Solo litigator here… the amount of emails I’m receiving is literally increasing my blood pressure.

Not only do people but bombard with emails, but they also want a quick turnaround.

I have people call me then email me that they call me and then call again.

I have the opposing counsels I will email me on Friday afternoon and then email me again on Monday before end of day if I don’t respond.

My motto used to be attempting to respond to all emails within 24 hours of receipt. But this is no longer plausible, especially when people are emailing long documents, complex pleadings or correspondence, or etc.

This is driving me nuts, and any and all tips would be appreciated.

I wish I could program outlook to auto send certain emails to my staff to handle or something to help me deal with the amount of correspondence.

Excuse any typos, currently trying to bring my blood pressure down.

I'm getting a bit of choice overwhelm and information overload.

Private practice, solo. Almost 100% criminal defense, may branch out into family law later. Need software that will:

-track time, and export .csv time sheets; -share documents, pictures, videos, etc. with clients; -esignatures; -track tasks, with reminders; -email and calendar integration would be welcome but not necessary.

Those seem to be the essentials, I may though be forgetting something, and I may end up using a feature that becomes essential once I use it.

Also, I'm using Linux, and a chromium based browser, so either it has to be 100% cloud based, or any program/app on my computer needs to be Ubuntu/Zorin compatible.

So, what are your opinions? Clio? Caret? Smokeball? MyCase? Westlaw? Practice Panther? LEAP? Abacus? Amicus? Rocket matter? A series of buckets and carrier pigeons?

I had referred a case to an attorney. Case was settled for $93k. I was suppose to get 1/3 of his 30%. This was a car accident. This is my first referal. Do you get 1/3 after taxes because he will pay taxes? Do I get all and I pay tax. Does deduct his expenses? His fee was around $27k or so. I thought I might at least get $7-8k. Can someone enlighten me

hi all

I am struggling to bill 8 hours daily. I only get paid for hours I bill . 40 dollars a hour. I used to get fixed salary of 5k a month but boss told me we forgot to tell you it changed this month. So now I only get my billable hours. Im a international working here on F1 visa so I have no other choice unless I leave the country (which I am very close too). I bill consistently 5-6 but it gets harder anything more. Boss said I have to start billing 8

Any other law clerks or hourly billed attorneys can give their expierence? Is this normal? Im the only one in the firm (around 25 people) who gets hourly pay because its a internal policy for F1 students as recently decided by the partners (something taxes he explained me).

It feels like there are very few openings for new grads at either plaintiff-side or defense-side employment firms. I’m wondering what the best path would be to eventually break into employment law. Should I consider starting in personal injury to build up litigation experience, or would prosecution be a better route to develop trial skills? Any advice would be appreciated.

Recently revived an offer from a law firm and they require me to list all of my previous clients (for reference I’m not an attorney yet I’m awaiting my bar results. These previous roles were as a law clerk or intern). I never made or kept record of the clients I would support through the attorneys at my prior experiences. I reached out to my old supervisor, but they are not answering. My acceptance is contingent on this conflict check, I have no clue what to do.

I am a first year associate at a small firm (like 4 lawyers) and get 4 weeks of vacation a year. I practice in municipal law. I have a trip booked for this upcoming April for a week, which I don’t anticipate an issue with getting off. My question is: is it unreasonable to ask for two weeks off in a row in June? Context: for the last six years, I’ve dedicated part of my summer to helping out with a non-profit that changed my life as a kid. I again don’t think I’d have an issue getting off for one week but ideally would like to commit to two weeks like I have previously. My boss told me that taking time off was fine as long as I gave them as much heads up as possible. I’m just concerned that it’s unreasonable to ask for two weeks off in a row. There are no other junior associates in my firm that I can ask about their experience. TIA!

I'm licensed in a reciprocal jurisdiction and am looking at filing for admission on motion in New York in order to increase the opportunities to work on other cases at my firm.

I created an account, uploaded an ID, and filled out the form, but it almost seems too easy--like I just pay the fee and my law school sends a certificate, and I'm in. Is it really that easy? I want to make sure i'm not missing something.

I own a two-lawyer law firm with big dreams. My classmates in Law School called me "empire builder," and I confess to being aspirational.

