Month: March 2012

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Starting a Law Firm | The Benefits of CLE?

I think the basis and general idea of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) is great.  CLE is meant to be an opportunity for lawyers to hone their craft, learn new skills, and get updates on changes in the law.  However, too many CLE sessions, in my humble opinion, are simply opportunities for presenters to promote what they do while, simultaneously, giving lawyers a break from day-to-day work in a place where they can play games of grab-ass ( otherwise known as networking).

I apologize for the whining.

I attended a CLE today that I was really looking forward to.  Lots of great presenters.  Great looking names.  Cool topics.  The works.  I got to the CLE this morning with my notepad ready to be filled and with a mind open to obtaining new knowledge.  Yet, after a day of taking very few notes and listening to presenters drone on about trial rules which haven’t changed appreciably in ten years and case law that I have already read, I feel a little jaded.

I did pick up a few tidbits about things which I could do better and which might help my practice.  That may be worth the price of admission by itself.  However, I don’t really think so.

Perhaps we aren’t meant to absorb much in the actual CLE sessions, but, instead, read over the copious amounts of material given out at a later time.  I’ll buy that.  However, one questions why all-day CLE sessions are even necessary.  Why not just give us all a snippet and tell us to go read the information ourselves?

Here is the thing:  I like learning.  I like expanding my knowledge in a particular area of law. What I don’t like is being dissapointed consistently with dull presentations which go nowhere.  Now, I’m not saying all CLE’s are bad. Some CLE’s I have taken have been very, very good.  Yet, in my experience, those occasions are more the exception than the rule.

Perhaps the answer to this conundrum is for me to stop complaining and come up with an awesome CLE presentation of my own – one that defies all expectations.  I guess I’ll have to get working on that.

I am interested in knowing what other people’s experiences with CLE has been?  Am I jaded, or does everybody have a similar experience?  Feel free to comment.

 

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LSAT Test Taker Numbers Continue to Drop

As reported by the New York Times, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is reporting that there has been a 16% drop in the number of LSAT test-takers from the previous year.  That drop represents a decade low according to the Law School Admissions Counsel.

According to the Times:

The Law School Admission Council reported that the LSAT was given 129,925 times in the 2011-12 academic year. That was well off the 155,050 of the year before and far from the peak of 171,514 in the year before that. In all, the number of test takers has fallen by nearly 25 percent in the last two years.

Those are some pretty interesting numbers.

No doubt, the drop in the number of test-takers can be directly tied to the recent recession and the news of student’s suing their law schools for false employment data reporting.

My two cents?  I’m not at all surprised.

My wife asked me the other day if I would talk to one of the children of someone she works with about being a lawyer and going to law school.  The first thing I did was frown and say, “I hope she isn’t another liberal arts major that doesn’t know what else to do with her life.”  (Ok, I’ll admit to being a cynic and rather negative at times.  I’ll also admit that I was that liberal arts major).

However, I was speaking with a local judge in Minnesota recently about practicing law, starting a law practice, and, in general, being a lawyer.  It was a great, lawyer-to-lawyer, conversation.  I don’t have them all the time, but I enjoy the chance to speak with a good lawyer about what the law means to them.

We talked about many things related to practicing law.  The judge had been a solo lawyer for a while, he had been a public defender, and then he became a judge.  He talked about how he enjoyed nearly every aspect of the being a lawyer – no matter in what capacity.  His candor to me was refreshing.

The judge also made a statement that many people ask him “should my son or daughter go to law school?”  After all “isn’t there a lot of competition?”  His response?  If you like the law and you want to be a lawyer, yes, of course, I would recommend law school.

I smiled and nodded.  I don’t know if I would give the same answers to people who ask me if their son or daughter should go to law school.  I hope I would.  However, I knew what the judge meant.

The law is a service profession.  There is much joy in it if you like learning, having an active mind, enjoy competition, and like helping people.  It was the judge’s life work – his ministry, if you will.

