December 10, 2019

Former Blank Rome Colleagues Launch Family Law Boutique

The leaders of two prominent New York family law practices have reunited to start a boutique firm of their own: Krauss Shaknes Tallentire & Messeri LLP (KSTM) . KSTM’s lawyers serve a clientele heavy on high-net-worth individuals and celebrities. The four founding partners all previously worked together at Blank Rome LLP, which has one of the largest matrimonial law groups in the country. Caroline Krauss co...

December 09, 2019

Torres v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security and Its Effect on DACA Citizenship Cases

As a Mexican immigrant, Gonzalez Torres was living in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, more commonly known as DACA. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated Torres’ DACA status on the suspicion that he played a role in human smuggling resulting from an arrest made in 2016. He argued his case in court and the decision, Torres v. United States Dep’t of Homeland...

December 03, 2019

Four Tips for Lawyers Giving Gifts to Clients and Referral Sources During the Holidays

During the holiday season, many solos and small firm lawyers begin juggling more tasks than normal. In addition to the regular client work, they will likely have several year-end tasks to deal with, including collections, budgeting and strategic planning. But with the arrival of the holiday season comes another task that might be even more stressful than all those other ones combined: gift giving. Here are four tips...

December 02, 2019

The Three Ways Non-U.S. Citizens Can Legally Live and Work in the United States

It would be a slight understatement to say that immigration is a hot topic in the United States these days. And yet, with a repeating election cycle, you can expect the topic—and the political rhetoric surrounding it—to somehow get even hotter. Listen to this article: Click here to play this audio clip But like most legal concepts at the center of a national conversation, immigration is often oversimplified...

November 25, 2019

Four Ways to (Ethically) Boost Your Firm’s Online Reviews

Positive online reviews for law firms are nearly as important as having talented lawyers in the building in the first place. Companies that have more reviews—as long as they are predominantly positive—are at a strong advantage against those that don’t. And in an industry as competitive as the legal sector, that can mean the difference between boom and bust. Although a marketing budget can help overcome...

November 07, 2019

Derivative Suits: They’re Not Just for Public Companies Anymore

Shareholder derivative lawsuits have traditionally been the domain of public company shareholders seeking to rein in the potentially detrimental actions of large public companies. There is however, a far less heralded but particularly inventive application of derivative suits: to address disputes within small law firm partnerships. Derivative Lawsuits If it’s been a minute since your business organizations class...

November 01, 2019

Viral Class Actions Offer Good (and Bad) News for Plaintiffs’ Firms

From the start, consumer class action lawsuits have been designed to right wrongs committed against a group of similarly situated consumers. And from the start, lawyers and courts have wrestled with the problem of how to make class members aware of relief available to them. Until now, courts have lived with imperfect yet workable solutions. For many years, where possible, direct mailings were used to alert individual...

November 01, 2019

Planning an Outing for Your Law Firm? Stop—Until You’ve Asked Yourself These Four Questions

Law firms of all sizes are thinking about opportunities for their attorneys and staff members to productively spend time with each other outside the office. As interns, clerks or associates start their tenures at law firms, firm leaders might even feel obligated to engage with their newcomers in a less formal setting. Law firm outings can help build camaraderie and personal connections that not only foster a sense of...

October 31, 2019

One Tough Customer: Discerning Between Challenging and Difficult Clients

In any profession, human relations is one of the most stressful components of a job. For lawyers, though, this component is often amplified by the high stakes and accompanying high emotions that typically come with legal issues. According to the 2019 Attorney Compensation report distributed by Martindale-Avvo ™, attorneys report that dealing with difficult clients is the most challenging aspect of their jobs....

October 21, 2019

Does Your Law Firm Need a Higher Google^® Ranking? Here’s How NOT to Do It.

Online reviews can be pivotal to a small business’s success, because consumers turn to these reviews to make decisions about where to take their business. From nail salons to legal services providers, potential customers use online reviews as a window into the quality of service they are likely to receive. They are so influential in fact, that for online businesses, having reviews increases conversions by about...

October 21, 2019

Five Trial Tips for IP Lawyers

Trying an intellectual property dispute to a jury is no easy feat. No trial is. But the inherent complexity of most intellectual property disputes (which generally includes more science and technicality than the layperson can grasp) means that IP lawyers must approach the process differently than lawyers litigating other kinds of matters. A lawyer trying a complex patent dispute to a jury is conducting a much different...

October 18, 2019

What Can You Trademark?

Trademarks offer strong legal protections to your brand. But the scope of what encompasses your brand’s identity and the limits on what you can (or cannot) trademark may differ with specific use cases. Before we dive any deeper, here’s a helpful primer if you’re unclear on the distinction between and trademark and a copyright. Speaking broadly, the purpose of a trademark is to protect a brand’s...

