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October 6, 2014

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Monday, October 6, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Florida Insurance Law: Florida’s Citizens Pays Off Bond, Drops Surcharge 2 Years Early
Florida’s state-backed property insurer will stop collecting a one-percent assessment that had been used to retire a bond issued following the 2004-2005 hurricane season.

The Citizens Property Insurance Corp. board of directors decided the insurer will have the necessary funds to retire the bonds as of June 15. The bonds had been scheduled to be paid off in June 2017.

Citizens Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Montero said the decision follows last year’s vote to continue the assessments.

“When we came before the board last year, we recommended continuation of the one percent for another year in anticipation in the future or even elimination of the assessment,” said Montero.

Citizens issued the bonds after the 2004-2005 hurricane season when eight major storms struck the state. Those storms left Citizens with a $1.7 billion shortfall. As a result, in 2007 the insurer levied a 1.4 percent emergency assessment paid for by all the state’s property policyholder.

That funding decision allowed Citizens to start paying down a 10-year post-event bond issuance that had a total price tax of $1.38 billion.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

September 26, 2014

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Friday, September 26, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Miami Hopes Storm Pumps, Seawall Will Protect Against Rising Seas
Climate change is not only already visible in iconic South Beach, but so is climate change adaptation, in the form of new storm water pumps meant to keep rising sea levels from swamping low-lying streets, city officials said Wednesday.

Extreme high tides in the fall and spring push seawater up through aging infrastructure, flooding some Miami Beach streets with more than a foot of water even on sunny days, snarling vehicle and pedestrian traffic. National and regional climate change risk assessments have used the flooding to illustrate the Miami area’s vulnerability to rising sea levels.

Watching a new storm water pump being readied for installation along the city’s bay front, officials said they hoped the project would make Miami Beach, a barrier island with an average elevation of 4.4 feet above sea level, an example of climate change adaptation instead of only risk.

A system of about 60 new pumps across the city will keep streets dry for the next 25 to 30 years, said Mayor Philip Levine. A higher sea wall also is being built to cope with storm surge flooding.

Read more here…

Commercial Rates in Florida’s Citizens Going Up 3.3%
Rates for the almost 100,000 commercial property risks insured by Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will rise an average 3.3 percent next February.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved the increase, which is less that the average 5.2 percent increase requested by Citizens. The decision came after 45-day deliberative process and a public hearing on Aug. 27 in Tallahassee.

Commercial polices are found in both Citizens’ Commercial Lines and Coastal Accounts and represent 99,009 of Citizens’ total 933,807 policies statewide.
OIR previously approved new rates for homeowners accounts, a statewide average rate decrease of 3.7 percent.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

September 15, 2014September 10, 2018

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Monday, September 15, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Florida Insurance Law: Florida’s Citizens No Longer ‘Out of Control,’ Says Exec Defending Rate Cut
Its successes in reducing its insured population and securing low cost catastrophic coverage are driving the request by Florida’s state-backed property insurer for a statewide average 2.9 percent decrease on residential policies.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. officials in a public hearing before the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) painted a picture of an insurer that has downsized significantly while financially improving over the last several years.

Read more here…

Florida Insurance Law: Crist, Scott Spar Over Property Insurance in Race for Governor
Democrat Charlie Crist said he successfully reduced rising property insurance rates as governor and will do so again if elected, vowing to repeal a law enacted under Republican Gov. Rick Scott that he said provides weaker coverage at a higher price.

It’s a familiar theme for Crist, who campaigned in 2006 on a pledge to lower insurance rates that were skyrocketing after eight hurricanes battered Florida in two years. One of his first acts as governor was to call a special session to deal with rising rates. Lawmakers expanded the amount of state-sponsored reinsurance, which brought down costs for private carriers, and froze rates by the state-created Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp., which took on more policies as national companies backed away from Florida.

Read more here…

Florida Fraud Law: Home Depot Confirms Its Payment Systems Were Hacked
Home Depot Inc. confirmed on Monday its payment security systems have been breached, a data theft analysts warn could rival Target Corp.’s massive breach last year.

