I genuinely thought I was part of some long-term punking. I get so many calls from people wanting to hire me who use the same lines to try to get me to take the case. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I have a slam-dunk case that is going to make some…
Category: Starting Your Own Law Firm
Why You Should Be Using Evernote
I’ve said it before here. After deciding not to write about a program like Evernote because I assume everyone is using it, I run across an attorney who says, “Evernote? What is that?” If you use a computer and any smartphone or tablet, then Evernote should be at the heart of your organizational life. I…
Stop Attaching Documents to Your Complaint
The planets must be aligned or misaligned as the case may be, because I’ve been flooded with callers who are dissatisfied with their current attorneys, and want to fire them to hire me. I get a lot of these calls, and reviewing the cases to decide if I want them gives me great insight into…
How Does Google Work?
In my book, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, I discuss all the factors Google looks at to determine which search results will appear on page one. I came across this very good video that discusses the issues as well, and provides a basic…
Five Reasons Attorneys Fall for SEO Scams
In my book, How to Create a Big, Fat Pipeline of New Clients for Your Law Firm in Just 10 Days, I provide the following anecdote: There is a classic Peanuts comic, where Linus is going door to door trying to sell wadded up pieces of paper as cat toys. His sales presentation is good, but…
Attorney App of the Week – Car Finder Reminder
I drove out to Riverside Superior Court today for an ex parte application set for 9:30 a.m. In Southern California, as I’m sure in many other metropolitan areas, you just never know how long it will take to get somewhere due to the vagaries of freeway congestion. Drives times are always stated in ranges, as…
Don’t be That Attorney – If You Must Rant, At Least be Right
I’m at the drive through teller at my bank yesterday, to cash a small check. I sign the back of the check and send it up the tube with my driver’s license and ATM card, a process I have followed dozens of times. But this teller is clueless. He asks if I have an account…
Should You be Suing for Civil Extortion?
A few days ago I reported on the case of Miguel Mendoza v. Reed K. Hamzeh, which found that an attorney’s demand letter amounted to extortion since it threatened criminal prosecution if money was not paid. The threatened party turned around and sued for civil extortion, and defeated the anti-SLAPP motion brought by the attorney…
You’ve gotta fight, for your right . . . to wear wigs.
Following the British tradition, Hong Kong’s lawyers are divided between solicitors, who work directly with clients, and barristers, who represent those clients in court and wear wigs and robes while doing so. The former are typically considered to be of a lower stature, but solicitors have long been expanding their professional reach into areas traditionally…
Think Before You Demand — Miguel Mendoza v. Reed K. Hamzeh
If the threat of getting in trouble with the State Bar is not enough, maybe the threat of both civil and criminal actions will get attorneys to toe the line. You know that it is an ethical violation for an attorney to threaten criminal action as a means to extract a civil settlement. For…