So, I am thinking that maybe it isn’t the lawyer part that is bad.  Instead, it is the misconception that I think people have about what law school and being a lawyer means.  People shouldn’t think of it as a means to an end.  The law is the means.

Being a lawyer won’t make you happy if you are in it for the money or prestige or whatever reason you have.  You should only take the LSAT and go to law school if you want to be a lawyer.  If you don’t know what that means, I suggest you go intern a while and figure it out before you make the financial and life-altering leap that is going to law school.

 

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Starting a Law Firm | Questions about creating a law firm website

I’ve posted on the topic of creating a law firm website on several occassions already on this blog.  However, the lawyer website posts continue to be some of the most visited and frequently asked about posts.  So, here is another one!

New Jersey lawyer Jennifer B. Barr Swift sent me an email yesterday and asked for help with her law firm website.  I was more than happy to oblige and try to answer some questions.  I have spent an inordinately large amount of time designing websites and blogs in the past year.  (Probably because I was/am still waiting to be licensed to practice law in in the state I now live in).

Her questions are common to many I have been asked by other lawyers.  I asked permission from her to post her question and my answers.  I hope they help some people who are trying to start a law firm and design their own lawyer website.

I read your blog about starting a law firm web site, which was quite helpful because I am trying to do the same.  I hope you were serious about your offer to lend a hand with creating a web site, because I do have some questions . . . .

I already registered a domain name, but I haven’t chosen a host yet.  I think I’m leaning towards either GoDaddy or iPage, both of which seem to be easy to work with a Word Press theme.

I have chosen (but not purchased) the Elegant Theme Premium Word Press themes, because they do look very nice.

So, what do I need to do to now?  Do I sign up with a host, install the free Word Press software (which I believe is available through the host), then buy the theme?  Am I ready to start editing then, or do I also need the Photoshop software (which is about $300 from what I can tell).  Also, for the Elegant Themes, the price is about $40 per year; if I don’t renew after the year do I lose the theme and thus my web site?

Your web site is very nice – great job!

Below is my response:

Thank you for the email and questions.  I actually love getting these types of questions from other lawyers.  I’ve been amazed at what the blog has done for me in terms of talking with other lawyers throughout the U.S.

. . .

(1) I would choose Hostgator.com for your website hosting.  The plans are flexible and, best of all, affordable.  A year-long plan is something around $67.00 after discounts.  I haven’t found anybody else that cheap.  I used Winhost.com and they were a disaster.  Bad service, bad support. Additionally, since you are asking for my help, I can be more specific on what to do because I know how to use Hostgator’s software and user-interface.  Hostgator installs WordPress very, very easily.  It’s almost as easy as the click of a button.

(2)  I’m assuming you sign up for Hostgator, but I would guess that most of the hosts have compatible software.

(a)  After you pay for the hosting service, they sign you up for a thing called “cPanel”.  cPanel is simply their user interface.

(b)  In cPanel you can go to “QuickInstall” and, from there, click on “install WordPress.”

(c) The hosting service will then install WordPress, give you a password and a user name, and point you towards a log-in screen.  You log in and you now have a WordPress website.  It will look very plain and have the WordPress 2010 theme on it.

(d) Now, go to the WordPress “dashboard” in the upper-left-corner. In the WordPress dashboard you need to locate the area on the left hand side of the dashboard called “Appearance” and, from there “Themes”.  Once you are in themes, you will want to find the button called “upload theme.”

(e) Assuming you can get this far, you now need to purchase a theme.  You said you were going to use Elegant Themes.  Elegant Themes has many different themes to choose from.  Assuming you sign up and pay for the service, you pick a theme and then download the files to your computer.  They will be in a ZIP folder.  Leave them in the ZIP folder and remember where they are on your computer.

(d) Open up you WordPress dashboard again, click upload theme, and find the Elegant Theme ZIP folder on your computer.  Upload it and then click “activate”.  You should now have you own theme and website!

