The Mind Of A New York Bankruptcy Lawyer And Online Legal Marketing Expert
Let's say you've got a blog about your field of law. You get downsized and look for a new job. A potential employer finds your blog and realizes you know a thing or two.
Why rely on a resume? Why not show what you know?
What a cool insurance policy for your professional future.
Whatcha think about that?
It makes me feel icky to have to unload your delicates and assorted clothing. But there aren't any open washers so I've got no choice.
Doesn't it make you feel kind of icky to know someone else had to touch your clothes?
Set a timer next time and be here when the cycle ends. Please - for everyone's sake.
This is outside a local restaurant. Not sure if it works as advertised, but it sure is a cool hook.
A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to pay more than $200 million on Tuesday for claims that the bank unjustly charged its customers millions in overdraft fees.
The ruling comes after a two-week trial in the spring heard by the judge. Perhaps due to many other recent troubles the bank has had — the bank stands to lose approximately $530 million in revenue this year due to changes in rules governing the banking industry — it plans to appeal the ruling.
“We’re disappointed with the judge’s ruling,” Richele Messick, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, told The New York Times. “We don’t believe the ruling is in line with the facts of the case.”
According to U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Wells Fargo addressed its customers’ transactions in an order that would generate more fees by first subtracting the largest purchases from the account balance.
Tiny Home Movement is Growing Rapidly
Admittedly, I haven’t made the leap from a regular-sized home to a tiny home just yet. But that hasn’t stopped me from strongly considering it. I have a 1,000 sq. ft. home with a semi-finished basement. And I’m desperately trying to declutter my life and down-size to a simpler lifestyle.
Since I’ve lost a pretty good chunk of change on my existing home, I haven’t made the plunge to a tiny home. But others are. The tiny home movement has taken off, and now there are dozens of tiny home manufacturers. And with a little study and help from some crafty friends, you could even build your own home in a short period of time.
Whether you move from a 2,000 sq. ft. home to a 1,000 sq. ft. home, or a 1,000 sq. ft. home to a 200 sq. ft. home, you can expect to enjoy a number of huge benefits from the transition.
Benefits of Making the Move to a Tiny Home
1. Tiny Homes Save Huge Money
The smaller the house, the lower the cost. Not only will you be able to open up room in your monthly budget, but if you have saved a modest amount, you might be able to pay for the whole thing up front and completely open up the ‘housing’ line item in your budget to other things.
2. Freedom from Debt
Big houses come with big mortgages. Smaller houses can result in no mortgage at all, if you play your cards right. And without that mortgage, you don’t have to feel the stress of wondering how you’ll be able to make your payments if you were to somehow lose your job or come across other financial hardships.
3. Freedom from Stuff
When you live in a small home, you have very limited space. It will force you to declutter and only keep things that you use frequently (in many cases, you will have to have multiple uses for an item).
4. Freedom to Take your Home with you
This is the biggest benefit of all, in my book. If you hate moving, raise your hand (envisioning 99 out of 100 of you raising your hand in front of your apathetic computer screen). What if moving was as simple as turning the key to your ignition and driving away? A large number of tiny homes are being built upon truck beds, making moving a cinch. Just think of the possibilities here. You could:
- Move your house when you take a new job without ever having to go through the hassle of selling and buying a new one.
- Never have to worry about hiring a mover and renting a damn U-Haul truck.
- Stay with friends/family for extended periods while not infringing upon their space (or them on yours).
- Avoid anticipated natural disasters.
- Never have to pay for a hotel room on any road trip.
- You already own a vacation home!
5. More Time
Homes are very time consuming. But what if you could vacuum your floor in 1 minute and just be done with it? The size of your home is inversely proportional to the free time that you have. With little home to take care of, you have plenty of time to do the things you really want to do. And that’s liberating.
6. Great Minds Think Alike
You’ll also become a local celebrity of sorts and random interesting people from around the country will strike up conversation wherever you take your home. Your home could become a community builder.
