Category: Law Practice Management
By Erik Nelson
Personal branding is imperative because law firms are established and maintained based on the reputations of attorneys. Branding can help solidify your identity in the minds of potential clients and it helps to know what you are trying to achieve and how best to go about that. I spoke with two attorneys from a couple of San Diego’s best known firms: John Gomez, President and Lead Trial Attorney at Gomez Trial Attorneys; and John Morrell, Managing Partner and Chairman at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack LLP; as well as legal marketing expert Jennifer Whitelaw, of TW2 Marketing, to discover more about their particular approaches towards branding. Read More
By Taneashia Morrell
There are several factors that may cause a legal professional to switch from one area of practice to an entirely different discipline. Often, hiring managers want to know why you’re reforming your legal discipline. They also want to know if you possess the skills and expertise that will transfer into the new discipline. In my case, I transitioned from civil litigation and family law to intellectual property and technology transfer. In addition to my J.D., I also possess an LL.M. in intellectual property and have previous experience in the technology transfer area. So if you’re looking to make a move into a different discipline, make sure you have some experience in the new field you are pursuing. Read More
By Jeffrey Chinn
At Comic Con 2018, I sat through a panel titled “Judges on the Law of the Last Jedi and Solo” including with Judge John B. Owens of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman, and (San Diego’s own) Magistrate Judge Mitch Dembin. Each showed pictures of their chambers with displays of Star Wars-related memorabilia.1 It was refreshing for each judge to show their fandom of Star Wars. I thought that this makes sense as every lawyer needs some activity to take their mind off of the everyday briefs, motions, research, etc. Read More
By Marti Worms
Now that Fall has arrived, many of you who graduated from law school last year are approaching one-year of practice or maybe more, depending on whether you had a post-bar position lined up after graduation. This milestone provides an often-neglected opportunity for you, as a new lawyer, to perform some self-assessment and career planning that will help you continue to move forward in your career and prepare for your year-end review. Whether you are a brand new attorney or a young lawyer with two or three years in practice, consider delving into the following four areas for a do-it-yourself career assessment. Read More
By James D. Crosby
I prefer getting documents and taking depositions as the principal means of discovery in most any case. If done right, the documents-then-depositions, with limited written discovery, approach is more cost-efficient and effective than any written discovery. Litigators, myself at times included, spend far too much time fighting over written discovery. We get locked in these little battles, these time-consuming discovery sideshows, driven by competitive instincts, by ego, by a desire to make the other side spend money, or even, at times, regretfully, by client animus towards the other side. These battles take on a life of their own, where just winning the battle, and not getting the discovery we think we want, becomes the all-consuming reason for the battle. This is not always the case, but if we are honest about it, we must admit that many written discovery disputes are more about the battle than they are about the discovery. Written discovery surely has its place in modern litigation and, at times, is well worth the fight to get it. But, a great deal of the time, it is not. With those comments as the backdrop, I offer up some suggested prescriptions for the ills that often infect our written discovery efforts – the Discovery Rules! Read More