(3)  I don’t know what happens if you stop paying for Elegant Themes.  I don’t think you would lose your website as the files are on your computer.  However, I don’t really know the answer to this question.  If you are nervous about it, I suggest you choose a one-time payment theme option like Thesis, Woo Themes, or Theme Forest.  My two-cents is that $39.00 is so small that it doesn’t really matter.

(4)  Don’t buy photoshop software.  You don’t need it.  If you really want to edit photos, there are plenty of free services.   I use Paint.net and Photoscape.  Both are free and both are great.  There is a learning curve, but it’s free so who cares?  Google either one of those names, find them, and download them.  If you don’t like them you can simply delete them from your computer.  Also, I get most of my images from Stck.xchng.  You have to sign up to use the images, but most of them are free (although you may have to give the photographer credit).  I don’t pay for any images.  But, I should warn you that you can’t just take images off the internet.  You have to use images that have been approved for free use.  If you want to know more about this, please ask.

(5) Designing the website and including content is, obviously, solely at your discretion.  Designing the logo is a bit tough and I’m no expert; however, I think it’s fun.  Adding content is fairly easy as well.  However, every “theme” has its own way of uploading pictures and content.  You’ll have to play with it.

 

Finally, there is a learning curve to all of this.  It takes time.  I’ve screwed it all up enough times that I know how to make it work.  If you want specific help with anything, please ask.  I enjoy this stuff.

Good luck.

I hope that helps answers questions people may have.  As I’ve stated, I’m no expert and all of this takes time.  However, building your own website is not that difficult.

For anyone who is interested, you can find my website at www.flanderslawfirm.com.

If others have questions or would simply like some help, please email me at jflanders@flanderslawfirm.com.  Seriously, I’ll email you back.

 

 

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Starting a Law Firm | The Law School Bubble

I recently began receiving the ABA Journal as a card carrying member of the ABA.  I find this mildly amusing given that I didn’t begin receiving anything from the ABA – outside of CLE advertisements – until I started my own law practice.  If I get one thing out of being a solo lawyer, at least the ABA thinks I’m worthy of receiving a free copy of their magazine.

In the March, 2012 issue, the journal had some very interesting letters to the editor.  The letters were in regard to the so-called “law school bubble.”  For those who don’t know, the law school bubble refers to the notion that there are too many law school, too many lawyers, and too high tuition.  In essence, the argument that is taking place goes something like this:  because there are not enough lawyer jobs, law schools who charge high tuition are not creating a viable return on investment for the students attending the schools.

One letter in particular really grabbed my attention:

The ABA is a major contributing cause to the continually shrinking job market for attorneys.  It makes me sick every time I read that there has been a new admission of 300 attorneys in Kentucky in the past six months.  Not only is there no place for these new attorneys to work but the are driving down the salaries of more experienced attorneys who have to compete with them . . .

Good points, all.  However, I wonder, is it true that law school tuition has raised at such an exorbitant rate in comparison to national salaries, or is the recent recession to blame?

So I did a little research. Check out law school tuition statistics from 1985 to 2009 at private and public law schools as reported by the ABA. If you look at the statistics (and, no, I am not vouching for the source) the raise in tuition appears to be steady from a year-to-year basis for both public and private law schools.

In fact, since the recession began in or around 2007, private and public law school tuition has not risen significantly in terms of percentage from the previous year.  From the ABA’s date, it would appear that law school administrators are in fact aware of the recession and are considering tuition increases appropriately.

Now, you can certainly argue that just because tuition is not being raised doesn’t mean that there is no “law school bubble”.  However, it doesn’t appear that law schools have been entirely blind to the recession and the problems that it has created for law school graduates.

Students also have the opportunity to do a little research of their own before deciding whether their investment in law school is going to be a good decision for them.  Employment statistics are out there for people willing to look.  However, at lot has been made out of the fact that some law schools have allegedly skewed their post-graduation employment data.  Heck, even Congress is looking into it.  It is a big deal:

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has also been criticized for releasing post-law school statistics that are vague in terms of whether or not the employment is in the legal field, or if it is full or part-time. The ABA Section alleges that their future statistics will be more precise.

