Solo Practice University® Guest Lectures

Debra says she's always felt like Paul Revere trying to make lawyers understand what is transforming the law profession but it's been challenging. In this guest lecture she share her thoughts on the subject and how you can survive commoditization. Listen and learn. Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Christina Burns is the Director of Client Happiness at Ruby Receptionists. Ruby's understanding of customer service is so deep, their results so stellar, it is why this company is growing by leaps and bounds and you will only find they receive glowing reviews. Christina understands, and Ruby Receptionists lives and breathes, customer service. They have developed a Service Pyramid which is at the c...

Today we have a highly informative guest lecture with the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Smokeball, one of our partners in helping you build your solo/small firm practice. Our conversation focuses on change, fear of change, and how to get through the process of change in order to reap the rewards on the other side. It includes assessing the current state of your law firm, how to...

Becoming a solo and building a solo/small firm practice is a different journey for everyone. However, Scott O'Sullivan, a personal injury lawyer in Colorado and also faculty at Solo Practice University, has graciously shared how he has grown his practice from a one man shop in a shared space to a 10 person firm and owning his own office building in eight years. It's not a story of magic pills and...

Do you understand the financial power of building lawyer networks for referrals? Do you understand the importance of being a traffic hub for business, even legal matters you don't handle? Do you know how to talk with other professionals to garner referrals? Referrals for many lawyers are their lifeblood, a way to keep the pipeline filled with clients to serve. Jared and I discuss the importance of...

This is a MUST listen podcast. I'm a firm believe in insuring the 'money machine. If you are not insuring the 'money machine' you are making a major mistake. Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Legal Analytics, at first blush, is about as exciting to the busy solo as watching paint dry.  But the truth is it is the secret to a successful practice.  I know most of you immediately want to say, ‘I have no time for this.’  But you need to make time for it.  Jared and I […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

You may have considered speaking as part of your marketing strategy but were not really sure how to go about it. More likely you are afraid you won't be an effective speaker. Well, we found THE best experts on this subject who not only know the value of speaking to increase business but can also teach you how to actually present. You will learn to not only speak well and energize your audience, bu...

Encryption is now part of your professional duty to safeguard your clients’ data. Encryption is a very techno-scary word for many lawyers.  It’s intimidating, actually. But even if it is, it doesn’t mean you can bury your head in the sand, not if you are going to represent your clients responsibly.  Encryption is critical when […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Ryan McKeen of the McKeen Law Firm is back with us again. This time he shares how he can take on larger matters by creating legal teams for cases on an 'as needed' basis. This is a must-listen to guest lecture because there is a 'no man's land' between being an office of one - you - and growing into having full time staff and permanently increased overhead. Ryan shares smart and highly effective w...

When Kathleen Paukert first contacted me to discuss her book The Fulfilled Lawyer, my initial thought was this was another perspective on work/life balance.  However, once we started to dig into her law firm’s business model I saw the future!  I saw the future for solo practitioners who want to work within a collective of […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

As promised, here is the second part of this important and fascinating guest lecture with Deborah Gonzalez discussing online security basics for attorneys.  If you’ve not listened to Part 1 yet, you can do so here. The audio is about 48 minutes. Listen directly below Deborah Gonzalez, Esq. is an attorney and the founder of […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Quite simply, this is a mind-blowing guest lecture from one of our most thought-provoking faculty, Deborah Gonzalez. This guest lecture exposes the deep and dark underbelly of the online world,  the full, often-ignored exposure you have when you not only conduct business online, but are online for pleasure.  This jam-packed two part guest lecture will […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

I had the pleasure of finally meeting Ernie Svenson (after years of ‘knowing’ him online) and today Ernie is going to talk about the virtues, professionally and financially, of going paperless and how he did it.  Frankly, anyone starting a practice today should be paperless from the start and everything done to grow the practice […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

How do you leave a Big Law firm or medium-sized firm when they’ve been your training ground from the start of your legal career?  How do you do so ethically, responsibly and in a positive way while still keeping your clients?  How do you resolve all the potential issues (and there are many)?  How do […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Last May, Clio ran a #Clioday contest asking lawyers how they used the time they saved because of Clio law practice management solutions.  After much fanfare, a winner was picked.  Haley Austin.  I watched her video (which her daughter filmed and edited and you can see below) and really wanted to do a guest lecture […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Oftentimes, when we discuss social media it is in the context of how every lawyer should be using it for marketing.  Not this time.  Today we have Omar Ha-Redeye (who also teaches a course at Solo Practice University) discussing social media in the context of the legal process. Let’s face it, if you don’t know […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Our guest speaker today has a biography which simply does not do him justice.  Joe Donnini is the founder of Legal Value Firm, a name you are going to be hearing a lot more of because here is a lawyer, entrepreneur and one very, very smart law school adjunct professor who has finally pieced together […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Today Jared and I discuss the elusive work/life balance equation.  We differ and yet we agree on how solos and small firm practitioners are adapting to the changes in practice, and how to manage time.  And it is both managing time and remaining focused on what you are doing in the moment, not multitasking.  Join […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

How do we create a web presence that actually works to bring in clients?  Well, this guest lecture may actually surprise you as no one is going to sell you a high-priced web site or bedazzle you with fancy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ‘tricks’.  Why?  Because you can create a good website on your own […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Jared receives countless questions from new solo lawyers and solos who have been in practice for decades but need advice on law practice management. We like to ask Jared what’s on lawyers’ minds as we have several times before. If you are a new lawyer in Massachusetts or a paying member of the Massachusetts bar, […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Here we go, again, talking about that taboo subject:  Being a lawyer and admitting you need help.  You don’t have to necessarily be depressed or even anxious.  But sometimes you just need an objective set of ears to listen and guide, help you sort through stumbling blocks, identify patterns of behavior or just validate your […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

I have a confession.  When Nora Bergman and Liz Lamar first came on board as faculty teaching an in-depth Lean Six Sigma for Solos course at Solo Practice University, I thought I already knew what Lean Six Sigma was.  I was so very wrong.  The name is a little off-putting but since all major successful […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

Today’s guest lecture is all about change – managing the process of change. It is a grab bag of topics based upon the most frequently asked questions Jared has received these past months…and they all seem to revolve around how to make the necessary changes within one’s practice to compete effectively in the 21st century.  […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel

This guest lecture is a little off the topic of solo practice but I had to speak with this incredible woman because she speaks to why so many women go solo, to create their own culture of one that allows them to work as they need in order to have a life. I have to […] Written by Susan Cartier Liebel