October 09, 2019

Internet Archive Wayback Machine^® Helps Lawyers Go Back in Time to Strengthen Cases

We’re guessing that many lawyers—perhaps even you—have had an issue come up in litigation regarding an adversary or a third party and thought, “If only we could have known what their website said about this topic back then.” When you think about it, old versions of websites could very well contain information that goes to the heart of a contested issue in a lawsuit. For example, information...

October 01, 2019

Small Firms, Big Cases: San Diego Firm Takes on Lyft^®

Uber ® and Lyft ® were once the small guys, taking on the giant taxi cab industry. Now they’ve grown into big targets themselves. They were the two most highly valued tech companies to go public in 2019 , but since their IPOs it has been rough going. Their stocks have been unqualified flops, with both hitting all-time lows this month. For Lyft, that may not even be the worst news it faced in September. It...

September 30, 2019

Five Things Every Personal Injury Attorney Should Know

Personal injury law can be complex; also, water is wet and grass is green. And while that means you’ve got to have a lot of resources in your mental toolbox, there are a few facets in which every lawyer in this practice area should be exceptionally adept at. Though this is by no means an exhaustive list, it should give you a good foundation to build on—particularly if you’re starting your own law firm...

September 26, 2019

Four Stats That Caught Our Eye from “The Bellwether Report Series 2019: Is the Future Small?”

The 2019 Bellwether Reports focus on issues and trends the U.K. legal industry is paying close attention to, covering topics like stress in the legal profession , the attributes solicitors consider to be essential in today’s rapidly changing legal market , Brexit and the general state of small law firms . Here are four stats from the small law firm report that caught our eye—and you’ll find they’re...

September 10, 2019

Electric Scooter Injuries: An Emerging Practice Area for Personal Injury Attorneys?

In dozens of U.S. cities, there is a new entrant in the battle for our streets and sidewalks. In the past two years or so, electric scooters have burst onto the scene, offering a new pace of urban travel that forces pedestrians, cyclists and cars to share the sidewalk and road with a vehicle that does not fit naturally on either. For some people, e-scooters are a lifesaver. For others, they are a nuisance. But a recent...

September 03, 2019

David Mittelstadt of the Mittelstadt Law Firm, LLC

Visitors come to Chattanooga, Tennessee for any number of reasons: to enjoy the view from Lookout Mountain, to see the largest freshwater aquarium in the world or to savor a whiskey tasting at a nearby distillery. Now, the laid-back southern city is becoming a draw for an entirely new and unexpected reason—its world-class tax counsel. That’s what veteran transactional tax lawyer David Mittelstadt is offering...

September 03, 2019

Capital One^® Data Breach Raises Liability Questions

In the spring of 2019, Capital One ® suffered a massive data breach that affected more than 100 million of its customers. Personal information compromised in the breach includes physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, self-reported income, credit histories and credit scores. Capital One reported that sensitive personal information, including 140,000 social security numbers and 80,000 bank accounts, was...

August 26, 2019

Becoming Your Own Client Value Officer

Solo, small and midsize law firm attorneys tend to wear many hats. From marketing director to technology guru to chief operating officer, the number of roles that fall outside the parameters of “attorney” can seem endless. However, it is precisely this ability to shift gears, see business needs from a holistic perspective and jump in where needed that makes small and midsize firms so nimble and efficient....

August 22, 2019

Plaintiffs Lawyers Find Their Niche: First Law Strategy, LLC

It’s not every day that an established plaintiffs’ lawyer leaves his position as a shareholder at a top-rated plaintiffs’ firm to launch a boutique focused on appeals and public policy cases. Maybe that’s why David Senoff did it. Senoff, along with Hillary Weinstein, recently launched First Law Strategy Group in Philadelphia. Prior to starting the new firm, Senoff was a shareholder at Anapol...

August 20, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court Weighs-in on State-Legal Cannabis Businesses

Business owners, including attorneys, know how important the federal tax deduction for “ordinary and necessary” business expenses is to their profitability and survival. The less money a business pays in taxes, the more profits it has with which to fuel growth. The United States Supreme Court’s recent denial of certiorari in a case concerning the ability of state-legal cannabis businesses to claim...

August 19, 2019

The IRS Reminds Taxpayers That Cryptocurrency Gains Are Taxable

Only about 8 percent of Americans invest in cryptocurrencies . But you wouldn’t know that based on the amount of media coverage that is devoted to cryptocurrency—and the cadre of media outlets that focus on it exclusively. Perhaps sensing that all of the buzz may grow investment in cryptocurrencies, the Internal Revenue Service recently reminded United States taxpayers that cryptocurrency is still currency...

August 12, 2019

Three Things Attorneys Must Do in Order to Take Enjoyable and Rejuvenating Vacations

Make no mistake, vacations are an essential antidote for the stress and demands of the legal profession. But for many solos and small law firm attorneys, vacations are a mixed bag. Sure, vacations are wonderful in their own right and can help overworked attorneys get some rest and relaxation. But many attorneys are too busy to take a vacation—or so they think. Or, they’re concerned that they’ll come...