7. Better Quality Home
You should, in theory, be able to upgrade the quality of the home around you because you’ve been able to cut down on the materials and cost of the home so significantly. Putting in that marble counter-top shouldn’t cost that much when it is only 5 square feet. Hardwood floors? You can install hardwoods in your whole house for the price that most people pay for one bedroom!
Don’t take my word for it. Check out this recent PBS story on tiny homes and accompanying video about Dee Williams and her move to an 80 sq. ft. home (below).
Tiny Home Discussion:
- Have you made the move to a tiny home? How has it changed your life?
- Are you planning on moving to a tiny home?
- If you don’t think you’d ever be able to adjust to a tiny home, what are the big roadblocks?
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Of course, this requires a tiny family and a tiny bit of furniture. Aside from that, looks like a good idea.
It's giving yourself the freedom to use that voice rather than some middle-of-the-road corporate drone-speak that's the killer.
Lawyers who rent offices under time-sharing arrangements may violate New Jersey ethics rules if they hold out these workplaces as their principal place of business, according to a recent ethics opinion.
Such “virtual offices” violate the state requirement for a bona fide office, according to a joint opinion by the New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics and the Committee on Attorney Advertising.
Most states no longer have a bona fide office rule, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. The joint opinion is “likely to reinforce New Jersey's reputation among attorney regulators around the country as a state that bends its ethics rules slowly to the inchoate winds of social and economic change," the story says.
According to the opinion, a virtual office refers to a time-sharing arrangement in which lawyers visit the office by appointment only. A receptionist serves all of those who rent space in the shared office, directing clients to the proper room at the appointed time. Depending on the lease, the receptionist may also receive and forward mail and phone calls.
New Jersey requires lawyers to maintain a bona fide office where clients are met, files are kept, mail is received, and the lawyer or “a responsible person acting on the attorney's behalf” can be reached in person and by phone. The purpose, according to the opinion, is to make sure lawyers are available and can be found by clients.
A virtual office can’t be a bona fide office, the opinion says, since the lawyer is only present when he or she has reserved the space. And a receptionist at a virtual office doesn’t qualify as “a responsible person acting on the attorney's behalf"—indeed such a receptionist shouldn’t be entrusted with confidential information, the opinion adds.
A home office, however, can meet the requirement for a bona fide office, the opinion says. And solos who can’t afford a receptionist can still meet the requirement, as long as absences from the office are only occasional and the lawyer can be reached by phone, e-mail or the like.
Some women lawyers are criticizing the opinion, the New Jersey Law Journal reports in a separate story. One of them is Washington, D.C., lawyer Carolyn Elefant, who writes about solo practice at MyShingle.com. She told the publication that lawyers who work at home may be reluctant to list their home office as their principal place of business because of security and privacy concerns.
As the late Adrian Rogers said, "you cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
An economics professor at a local college told his class that socialism was destined to ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
That class had insisted that in a socialist economy, no one would be poor and no one would be rich --- a great equalizer. Everyone could be successful.
The professor said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism". All the grades on each test in the class would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset, and the students who goofed off were very happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less, and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too, so they studied little. The second test average was a D. No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average score was an F!
The scores never increased after that as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. As a result, everyone in the class got an F for the semester.
Thanks to Connecticut bankruptcy attorney Eugene Melchionne for sending this along to me.
You're a lawyer. So am I. But you're also a real, live human being (at least, I hope you are).
I'm a dad, a husband, and a guy who was a geek before it was cool to be a geek. I like to cook, spend time with my family, and play with technology.
You're frustrated about spending your money on marketing and technology only to see no results. I can relate.
Since 1995 I've been a consumer protection and bankruptcy lawyer in New York City. For the first six years of my practice I made a lot of money, and spent even more of it.
My marketing sucked. My practice management consisted of running around putting out fires.
It was after I almost went belly-up that I took stock of my life and my practice. I learned at the feet of the masters of marketing, people who ran and marketed the most profitable and successful companies on the planet.
I tested every theory and tweaked them to fit the legal world. I was my own guinea pig.
Now I can teach you how to actually make money in your practice. That would be cool, right?
Learn more at www.LegalPracticePro.com.
