We've Moved!
You can now find Build A Solo Practice at our new home at Solo Practice University! Come join me!
March 31, 2009
March 20, 2009
March 09, 2009
Announcing Tuition at Solo Practice University™
We've announced our tuition for Solo Practice University. Head on over to SPU and check it out!
March 02, 2009
We're Opening the Door to Solo Practice University™!
The door to Solo Practice University™ will open on:
Friday, March 20th at 12:00 noon EST
(12:00 p.m EST, 11:00 a.m. CST, 10:00 a.m. MT, 9:00 a.m. PST).
This winter was dramatic for the legal industry and all legal professionals. So it seemed appropriate (and irresistibly corny) for us to open the door to Solo Practice University™ on the First Day of Spring, the beginning of a season traditionally associated with promise, rebirth, renewal and growth.
For those who remain unfamiliar with Solo Practice University™, it is a web-based educational and professional networking community for lawyers and law students staffed with outstanding faculty ready to teach you how to create and build your solo practice into the 21st century. As Law is Cool noted:
The community will be composed of blogs, profiles, a messaging function, and interest-based user groups. SPU has already accumulated a faculty which rivals the size of some law schools, and is continuing to add to that number. It hopes to have a representation from a comprehensive list of professional fields by the time it is fully operational. Enrolment at SPU will be restricted to lawyers, law students, and recent grads; legal “outsiders” will not be admitted. Because the institution “is not a brick and mortar structure,” there is virtually no restriction on the size of both the faculty and the student body.
A very appealing quality of SPU is its thorough integration of social and professional aspects of legal practice. More than being just a “how-to” on practical topics, it will provide a means to network with other law students and lawyers, and will address issues like how to maintain a work/life balance.
We'll be posting more details including tuition costs as we approach our grand opening. So, if you are not already signed up to receive these notices, you can grab the RSS or drop your e-mail here.
Thanks again for your patience, your encouragement and your unbridled enthusiasm for what we are all going to create together.
Hope to see you on the first day of school at Solo Practice University™, Friday, March 20, 2009.
(If you'd like to see a video announcement of our opening, head on over to SPU right now!)
February 01, 2009
Blogging Break Continues.....Come Guest Post!
There are times to take a break from blogging...the pause that refreshes. Or, in my case, I have VERY busy weeks coming up which will require my undivided attention as we gear up for the opening of Solo Practice University.
So, look for new posts in a few weeks. Except we may have a few guest posts sprinkled here and there in my absence. :-) I may periodically put up a post but not my usual schedule. You will see me poke my head in now and again on Twitter.
And if you are interested in guest blogging on any matters pertaining to solo practice, please e-mail me (see 'e-mail me' button on right) to discuss.
Be back soon.
Worth Reading:
Is Now the Perfect Time To Start A Solo Practice?
Are You Part Of The Lost Generation?
It's All About Choices....Always Has Been
Marketing Defined. It's Not A Dirty Word
(And in case you didn't see, check out our recent faculty announcements at Solo Practice University.
If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to my RSS! If you would like to be part of a new educational and professional networking community for lawyers and law students why not subscribe to the RSS for Solo Practice University.
And you can always follow me on Twitter :-)
December 22, 2008
And the Winner of the Free Lifetime Scholarship to Solo Practice University Is....
We recently ran a contest for one free lifetime scholarship to Solo Practice University. Then we let the readers of Build A Solo Practice University decide who should be awarded the scholarship.
And the lucky scholarship recipieint is............Jessice M. with this winning entry:
Well, I knew I didn't qualify for the 100 free scholarships but thank you for giving me another opportunity.
I am currently out two years and know there is only one way for me to practice and that is as a solo.
Why? I currently work at a decent-sized law firm but I see the writing on the wall. While the firm did well when times were good, they are not prepared for times being bad. And times are going to get bad. They have no business sense. Everything is as you have called it 'second wave' and this lack of ingenuity is stifling and job threatening. I can't operate in this type of environment and I know I can do better.
Plus, I want the flexibility. I don't mind working hard or long hours, but I need flexibility. And no one else is going to give me the freedom I require.
After reading about Solo Practice University (which is so sorely needed) I realize this is the perfect environment for me to learn what I need to know to be successful. Just as I need to work on my own, I need to learn as I need to learn, not on another's schedule. And there is no way it would be practical to learn from all this astounding faculty you are lining up. If the first five are any indication of the type of education students will receive it's pretty amazing.
I know going solo isn't easy. I have no illusions. But to make learning 'how' to go solo so comfortable certainly lowers the 'fear' threshold most attorneys I know feel.
Having a scholarship would certainly make this even more possible for me to do.
Well, that's my story. Nothing extraordinary. No missing limbs or poverty. But I sure would like this scholarship.
Thanks for you time and what you are creating. Wow. All I can say is 'Wow.'
And Happy Birthday to Build A Solo Practice and You.
Thank you to all who voted and Happy Holidays
December 02, 2008
A List of Great Blogs I Read - Take the Challenge
There are a phenomenal number of great blogs out there and the idea there should be a top 100 somehow strikes me as odd. Don't get me a wrong. I am flattered once, again, to have been selected to be in the ABA Top 100, maybe more so this year than last because in 2008 the ABA's blog directory swelled to over 2000 blogs. This year they also listed their criteria for selection which is pretty stringent. So, I'd be dishonest if I said I wasn't flattered. But as my friend, Anne Reed says, 'it is at best a list of recommendations' to guide you through the thousands of legal blogs out there.
But there is an important point that is lost when these types of 'contests' are run. Everyone blogs for a different reason. Most lawyers do so as an extension of their marketing strategy to deliver education to the general public and they do it very well specifically for their intended audience. And then there are some outstanding blogs where you know that even if they are doing it as part of their marketing strategy, they simply love blogging and you are guaranteed a great read, a newsworthy topic with a perspective you never expected and links to other blogs you would never have found on your own. Day after day they deliver incredible content with startling perceptions which really make you think. And whether two or two thousand, their readers are devout for good reason.
Regardless the motivation or passion, if they are reaching their intended audience with quality information they have succeeded and this is a successful blog by any standard. But they won't necessarily be noted by the ABA 100 so you have to look for another list of 'recommendations'.
As a society we love top ten lists and 'the best of' lists and rankings but in so many ways they draw you away from discovering the hidden jewels by guiding your judgment. So, that being said I thought I would highlight for you a few blogs I read religiously, some on the ABA 100 and others which may have escaped their notice (And this is by no means an exhaustive list...I read 100's of blogs).
Jordan Furlong - Law21 His writing and his perceptions in the legal arena make me devour every syllable.
Chuck Newton - Third Wave Blog I have been a fan of his homespun, common sense, practical approach to life and lawyering since I discovered his great blog more than two years ago.
Marc Randazza - The Legal Satyricon Irreverent, intelligent, exercises his First Amendment rights sometimes to its X-rated fullest and pulls no punches so be warned.
Victoria Pynchon - Settle It Now Negotiation Blog Brilliant writer, talented mediator, posts infused with warmth and intelligence and passion.
Enrico Schaefer - The Greatest American Lawyer He has been dispensing valuable insights on innovation in the legal world for ages, first when wearing the cape of The Greatest American Lawyer and now unmasked but under the ideal of The Greatest American Lawyer.
Grants Griffths - Home Office Lawyer, Home Office Warrior and Blog for Profit Over the years Grant has spent literally hundreds of hours teaching lawyers about the power of blogging.
A Public Defender - Known as Gideon, he gives you the inside look at a public defender's world and one of the few who do it extremely well.
PTLawMom - Again, anonymous, she talks about being a mom, becoming a lawyer, with intimate and sometimes painful honesty
Carolyn Elefant - MyShingle Her analysis of solo and small firm practice is always fresh, timely and motivating and has been so without fail for more than six years.
Stephanie West Allen - Idealawg I have probably found more jewels on and linked to in her site over the past two years then any other internet treasure chest out there. Where she finds the time to share so much is beyond me.
Dawn Elaine Bowie - Maryland Father's Rights A gifted writer who focuses on Father's Rights in the dissolution process. One of the few I know of with great perspective on father's and their right to love and raise their children regardless of divorce.
This is just a very small sampling of the blogs I read. I challenge all of you to create a list of recommendations of those blogs you believe others should learn about and publicize on your own blog. Let's take the idea behind the ABA 100 and expand it. Let's make December of every year the month we introduce our readers to new blogs of note. Let's give everyone who blogs for education or love of writing and who does so with consistency and quality a pat on the back for a job well done.
(And in case you didn't see, check out our recent faculty announcements at Solo Practice University. If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to my RSS!
If you would like to be part of a new educational and professional
networking community for lawyers and law students subscribe to
the RSS for Solo Practice University. And you can always follow me on Twitter :-)
December 01, 2008
Time to Vote For the Winner of the Free Lifetime Scholarship to Solo Practice University
In celebration of my birthday and the two year anniversary of Build A Solo Practice I decided to run a contest to give away another free lifetime scholarship to Solo Practice University. Between December 1st and December 14th you, the reader, will decide who will receive the scholarship and the lucky winner will be announced on December 22nd. As you can tell by the faculty who have already been announced, this will be an amazing prize for the lucky winner. So, please click here to read the entries in the comment section, make your decision and vote.
You could really be impacting one solo lawyer's future in a seriously positive way :-)
November 10, 2008
In Honor of Our 2nd Birthday I Have A Valuable Prize To Award
I can't believe today marks the 2nd anniversary of Build A Solo Practice. (And it's actually my birthday, too!!!)
So much has happened in these two years. Nearly 800 posts, 1300 comments, the creation of Solo Practice University E-zine on this day one year ago with currently over 1100 active subscribers.
And now we are so very pleased to announce we have just as many subscribers receiving news on the pre-launch of Solo Practice University.
So, in honor of the remarkable two years, your continued readership and wonderful commentary which has really brought this blog to life... I have decided to award another free lifetime scholarship to Solo Practice University to any practicing lawyer or current law student... but with a twist.
Here are the rules:
1. You must be a practicing lawyer or current law student; (You need not currently be a solo to be eligible)
2. Tell us why you wish to go solo and;
3. Why you believe Solo Practice University will help you achieve your goal of entrepreneurship (best to go to the site and read our mission as well as what we are offering)
4. Provide the answers to the above in the comment section of this post. You may do so anonymously if you feel more comfortable)
5. Send me a separate e-mail with your full name, e-mail addresses (law school e-mail address if you are a current law student) so you can be reached at a later date if you win. And don't forget to identify which comment is yours.
6. And make sure your comment is received by November 30th dat midnight.
And here is the fun part. I won't be picking the winner. After the comments are submitted, I will create and post a poll listing all the entrants by how they identify themselves in the comment section (so be distinct) and my readers will select the winner*. And the winner with the most votes will be announced on December 22, 2008 just in time for one lucky person to maybe have an even better holiday and start to their new year.
So, if you have an interest in a free lifetime scholarship to Solo Practice University or know someone who does...spread the word and start commenting!!
(*I have the right to veto the winner if I suspect something fishy and the recipient of the second highest number of votes will be awarded the scholarship under the same rules and conditions.)
(And in case you didn't see, check out our recent faculty announcements at Solo Practice University.
If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to my RSS! If you would like to be part of a new educational and professional networking community for lawyers and law students why not subscribe to the RSS for Solo Practice University.
And you can always follow me on Twitter
September 17, 2008
A Great Lawyer - A Great Charity - A Great Opportunity Sept. 22
I've been so behind on so many things due to my involvement with Solo Practice University that I almost forgot my promise to let others know (especially Connecticut attorneys) about a great charity event being sponsored September 22, 2008 for the March of Dimes by one of my favorite Connecticut Labor and Employment Lawyers, Dan Schwartz of Pullman and Comley.
