South Carolina Trial Law Blog

A friend of mine recently asked for recommendations on the best equipment and ideas on starting a law practice on a budget. He is going from a public agency to private practice. This means two things 1) he’s starting from scratch; and 2) he’s starting on a tight budget. Since I started my own practice straight out of law school with $1,500 in my pocket, this is right up my alley. And of course what follows is my opinion. Feel free to use as much or as little as you want. None of this is Gospel or set in stone.

Phones – I think it’s very important to have a permanent, commercial phone number. When you’re a start up solo, it’s acceptable to use a cell phone as your main phone, but you don’t want the number changing. If you talk to your local carrier, I believe you can get them to assign you a phone number and pay a reduced fee for that and have it permanently forwarded to your cell phone. The main thing is to have a commercial number that can move with you. (This used to be very important, but might be less so with the new number portability). Your at one line now, but you’d be surprised at how fast you get up to 5 lines, so it pays to check things out beforehand.

Office – If you’re on a budget, see if there’s a lawyer that has some spare office space and you can pay him a few hundred dollars a month rent. The advantage to this is access to a lobby, conference room, law books… If you can’t find a set up like that, an office suite arrangement, where they provide the copiers, fax machines and receptionist is the next best thing. I think you can move physical space, you just want that phone number to stay the same.

Computer – You’re going to want to start off with a laptop. A lot of people go for laptops with a big (17 or 19 inch) screen. I love, love, love ultralights. I tote my laptop everywhere with me and want it light. The difference between 4 pounds and 6 pounds might not seem like much until you tote one everywhere you go, plus the assorted accessories. Averatec makes good laptops with lots of features for a good price tag. They’re not cutting edge, but they have a good feature set for the price. Fujitsu also makes good laptops. I’ll get into a discussion on the value of going Mac towards the end.

Printer – At this point, I would get an all in one laser/copier/fax. They are very inexpensive. Rather than do a lot of comparison shopping, I just get the HP printer  in my price and feature range. I know I can save a few dollars or get a few features more for the same price tag by doing a lot of comparison shopping, but so far I’ve never had problems or gone wrong with an HP printer. (For the same reason I also get a Dell in my price range when I buy desktops).

Word Processor – I have to admit that I’m partial to WordPerfect. If you don’t have business clients that you’ll need to swap documents with, you can use WordPerfect and pick up copies cheap on ebay. If you want to use MicroSoft Office and don’t want the expense along with it, you can get Open Office which is an open source office suite whose documents are compatible with MicroSoft Office, but it’s free. The last time I looked at Open Office, it had all of the meat and potatoes of Microsoft, but without some of the bells and whistles. Me? I’d stick with WordPerfect, which is still widely in use within the legal community.

Web Browser – Firefox. It’s free and with lots of extensions to customize it. My personal favorite is Opera. Mainly because I like the shiny blue metallic skin from their 6.0 version, but we all have our little quirks (perhaps I’m sharing too much with that). Firefox is free and Opera costs $29. Not much, but when you’re on a budget…

Trial Presentation Software – Sanction and Trial Director are both highly regarded. My preference is towards Sanction, but there’s a number of people who’s opinion I highly respect that prefer Trial Director. While this will be a key in a litigation practice, you probably won’t need one to start off. There is open source software out there, but I was unable to locate links to it. The open source part means that it is free. I hear that it is pretty good, but haven’t used it. If someone knows the software I’m talking to, I’ll update this post with the appropriate information.

Case Management Software – I would recommend TimeMatters or Amicus Attorney as starting off. They are both solid general purpose programs that should handle a bunch of different case types. Download them both, try them out and see which one you are drawn to. I’m currently using TimeMatters, but you won’t go wrong with either one. Depending on how tight things are after you buy a computer and get settled in an office, you might want to keep the information manually and wait a few months to move to the case management software.

