Chuck Newton

The Expungement Niche

My friend Corinne Tampas at What's Your Authority brought this niche to my attention.

That is the expungement niche.

In Texas, I believe it is called expunction, and it involves the process of all records of an arrest, any jail detention and court records being destroyed or sealed, including things like fingerprints and DNA samples, so it would appear as if the event never took place.  It allows the person to legally deny the occurrence of the arrest and the existence of the expunction order.

From what I understand, having your record expunged is trick and only applies to some limited circumstances, such as someone was arrested but never went to court, there was a no guilty finding, the grand-jury no-billed, an appeal was won, and/or charges were dropped.  I have also head that this matter comes up in terms of charges and issues related to identity theft.

Now, obviously, there are a number of attorneys that can help you with this, and a number of criminal defense attorneys that list this service in the overall menu of what they can do for their clients.  But, we are talking about limiting the focus of what an attorney does, or at least specifically isolating and narrowing what an attorney markets, to those looking to have their criminal record expunged.  It would appear to a very specific service that those people with records would looking for a lawyer that does this specifically.  It is something those in need can easily Google in other words.

In doing so, it also seems to offer opportunities in collaborating with other lawyers in different part of your state or the country.

A good example of this is RecordGone.Com by the California law firm of Higbee & Associates.  The law firm has associated lawyers not only in California, but also in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington to make its marketing more effective or at least to give it a larger reach.

There are others as well.  There is Texas Fresh Start, and Fred Dahr of Texas Defense Law.  But, wheras the field of criminal defense might be crowded, what this narrower legal task manages to do is carve out that simpler, needed, recognized, identifiable and most profitable portion of a broader practice area.

Ashcroft Opens A New Type Of Law Firm?

As reported in the Austin Business Journal, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has started a new concept law firm.  Partnering with a consulting firm founded by John Ashcroft in 2005, the Aschcroft Group, the law firm will focus on homeland security, corporate governance, data security, federal enforcement and regulatory matters, and corporate finance.  In short, Big Law without the Big Law bureaucratic infrastructure.

The Ashcroft Law Firm, LLC appears to be forming a number of more regional law firms in which Ashcroft Law Firm is one of the partners.  In Austin, Texas, for example, the law firm is partnering with two former U.S. attorneys, Johnny Sutton and John Ratcliffe to form Ashcroft, Sutton & Ratcliffe.  The law firm also has offices in Dallas, St. Louis, Boston and Washington, D.C.

As for the niche value of the law firm collaborations, John Aschroft says, "As more and more businesses are involved with the government, that makes a breach of regulations more consequential."

As for the more Third Wave quality, Ashcroft points out that the law firm "will try not to be a big behemoth in the beginning. The idea is to be lean, without huge bureaucratic infrastructure".

The Nanny Niche

I like interesting legal niches, and my friend Corine Tampas, a legal research and writing attorney at What's Your Authority, alerted me to this interesting website.

Legally Nanny is a legal set of services developed by attorney Robert E. King in Irvine, California.  The concept is to assist individuals and families with all of the federal, state, legal, tax and insurance issues in hiring a nanny, elder care provider, baby nurse, or any household employee.  But, the focus is on nannies.

The point of is that hiring illegal household help can be a minefield that can cost you back taxes, penalties, interest, federal charges for fraud and tax evasion, and a lost of reputation or a career.  In short, it sales to a specific set of services for a need that needs to be filled.  And, it does it for one flat fee.

Legally Nanny has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Parenting Magazine, USA Today, and on media such as ABC News, CNN and The Street.Com.  The point being that if you fill an interesting niche that meets a defined need, and you will get attention.

It is, indeed, an interesting legal concept.  And, as with many niches, there is room to expand services when you think about it out loud.  Not along ago, for example, I read that people can buy nanny insurance.  There has to be a way to market such a service side by side with the law practice much like lawyers have title insurance agencies.

Anyway, check it out.

Our Third Wave Manifesto Is Published By Texas Bar Journal

Acceptance ... at last.

I am pleased to announce that the January issue of the Texas Bar Journal will contain our manifesto on the Third Wave Practice of Law.  You can read a copy of the article in PDF by CLICKING HERE.

The State Bar of Texas is a mandatory bar association, and it is one of the largest in the United States.  The Texas Bar Journal is distributed by mail to over 97,000 members and subscribers each month.  I know I read it from cover to cover.  It represents an outstanding forum to discuss the changing practice of law.

It is so vitally important for other lawyers, staff and law students to understand that they do have alternatives to the traditional practice of law.  I would encourage you to help me populate the Web with this article.  Please help me spread the word.

I Feel Somewhat Vindicated

It is all over the legal press like it is something new and amazing -- and it is amazing.  A law firm that is virtual, it is web-based and it forgoes bricks and mortar, and where all of the attorneys work from home.  Wow, I wish I had thought of that.

But, I can tell you what makes me feel better about the new kid on the block -- Virtual Law Partners (VLP).  They are doing it up so big and so bold and so high profile, I can tell you that I feel vindicated for spending all of these years doing the same thing.  Maybe not on the level of VLP, but everybody has to start somewhere.

