it frustrates me when I have to use it). Besides rent, the biggest overhead expense I have is by far malpractice insurance. In Oregon, we're required to have malpractice insurance through the state-bar run insurance company. I will pay around $2500 next year for coverage, and that is with a discount for new members of the bar (not because they feel sorry for us, but because newer lawyers have less clients and still actually call their clients back). Add in another $450 in bar dues, just to have the privilege of saying "I'm a lawyer." My understanding is in other states malpractice insurance isn't run by the bar and thus is far cheaper, which annoys the hell out of me, but whatever. The experience of starting a practice has educated me on how a firm operates, and if I ever have the opportunity and/or decide I want to be an associate, I'll be a better employee because I understand how a lot of this poo poo works. I've talked to my friends who have taken firm positions, and it's a bit scary how little they know about the basics of being a lawyer, like how IOLTA accounting should work and even what system they use for conflict checks beyond "I just hand the client intake sheet to the receptionist." And yeah, rainmaking is a fundamental challenge. It's especially hard for me since I am not a natural schmoozer and I don't have the budget for a really significant marketing campaign, but I'm constantly working at it and I guess only time will tell whether I'll be successful or not. I do not blame people at all for partnering up/working for a firm where they don't have to worry about bringing clients in.
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Dec 5, 2010 09:37
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Roger_Mudd posted:I just had more general "the business" of a bankruptcy practice questions. Bankruptcy is hot right now because there is a lot of work in it, and it's not terribly hard to do, if all you are doing is filling out petitions (as opposed to bankruptcy litigation). That's probably what you're asking about, as banko litigation is fairly specialized and the guys that do it need to be well versed in other areas of law like tax in addition to knowing the bankruptcy code. The basics of filing Chapter 7s and 13s are pretty easy, mostly because there is turbo-tax like software (BestCase) that does a LOT for you. Once you know how to classify different information and property based on the applicable exemptions, the software basically does everything. As a consequence, the time allotted to each client is fairly uniform, and most bankruptcy attorneys work on a flat fee arrangement. Typically $1000-1200 for a Chapter 7 and $3500+ for a Chapter 13, at least in my area. You can download other attorney's petitions on PACER and see how much other attorneys are charging, as they are required to disclose compensation on the petition. Getting clients is a bit different in bankruptcy. Word of mouth goes a long way no matter what you're doing, but bankruptcy typically relies on a lot of direct marketing - newspaper and pay-per-click advertising because it's very much a one-time service you're selling. So be prepared to spend some money on a website and advertising. I had coffee with an attorney who has built a very successful bankruptcy firm over the last 30 years or so and he suggested that if a new attorney were to go into bankruptcy, they should probably have at least one other discipline that they could take clients in, because while there is a lot of bankruptcy work right now, it will likely dry up when the economy turns around again. He could have just been trying to dissuade competition, but I really doubt it.
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Dec 13, 2010 18:08
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Roger_Mudd posted:Yeah I could see doing family law and cherry picking PI cases on the side. I'm at a "bootcamp" that says you can make significant legal fees by actually "working" each bankruptcy rather than just being a volume filer. I will say that I've heard extremely mixed reports on google adwords, particularly in regard to the expense, even when controlling your budget. If anyone has any good vendors in terms of pay-per-click for attorneys, I'm all ears.
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Dec 13, 2010 19:36
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if you need something in addition to barbri, adaptibar is online MBE review with actual old questions. I saw like 2-3 questions on the actual bar exam that were word for word exactly the same as those I saw in the licensed old questions. also we don't get bar exam results if we pass, but when I took the bar exam, it was the first year our jurisdiction used MEE essay questions and I'm pretty sure I destroyed them because the MEE questions were basically just MBE questions where you had to copy out the reasoning behind the question.
