Chuck Newton

Starting Off

I continue to get inquiries as to how you start off doing a certain type of case when you have not worked as an associate or in the trenches of the practice area for years.  I continue to give my typical answer -- you just start.

Is this not what law school is about?  To train you to research, experiment, and the learn as you go?

No matter if you have practiced law for 20+ years as I have, you are still going to run into situations, or have to venture into other areas of law of which you know very little.  But, you can somehow manage these because it is an offshoot.  The process is the same.  But, here are my suggestions of the first steps you need to take.

1.  Concern yourself first with just learning the basics.  Read some general texts about the area of law.  I find it very helpful to read through blogs on in the area, and to study the websites of firms and lawyers that practice in the area.  Believe me when I say you will pick up the basics as you would with any primer.  The idea is not to get detailed knowledge of anything, but help you feel knowledgeable enough to take the first step.

2.  Find an experienced, reputable attorney that will work with you through the first few cases.  Some might want part of the money, most of them will not want any of the money, but the point is to get some guidance.  There are attorneys out there that will help and will be happy to do so.  Almost everybody remembers starting off, and nobody likes that feeling of insecurity.  There are a few jerks out there that will tell you that the secrets of the golden practice belong only to him or her, but we all know there are really no secrets.  Move on and find someone that will.  Cold call if you have no other choice.  Read their blog and website and email them if you must.  After all, you do not want them to do the work.  You want them to supervise your work.  If you cannot find an attorney, look to the high priced staff of more established attorneys. They know a lot, especially about procedure.

3.  Find out if there is some reasonable modeling software for the practice area that other attorneys in your area are using.  In some areas like tax, trusts, and consumer bankruptcy such software is a must.  A lot of this software will help walk you through the process logically and will warn you about issues while inputting.

4.  Join the various bars dealing with the practice area.  Many of these organizations have guide books and form books that will walk you through the process.  The State Bar of Texas, for example, has a detailed book that will literally walk you step by step through the probate process with forms.

5.  Take some time and drop in on legal proceedings involving the practice area in which you wish to practice.  If you intend to practice in the area of probate, you should drop in at the probate courts and just observe for several hours at a time.  The same is true for bankruptcy court, creditor meetings, family law court, criminal court, tax court and the like.  Do not let it worry you.   Often time the cases being heard are convoluted and above your head.  That is why the court is having to hear them.  But, believe me you will learn a lot, and you will learn the players.

6.  Tell everybody that you know or meet that you are or wish to practice in this particular area.  After all, you cannot practice in a particular area until you have clients.  You are not going to have clients if people do not know your wishes.  So, shout it out.

If you do this you might not know everything, but you will know enough to take your first step.

Just remember, there is no experience like experience and the only way you are going to get experience is through experience, so get yourself on the way toward experience.

The Law Schools Of Washington D.C.

Maybe there is no greater concentration of law schools per population than Washington, D.C.  But, then again there is probably no better place to go to law school than D.C.  Below are the schools of the District of Columbia:

• American University Washington College of Law, Washington
  4801 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington 20016, Phone: (202) 274-4000 
• Catholic University of America  - School of Law, Washington
  3600 John McCormack Rd., NE, Washington 20064, Phone: (202) 319-5140 
• George Washington University Law School, Washington
  2000 H Street, NW, Washington 20052, Phone: (202) 994-6261
• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington
  600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington 20001, Phone: (202) 662-9000 
• Howard University School of Law, Washington
  2900 Van Ness Street, N.W., Washington 20008, Phone: (202) 806-8000 
• University of the District of Columbia - David A. Clarke School of Law, Washington
  4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington 20008, Phone: (202) 274-5583 
• Washington College of Law - American University, Washington
  4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington 20016, Phone: (202) 274-4000

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of '08 Election

Hint - When Going To The Courthouse Leave Your Illicit Drugs In The Car

... And, please do not chalk this up to work-life balance or blending issues.

According to dothaneagle.com, when Malcom Williams entered the Houston County Courthouse in Alabama he poured out the contents of his pockets, like everyone else, to get through the metal detectors.  But, what did he pull out of his pockets in plain view of the deputies.  Two baggies of marijuana, a wad of cash, a cell phone, a knife and other paraphernalia.  As it turns out, Mr. Williams was visiting the Courthouse to visit with his probation officer and to pay a fine.

I guess after Mr. Williams realized what he had done, he tried to make a break for it.  The officers tried to use the Taser on him, but it was ineffective because of the clothing he was wearing.  (Note to self - wear a lot of thick clothing around Tasers).  So, he had to be shackled and handcuffed.

He is now facing not only revocation of his probation, but new felony charges as well.

So, this rule applies to lawyers as well.  When going to the Courthouse, leave your drugs, weapons and stuff in your car.

