Dear Ninja Dog: I Need to be Top Dog!

May 18, 2011 by
whiny welsh

Dear Ninja Dog:

I’m a welsh terrier who lives with a lawyer. She’s in her fourth year as an associate at a large firm. She doesn’t have the time she used to and barely spends time with me. I’ve turned to Twitter to develop some friends and have a pretty lively group of other dogs (and one ferret) that tweet back and forth all the time. Now my lawyer owner is thinking about getting another dog, thinking I’m lonely. I’m fine with Twitter and don’t want some other mate harshing my mellow. What should I do?

Signed,

Whiny Welsh [Read more...]

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Is Karaoke Right for Your Practice?

April 21, 2011 by
Karaoke for Attorneys

There comes a time in a mature law practice when an associate asks “when’s Karaoke?” It’s a fascinating question, full of appropriate cultural and generational minefields. Newer “hip” associates are eager to jump in. Partners less so. In an era of Glee and Dancing With the Stars, Karaoke is now seen as a modern way to enhance the delivery of legal services, a noticeable step above the old standby of hiring a stripper or a singing telegram. Clients now want to be entertained, especially if they’re about to get a bill that is the equivalent of a what they spend on a weeklong Bahamian vacation. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal Trends Tagged With: , , ,

The Ethics of Spanking Your Client

April 7, 2011 by
spanking

While legal ethics do not apply on the internet, we occasionally come across some fascinating questions. For instance, is it ethical to spank your client? First, some clarification. We are not talking about poking or even full-frontal poking here, with attorneys poking anything that moves, even judges, clerks, and clients. While that’s certainly happening within the legal profession, it’s not something that should be condoned. Unless it feels good. Or increases SEO. Or Klout. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , ,

Some Goddamn Way Too Frequently Asked Questions

March 14, 2011 by
2FAQ

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]awyers ask a lot of questions. They typically answer them with “depends” or, if the question is particularly dumb, they are answered through twenty or more blog and Twitter posts over the course of the following year. In an effort to crack down on indecision and proliferating posts, we’ve collected and answered some of the way too frequently asked questions, otherwise known as the tooFAQ. Here they are. Click on the cute little toggle icon or the question itself for the answers (and for some rhetorical burnish as well). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Exclusive Interview with C. Hank Peters

February 28, 2011 by
Screen shot 2011-02-27 at 5.46.08 PM

In preparation for publication of his book “The Top Fifteen Deadly Social Media Mistakes Lawyers Make,” a desperate journalist sat down for an interview with C. Hank Peters, Big Legal Brain’s iconic mayor and founder. We bring you the full interview here. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , ,

Stop Being a Monkey

February 23, 2011 by
monkey-toy

We don’t normally tell the truth. At least not directly. But this post has some hard truthery to it, so listen up and retweet the following message: stop being a monkey. Seriously. Here are a few things that contribute to the gestalt of your monkeyness.

Social Media Is Deadly. It’s not. Honest. You’ll see lots of advice about “the five deadly mistakes of social media” or the “seven deadly mistakes of Twitter.” Monkey shit. Besides telling us that people can only handle 5 to 7 things at a time, posts about deadly social media mistakes are crap. There are no deadly mistakes. Sure, alligators in Florida ate a few lawyers who were tweeting at the time, but that didn’t have anything to do with any “deadly mistakes” they made. Alligators eat people. Get over it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , ,

Complying with Avatar Behavior Guidelines and Dress Codes

February 10, 2011 by
chesty-dude

That squarish picture of yourself that you put on web sites like 4Chan is an avatar. Avatars are useful personal and iconic photographs or illustrations that can be distributed across the web, whether on Facebook, Twitter, or through comments you make on I Can Has Cheezburger. It’s often what people associate with your online identity. But increasingly, important big firm lawyers have raised an alarm about avatars gone wild, saying that “the number of businesses that will have employee avatar behavior guidelines and dress codes will grow to 70 percent by the end of 2013.”

Whoa. That’s a concern. No one wants to be in the thirty percent of law firms without an avatar dress code! Worse, an avatar can get you that coveted job, keep you in the know, or get you laid– but only if it follows certain guidelines and wears the right clothing and accessories. Not sure what to do? Here are five key things to remember. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , , ,

Blawg Review #297: The Hair Shirt Edition

February 7, 2011 by
hair-shirt

Today marks the 514th anniversary of the notorious Bonfire of the Vanities, when the followers of Dominican Friar Giralamo Savonarola burned a bunch of extraneous stuff in Florence, like books and art. Oh, and cosmetics, lewd pictures, mirrors, nude sculptures, and a few people. Savonarola was one severe dude, who railed against excesses and told “lustful people to put on a hair shirt and do penance, because you need it.”

It’s time to revive the wearing of hair shirts and the burning of vain things with which we disagree. For this we’ve retained Vicki Verderci, a senior Vanity Consultant with Sparxlux Legal Clothing Boutique in New York. With Chank and Vicki, we bring you Blawg Review 297, the Hair Shirt Edition, complete with hair shirt merchandising and livetweeting of our bonfires. In other words, we compare what’s really burning with what actually should be burned. And we give out hair shirts to deserving blawgers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advice Tagged With: , , , ,

Four Life Coaches Worth Hiring – And One to Avoid

January 21, 2011 by
Life Coaches for Lawyers

We know you are confused. Face down in the muck and mire of your practice, you are wondering how best to breathe new life into the law and into your career. Luckily, there’s someone who will take your money to answer that question. A life coach? Yes, but while a life coach is typically the first person you think about when sitting naked in front of the television late at night drinking Cutty Sark, there are also suitable alternatives that may provide more focused results. Here are our top life coach considerations.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Professional Development Tagged With: , ,

The ROI of Name Dropping

January 5, 2011 by
monkeycarwash

Social media offers lawyers a wealth of opportunities, from invitations to pay your own way to speak at legal conferences to the promise of a one-day training certificate in Thought Leadership. And, once in every 476,935 posts* to Twitter or Facebook, a lawyer gets a client referral out of the deal.

But how does a non-tech savvy lawyer achieve such near-miracles in a manner that makes for worthwhile Return on Investment (ROI)? Two words: name dropping. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , ,
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