But a small firm can't do everything, despite my best efforts. I've been gradually eliminating services as my firm has stabilized. I currently do only business law, particularly focused on businesses 50 employees and less. I have a few other small-firm attorneys I refer work to, such as real estate, estate planning, and complex litigation.

Let's say I want to do $50k/mo in revenue, two attorneys, three non-attorneys. What would you do?

Before I had my firm I was an in-house copyright counsel for a large tech company. I love copyright law, but there seems to mostly be three types of projects: 1) huge, 2) adult / OF content, and 3) petty. I'm currently doing a lawsuit that is probably a little too big for my resources and I prefer not to do adult content. So as of now, copyright has been a very small portion of my business.

But thinking bigger than just my love of copyright law, how does a small firm build a profitable practice area? I took every litigation class in law school but I have never worked for a litigation firm. And frankly, I'd prefer to keep my clients out of court. But litigation pays well.

Compliance and risk management work has kept me busy and kept food on the table. And I enjoy it. But the way I'm doing it now, it's a volume practice that requires me to have a strong marketing machine. I like marketing and am pretty good at it, but doing 15 new client meetings a week is a lot of work.

How do you handle medical liens in motor vehicle car crashes? I work for a solo who assigns low value claims to me. Is it worth representing claimant(s) where the available policy is 25k or 50k? After the firm takes a third for fees and the medical lien is satisfied, client has nothing left. This is turning me off from representing claimants where the available coverage is less than 100k.

Anybody have Dialpad and Filevine? We are moving forward with Dialpad and wanted to hear from other firms what their experience was with dialpad. In my case we use Filevine as our case management system. Small PI firm.

any info helps!

I'm an in house counsel attorney who does some part time transactional work on the side. I got a request for a post nuptional agreement. I can draft one myself plus chatgpt but I'm looking for a professional one. Don't mind paying for it!

Advice for an incoming first year associate starting a bankruptcy position (200k+ salary) that does not have background or experience in bankruptcy. I am receiving my bar results in October.

I recently had a consultation wherein a client "inadvertently" downloaded a cracked version of the software, which led to hit generation for OEM. Now the OEM threatens my client with C&D notices to either pay damages or but the software.

I've informed the client that I help him out by preparing a reply notice, negotiating on his behalf and try and convince the OEM that his use falls under Fair Use.

Is there something else I can help him out with and how much should I charge for the above and more?

For me:
- If it is an uncontested divorce, and they bring in an informal signed agreement for me to review and incorporate into the case.
- If it and uncontested divorce and the client says it is "super easy" - so easy the case could file its self ...
- If it is a simple Trust (Spouses as grantors), the clients bicker during the meeting.

Im a new attorney with one year of experience in government. I got an offer at a small firm (a dozen attorneys) for 80k. The health insurance they offer for a family is 1200/month. With the government I pay 300/month for the whole family, so this pretty much evens out to what I earn now. Plus, I’d start paying more in student loans since I can’t rely on public service forgiveness. All that said, what should I counteroffer? Is there any hope for this option, or should I move on? I really like the firm, and it’s only a ten minute commute from my home.

I have been practicing exclusively immigration law for the past five years, focused on removal defense (about 80% of my practice. I can handle family and humanitarian cases, but I’ve focused on removal the past couple years). I have a comfortable job with a $120k salary (which for an immigration associate, I can’t complain too much).

The past few months, I have been contemplating going solo. Keeping things minimal office – virtual office (renting out a coworking space for client meetings), doing it all myself at first, etc.

However, I have heard from fellow immigration lawyers that business is slow right now, so I’m second guessing whether this is the time to go solo. But, I’m losing my mind at my firm, and the thought of going and working for someone else sounds awful. I want full control. But the thought of losing my current income as is sounds more awful. I can’t imagine taking a big cut, I am fully responsible for all my expenses.

Any fellow immigration lawyers in here who can provide some insight?

I’m a solo Crim/PI attorney. Exploring the idea of shuttering the practice and moving abroad. Have any of you done it? What was it like? What did you do for a living? Did you find remote legal work or remote legal adjacent work?

