Legal Solutions  Blog

I’m hesitant to use terms like “small” or “boutique” to describe my law firms’ practice.  At ten attorneys, our firm is “small-ish” and “boutique-ish,” but when it comes to the quality of the legal advice we give,  our background knowledge, and the expectations we place on ourselves and that our clients have for us, we don’t [...]

WestlawNext is powered by WestSearch, the world’s leading legal search engine Three years ago, commercial litigation attorney Harry Payton, at his boutique  law firm Payton & Associates, LLC , was the first customer to sign up for WestlawNext, the legal research solution that reengineered search technology.  Harry was able to see that if his firm capitalized on WestlawNext, [...]

I recall the months prior to the Segway launch: What is IT? We’d better be ready, because IT would revolutionize life as we know it. Well, mall security and mid-size urban walking tours, anyway.  Ah, hyperbole. The new small law firm resource, launching in 2013, will not revolutionize life as we know it.  “IT” is all about practice management, [...]

My own calendar is chock-full of webinars in December, as I get ready to put improvements and resolutions into action in 2013. Looking at our December webinar calendar, Thomson Reuters’ trainers must share a similar philosophy! Free online training includes just a few core legal research sessions, and host of classes that are designed to help [...]

In anticipation of Halloween, and with apologies to Edgar Allan Poe, we bring you…   THE CITATION Once upon a midnight dreary, while I drafted cite and query, Arguing many a fact and statement of a client whose court date lay in store, While one-by-one KeyCite checking, each citation for good law, Suddenly there came a tapping, tapping at [...]

I’m pleased to invite Westlaw Insider readers to join Susan Miller, author of Miller’s Standard Insurance Policies Annotated , for a live chat to follow up on her two recent webinars.  Join us:  Today, June 7, 2012 12:30-1:30 p.m. Eastern time  To join the chat, log into your Twitter account and look for hashtag #wlchat Susan’s comments will appear under @WestlawSmallLaw ( http://www.Twitter.com/westlawsmalllaw)   [...]

The votes of small firms nationwide catapulted WestlawNext to the top!  Your input resulted in a sweep of every legal research category in ALM’s first Best of the National Law Journal readers’ survey this spring. As a token of our appreciation, enjoy a two-week free trial for small and solo law firms!   This promotional password includes WestlawNext access, a majority [...]

Happy Mother’s Day!  I’m glad to share a collection of great working-mom insights that are written by attorneys. Liberating Working Moms blog includes a reminder from contributor Law Momma:  The Art of Saying “No” identifies the right times, and the right ways, to point out the boundaries for yourself, family and colleagues. A rare gem:  the working-mother community What to Expect [...]

We all have moments of panic in front of an audience.  But for a trial lawyer, the stakes are higher than for a stage actor or college student.  And at a small firm, you likely handle your cases from intake to trial presentation— with no opportunity to carve out a quiet portion of the process (such as legal [...]

Today is Law Day, with grassroots  efforts nationwide and a Law Day justice awareness campaign spearheaded by the American Bar Association. History of Law Day in America: 1958:  President Dwight Eisenhauer proclaims the first Law Day, Thursday, May 1 1961:  Joint Congressional Resolution names May 1 as Law Day 1998:  Law Day becomes part of the U.S. Code, USCA 36 section 11 1958-2011: Presidential Proclamations 2012: Law [...]

Managing “from soup to nuts” is the life of a small firm litigator:  client intake meetings, depositions, sorting through facts, researching the law, finding documents, arguing a case.   Does it matter how much time you spend looking for that important document, pulling together everything you have on a certain issue, or summarizing deposition testimony?  Absolutely. With Westlaw [...]

Have you ever gone searching for a past document—a contract, writing sample, anything—so you don’t have to begin writing from scratch?  Product specialist Chris Schoenbauer (“Shane-bower” for the curious among us), an account manager for Thomson Reuters Westlaw, has heard all about it.  He trains small law firms who want to explore contract and drafting tools, including [...]

Customers have told me that mobile devices, apps and gadgets have special importance to independent law firms, as clients and cases need instant answers, anytime, anywhere.  WestlawNext subscribers have free access to an award-winning iPad app (now on the iPad 5 OS), and a mobile site compatible with Blackberry, Apple, Android and Windows devices. This mobile [...]

Customers have told me that mobile devices, apps and gadgets have special importance to independent law firms, as clients and cases need instant answers, anytime, anywhere.  WestlawNext subscribers have free access to an award-winning iPad app (now on the iPad 5 OS), and a mobile site compatible with Blackberry, Apple, Android and Windows devices. This mobile [...]

Would you want to know if your draft contract contained a clause that conflicts with a different section…or if similar model documents already exist? This month brings two opportunities for transactional attorneys in solo and small law firms to explore the new Westlaw Drafting Assistant—Transactional and other transactional products. Westlaw Drafting Assistant—Transactional integrates into your word processor [...]

This week a new WestlawNext Resource Center launched to the public at WestlawNext.com, including all the details that you’ll want to know as either a user or a casual investigator. Hear more from our director of WestlawNext marketing, Lydia Flocchini , who joined bloggers from Westlaw Insider to talk more about the site.  To boot, WestlawNext offers a chance to [...]

If the Presidential recount a few terms back didn’t make it clear, up here in Minnesota we’ve had more than a few election recounts in recent years that drove home the point.  What did we learn?  Every voice counts! I’d like to pass along the first annual Best of The National Law Journal reader poll —readers’ choice awards for the [...]

March 8 is International Women’s Day , a celebration now 101 years running.  To mark the day, we highlight top insights from women in the legal sector –many at independent law firms–contributed to the Westlaw Insider Small Law Firms blog.   Susan Miller, attorney and author of the prominent Miller’s Standard Insurance Policies Annotated , launches an open Ask Miller’s Community Forum where you can [...]

You recently subscribed to WestlawNext, or received a temporary free password to try it out. What’s next?  Your firm has a small technical support team–perhaps none at all–and it’s hard to find open training time and space that larger law firms enjoy for implementing a new legal research system.   Here’s a checklist to help you get [...]

Welcome to another month of Westlaw practice insights and technical training for small and independent law firms.  Free, live March webinars offer dozens of insights pertaining to litigation and transactional tools, legal research, mobile apps and law firm profitability.  Here is a sampling of the many trainings available this coming month.   Quickly Get Up to Speed [...]