Should You Attend A Law School Based Upon Its Scholarship Award

It is law school acceptance time.  Some of you have choices and you are trying to make a decision based upon the scholarships being offered to you.  Well, Ann Levine at Law School Expert as some critical advice in this regard:

For those of you considering law school scholarship offers right now, please consider (1) whether the scholarship is renewable and (2) what is required of you to renew it. A 3.25 doesn't sound so hard to attain coming out of undergrad; but at some law schools that may be a GPA reached only by the top 20% of the class. If you're choosing a school primarily because of the scholarship then think about how you would feel without that scholarship 2nd and 3rd years. This is especially true if you would try to transfer because if you haven't hit the GPA requirement for your scholarship then you may not be the world's most competitive transfer applicant.

Sometimes I think for most of us the little bit of recognition that a scholarship offers us is too pleasing, but the scholarships offered to you need to be judge based upon what is likely and achievable.  Often a public law school is in the end cheaper than a private law school with what really amounts to a signing bonus of sorts because because of restrictions the scholarship offered is not going to repeat itself.  If you have a choice in law schools, do yourself a favor, and do not judge the scholarship based upon the appreciation you have for the recognition you believe it represents for all of your hard work, and try to determine if it amounts to real money compared to your other choices.

Hillary vs. Obama Death Match

The New York Post has an online game in which you can be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama and fight out the issues on a boxing ring until both candidates are bloodied and bruised.  And, who says that online video games cannot be constructive or educational?  You can play by CLICKING HERE.

Cash vs. Profits

How many of us know lawyers or law firms that seem to generate lots of cash, but the lawyers or partners never have enough money?

We all know some lawyers in which this is true, and we have all been in this position at some time.  This is especially true with traditional law firms.  And, the reason is pretty simple.  These law firms or lawyers do not know the different, or appreciate the difference, between cash and profit.  In short, they mistake cash for profit and they are not the same animal.

Do not get me wrong.  You need both cash and profit.  Cash, for course, is the money that comes to the lawyer or firm while profit is the money that is left over after ALL expenses are paid.  The key is to find the equilibrium between overhead and cash flow.  If not enough money is coming in you can never make a profit.  However, if you allow your overhead to get out of control you will never have enough cash flow to allow yourself to prosper in the practice of law.

Law firms and lawyers try to run their practices by utilizing an income/profit or loss statement.  But, these do not show the cash controls in place.  Move home.  Get rid of your traditional telephone service.  Cut down on paper and print.  Cut your legal research costs.  Collaborate instead of hiring staff.  Stop commuting.  Cut back on using snail mail.  Each one of these things helps turn your cash to profit -- money that goes straight into your pocket.  What we call down here in Texas "folding money".

The other thing that is not well understood is that a law firm can grow and show a profit, but the lawyers involved will always feel like they are short on money if the timing of the cash flow is not correct.  It is important that you work constantly at accessing your cases and working to get money in as quickly as possible.

Especially if you are going out on your own, you had better get your overhead under control from the beginning, and work on bring money in quickly, so that you can feel comfortable in your practice.

Overhead And Message - I Have Traveled The Same Path As Peter Olson

Well, maybe not the same road to political enlightenment, but the one of lessons learned in the private practice of law.

We practice.  We learn.  We try to express ourselves to others so that they might find the trip a little easier than we did.

Peter Olson of Solo In Chicago posted about the two things he wish he knew or understood when he started his practice.  The first, is that you need to control your expenses.  Money not spent is almost as important as money earned, only most people discus the latter and not the former.  As he stated, "I still kick myself about throwing away money in the early start-up years. For me it was overspending on office space and commercial lawyer referral programs. A law firm can potentially earn you a nice living, but it's different than a non-legal start-up business where oftentimes you can really grow a business for 3-5 years and then sell it or go public".

The second gift of knowledge is that in network marketing you need to get in front of people who can refer you clients, but just as important (and what people do not tell you) is you need to have your elevator speech down.  How is it that you explain what you do to people.  As he stated, telling people something like "I'm a family law and real estate attorney" is not good.

I Am Not Sure Why I Did Not Make Time Magazine's List Of Least Influential Americans

It is really hard to say how this happened.  I work out of my home.  I do not have any staff.  I write a blog that a few read but the advice of which nobody follows.  Heck, my beagle, Mandy, will not even listen to me.  All I can do is promise that I will work harder at continuing to decrease my profile and influence until I can make this list.  It is going to happen someday.  I just feel it.  Thank you for not reading this.

Of Football Coaches And Law School Deans

Do you think that a person interviewing for the job of a football coach every goes into the interview explaining that he does not care if the team is the number one team in the country?  I seriously doubt a potential NFL coach can interview with a team and not talk about his plans to take the team to the Super Bowl in just a few years.  In systems, in training, in player recruitment, based upon schematics of Xs and Os I doubt there is ever a discussion about not caring to win the playoffs more than wanting to benefit or nurture the players.  The emphasis, whether a high school, college or pro football team is always about the school, the college or the NFL owners.  To the extent the players can contribute to the improvement of these power brokers that is acceptable.

Now, I have never been in an interview for a football coach or a law school dean, but I would suspect that apart from categories and subject matter the emphasis is the same.  No board wants to hear from the candidates for dean about how the candidates are not going to make the law school the premier law school in the country in some respect or the other.  Like the football coach, the candidate once selected that fails to achieve this goal will likely not be the dean very long.