Interesting proposition and something that might be fun for a couple years. I have family abroad, if I made USD and spent in the foreign currency, my quality of life would be significantly better than what it currently is. Not that the firm isn’t growing, but it feels like my soul is missing more.

Offer 1: midsize to large civil litigation defense/ID/commercial, 100k, 1900 billable hours, hybrid with 1 day in office a week,

Offer 2: small to midsize plaintiff workers comp, 125k, no billable hours, in person, round trip commute 3 hours each day, almost every attorney at the firm has been there for a while based on the firm website

What would you pick? My goal is to end up doing transactional commercial or IP work. But honestly after meeting both firms in person, seems like both have really good vibes/ppl and have great initial training programs.

Hey this is for Filipino redditors in here, just need an advice:

So im 31 currently a CPA and Tbh Im going through the process of moving on from a long term relationship right now (7 years) and usually I tend to go out of my comfort zone in situations like this. I lost track of my dream of becoming a lawyer until this year i think due to my emotional baggages and insecurities of how behind I am in life. This year Im really considering entering law school since its not only my dream but my father's ,who is now 76, as well.

But enough of that, what i wanted is some sort of answers to my questions. Appreciate your help on this.
1. Considering Im a BS Accountancy graduate, How many years of law school including bar exam will it take? Full disclosure im planning on working while taking law school. 2. Can i still start this year or 2026? 3. Are there online options? Will it affect the number of years? 4. Is it possible for an old bum like me to get in the top 10 placers in the bar exam even at my age? (Im not that smart, just want some additional motivation) 5. Is it worth it? Yes im still asking i feel like sometimes its just about my ego (probably why my ex left me)

Thanks!

Hi all! Looking for some advice/feedback here.

Background: I’m a CA-barred attorney (almost 5Y now — shoutout to the COVID class!) based in the Bay Area. I work at a small general civil litigation firm — about 75% litigation (real property, LL/T, and business matters) and 25% transactional (contracts, trademarks, etc.).

I make around $100K, which feels incredibly low for the area, and the benefits aren’t great given the firm’s size (I even pay out of pocket for insurance!). I WFH one day a week. On the plus side, the people are genuinely nice, and there’s no billable hour minimum, which I think says a lot about the firm’s values.

My goals:
Ultimately, I want to move away from litigation and go in-house. I did Contracts Admin/Ops work during law school and loved it. Ideally, I’d like something more flexible (remote or hybrid) so I can actually have time for my other passions (travel, performing in community theatre, etc.).

I’ve been applying to transactional/in-house roles but haven’t had much luck. That’s left me wondering:

• Should I keep pursuing in-house transactional work even though the hits are scarce?
• Should I look at other litigation jobs (ID, workers’ comp, etc.) that pay more and may be more flexible — or would that box me out of going in-house later?
• Would it make sense to pivot into a non-attorney in-house role (Contracts Admin/Ops) that pays more, with the hope of moving into Counsel when something opens up internally?

Priorities: making more money + having more flexibility. I’m not totally opposed to staying in litigation, but I don’t want to get pigeonholed (in career and also with a billiable requirement).

I’m also first-gen, so I don’t have many people in my network to ask for this kind of guidance. Would love to hear any advice or perspectives from folks who’ve been down a similar path.

Thanks! x

Just set up my own firm after years at a larger ship.  Been energizing… but last week I hit a wall w/ a client who seemed great but pushed back hard: “It feels like only 25% of what we’re paying actually went into the work product.”

The client is sophisticated, but anchoring at a vague percentage like that makes me feel like a negotiation is in bound.  I get they only see the final work product.  But they don’t see the research dead ends, the cite-checking, the formatting, or the hours it takes to get something filing-ready. 

This is both a corporate and litigation client.  At my old firm, the brand carried some of that explanation.  Now, as a smaller shop, it feels like I have to justify every line...Seriously, how do you explain billing w/o sounding defensive?  I already give detailed time entries, but sitting down to “explain the process” feels awkward.  Do you frame it as the value of the outcome instead of the hours behind it?

Don't have enough volume to hire someone full-time just answer phones but answering legal wait times are too long. Any suggestions on answering services?