The Red Velvet Lawyer

Entrepreneurs as Freaks? Chris Brogan, whose blog I follow daily, is promoting his latest book , The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth: Entrepreneurship for Weirdos, Misfits, and World Dominators.   He also offered this reading list "for freaks" that looks very interesting.  Ender’s Game . Forget the movie. This is how to think differently. Escape from Cubicle Nation . A classic. A must. Everything I Know – if you know Paul Jarvis , he’s a freak. No really. Everything that Remains . If you’re not following the Minimalists, you need to rectify that. Choose Yourself . Not only is James Altucher quoted and interviewed frequently in relationship to this book, he’s one of the most successful freaks I know. Unlabel . Learn to be a freak from one who has made over a billion dollars from being himself. I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This . Still have to work for the man? Kate White’s brilliant. She’s a ninja of what to know. The In Between . Not sure anyone’s ever

How Lawyers Can Respond  to a  More Demanding, More Competitive Legal Market Kandy Hopkins, at the Attorney at Work blawg, has nicely pulled together some of the presentations, commentary, and reviews of the conference in New York on the topic of reinventing the practice of law. I've blogged on this topic here , here ,  here , here , and here . Kandy's overview says: The daylong conference in New York City gathered more than 800 attendees who watched nearly 40 speakers, in an event “devoted to law, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the legal services industry.” The word on the web from those who attended? While the conference didn’t answer exactly how or when technology will transform the legal industry, it did offer two things not often seen in the industry: hope and possibilities. Here’s some scoop on more things bloggers and others are sharing about the conference and its innovation theme. She then organizes links into five

BigLaw  Headcount Strategies Adam Smith Esquire's Bruce McEwen, well-known blawger, in a post entitled, Where Do You Want Your Firm to be in 2020?, reports some data on the strategic planning horizon of large law firms, which he argues does not extend beyond one, two, or three years. Interestingly, he reports the following figures for the changes in headcount at large law firms. [C]onsider the little-remarked but sobering figures on how the proportionate composition of lawyers at the largest 250 law firms in the US based on headcount has changed over the last decade: Associates: from 55% to 47% (down 15%). Equity partners: from 31% to 26% (down 16%). Non-equity partners: from 7% to 16% (up 129%). Other’ lawyers (staff, of counsel, contract, etc): from 7% to 10% (up 43%). He comments on these changes later in the post: And what, exactly, is the point about the aforementioned morphing composition of lawyers at large law firms? Simple, I b

Appalachian School of Law Welcomes Veterans A new television commercial for the law school will air locally over the next few weeks on WCYB Channel 5, the NBC affiliate in Bristol, and WEMT, the Fox affiliate in NE Tennessee. This commercial focuses on veterans.  It features one of our current student-veterans, Irina Dan McGarry, ’14.  Lieutenant Dan did a great job, as you can see for yourself:    For those who want the full TV experience, here is the broadcast schedule for tomorrow, Friday, February 28: WCYB-TV 619 am 1118 am 1206 pm 230 pm 344 pm 509 pm 1106 pm 1141 pm WEMT (Fox) 528 pm 1024 pm News I want to thank Trustee Joe Wolfe for making this opportunity possible.  

Lawyers Are Heroes, Too A blawger complains this week about the sad state of lawyer marketing.  What's missing?  The hero story , in my opinion.  Head without heart.  Features without benefits.  And, an inability to show how lawyers change the world in a positive way.   Here's a couple of contrasting videos that help illustrate the differences in a North Carolina political contest.  

35,000  Page Views Friends, family, and colleagues: Another milestone reached!  Some time last night, page views of my blog topped 35,000. The Red Velvet Lawyer will celebrate its first birthday in mid-March.  People tell me that this type of growth for a little ol' blog is impressive.  I have to take their word for it. In the meantime, I enjoy the connection with all of you and the opportunity to share ideas, information, and news. Love you all, and thanks so very much for your support!

New Data Informing  the Debate In several postings  here ,  here , and here , I tracked the debate between Brian Tamanaha, author of Failing Law Schools , and Michael Simkovic and Frank McIntyre, co-authors of The Value of a Law Degree . In a recent posting , Simkovic & McIntyre update their economic analysis and take apart the basis for Tamanaha's more dismissal point of view.   They conclude: Comparing lifetime earnings of law degree holders to earnings of similar bachelor’s degree holders, we find that the pretax value of a law degree is approximately $1,030,000 on average, $770,000 at the median, $430,000 at the twenty-fifth percentile, and $1,420,000 at the seventy-fifth percentile. These figures include the opportunity costs of foregone wages while in law school and financing costs. We also provide separate analyses of earnings for men and women. We find that the value of a law degree at the median is higher for women than for