Home Depot said the data theft could impact its customers in stores across the United States and Canada, but there was no evidence that online customers were affected or debit personal identification numbers (PINs) were compromised.

Read more here…

Florida Real Estate Law: Free Florida Quit Claim Deed Form and Filing?
Reading this article will teach you the hazards for using a free Florida quit claim deed form and other do-it-yourself solutions to transfer your home or property.

Countless people are searching for and using free Florida quit claim deed forms they find online. These same people then without legal knowledge or training try to fill out the quit claim deed not even knowing if the form itself is proper for the State of Florida or for their specific purposes. As a Florida real estate lawyer, I am horrified that people think this is actually a good, prudent and financially wise decision.

Read more here…

Florida Real Estate Law: How Strong Is Florida’s ‘Revived’ Homeowners Market?
As Florida seeks to revive its private home insurance market after almost a decade without a hurricane, homeowners are pouring $6 billion a year in premiums into a new generation of small, in-state insurance companies with an unproven record of withstanding a major hurricane.

A consumer-oriented rating agency, Weiss Ratings, recently awarded the companies a median grade of C-minus, and even without a major storm to drive up claims, 11 of them have already failed in Florida since 2006, according to state records.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

September 12, 2014

Weekly Review for U.S. Veterans for Friday, September 12, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for U.S. Veterans. Enjoy!

Apps for History: Now your phone can make WWII ‘then & now’ images
Its not often we get to do app reviews at War History Online, but Timera is something a little different and is included in the list of “Hottest 100 European startups of 2014″.

If you have seen some of the work of Sergey Larenkov or some of the images on Ghosts of History you will be familiar with the concept. However, Timera allows anyone to easily create these kind of “then and now” photos with an iPhone or an Android device. Once you have created the “Timera”, which is what they call the resulting combination of old and new, you can share to social networks or just with the rest of the timera community. The app is free to download from Google Play, iTunes or timera.com The Daily Mail featured the app back in the summer and so too did Buzzfeed.

Read more here…

Help a Vet: VA Rallies Community Support for Veterans During Suicide Prevention Month
One small act could save the life of a Veteran or Servicemember in crisis – that’s the inspiration behind “The Power of 1” campaign. The campaign launches this September during Suicide Prevention Month and is a joint project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

“The campaign emphasizes the effect that just one person, one conversation, or one act can have on the life of a Veteran or Servicemember by offering hope and opening the door to support,” said Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, Interim Under Secretary for Health. “It also is designed to spread the word about VA and DoD mental health resources and suicide prevention efforts.”

A new public service announcement, “The Power of 1,” reinforces this message by focusing on the small, everyday actions that can play a pivotal role in improving a Veteran’s life. In addition, a Suicide Prevention Month Web page, VeteransCrisisLine.net/ThePowerof1, offers interactive tools to learn more about the Veterans Crisis Line and how small acts make a difference.

Read more here…

World (not just Houston)…..we have a problem: Inside the mind of an ISIS fighter
To the outside world, they’re a force of ruthless yet mysterious insurgents bent on terrorizing civilians and expanding Islamist rule.

But as one former ISIS fighter tells CNN, the mentality goes much deeper.
“The main and principal goal of the Islamic State that they tell their new members is to establish an Islamic state that will encompass the Arab world,” the man said in Turkey. “And after that, we go to other countries.”

Just two weeks ago, the man was in Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold in northern Syria. Like many cities across Syria and Iraq, Raqqa has been overrun by ISIS militants who show no mercy for those who don’t follow their hard line.

Read more here…

History Book Review: BELSEN – Review by Phil Hodges
The name Belsen is synonymous with a vision of hell. We automatically think of the pictures we’ve seen of the twisted bodies being thrown unceremoniously into huge hastily dug pits or the PatheNews reels of a Royal Engineer driving a bulldozer, scarf over mouth and nose to keep the stench out created as he pushes the corpses into giant heaps.

