Re: Meanwhile, for those of you who practice law.....

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On 5/16/06, joe nathan wrote:
> I don't want to imply that you are telling lies or suggest
> that you are not capable, but you're either one of the most
> amazing lawyers in the world or you have a load of
> malpractice claims waiting to surface.
>
> Business law (i guess you mean corporate - tax issues
> included), will & trusts, real estate, and bankruptcy are all
> unique practice areas with their own twists and turns. one
> ordinarily does not float so freely from one of these
> practice areas to the other without a fair number of
> mistakes. in fact, even seasoned practitioners in each of
> these areas make many mistakes and often serious mistakes
> with malpractice consequences. perhaps you have years of
> practice experience, but you may have little in the areas
> that you are trying to transition to. that still makes you a
> beginner.
>
> in the end, i really don't think you practice competently in
> all of the different areas you skate through. maybe you do;
> its possible. but you really should think twice about
> offering this type of advice to struggling solos who will do
> anything for a buck. they just might take you up on it. if
> you are in fact competant in each of these areas, it must
> dawn on you that there are complications that someone of less
> skill than you could easily stumble over.
>
> anyone reading this should take this for what it is - either
> the pie in sky bragging of a fool who is too stupid to know
> what type of malpractice claims await him or a lawyer who is
> both quite skilled but also a bit of a sadistic twerp spewing
> this nonsense to desperate people so that he can laugh while
> they get themselves in over there heads. on the other hand,
> if you're like many solos there is nothing much for a
> malpractice plaintfiff to take from you - unless of course
> they would like to have the sheriff come out and seize your
> student loan notes. in that case, maybe this isn't so bad.
>
> On 5/15/06, JF wrote:
>> For better or for worse, I continue to occasionally write
>> posts that may actually help those drowning solos actually
>> build their practices. I have been practicing real estate
>> law for a number of years, but the downturn in the real
>> estate market has forced me to expand into other areas. I
>> have had no problem obtaining new clients and new types of
>> work, and I do this by fishing where the fish are. For
>> example, in the past, I have suggested that solos hand
>> out "Have You Made a Will?" brochures to their existing
>> clients. A great way to get your client to come in for
>> some estate planning. When the new bankruptcy law went
>> into effect, many bankruptcy lawyers dropped that area of
>> practice. I spent an afternoon on the phone calling these
>> lawyers, telling them that I am practicing bankruptcy law,
>> and now a number of them have used me as their referral
>> attorney. I originally built my real estate practice by
>> opening my office next door to a large, busy real estate
>> broker office. The referrals came quickly and
>> consistently. Again, fishing where the fish are. All this
>> has been supplemented by bar lawyer referral programs.
>>
>> My newest marketing endeavor targets business entities,
>> who (in my opinion) ultimately make the best clients. I
>> had ignored business clients in the past (with the
>> exception of real estate developers) largely because I did
>> not believe there were many new businesses in my area, and
>> existing businesses typically already have counsel. Then I
>> checked the new business certificate filings in the city
>> that I practice in and found that there are many new
>> business filings every month. I have been active in the
>> local Chamber of Commerce for over a year, and I am the
>> only lawyer who gives them my time. So I simply called the
>> Chamber director, who confirmed that, yes, a good amount
>> of new business people call her for lawyer referrals, and
>> from now on she will certainly give them my name (since
>> I'm the only lawyer in town who bothers with them). I had
>> my first client within a week. Granted, many of these new
>> businesses will fail, but I will receive the start-up work
>> and retain those that succeed.
>>
>> Virtually all solos know how to practice law. The hard
>> part is obtaining clients, which seems to be the problem
>> people have here. The work is out there; you just have to
>> reach out and grab it. It's all about relationship
>> building, making yourself visible in the community, and
>> letting people know what you do.

How tacky!

s/Hardy Parkerson, Atty.
>>