I will be the first to recognize that the allegations are alarming.  I would also like to be the first to posit:  maybe it’s not the law school, but, instead, society’s misconception about the value of a law degree?  Lying about employment statistics is one thing, failing to be aware of real job prospects is another.

I chose to go to a law school (University of North Dakota School of Law) that didn’t charge high tuition and who wasn’t hiding the fact that the legal job market wasn’t so good when I graduated.  Oddly, UND is not a “tier 1” law school according to the US News.   I didn’t pay a lot and I made a good salary when I graduated.  I felt like the investment was a good one.  My employers did not care at all where I went to law school – they looked at my grades, my employment record, and other standard “getting a job” related information.

My point here is that I made a choice to go to a less “prestigious” law school that charged a reasonable tuition.  The “ranking” of my law school has absolutely no affect on when I received a job and how much I was paid.  My employers didn’t care.  Why?  I would argue that it was because where I graduated from wasn’t important.  What was important is the person I was and my attitude about being a good lawyer.

In sum, I would argue that the recession has created a lot of problems for all kinds of people in all kinds of professions.  Lawyers are not alone in this.  I don’t feel sorry for myself that I’m a lawyer in a bad job market, instead, I do what I did in law school – I put my nose to the grindstone and start being proactive.  I certainly don’t blame the ABA or the law school system writ large when things go badly for me.

 

 

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Oath and Affirmation

Today, March 8, 2012, I took my attorney Oath and Affirmation before the Honorable Thomas Bibus, Judge of the First Judicial District, Goodhue County, State of Minnesota.  What a relief.

I haven’t posted on this blog since November of 2011.  Why?  Because I felt dishonest posting on a blog named “Solo in Minneapolis” when I wasn’t licensed in Minnesota.  You might say:  why didn’t you just blog somewhere else?  Well, I did.  I’ve been blogging as much as I can about family law, estate planning, and probate.  Go check out my blogroll if you care.

Ironically, the last post on this blog was about how, in order to practice law, you have to get through law school first.  I feel like I just went through some kind of right-of-passage which was akin to law school.  I have waited for nearly ten months to be able to actively practice law again.  I left Indiana in June of 2011, bummed around with my wife and new baby boy, and settled in Minnesota in August of 2011.  Due to complications with my bar exam and licensure, I was not able to apply for admission in the State of Minnesota until the end of October 2011.  After that, I waited, and waited, and waited.

Last week, on March 1, 2012, I received my notice letter that the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners had recommended to the Minnesota Supreme Court that I be admitted to practice law in the state.  Thank god.

For anybody out there who has been benched, sat-out-a-year, missed playing time, been hurt, struggled with depression, struggled with life, felt whipped, been tired of bureaucracy, I salute you.  I hope you made it through.  I did.  I don’t know what the world has in store for me, but I know I can move on.

I realized a few things:  (1) I really want to be a lawyer, (2) I’m stronger than I thought, (3) my son is awesome and I love spending time with him, (4) I have a lot to learn about life, the law, and the pursuit of happiness.  Now, hopefully, I can stick to my guns, feel good about my choice of occupation, and go out there and kick ass.

I’ll be posting here more often.  I missed my starting a law firm diary blog.  I’ll let you all know what I learn about being a good Minnesota lawyer.  I hope I can build up a readership again.  I was doing pretty well for awhile, but, alas, nobody visits my nonesense anymore.  I hope that changes.

I’ll part with this nugget:

I, Joseph Matthew Flanders, do swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and that of the State of Minnesota, and will conduct myself as an attorney and counselor at law, in an upright and courteous manner, to the best of my learning and ability, with all good fidelity as well to the court as to a client, and that I will use no falsehood or deceit, nor delay any person’s cause for lucre or malice, SO HELP ME GOD.