Thinking of Going Mac – My buddy asked about going Mac. A PowerBook and the Mac Office Suite is a good choice. The main thing you’re giving up is the access to trial presentation software and specialized case management software with document assembly. The question is “How important is that to you?” To me, the document assembly to generate documents directly off the database is very important. The trial presentation software is also key. I’m not willing to give that up. However, with the new PowerBooks running an Intel chip that means that it won’t be too long until you can dual boot the Mac. That means that you’ll be able to run Mac OS X and Windows on the same computer. Hmmm……  It’s tempting to go to a Mac. You’ll also have to do a lot of stuff on your own, because it’s less ‘mainstream’. The flipside of that is that many things are  much easier to do on a Mac. Hmmm……. It’s tempting, but so far I haven’t bitten the bullet to make the switch myself. I bought a PowerBook for my wife and she loves it. Hmmmm……..Tempting.

Any more questions?

Two comments, David. First, I have been in solo/small practice for about 10 years. Never needed a case management software program. Seems those are necessary for: (1) high volume case load; or (2) very complex cases. Depending on what kind of practice your friend enters, I really question whether this is something (s)he needs to worry about even after just a few months.

Second, one area I didn't see you address was a recommendation for on-line research. I would like to know your views on that. Along the same lines, how about a list of recommended sites for on-line primary sources (statutes, regulations, etc.) for bookmarks, favorites, or whatever foxfire calls it.

I also would add that your friend should resist the urge to buy every book that seems tempting/comforting. Many SC Bar publications are essential and a real deal. The big publishing houses, however, are making a mint publishing not-too-current tomes full of reprinted statutes and regulations that are free on line.

Oh David, you don't give up anything with a Mac. There are a lot of good programs. One that comes to mind is TrialSmart. While Timematters does not work on a Mac, there are others. So, David, get a Mac and enjoy.

On-line research?

Must have books and types of books to avoid?

Cost-effective web based marketing tools?

Brian,
On the case management system. A good manual system is better than a mediocre automated system. Having a good system is important. Having it on the computer is not.

I'll think about some of the other questions and write a new post with those items. Unless you have some ideas and want to do a guest post.

Grant,

The *main* thing that I would not be able to do in a Mac environment is the trial presentation software.

Dave:

As a recovering Windows attorney (Aug. 95-Aug. 05) and happy Mac user (Aug. 89-Aug. 95, and Aug. 05 to present), I want to comment on a few items you mentioned.

First, I used TimeMatters last year when I was a Windows guy, and I hated it. Actually, it was due in part to the problems I had with TM and the amount I was wasting on technical support that I decided to move back to Mac. Since then, I have been using a program called LawStream. It works on Macs (and also on Windows for those of you who haven't yet wised up) and basically does everything that TM does and much more. The best part is that (like all Mac software) it actually works without crashes, fatal errors, viruses, or any other problems. The software developer, Bill Pope, has implemented many features into the program based solely on suggestions from me and other users. What could be better?

As for trial presentation software, there is a Mac program called TrialSmart that has gotten great reviews. However, I must say that I have no personal experience with it, as my family law practice doesn't really necessitate that type of product.

I believe Macs to be far superior to Windows machines for one other very important reason -- the human element. Mac users are proud of their computers and are happy to share their knowledge with other Mac users. There is a MacLaw group that has a listserv and excellent resources to answer virtually any questions that arise. There are thousands of software developers out there writing programs for Macs everyday (know what a Widget is?), many of which are specialized and unique to perform a certain task. Apple itself provides excellent customer service, though I have to admit that I have only had to call tech support one time since I made the switch. The person that initially answered my call was located in Calfornia, and she actually able to solve my problem quickly and effectively without passing me off to some third world quasi-English speaking entity. If you walk into your local Apple Store (which for me is an hour away in Charlotte, NC), you will quickly begin to realize why Apples are different. The sales people there actually want to help you and educate you, rather than jam the newest, flashiest product down your throat. That thought seems to be a result of their corporate culture -- good for them.