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Dec 23, 2010 22:01
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I have a federal subject matter jurisdiction question that's probably pretty easy, but I feel like contributing fodder for the thread, and bonus points because 1ls probably know this better than I do. Diversity jurisdiction, question is about amount in controversy: If you have a complaint that asks for $74,999 and attorney fees/costs and prejudgment interest, does that satisfy the $75,000 "face of the complaint" requirement? Seems like it should, but the actual damages are still under the magic number. EDIT: found this one if anyone cares: If the plaintiff may recover attorney fees by statute or contract, the attorney-fee claim may be included in determining the amount in controversy, regardless of whether a fee award is mandatory or discretionary. Lowdermilk v. United States Bank Nat’l Assoc., 479 F3d 994, 1000 (9th Cir 2007). Alternatively: complaint for $74k (no attorney fees, clearly not meeting the requirement) filed in state court and removed to federal court by defendant, who adds in counterclaims for $74k on partially related issues i.e. related to the same contract but alleging additional facts that give rise to their damages. Does the answer + counterclaim operate as the "face of the complaint" and if so, does that add the values together or can the original plaintiff move to mushi fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Jan 7, 2011 |
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Jan 7, 2011 01:27
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Save me jeebus posted:I come not for taco chat, but for lawoffice management chat: TimeMatters was bought by Lexis a while ago and is probably the most comprehensive, but it isn't cloud-based (yet). TimeMatters apparently does awesome stuff like let you set up scripts to put every e-mail from a client into their folder and pdf it. I want to set up some good systems as I go forward, but that poo poo takes a lot of time. edit: just thank your lucky stars that you don't do client conflict checks on an index card system. I know some older attorneys who do exactly that.
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Jan 9, 2011 02:55
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when you say legal position do you mean taking a position on what your view of the law is in regard to a property issue, or do you mean like a legal position where you do work and some firm pays you a regular, decent salary? because you know, one happens all the time and the other doesn't really exist right now. edit: for serious, property touches a wide range of areas of law. For example I have to call the county recorder to record a death certificate tomorrow to put the WHOLE WORLD on notice that some property has passed by a right of survivorship in a tenancy by the entirety. Estate planning, tax, family law, business litigation, pretty much everything. There's a reason property is a required 1l class. mushi fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Jan 18, 2011 |
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Jan 18, 2011 05:26
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entris posted:Ah, Texas. One of the last vestiges of the American machismo culture. Insurance companies know this too. While the facts of a case typically dictate a lot of the value, having a reputation as a lawyer willing to try cases certainly affects how adjusters will respond, offers, and in general getting poo poo done. Google colossus if you don't know what it is. For the poor souls still in law school, here's some advice: if you get to try one case before you graduate you will have a leg up on everyone else who didn't. Even if you don't want to be a criminal lawyer, and you want to sit in an office and write memos all day, you should still do it. You will get more real experience in terms of dealing with clients, dealing with opposing counsel, dealing with judges, and organizing a case file. Stuff that is valuable away from criminal law. Take evidence at your earliest opportunity to get court-certified and apply for jobs with the DA, public defender, small crim defense firms and beg/borrow/steal to get attorneys to let you try cases. Ask around for attorneys' shittiest cases that are absolute dogs and ask to try them. For reference, my first jury trial is coming up (passed the bar last year), and it's almost criminal that all you need to try a case is a bar license. If I didn't have a strong support network of mentors I would be totally screwed, but I didn't do the above part about getting court-certified and now I really regret it.
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Feb 2, 2011 05:56
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the problem is that those people do go to law school and pass the bar and then you end up having to deal with them as actual lawyers with impact on your clients and life instead of just being able to dismiss them as delusional. the craziest, most delusional person I know from law school got a job out of law school in a remote county as a DDA, and has since progressed to be a DDA in a real city. I can not imagine having to try a case against her, I think I'd have a nervous breakdown from the sheer amount of crazy I'd have to put up with. but such is life.
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Feb 6, 2011 23:42
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Just won a case with attorney fees at stake. 
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Dec 4, 2012 01:04
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