Lawyer Billing Rates Rising Faster than Inflation

According to this article in the San Jose Business Journal, lawyers’ average hourly billing rates have grown faster than the rate of inflation for the past several years. This should hardly be surprising given the growth in lawyer compensation over…

More on Boom Practices

Patent litigators are HOT! (free registration required)

“Money Comes in Waves, and Attorneys Ride the Surf”

Mavericks is down, but surf’s up for Silicon Valley attorneys! According to the SJ Mercury News, the boom times are back for local lawyers.

Slow Day in the New Mexico Legislature

A New Mexico legislator is proposing a resolution that when “Pluto passes overhead through New Mexico’s excellent night skies, it be declared a planet.” Amazingly, Wired quotes various people praising the resolution rather than scratching their head at legislative priorities….

Bankruptcy Expert System is Practice of Law

In re Reynoso, No. 04-17190 (9th Cir. Feb. 27, 2007) This case holds that an online bankruptcy expert system constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. As usual in these types of cases, every little fact matters. According to the court,…

This Blog Post Is Attorney Advertising

From the Law Blog: More silliness about the artifical lines between “commercial speech” (whatever that means) and editorial content. The NYT recaps law firms’ reactions to the new New York ethics rules requiring firms to label their websites as “attorney…

Internet Hunting Update

The AP updates the status of laws banning Internet hunting, a topic I blogged about extensively in 2005 and even wrote an editorial about. Encouraged by the Humane Society (on a roll with their regressive perspectives about Internet law), 25…

Ownership of Attorney Work Product

Copyright ownership of attorney work product is an under-discussed issues among attorneys. It raises a variety of complex issues, including who owns the copyright in the documents we prepare as attorneys and when do we infringe by recycling our work…

The Destruction of Young Lawyers

Douglas Litowitz is issuing a second edition of the book The Destruction of Young Lawyers. I haven’t read the book, but this interview with him lays out his basic thesis. He argues that 5 key attributes of the legal profession…

Blawgers Discussion Issues

I’m helping to organize a roundtable discussion for blawgers (scheduled for March 28, 6-8pm at SCU–please email me if you’re interested in coming). This got me thinking about topics I’d like to explore with other blawgers. My list: General *…