Chuck Newton

Probate As Your Market Niche

By probate I am not talking about just probating wills.  I am talking about probate and administration of estates.

A lot of communications come my way from recent or soon to be law school graduates who are planning to go out on their own.  For some reason they seek my advice on what practice area they should concentrate their efforts.  That is fine with me because I like to look at niche practices now and then.  I do not mind speculating with those that ask.  So, let me speculate a little with you now on one such niche area.

You say that probate is not a niche.  It is a recognized practice area.  Where that is true, I will tell you that a niche can either represent a very defined and often unusual practice area, like the one in which I practice (stayviolation.com), or a market point.  By market point, I mean your point of distinction between you and all of the other will, trust, estate lawyers out there.

I refer to it as the Jiffy Lube experience.  Somebody, at some time, looked at the automobile repair business and discovered that of everything an automobile dealer or mechanic shop does, it's easiest, most systematized, and hence most profitable area was oil changes.  Maintenance was the main reason that vehicles were brought in to dealers and shops, yet the customers had to compete with the more complicated and time consuming tasks of car repair in order to get their vehicles service.   Automobile mechanics loved it because it gave them a chance to review the automobiles brought in by customers for maintenance for other more costly repairs and upgrades.  But, the oil change business was not a loss leader.  In terms of dollar amount it might have been smaller, but in terms of profit it was the largest component of any dealer or shop.  So, why not carve out oil changes and maintenance services and sell it to the public over that offered by any dealer or shop for its speed, efficiency and lower costs.  It was, in short, the hidden gem in auto repair trade if you could sell it separately as a convenience.

Cut Your Law Practice Tax Bill Before Year End - Buy Stuff

I guess I should start off by saying that I am not a tax expert, and do not intend to provide you individual tax advice.

This said, private practice attorneys must employ some simple tax strategies to remain as competitive as possible.  One of the best ways to do this, before the end of this year anyway, is to buy the equipment you want or need for your practice and employee it before the end of the year.

In short, the government wants to get you to buy things, on credit or otherwise, and to have it in use before the end of the year.  There are many things that even a Third Wave practice can use that you might be buying next year, but for which there is a better tax treatment now, such as a new car, computer or tech.

Add this to the fact that because of the present economy you can negotiate down car prices and receive low or no interest, and you have to consider biting the bullet now rather than later.

If your law practice has less than $810,000 in depreciate property (and who among us does not), Section 179 of the tax code now lets you deduct up to $250,000, which is up from $125,000 last year, on purchases of new equipment. As stated, although this first criteria might not matter to you unless you are Big Law, what is important is that you can take bonus depreciation equal to 50% of the equipment’s value, all before regular depreciation kicks in. The big requirement that could cost is that you must start using start using the new stuff before end of the year.  So, if you get yourself a new car, or laptop, or cell phone for Christmas, you need to use it for work between Christmas and New Years.

Additionally, if you are thinking about a new automobile, make it a hybrid and you get a tax credit.  (The only problem is that the Fed has limited the number or amount of credits for car companies, and so all of the tax credits available for buying a Toyota Prius are all used up).

Have A Happy Thanksgiving

Is It A Good Idea To Start A New Law Firm During A Downturn?

As Kinky Friedman would say, "Why the hell not"!

Whether you are wanting to go out on your own or in with a few other attorneys, whether you want to start a traditional firm or just collaborate, or whether you wish to establish a Third Wave practice or something more traditional, a downturn in many aspects might be the best solution.  And, let us face facts, it might be the only reasonable solution as other law firms cut jobs and law jobs become harder to find.

But, there are also advantages.

1.  As real estate markets slow, office space becomes less expensive and more competitive.  This is true if you are looking to rent an office directly, or care to find space with a group of attorneys who have an extra space.  In bad times attorneys move out of space that they were renting from other lawyers, which means there is more space available at cheaper prices for you.  And, renting from other attorneys can buy you some referral business.  Also, if you want to consolidate your operation at home, residential properties are becoming cheaper and more competitive as well.

2.  Need employees?  In a downturn layoffs, a soft market, or legal professionals who want to end long commutes which costs money and time make it cheaper and easier for you to find qualified assistance.

3.  Accessories such as office furnishings become both more plentiful and cheaper.  Those expensive ergonomic office chairs that look so cool and sell for hundreds of dollars a unit can often be found for maybe a $100 just slightly used.  Good used office furniture starts to go for pennies on the dollar.  New furniture is more competitive as well.  The same goes for electronics.  Need a new car?  Well, I rest my case on that point.

