Personal Injury

On my way into work this morning I was thinking about some of my personal injury cases.One client was just in a motorcycle accident, and lost part of his leg. I've seen him a couple of times in the hospital now. It's sad to see that happen to someone, especially someone you know. He's a great guy, and I'm sure he'll recover well. I've never driven a motorcycle. I've been driven on them a couple

Albany - Japanese food

Okay, this one's about life in Albany, not about lawyering in any way, shape or form.A local newspaper gave a glowing review for a sushi place in Albany. I was in that neighborhood, so I had to try it. Very disappointing. I lived in Japan, so I think I know what I'm talking about. First, a sushi place should not be judged by how many different kinds of fish and other things they can fit into a

Dealing with police - in general

So what do you do when the police stop you? I know what you shouldn't do:Example: When a police officer attempts to speak with you, do not say "I'll be right with you" and attempt to walk away. They don't like that. My client got beaten up, partly because of this simple failure to recognize that that police officer, at that moment, was the most important person in his life. He also got charged

Good blog on handling police

I just saw a good blog on dealing with police when you're stopped by them. Their main site is also good stuff. I will do a blog entry soon with my thoughts on dealing with police. The key word in my advice is "polite".

The Economics of a Law Practice - Rates

A while back I did a post about cheap lawyers. One of the challenges for a lawyer is figuring out how much to charge.I started out with the general notion that I was going to charge $200 per hour for my time. I figured that if I managed to bill only 500 hours a year (10 hours a week), I would get $100K in revenue. After all my expenses, I'd survive, but I wouldn't be making much. If things went

The Economics of a Law Practice - Part I - Advertising

One of the things I've long heard about lawyers is that, while we may be good lawyers many of us are not good businessmen. In other words, there are many lawyers who are good at preparing papers and speaking in court, who are not so good at marketing, accounting, budgeting, etc.I had some bumps along the way. My biggest problem, and it hasn't been too bad, is figuring out where to spend money.

Airline "Accident" case

The word "accident" is in quotes in the title because the meaning of that term is very important in cases against airlines. I discovered this in one of my personal injury cases. I thought I had a simple case of negligence against the airline, on a slip-and-fall. I learned that such matters are governed by the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Agreement.Under these rules, damages are capped at

Family Court

When I first opened my practice I did "assigned counsel" work in Family Court in a couple counties. Assigned counsel are assigned by courts to represent indigent people (who can't afford a lawyer) in certain kinds of cases. Family offense petitions in Family Court are an example.I hated it for a number of reasons, particularly that the work itself is unpleasant, and also because of the billing