It’s relevant we have these images in mind, as this book is a photographic journal of one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious concentration camps. Some fifty thousand were said to have perished within the compounds of Belsen, most died of typhoid and other diseases, as there were no actual gas chambers at the camp. However, there were daily beatings and thousands died at the hands of their German and Hungarian guards, many of them brutal women recruited by the SS to dish out discipline and instill fear amongst the inmates.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for U.S. Veterans.

September 8, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Monday, September 8, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Law Business: 12 pieces of LinkedIn advice you’ve (likely) never heard
Did you know there’s a way to make second- and third-degree connections appear in your feed, or that you can message people in the same groups as you? Read on for more LinkedIn hacks here…

Legal Marketing: Why Social Media Doesn’t Work For Attorneys and what to do about it
If you’ve seen any of the ‘ALS Challenge’ videos over the last few weeks, you have witness the power of social media. The ‘ALS Challenge’ has captured the attention of millions of people all over the world and at the same time it’s raised millions of dollars over a very short period of time.

The lesson here is learning just how to leverage the power of social media for your law practice. No, you don’t HAVE to do use social media, but if you don’t, your competition will and they will be happy to take your business.

One thing that Joel shared stuck out to me. Do you know what social media is really about? It’s about life. It’s about relationships. It’s about real people sitting behind a computer and they’re just like you – they have successes, they have problems … and they need a solution to those problems.

As a practicing attorney, YOU are the solution to many of those problems.
Here’s what social media is not.

Read more here…

Lawyer Tech and Trial Tips: Tips for Better Presenting Photographs in Court
Well-presented photographs are powerful tools for litigators. In this post, I’ll share some samples that show how we’ve helped litigators use photographs in court, along with a number of tips for getting the most from your photographs in litigation.

Read more here…

Law Practice Management Tips: How To Run A Law Firm Like A Startup
Most law firms bill clients by the hour. It’s been this way for decades. But the system is fundamentally flawed: It rewards employees for being unproductive.
Social enterprise attorney Kyle Westaway is trying to change that. He works out of his Brooklyn loft and has found some of his young startup clients via social media. He uses virtually no paper and bills on a by-project basis.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!

September 5, 2014

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Friday, September 5, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Those with bad credit pay more for homeowners insurance
STUDY HIGHLIGHTS THE FINANCIAL DISPARITY BETWEEN THOSE WITH POOR CREDIT AND THOSE WITH GOOD CREDIT
A new study from InsuranceQuotes.com shows that credit score is having a major impact on the out-of-pockets costs of homeowners insurance in Alabama. Credit is one of the foundational tools that the insurance industry uses to assess risks in any given market. Credit is a gauge of financial risk, allowing the financial service industry to properly assess liability in any given scenario. Poor credit represents a significant risk, which is why those with a low credit score often have trouble finding loans and receiving credit cards. Read more here…

Yeah, right…Florida’s Citizens’ Gilway Defends Overseas Travel
The top official of Florida’s state-backed property insurer stepped forward yesterday to defend his organization’s international travel, arguing it was necessary to conclude a $3.1 billion risk transfer plan.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. President Barry Gilway has found himself under fire in recent weeks by Gov. Rick Scott over press reports that detailed the insurer’s overseas travel.

Specifically, Scott questioned the role of Citizens Chair Chris Gardner, who on a trip to Bermuda was reimbursed for a two-night hotel stay at $104 above Citizens overseas travel guidelines. Gardner reimbursed Citizens for the overage, which was caught by the insurer in an internal review. Read more here…

Florida’s Flood Agency Stops Writing New Business in Tampa Bay Region
One of the first entities to step forward and provide private flood insurance in Florida has announced it will stop writing new business in the Tampa Bay region in order to manage its exposure.

The Flood Agency, which offers private flood coverage that are backed by the surplus lines insurer Lloyd’s Private Flood, announced the move some nine months after it began offering the coverage.

The Gainesville-based agency’s decision affects Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee counties. Flood Agency President Evan Hecht told reporters the decision to stop providing new policies in those areas are based on the need to balance Lloyd’s exposure. Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

August 27, 2014September 10, 2018

How Do I File a Florida Smalls Claims Court Case?