4.  The biggest obstacle to building a practice quickly is that potential referral sources have other professional relationships.  If you are a real estate closing attorney, for example, you probably need Realtors and bankers to refer you business.  In good times relationships have not a lot of reasons to wither.  When money is good, relationships are tight.  When money is not so good, everyone starts to look for alternatives.  It is easier to establish new relationships that will lead to referrals and business when times are economically tougher.

5.  If you need to market your practice, there is nothing to reduce advertising costs and other marketing costs like the media not having enough business or buyers of its space and time.  Ad rates are going to fall.  There is also less advertising as more establish attorneys and firms fall on harder times and cut back, meaning your message is competing with fewer alternatives.

6.  The other thing is that you really do not have anything to lose.  Your competitors might be losing business and that might be hurtful to them.  But, you do not have business to lose.  You just have everything to gain.  It is more of a zero sum gain for you for every new client that walks in the door.

7.  Downturns are not bad for all areas of law.  Again, if your practice area is real estate closings, there might be less of those.  But, if your practice area is consumer bankruptcy there are likely to a lot more of these.  The same with family law and personal injuries.  So, it depends.

I personally think you need to develop a practice and referral relationships during the down times so you can ride it to the top when the market corrects itself.  It is fun riding to the top.  It is a lot harder starting in good times, in a more challenging market in many ways, only have an opportunity to ride the market down.  Start new and build your cushion going up, and you can withstand the lower markets later.

Skeeter Goes To Law School - Dog Earns Law Degree From Baylor University School Of Law

Now we call our dog Mandy our "legal beagle", and when she snoozes in our home office we like to joke she is contemplating the law.  But, Baylor University School of Law has one upped us.  According to PetPulse the law school has awarded an honorary JD to a dog.

And, a smart dog at that.  Skeeter Jones is the 6-year old service dog of Amy Jones, who is paralyzed due to a skiing incident.  Skeeter was with Amy Jones every step of the way through Baylor Law.  Therefore, at graduation the schools dean and professors  presented Skeeter with his signed and authorized honorary degree.

Skeeter is a Labrador and he was given an honorary "juris dog'tor degree".

Read more by CLICKING HERE.

UNT - The $60 Million Dollar Law School

The proposed new public law school of the University of North Texas is coming up for a vote of the Texas Legislature again this legislative session, and none to late.  The funding bill for the law school past the Texas Senate the last time around, but failed in the House for technical reasons.  Since the Texas legislature meets only for a few months every two years, this time is critical if the law school is going to start accepting its first students for the 2010-11 school year.

The costs to get the new law school off of the ground?  More than $60 million.  The law school board is asking the Texas legislature for $40 million.  The city of Dallas, Texas, where the law school will be located  is expected to kick in an additional $16 million, which mainly includes providing the school the old Dallas City Hall and an adjacent block in the central business district, and issuing bond for the remodel of the building.

UNT Law is expected to be administered under the universities new Dallas campus, under construction, after 5 years, but in the meantime, until the UNT Dallas campus has been a stand alone university for 5 years, the law school will be operated by a separate board.

Cynthia Hall, director of external affairs for the UNT System, staed that "we're meeting with not only our elected officials, but also the American Bar Association to follow the steps to get accredited".

Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the nation, and it does not have a public law school.  Although, there is SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas and Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth.

So Many Trends, What Do You Do?

In the individual practice of law, there are so many trends it is sometimes hard to know how to put them together.  There is the trend to move your practice-base home, there is the trend to downshift and move closer to town, there is the trend to green renovate older places that predominate older neighborhoods that are typically closer to town and court, and these places do not usually have a lot of space leading many to conceive of shed working.

The question is how do you bring it all together, because I suggest to you that now is the time to do it.  Now is the time, because contrary to popular belief, mortgage money is still available with a little down, and you can usually get sellers to pay much of this for you given the present market.  Mortgage prices are depressed and so you can get something you want or need at a price you can afford.  Green renovation is taking over and there are many national and state tax advantage you can get in renovating now.  Further, you can substantially increase the marketability and value of your property in doing so.  You can substantially reduce your cost of living and the high cost of your law practice all at the same time.  So, it does not make a lot of sense waiting.

In this regard, I came across this green home recently renovated by USGBC founder David Gottfried and his family that I think illustrates the point well.

This Craftsman bungalow built in 1915 turned out to be one of the highest-scoring green home renovation this year. It is LEED Platinum and it is designed to be net-zero energy.  It utilizes such technologies as solar photovoltaics and a solar- and hydronic-powered water heating system.  It captures rainwater for use in toilets and recycles graywater to maintain the landscaping.

