In the days of yore, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (or thereabouts), goodcounsel offered “fractional general counsel” services. The idea of providing part-time counsel to growing, entrepreneurial companies (like those for which I had previously worked) was sound, but offering it a certain number of days each month was, in retrospect, flawed. If the billable […]
66% of small law firms on Mac. But limitations of Word for Mac deny us software options @officeformac #ClioCloud9 pic.twitter.com/PajPntNGvL — Kenneth Obel (@MyGoodCounsel) September 23, 2014 I tweeted this earlier today. To add a little detail: I’ve long been interested in “document automation” and “document assembly” as a way to make the document drafting […]
Last year, I posted about the silly lawyer drafting practice of representing a number with both numerals and words. It’s a bad habit that many lawyers continue to use unquestioningly, and as I pointed out in that post, it can lead to potentially problematic contractual inconsistencies. I continue to come across examples of the problem. Here’s another. […]
I loved the piece in Inc. entitled “5 Ways to Stop Legal-Fee Madness” by Howard Tullman, a legendary Chicago entrepreneur who recently became the CEO of 1871, one of the premiere startup incubators in the area. I agree with just about everything Howard says. Stop for a moment, go read it, and come back and […]
Anyone who is interested in the future of the legal profession should read this article from the New Republic. Of course, it’s not news that the legal profession is in a state of crisis to some degree. There is severe overcapacity, clients are spending less and those lawyers who have jobs at the larger firms […]
As those of you who know me know that part of what I enjoy the most about having my own legal practice is finding ways to innovate, including using technology more intelligently in the practice. I like practicing law, but the creative part of me really enjoys playing with new technologies or finding ways to […]
Roy Strom, of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, was kind enough to interview me about legal services for entrepreneurial technology companies. The article is now out. Link below. Updated link: http://www.chicagolawyermagazine.com/Archives/2013/04/Tech-Companies-In-House.aspx
Take a look at the section below, from a contract a client gave me to review today. What is wrong with this picture? Found it yet? It’s at the end, where the words say “One Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Dollars” and the numerals say “$100,000.” Notice that this is not a small-change mistake. It potentially means […]
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I know it’s not front-page news that big law firms charge big fees. I should know; I worked at a couple of them. Still, I’ve been out of that world for a long time now, and one forgets. So, without naming any names, here’s a story: A startup client of mine recently secured a significant […]