Reading this article will teach you how to file a Florida Small Claims Court Case and why hiring a Florida lawyer to help you to prepare the case will save you time, money and aggravation.

It seems like almost everyone has a legal problem these days. In this unstable economy, most claims involve someone not paying what they owe. Debt collection cases crowd the courthouse in one form or another. The sheer number seems to be skyrocketing.

As a Florida lawyer, I cannot tell you how many people contact my law office seeking assistance and guidance for small claims court cases. Right from the start, there is one primary problem with a small claims case. In this article, I will tell you what the chief problem is for a small claims case and what you can do about it.

Florida Small Claims Court: It’s All About the Money

Ever heard of the expression that little people (toddlers) have little problems but big people (teenagers) have big problems? Well the same does not apply to Small Claims Court.

Small claims court cases are not necessarily about small problems. To anyone in small claims court, the problem is real and very big to them. If you are reading this article, you most likely have a small claims case or had one recently. These are real issues and real problems that need resolution.

Often, the only difference with a Florida small claims case and one in the Circuit Court is the digits in the monetary demand. Florida small claims court cases are limited to cases in which the amount owed is $5,000.00 or less. Other than that, the law is the same, the burden of proof is the same, and the time needed to prepare and argue the case can be the same.

Florida Small Claims Court Cases: Pay Now or Pay Later

This is where the chief problem arises for small claims court cases. Often, it does not make financial sense for you to hire a lawyer for small claims court case. It could cost you more to hire a lawyer than what you could recover. This is no fault of the lawyer. The work, preparation and time to handle the small claims case can be the same as a larger case in the Circuit Court.

There are several side-effects for you not hiring a Florida lawyer for a Florida small claims court case. The first and most obvious is you may just give up from the outset and not pursue the claim. Most often, the decision to not pursue the claim is made because you do not know to do and are intimidated by the process. Courthouses are not warm and friendly places. Equally so, courthouse staff regrettably lose empathy over time, can be disinterested, and are prohibited from giving you legal advice. This combination can leave you frustrated, confused and more willing to concede defeat than to seek justice.

The second side effect for you not hiring a lawyer is that if you do it on your own, you will most likely make a mistake along the way. In small claims court, you still must know and adhere to all procedures, rules and laws. The mistake could be one in which procedure is not followed and you would then need to start the case all over again. Or the mistake could be one in which the law is not followed and the case itself is lost without a recovery. In either event, a bad result is obtained and a lot of time and resources have been wasted.

In either of the two situations above, a wrong has not been righted. Justice was not served. The bad guy won because of a lack of effort or knowledge, or because of a technicality. These types of results are unsettling and only motivate the bad guys to continue to do the wrong thing. They learned no lesson nor did they have to pay the price. I would urge you to end that vicious cycle and reverse the trend.

Florida Small Claims Court Consultations and Limited Representation Agreements

I realize if you have a small claims case then you have a need for legal help to get the case properly organized and filed. The problem is how to obtain the help without the legal fees exceeding the value of the case. There is no magic solution. We cannot make your legal claim bigger than what it really is. We also cannot shrink time so the case is handled in time less than what is required. So what is the solution?

The only real solution for a small claims court case is for you to hire a lawyer on a limited basis for a manageable and definite flat fee. You cannot change the amount of time required for a case but you can control the time spent on doing the most important things. In this way, you would hire the lawyer for a consult on how to literally put the complaint together, state a valid legal cause of action, create the summons, file the complaint, and have it served for you. All you would have to do is show up for a Court date once the paperwork is returned. If you feel nervous about Court procedures, what needs to be done during your Court appearance, or how to conduct a trial, you could once again hire the lawyer for a consult on those concerns only. Think of this as training or small claims court school.

By hiring a lawyer on a limited basis, you get the benefit of having a lawyer’s guidance without hiring the lawyer full-time for your case. So until the time that bad guys stop being bad guys or when legal services become free, this is the only sure-fire way to hire a lawyer for a Florida small claims court case.

