The Red Velvet Lawyer

My Home Town's Journey This recent communication from my mediation community touched me deeply. From: Sandy Heierbacher [ mailto:sandy@NCDD.ORG ] Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2014 8:11 AM To: NCDD-UPDATES@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG Subject: [NCDD-UPDATES] What can the dialogue & deliberation community do after Ferguson? Message to the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation community, from NCDD’s Director... Hi, everyone. Many of us are reeling from the events in Ferguson. Some of you may be involved in protests in your own cities right now. Last night, President Obama addressed the nation after it was announced that Darren Wilson would not be indicted. In his remarks, I couldn’t help but think he was talking about the work that many of you do. The juxtaposition on the split screen of Obama encouraging protestors to stay peaceful on one side, and tear gas canisters being thrown by police in riot fear [sic?] on the other side was bizarre. But what Obama ta...

Keeping Track of Good Advice Several of the bloggers I follow write on solo practice.  I want to start aggregating their advice in one of my posts.  So, here I go: 20 Law Practice Empowerment Tips by Peggy Greunke. Product Development for Lawyers by Carolyn Elefant. Lead Management: 3 Steps to Slash Your No-Show Rate  by Steven Fairley. On Building a Digital Law Library by Jean P. O'Grady. The 12 Best Legal Marketing Tips from 2014 by Steven Fairley. Last Minute Guide to 2014's Best New Books for Content Marketers by Roger C. Parker.  You are Better Off Having Experts Manage WordPress Hosting Environment by Kevin O'Keefe. Law Firms Assume Known and Unknown Risks in Operating WordPress Blogs  by Kevin O'Keefe. The 12 Best Legal Marketing Lessons from 2014: #9. Why Aren’t Lawyers Getting Paid? by Stephen Fairley. New crowdfunding site helps individuals raise money for legal fees by Martha Neil. Podcast # 3: Carol Elefant on Advan...

Graduate Competence or  Design and Scoring Problems? On Monday, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported the onset of a debate about the surprising drop in bar passage rates on a national basis.  It said:  A steep decline in bar exam scores on the most recent test has led to an outbreak of finger-pointing over who’s to blame for the downward swing.  In a sharply worded letter , the dean of Brooklyn Law School on Monday reproached the head of a national bar exam group for suggesting to law school leaders that their graduates who took the July exam were less prepared than students who sat for the test in previous years.  The dean’s letter came in response to an October memo by Erica Moeser, the president of the National Conference of Bar Examiners , addressed to law school deans across the country in which she defended the integrity of the group’s exam and raised concerns about the ability of the would-be lawyers who took it. .....