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Court can reduce fees from minor’s med-mal settlement 

Published: April 9, 2012

Tags: attorney fees, guardian ad litem, medical malpractice

State law allowed a trial court to unilaterally reduce attorney and guardian ad litem fees from a minor’s medical malpractice settlement, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled.

Don’t pin all your marketing hopes on Pinterest 

Published: April 9, 2012

Tags: internet, marketing, Pinterest, website

The latest social media phenomenon, Pinterest, is growing in leaps and bounds, with more than 11.7 million unique visitors in January alone, according to comScore.

Pinterest functions as an online bulletin board, with users “pinning” images that they like or want to share.

Attorneys consider pursuing e-discovery for smaller cases 

By: Jack Zemlicka
Published: April 6, 2012

Tags: e-discovery

Sharon Nelson, left, watches fellow e-discovery lawyer Bruce Olson during their March 29 presentation on case discovery at the American Bar Association’s Techshow in Chicago. Attorneys need to be aware of potential ethical obligations, Olson and Nelson said, in considering whether to use e-discovery in small cases.

Review marketing along with deductions at tax time 

By: Carolyn Lavin
Published: April 5, 2012

Tags: financial planning

As business people gather the necessary financial documents to prepare for tax filings, they often analyze earnings and expenses in comparison to goals and projections. Lawyers, too, assess the fiscal implications of the previous year from a perspective of billable hours, per-lawyer revenue, realization and other factors.

But as you undertake a thorough review of 2011 in terms of brackets and deductions, don’t miss the opportunity to incorporate some basic marketing parameters in your walk down recent fiscal memory lane.

A foot in the door: Getting a first client meeting 

Published: April 4, 2012

Tags: client recruitment, clients

Struggling to get meetings with prospective clients?

Larry Bodine, a legal marketing expert and editor in chief of Lawyers.com, and David Ackert, a business development specialist at The Ackert Advisory, recently explained the key steps at a webinar sponsored by The Business Development Symposium, a firm that specializes in helping lawyers find clients.

Trial lawyers find new ways to use the iPad to help try cases 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: April 4, 2012

Tags: iPad, legal technology, technology

Trial lawyers keep finding new ways, some expected and others surprising, to use the iPad to settle cases, prepare for litigation and try cases.

The big change is that lawyers have moved from using the iPad purely for content consumption to putting it to work in all aspects of litigation.

No deal: Indiana bar cautions attorneys about coupon sites 

Published: March 30, 2012

Tags: advertising, coupon websites, ethics, fee-sharing, Groupon, legal ethics, legal marketing, Rules of Professional Conduct, social media, social media marketing

Using group coupon or daily deal marketing is “fraught with peril” and is likely not permitted under the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, the State Bar Association’s Legal Ethics Committee recently said.

Judge dismisses fraud suit against law school for inflating job stats 

Published: March 28, 2012

Tags: deceptive business practices, fraud, law schools, legal careers

A judge in New York has dismissed the first lawsuit against a law school for inflating job statistics of graduates.

Do Google’s privacy changes affect your law practice? 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: March 22, 2012

Tags: Gmail, Google, privacy

Changes to Google’s privacy policies have created an uproar globally over concerns that the Internet behemoth has consolidated its information gathering without revealing how it will use that information and giving users no chance to opt out.

Suit over ownership of law firms by non-lawyers tossed 

Published: March 20, 2012

Tags: ethics, law firm ownership, non-lawyers

A challenge to a New York rule that bans non-lawyers from owning a piece of a law firm has failed for lack of standing.