If you have a need for a Florida smalls claims consult, contact us as Miami lawyers for help. For a small flat fee, we can put your small claims case together and have it filed for you worry-free. This is just one more way where we are thinking outside of the box to help you.

Related Topics: Miami lawyer, Florida lawyer, Florida small claims court legal services, Florida small claims complaint help, Florida small claims legal help

August 13, 2014

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Friday, August 15, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Florida Legal Help: When Should I File a Florida Legal Claim?
Normally I do not write in such broad strokes. Originally, I was going to write about when a Florida insurance claim should be filed. Then after thinking about it for a moment, I decided the advice applicable to insurance claims is equally important to all Florida legal claims. So, if you have a Florida legal claim that involves business deals gone wrong; contracts breached; monies that have not been paid; insurance claims denied; personal injuries suffered; or real estate deals that are upside down; then this article is for you!
Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

August 13, 2014September 10, 2018

When Should I File a Florida Legal Claim?

Reading this article will teach you when and why time is of the essence in filing and pursuing a Florida legal claim.

Normally I do not write in such broad strokes. Originally, I was going to write about when a Florida insurance claim should be filed. Then after thinking about it for a moment, I decided the advice applicable to insurance claims is equally important to all Florida legal claims. So, if you have a Florida legal claim that involves business deals gone wrong; contracts breached; monies that have not been paid; insurance claims denied; personal injuries suffered; or real estate deals that are upside down; then this article is for you!

Pursue Your Legal Claims Immediately

Using inspiration from a famous quote, my legal adaption is: “He who delays the pursuit of justice is bound to lose”. In all cases, you must pursue your legal claim, no matter the type, as soon as possible. The reason for pursuing a legal claim immediately are numerous and I will address a few of these below.

Avoid a Statute of Limitation Defense

Let’s start with the most obvious. Many legal claims will be time barred if you do not pursue them in a timely manner. Time barred means you cannot pursue the claim and will get no recovery because you did not do it in time. In legal parlance, this is sometimes referred to as the “statute of limitations”. For instance, in Florida, you have five-years to pursue a legal claim for a breach of a written contract. If you go to Court to pursue your claim five-years plus one day after the fact, guess what? You are sent packing. You lose, game over. This is but one example. Every type of claim out there has its own statute of limitation. None of this really matters however if you pursue your claim right away.

Do Not Breach Your Own Contract

A second possible problem in delaying your pursuit of a legal claim is contractual. If your claim involves a Florida contract, many contracts have terms and conditions for how and when you must file certain claims. We have all seen language in contracts that state you have one-year from receipt of goods or services to make a return or file a claim. By not following the terms of your own contract, you will be hard pressed to obtain recovery. If you file and pursue your claim immediately, you will have one less problem to deal with in your case.

For Florida insurance claims, the timely reporting of insurance claims is super important. Florida insurance law can provide an insurance company with a complete defense to your claim, meaning they do not have to pay one cent, if you delay the reporting of the claim and it prejudices the insurance company’s ability to investigate. So as I have said time and time again, if you believe you have a Florida insurance claim, it is better to report it immediately and then figure out what took place and how much it will cost. Waiting to report your claim until you have done all of your own research and made all of the repairs, will be a big mistake. Do the right thing, report the claim and get your own contractor to tell you how much it will cost. If need be, you can drop the claim later if it is too small. Being on the other end however is a disaster. Believing you have a small claim, not reporting it, but only to learn many months down the road it is actually a large claim with hidden damages.

Do Not Lose Your Facts, Documents or Witnesses

Third, delaying the filing or pursuit of your legal claim inhibits your ability to prove your case later. Strike the iron while it is hot. Gather all of your facts, documents and witnesses while they are still fresh. Needlessly delaying the pursuit of your claim risks the loss of facts through memory over time; contact with witnesses and even documents themselves. Do not delay for tomorrow that what you can do today.

Protect Recovery Options

Fourth, when there is a limited amount of resources available, where is it better to be in line, at the front or at the back? Like an early bird getting a worm, the timely legal claimant can be the first in line to get paid. Procrastinating only gives more time to the other side to run out of money, go out of business, or to file bankruptcy. File the claim, turn the squeaky wheel and demand oil.

