Author Archives: The Legal Reformer

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Center for Legal Practice Reform

Attorney Tip #9 – Brief Writing

Posted on September 27, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

In an ABA Journal article titled “Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways to Write a Really Bad Brief,” Jim McElhaney writes about the “ordinary sins [of bad brief writing] that even good lawyers commit everyday.” According to Mr. McElhaney, they include: Make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips | Tagged ABA Journal, Attorneys, Brief Writing, Clients, Jim McElhaney, Legal, Legal Consumer, Legal Practices, Litigation | Leave a comment

Attorney Tip #8 – Tread Lightly

Posted on September 19, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

What do you do when a client posts a negative review on Yelp, Avvo, Martindale Hubbell or another review website? Do you shoot off a response? Do you provide your side of the story? Given what’s at stake, you should … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips | Tagged Advice, American Bar Association, Avvo, Client-Side Manner, Legal, Legal Ethics, Online Review, Susan Michmerhuizen, Yelp, Your ABA | Leave a comment

US Department of Justice’s New Elder Justice Initiative

Posted on September 12, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

One of LPR’s followers alerted us to the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recently launched Elder Justice Initiative. The DOJ’s Elder Justice Website seeks to help elder abuse victims and their families learn about and report abuse. [T]he United States … Continue reading →

Posted in Reform | Tagged Elder Abuse, Elder Justice Initiative, Financial Exploitation, Justice, Legal, News, US Department of Justice | Leave a comment

LPR Seminar on September 30, 2014

Posted on September 5, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

Elisa Eisenberg, Founder and CEO of Center for Legal Practice Reform (LPR), will be giving a seminar for Washington Metropolitan OASIS, titled Need A Lawyer? How to Navigate the Attorney/Client Relationship. The seminar will take place on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 from … Continue reading →

Posted in Seminars | Tagged Center for Legal Practice Reform, Elisa Eisenberg, Legal, LPR, OASIS, Seminar | Leave a comment

ABA Survey on Self-Help Centers

Posted on August 29, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

On August 22, 2014, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services published a report titled The Self-Help Center Census: A National Survey addressing the usefulness of the country’s approximately 500 centers that help those representing themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Reform | Tagged Advice, American Bar Association, Legal, Legal Reform, News, Pro Se, Self-help center, Self-representation | Leave a comment

Attorney Tip #7 – Be Empathetic

Posted on August 23, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

Most attorneys will feel empathy for their own when they read a story about a BigLaw partner getting sued for malpractice over a botched patent application. But LPR challenges those attorneys to see the situation from the client’s perspective. Debra MacKinnon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips | Tagged Advice, Bernard Codd, Joseph Gioconda, Lawsuit, Legal, Legal Practices, Litigation, McDermott Will & Emery, New York Daily News, Work Ethic, Zephyr Inc. | Leave a comment

Justice Is Not Always Just – Criminal Court Edition

Posted on August 16, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

Twenty-one year old Baltimore, Maryland resident Tyree Threatt was picked out of photo lineup and arrested for armed robbery. Bail was set at $75,000, which he could not afford. The public defender’s investigation uncovered that at the time of the robbery Mr. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reform | Tagged Baltimore Sun, Garland Sanderson, Judges, Justice, Legal, News, Nicholas Cooksley, Public Defender, Tyree Threatt, Work Ethic | Leave a comment

Justice Is Not Always Just – Traffic Court Edition

Posted on August 7, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

Imagine you are riding a motorcycle through twisty mountain roads, traveling well within the speed limit, and when you brake to prepare for a sharp turn, you hit a patch of gravel, your bike slides like it’s on marbles and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reform | Tagged Attorneys, Awareness, Clients, Credibility, Evidence, Judges, Justice, Lawyers, Legal, Legal Consumer, Legal Reform, Legal System, Traffic Court | Leave a comment

The Supreme Court’s Role In The Judicial System

Posted on July 31, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

We stumbled upon Katie Couric’s recent video interview of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in which she addresses (among other topics) her 35-page dissent to the recent Supreme Court’s opinion in the Hobby Lobby case. And it got us thinking that it may … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips | Tagged C-SPAN, Hobby Lobby case, Judges, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Katie Couric, Legal, Legal Consumer, Supreme Court | Leave a comment

More On Judicial Transparency

Posted on July 26, 2014 by The Legal Reformer

We’ve written a number of times about the benefits of judicial transparency. In an interview published in the July 2014 issue of the ABA Journal, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner weighs in. Judge … Continue reading →

Posted in Reform | Tagged ABA Journal, Books, Hercules and the Umpire, Judges, Legal, Legal Consumer, Richard Kopf, Richard Posner, Transparency | Leave a comment