Month: September 2011

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Starting a Law Firm | Estate Planning Blogs

As I’ve discussed, my current legal marketing plan includes a lot of internet marketing. That means I have a lot of reading and writing to do and it is tough to come up with ideas about what to blog about.  That is where good lawyer blogs come into play.

What I don’t want to do here is make a complete list of all the lawyer blogs I like and currently utilize on my Google Reader.  What I will say is that many of the blogs I follow fall into two categories:  (1) lawyer start-up & practice tips blogs and (2) niche practice blogs in my practice area.  It took a lot of vetting, but I am very pleased with the information that I get from other solo attorneys.

I wanted to focus a little bit today on the blogs that I traditionally follow for my particular niche practice area – estate planning.  My practice focus includes family law and estate planning.  These two fields are often interchangeable and I find that a lot of family law clients need estate planning done or they have parents/siblings/relatives who are in need of estate planning.  Having a family centered practice means a lot of referalls if you treat your clients with the respect they deserve.

Without further adieu, here are my favorites for estate planning:

That is it for my current list.  All of them are very good, with, in my humble opinion, Ask Liza and Wills Trusts and Estate Prof Blog being the best.  Ask Liza is good for being diligent, helpful, and well written.  It is the kind of estate planning blog that every blogging attorney should model their practice related blog after.  The Prof Blog is exactly what it sounds like – a great blog written by a professor.  I participate in as much CLE as I can, but, for me, this blog keeps me up-to-date and feeling like I am on top of the law.

If anybody out there has specific blogs they like, I would appreciate a comment.  I’ll keep everybody updated on my reader list as it grows.  I will also talk about my specific starting a law firm reader list in a future post.

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Starting a Law Firm | Associate Opening Practice Disbarred for Destroying Client Files

I wanted my readers to be aware of this case, Attorney Grievance Commission v. Gregory Raymond Keiner, where an associate attorney, in preparation for opening a law practice, was disbarred in Maryland for destroying client files and information from the law firm he worked at.

According to the grievance commission report linked to above, Keiner was an associate attorney at the Law Offices of Evan K. Thalenberg from 2002-2008.  He worked as a litigation associate in what appears to be a busy and successful lead paint, personal injury law firm.  The disciplinary commission opinion states that he was making $268,7000 in annual income in 2008 – the year he planned to leave the firm and open his own law practice.  He was attempting to bring clients with him and purposely falsified client files in the possession of the firm before doing so.  The opinion states that he deleted information such as the blood level toxicity reports on several children so that it appeared they did not have poisoning.  The opinion also states that from approximately June 2008 to March 2009, Keiner altered or deleted client documents and files in an effort to make it appear that the cases were weak in terms of whether his firm should handle them.  Three judges voted to suspended Keiner while the majority of four voted in favor of disbarment.  Keiner argued that his misconduct was caused by depression and alcohol dependency, but judges did not find that the dependency caused a “serious and debilitating mental condition.”

When I first read a article about the opinion at BNA.com I was surprised that an associate trying to start his own law firm would be disbarred for trying to take client files with him.  It seemed a bit steep.  But, when you go read the opinion, it becomes pretty clear that what Keiner was doing was in violation of Maryland criminal and ethical law and that his actions were, in my opinion, over-the-top unethical.

I wrote a post here in the past about opening a law practice and informing your clients of your move when you start a law firm or relocate to a new state.  There are clear rules on what needs to be done in this type of situation and the rules certainly have nothing to do with destroying client information and stealing client files from your old firm.

This case should be a lesson on what not to do for any attorney out there who is thinking about starting a law firm.