Be Taken Seriously

Finally, those parties that pursue their claims immediately are taken more seriously than those that wait until the last moment. Countless Judges and Juries ask themselves each day why certain people waited so long to bring their claim. The inherent question is if the claim is so important then what took you so long to file it? All of this goes to your posture and credibility before the Court. These are issues you do not want to interject into your case. Timely pursuing your claims avoids this.

Instead of better late than never, I suggest it is better now than later. Feel free to contact us if you have a Florida legal claim and you need help timely pursuing your case. As Florida lawyers, we can assist you in analyzing your claim, organizing the case, filing it, and pursuing your remedies.

Related Topics: Miami lawyer, Florida business lawyer, Florida contract lawyer, Florida debt collection lawyer, Florida insurance lawyer, Florida real estate lawyer, Filing of Florida Legal Claims, Filing of Florida Insurance Claims

August 2, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, August 8, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Legal Tech Tips: Video depositions, Lights, camera, deposition
A few tips to help witnesses handle video-recorded Q&A’s
I once believed that when being deposed, the best strategy was to answer the question as tersely as possible. After all, the purpose of the deposition is to know what the other side knows.

It is an attempt to level the information playing field. You get to see inside their file cabinet, and they get to see inside yours. There was no need to wear a suit, sit up straight or be polite. Each side just hunkered down for a few hours or a few days; one side digging and the other side dribbling until it came time to switch roles.

Read more here…

Law Practice Management Tip: So you’re not up at 5am to work? What’s wrong with you? Nothing.

I cringe every time I read a story about a person who starts their day at 4am, after surviving on only 5 hours sleep, to get up and start yet another highly productive day. They’ve written their first client brief before their ‘all greens’ smoothie and done a mini-triathlon by 7am.

After a quick shower, they ride 10kms to their work and ‘start’ their day by reading all their newspapers in an allocated 30 minute slot. Then it’s the team meet up before a full one day of meetings, workshops, team time outs and a session at the gym topped off with a protein shake. It goes on. You get the drift.

By the time I also learn they have their two, five and ten year plan mapped out, I am weeping.

Read more here…

Legal Technology Tips: Persuasive Litigator: Don’t Assume the Camera Is Neutral
Cameras don’t simply record what is in front of the lens. Every movie director knows that the camera highlights, frames, hides, emphasizes and distorts. The Francis Ford Coppola’s among them know that they’re not simply filming, they’re ‘painting with light’ using the film as a canvas. The legal uses of cameras – interrogations, depositions, site visits — are a bit more prosaic than that, but they’re not immune to the camera’s lack of neutrality. In a legal setting, the consequences of mistaking the recorded image for unfiltered reality can be greater. And the practical need to check out the camera’s influence is great as well.

Read more here…

Legal Marketing: Is it unethical for lawyers to use ghostwritten blog posts?
Kevin O’Keefe says that ghostwritten blog posts are unethical for lawyers. Unlike legal briefs or other work a lawyer may have penned by others, blogs are considered a form of advertising. If you say you wrote the piece but you didn’t, you are guilty of misrepresentation.

O’Keefe says that clients rely on blog posts to choose attorneys. “The ghost-written post may be better written, funnier, or just plain different than the attorney’s own work product. Even worse, the post may have a completely different perspective or contain better ideas than what the attorney is capable of.”

Basically, clients might hire you because you made them believe you are a better lawyer than you really are.

Read more here…

Law Practice Management Tip: The First Step to Heading Off Unpaid Receivables

I’m addicted to using my law firm to earn points and miles on our credit card expenditures. On top of that, I love getting the signup bonuses.
To further my addiction, I signed my wife up for cards after I’d used up all the offers in my name. She was promptly approved for cards with Chase, American Express, and others.

The fact that she was approved only gets interesting if you know that she hasn’t earned any significant income in more than two decades. Her applications were instantly approved online as she hit the “apply” button.
So with no income, she was approved for credit. That’s interesting, but what does it have to do with your practice? Everything.

Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!