Of course old bungalows do not have ample space, and one of the things that caught my eye was that the owners installed a Lifepod in the backyard, which is a 120 sf steel building with 50% fly ash floors.  You can see a video on the Lifepod BY CLICKING HERE.  This is the owners workspace, and all he has to get to work is a backyard commute.  Sweet.

This home is an unassuming 1440 sq. ft. space that houses a four-person family.  A perfect place for a home office warrior.

 

Have You Been Acquired?

Practicing The Black Arts

I am not sure what some people take out of law school and the practice of law, but I think we all know some that practice the black arts.

It is really the seeking of malevolent powers and malevolent acts, or maybe what should be called "side magic" to gain power over an opponent, or wealth or the admiration of clients that do not know better.  After all, are not the black arts meant to cause misfortune or destruction or a personal gain without regard to the harmful consequences of others.

The black arts are not a matter of misjudgment in a case or the feeling that something could have been better handled during litigation.  There are always regrets at the end of any case.  It is a form of ritual by some attorneys or law firms.  And, we all know the lawyers and firms in our areas that practice the black arts because it is ritual to them.  It is always the same lawyers and the same law firms.

Over time we have called it a number of things.  Gaming.  Rambo attorneys.  The public thinks it only a matter of greed.  Most often than not it is just ego.  Lawyer and law firm mentalities that do not want to lose and are willing to win dirty.  We are talking perceived wins not based upon the the substantive law and facts of the case, but on gimmicks and tricks and tactics.  We are speaking of those lawyers that want to whip their clients into a frenzy on the one hand and then continually be objectionable and spit on the opposing side, so as to create a melodrama that only they enjoy.

The problem is that it is hard to actual define.  We typically know it when we see it in others, but it is not always easy to describe.  It is trying to win on intentional and multiple misinterpretations of case law, or attempting to defeat an otherwise legitimate claim under the law through procedural tricks and gamesmanship.  It is usually accompanied by the act of being completely objectionable and uncooperative with the other side.

It can also entail an attack on the other side to the degree it is overly personal, unfair and most often in ways that are unrelated to the case.  It can be an attack on the lawyer on the other side.  It may also be an frontal attack on the well established law or orders of the court as well.

The other problem I think is that snake oil salesmen do not see themselves as snake oil salesmen, and lawyers of the black arts do not see themselves as purveyors of the black arts.  They do not wish to recognize that their actions have malevolent intentions behind them, and these lawyers and firms try to consider that they are providing benevolent and beneficial representation.  It is a failing really because what we all know it is a lack of stepping out of one's head to see what others in the field see, or to ask others to help one look objectively as to what is happening.  These attorneys and firms have no real set or method of pursuing genuine mental emancipation or self-knowledge.

But, make no mistake about it.  It is the act of trying to cast harmful spells on the case, the court, the opposing party and/or the law.  It is the adding of hot elements to what should be an otherwise cool case.  It represents an attempt to be prickly and harmful, and to make persons, laws and institutions the subject of contempt and and the target of such sorcery and mean intent.

There are just dark people out there, and that personality trait follows lawyers and judges as well.  Maybe the end goal is the same for humble litigation and those using the black arts.  It is, after all, the desire to win or prevail.  In this regard, the end goals and intents are the same.  The question for any lawyer is are you misusing legal interpretation and procedural tactics to keep the truth from being derived or at least interpreted, and is hate, distrust and contentiousness being generated in the process that is unnecessary?  Is there are need to win because of the truth of the litigation (and not extraneous facts) or is winning because losing is just not acceptable.

Lawyers, look more than in your hearts.  Look in the mirror.  Look at yourselves from the standpoint of the courts, your clients and the other side.  Look to see if you are reasonable at all points regardless of the disagreements, whether you are defending or prosecuting your case based upon truth or to prevent truth.  If you clients do not want to win or lose honestly, send them on their way.

La Cumparsita - Hugo Winterhalter

I am listing to a little Hugo Winterhalter today as I brief a Motion to Dismiss a Complaint filed against my client.  What I find interesting about some people like Hugo Winterhalter is that these were instrumental people (pun I guess intended) in the error of music through most of the 1900s in this country, but they past before the advent of the Internet.  As a result, they become mostly unknown.

Winterhalter was born on August 15, 1909 and passed away on September 17, 1973, at the young age of 64.  In the 1930s he served as the arranger for most of the great bands such as Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Raymong Schoot, and Cluade Thornhill, and later for singers such as Dinah Shore, Billy Eckstine, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher.