April 02, 2020

5 Ways the Legal Landscape Is Changing For Small Law Firms

Do You Want To Broaden Your Practice Specialization? Legal practice is fluid. As the law adapts to social and political changes, so must legal professionals. No law firm is exempt from the impact of these changes, and to be successful, firms must be ready to make adjustments. This is particularly true for small law firms and solo practitioners, who often work under smaller margins than large organizations. However,...

March 31, 2020

How To Improve Associate Satisfaction and Improve Firm Culture

Today’s best law firms understand the benefits of having a fluid and adaptable legal culture. Attorneys are intelligent and motivated individuals, and law firms must ensure that they maintain a suitable environment for lawyers from different generations, diverse backgrounds, and various perspectives, beliefs and values. To attract the most talented legal professionals, a firm needs to foster a positive work environment...

March 27, 2020

10 Binge-Watch TV Shows for Lawyers

Every attorney needs to take a break from time to time—so don’t for a second feel guilty about blowing through a whole season of SVU this weekend. And if you’re stuck at home with some downtime, we’ve put together a list of 10 of the best TV shows for attorneys that are a great way to take your mind off things. Toss a bag of popcorn into the microwave, pour a glass of your favorite whatever and...

March 27, 2020

Four Ethical Ways to Attract an Already-Engaged Client

Plenty of successful attorneys drool over clients otherwise engaged with competitors. But that doesn’t have to be you. If you have your eye on a prospect who is using a competing firm for legal services, never fear—there are (ethical) ways to bring that client to your practice. Ethical ways to attract an already-engaged client: 1. Woo the relationship-holding attorney instead of the client. While it...

March 24, 2020

10 Binge-Watch Movies for Lawyers

Stuck at home for a while? We’ve compiled a handy list of movies to help you pass the time. But this simply isn’t a list of lawyer or courtroom movies —no that’s way too easy. While this list includes a few no-brainers, we dug a bit deeper to find some less obvious options. We hope that many of these flicks are new to you. (Oh, and you may want to read our lists of 10 Binge-Watch TV Shows...

March 23, 2020

Five of the Funniest Fictional Lawyers

Could you use a bit of levity right about now? Yeah, thought so. We complied a short list of our favorite, fictional comedic lawyers. Check out the list, and click on each name to watch some clips and get a few chuckles. (Oh, and if you notice we omitted Vinny Gambini, don't worry—he made our list of Binge-Watch Movies for Lawyers .) Then vote for your favorite at the bottom of the page. Five of the...

March 18, 2020

Commercial Contract Drafting and Review Checklist

This checklist outlines what counsel should consider when drafting or reviewing a commercial contract. It addresses, among other terms and provisions, pricing and payment, term and termination, representations & warranties, indemnifications, limitations on liability, confidentiality, insurance, ownership and licensing rights, assignability, and dispute resolution procedures. This checklist is industry and jurisdiction...

March 15, 2020

Telecommuting Employees: A Business Owner's Best Practices Checklist

by Jeffrey H. Ruzal and Carly Baratt, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. With the advent of sophisticated workplace information technology that allows employees to connect to a company's computer network from their home with little more than a laptop and an internet hookup, “telecommuting” or “teleworking” has become a common phenomenon across various industries. Moreover, telecommuting and...

March 12, 2020

Ohio Federal Court Rules that Federal Immigration Law Preempts Ohio’s Driver’s License Policy Regarding Refugees

A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio holds that a policy by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) that prevented refugees with legal immigration status in the U.S. from obtaining Ohio driver’s licenses was unlawfully in conflict with federal immigration law. ( An in-depth analysis of that case is available on Lexis Advance® . Not a subscriber? Click here .) ****...

March 12, 2020

A Paralegal’s Guide to AI and Automation

One might look at the rapid evolution of legal technology and think that the days of the traditional paralegal are numbered. However, as most law firms would likely tell you, this simply is not true. Though some of the tasks that they’ve handled in the past have become automated, paralegals remain a vital part of the profession. As technology has evolved, so has the role of the paralegal. In fact, they are needed...

March 11, 2020

Five Questions to Ask When Choosing a Legal Research Service Provider

The Importance of Reliable Legal Research Despite changes in the legal industry, like advancing technology and innovative legal marketing , there is one aspect that is as true today as it was decades ago: attorneys would not be able to provide accurate legal counsel without the use of a legal research service. Without access to case law, statutes and regulations, as well as proper legal citation tools, an attorney...

March 09, 2020

Business Interruption Insurance - What you need to tell your clients

by David Goodwin and Greg Rubio, Covington & Burling LLP This practice note discusses insurance coverage for times when business is interrupted because of property damage or loss. Scope of Coverage Because property insurance policies typically cover only the cost of repairing and replacing damaged property, and not consequential economic losses, many purchasers of commercial property insurance purchasers add...