Finally, Brian Murphy had asked about legal research. In the past, I have used both Westlaw (hated it because they can't send accurate bills) and Lexis (decent, but overpriced). A few months ago, I switched to the TrialSmith / FastCase program. For something like $200 per year, I have access to cases and statutes from all fifty states, all federal cases, and basically everything else that most practitioners will need. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of Lexis / Westlaw, it is great for basic research and/or information retrieval.

Those who know me know that I am not one to give unjustified praise. Many times, I am much quicker to make a critical comment than to offer positive suggestions (character flaw I know, but I'm working on it). I was telling a Windows attorney friend of mine yesterday that he really needs to make the switch and do it now. I have NEVER heard of any attorney who made the switch and regretted it.

Ben

I'll make one comment about the non-Lexis/Westlaw services. Test test test and comparison test before you buy or ditch one of the premium research systems like West or LEXIS. We had a free trial subscription to one such service through the Trial Lawyers (I don't want to say which one only out of fear that I might have recalled the wrong one and don't want to impugn any service). I searched its District Court database for South Carolina District court opinions and was surprised at the number of cases of which I was aware that did not appear in the results. I then ran the identical search on LEXIS and came up with something like three times the number of hits. What's even more surprising is that many of the omitted cases from the discount service were reported decisions. And that was just one search. Can't have that kind of exposure. No bargain.

I really like TimeMatters but I have never tried any of the other programs. We have tied in Hot Docs with our TimeMatters which really works well in drafting complaints, discovery, etc.

Ron Miller
www.millerandzois.com

One thing I haven't seen here discussed as an alternative to case management and document assembly software are relational databases. Although the programs seem complex, they really aren't.

Take Filemaker Pro (available for Macs and Windows) - you can manage all of your contacts (including generating an email campaign, etc.), use that contact information to fill out frequently used templates (including engagement letters and other legally-substantive documents), and handle all of your time/billing. It takes a little effort and planning to tweak the forms to your particular practice, but it's well worth it. The program is probably a little more powerful and expandable than Lawstream or TM, of which I've tested one, and has the added feature of portability. That is, should Filemaker go out of business (highly unlikely) all of your information has been stored in a universal protocol for databases and you can switch over to Microsoft Access or Lotus Quattro.

Also, if you're into scanning, you're probably using Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional. That program also allows you to store related documents, with tabbing, etc., to manage your client files.

Does anyone else have any experience with FMP or Access? What are your thoughts?

I'm starting a solo practice right now and what's really eating me is legal research options.

I've seen a lot of free research options (the Colorado Bar offers one to all members) and cheaper ones like Loislaw. I also know where to find the state and federal statutes online, free of charge. With Google toolbar, I can even do keyword searches within a webpage supposedly (haven't tried it yet).

But I have to wonder if Lexis still isn't the way to go (I don't care much for Westlaw). Of course, it would be running me close to $200 a month, which I'm not sure I can afford.

I recently wrote a memo for an attorney on a key legal issue at trial using only Loislaw, and the free CO program. Apparently that was good enough since the judge found for our side on all the elements ... But I still admit to feeling a bit exposed without Lexis.

So is it worth it?

Seth -- I can't speak to Loislaw, but see my comments above on testing a service before buying in. If I thought I ran the risk of missing cases (as was the result in the test I ran discussed above), I couldn't afford NOT to pay another $200 per month. I am pretty sure my test didn't involve Loislaw, so those results are not valid for your purposes. But if you know someone with a Lexis or Westlaw account, run some test searches. Lexis or Westlaw should even give you a temporary account to test drive their product upon request. Use that opportunity to do a side-by-side. Never decide something this critical on price alone.

I first off would like to thank you for all of the suggestions. I would like to know what your thoughts are on taking on the court appointed work. I have been told to place yourself on every list you can when first starting out but have not read anything about it anywhere on the web.

Do you know where to find low cost liability insurance and which website to advertise for best exposure?