Here is where VLP is better -- Branding.  They are out to build a brand.  They are also out to build a firm that caters to in-house legal counsel.  They are competing with Big Law, where with me -- not so much.  They promise 85% of collections to go to their attorneys, and they promote a better work-life experience.

We cannot adopt trade names in Texas, but I like the name because it identifies what the law firm really is and represents.  In the future virtual might not mean much as every lawyer is doing it (remember Electronic Realty Associates - ERA - and how different they appeared when they started out), but for now it helps us all blaze the trail.

I was a tad disappointed that the firm is basing much on a traditional website.  That is so Web 0.0 or 1.0.  I would have like to see a launch full of blogs and Twitter and YouTube and more social networking sites and avenues.  That is marketing that in-house will and can now sink their teeth into.  Why?  Because it is marketing with content and all of us, including in-house counsel, are looking for content.  There was a good chance for the website to be a portal to some static information and to be the entry point of the operating platform the lawyers need to work together.  But, it could have also been the hub to feature the law firms assault on the world via social media.

We do wish Virtual Law Partners all the best because for them to succeed means all of us who have been doing this for so long succeed as well.

You Are Not Alone

I would like you to meet Michael McBride, an attorney from Ohio that does what you want to do.  He is a dedicated Third Wave lawyer and a practitioner of the art.

Too often, I think, I talk to people, or get emails from attorneys, that simply say that my case is unusual, but that you cannot work without office space and staff and the trappings of the Second Wave or traditional practice of law.  But you can, and the resistance is between your two ears.

I think what Michael McBride says is very compelling.  In regard to a recent post, this is what he wrote:

I have been in private practice over 20 years; 18 of them in an office setting. The last 2 years, I shed the brick and mortar and its overhead...and I say, "Why did I not do this before!" I meet and greet clients at places with Wi-Fi with my laptop and most if not all have e-communications set up for transfer of .pdf's. It has worked well so far. If you need to meet, I do what you do: Panera or Starbucks; local bar associations usually have places for free. No one has ever complained as I meet at the convenience of my clients which they really appreciate. There is always a work around to any obstacle.

Solo By Choice

Today I received my copy of Carolyn Elephant's new book Solo by Choice.  It is published by Decision Books, which publishes books for those seeking a life in the practice of law.  And, the subtitle of the book is "How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be".

Carolyn has for years represented really the gold standard of the solo practice of law.  Her revolutionary blog on the subject, MyShingle, was the forerunner and inspiration for many other blogs on the subject, like mine.  Carolyn has an uncanny knack of recognizing and reporting on those issues that are so vitally important to solos and those wishing to be solo practitioners.

What I intend to do is write several posts about Solo by Choice in th next week or two to let you know what I think about that on which Carolyn worked so hard.  Then, I think, I am going to turn it over to my daughter Mary Newton, who is a law student to see how she thinks the book might be helpful to law students and recent graduates.

Welcome To Sustainable Lawyering

I call it Third Wave lawyering.  You can call it what you wish.  One law student planning on entering the field calls it Sustainable Lawyering and you can view his new blog by clicking here.  Jason describes his brand as follows:

Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely.  Lawyering is the work performed by a lawyer ... Therefore, “sustainable lawyering” is performing the work of a lawyer at a certain level for an indefinite period of time.

In introducing me to his take on this concept, Jason emailed me as follows:

Thank you so much for the inspirational website. I am currently a 3L and, even though I work as a law clerk and have a decent offer to stay, I credit your blog and a few others with convincing me to make it on my own as a solo. To that end, I started a blog to help me along over the next year...

It is nice to be appreciate and read.  All I can say to Jason is to do the blog and the blogosphere justice by giving us the detail, unvarnished and original.  The good and the bad.  The mistakes and the struggles.  It is something from which we can all learn.  A blog can be helpful in helping record your progress, to document a bit of history, and to help you crystallize your thoughts as to what you represent.

Best wishes.

Good Stewardship And Finding Nirvana In The Practice Of Law

(Originally Published On Home Office Lawyer On February 1, 2007)

Years ago I had an enlightened moment – an epiphany if you will – in which I was overcome with the power to make things better in my life. It was frightful to me on the one hand because the new world was unknown. It was joyful on the other hand because I knew the old way was not working for me or my family and change had to be made. I had simply reached the point where the devil I did not know seemed maybe better than the devil that I did know. I was simply sick and tired of working, of not seeing my family, of commuting hours upon hours, and doing it all to support not me and those I hold dear, but the landlords, the staff and the infrastructure. I was making much, but keeping very little, including the promises to my children, friends and colleagues.

   

Peter Olson Rides The Third Wave!!!

Peter Olson of Solo in Chicago has moved his practice home.  He is now a carpet commuter ... a spare room tycoon ... a downshifter ... a home office lawyer ... a true Third Waver.  More importantly, he is an economist who understands that the less money he pays out to others of his earnings, the more money he gets to keep for himself and his family.  He has a few kinks he needs to work out, such as boxes to unload and trying locate free WiFi, but it sounds like he is clearly on his way.  Give him a big hand.  Better yet, got to his post on the matter and leave him a comment.