March 09, 2020

Tips to Avoid Referring Out Your Cases

Every now and then, prospective clients may come to you seeking legal help involving an issue in an unfamiliar practice area. What if instead of referring them to another firm, you could take the case yourself? With the right resources, you can expand your knowledge breadth and confidently take on cases that touch on issues that you haven’t faced before. With the right practical guidance, you can offer insightful...

March 03, 2020

In Honor of International Women’s Day: A Roundtable Discussion

As National Women’s Day approaches, we could think of no better way to honor the female attorneys that have shaped our great profession, than to help you get to know some of the best currently in the business. These talented attorneys were kind enough to share their diverse perspectives on the future of women in the legal profession. And while their viewpoints were all different, they did echo the same concept:...

February 26, 2020

Web Scraping, Bots and Privacy: HiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.

You’re probably already familiar with LinkedIn®. It’s a popular networking site that’s designed for professionals across the entire spectrum of industries, from C-suite executives to gigging musicians. The site allows individuals to upload personal information, sort of like a digital resume, which can then be searched by employers, colleagues and friends. That means LinkedIn is chock-full of data...

February 24, 2020

Three Reasons Why Your Firm Doesn’t Need a Website (And Three More Why It Does)

If you just woke up from a 20-year nap, you have a lot to catch up on. Cannabis is now legal in many states, gay marriage in all of them. Movies are magically delivered straight to your television. And there’s this whole thing about not eating gluten. But the craziest difference between the early aughts and today is this: your law firm might not need a website anymore. Unbelievable, right? Not according to the...

February 21, 2020

The Reptile Theory: A Game-Changing Strategy in Personal Injury Lawsuits

Over a decade since its introduction, the Reptile Theory continues to make a notable impact on personal injury litigation in the United States. The theory, first introduced in Reptile: the 2009 Manual of the Plaintiff’s Revolution by David Ball and Don Keenan, started a movement that has evolved into seminars, retreats and law review articles aimed at understanding, exploiting and counteracting our “Reptile”...

February 17, 2020

Building a Positive Culture Within Your Law Firm

Imagine two law firms. Both are small general practice firms, each with 10 attorneys and staff. At the first firm, attorneys and staff work hard to impress the equity partners. The managing partner is approachable, but resists change. Attorneys and staff rarely use all their vacation days, and often come to work when they’re sick for fear of being perceived as underachievers. When good things happen, the people...

February 12, 2020

Delegating Work Effectively: What, How and Who

For solo, small and midsize law firms, work often ebbs and flows. Slow days can be quickly offset by weeks of packed schedules and late nights at the office. And then there are those times where so much work is coming that it seems impossible to keep up. Those busy-beyond-busy moments are when it becomes clear just how important work delegation is. There are plenty of benefits to delegating work to another attorney...

February 03, 2020

How Law Firms Can Use Secret Shopper Programs to Improve Their Client Service

As consumers, we all know what great service feels like. It feels like the person working with us cares about helping, like they’ll do everything possible to ensure we feel valued. When we receive great client service, we tend to work with that business again. We also tend to tell our friends and family about the experience. Thus, great client service can generate both revenue and referrals. Does your law...

February 03, 2020

Free Immigration Law Webinar: Watch Now

Immigration Law: What's New, What Isn't & How LexisNexis ® Can Help CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING. In March 2020, LexisNexis held an immigration webinar that covered a wide range of topics, including employment, visas and green cards. The 45-minute event was hosted by Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law Practice at Cornell Law School, the co-author of Immigration Law &...

January 20, 2020

Five Cases When Midsize Firms Should Make Lateral Hires

For many midsize law firms, the choice between growing organically and growing through lateral hires is not an easy one. Growing from within is certainly an attractive option from both an economic and cultural perspective. Firms that wait for associates to blossom into rainmaking partners don’t have to bear the financial risk of luring an unproven partner with a guaranteed salary. They also don’t bear the...

January 14, 2020

The E-Cigarette Industry’s Legal Troubles

The 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey reported that 27.5 percent of U.S. high school students claim to use e-cigarettes, a.k.a. “vaping.” That figure was more than double the 11.7 percent recorded just two years earlier. Perhaps even more troubling, five million youth claimed to currently use e-cigarettes, with 1.4 million of those being new users in the past year. This alarming rise—coupled with...

December 27, 2019

Four Areas of Your Law Firm to Take a Fresh Look at in 2020

The start of a new year is an ideal time for solo practitioners and small law firm attorneys to take stock of their law firms’ operations over the last year and determine what they can do better in the year ahead. Below are four areas of your law firm that deserve a fresh assessment in 2020. Taking a critical look at them should help you identify what’s working and what’s not at your firm—and...

December 23, 2019

Four Things to Keep in Mind When You Fire a Client

Sometimes, things just don’t work out. That’s an immutable law of romance and, as most lawyers find out at some point in their careers, also of attorney-client relationships. For any number of reasons—many of which don’t call for blame on either side—they break down and make moving on the best course of action for both attorney and client. Maybe your communication styles don’t mesh...