Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

I wear many hats in the legal industry. As a lawyer, I provide freelance legal research and writing services to other lawyers through Lisa Solomon, Esq. Legal Research and Writing. As a business owner, I am a partner in The Billable Hour Company, which sells humorous gifts and greeting cards for lawyers and legal professionals. And as a consultant, through Legal Research & Writing Pro, I help lawyers improve their legal writing skills, and I also teach other lawyers how to start and run successful practices as freelance (a/k/a contract) attorneys.

Lisa Solomon, Esq. Legal Research and Writing

Comprehensive Legal Research and Writing Services for Attorneys
As you manage every other aspect of your clients' complex matters, you may find that comprehensive, in-depth legal research and concise, well-reasoned legal writing are just too labor intensive to take on yourself.

In some cases, it may simply be a matter of time—you're in the middle of a trial and need case law to support an evidentiary or substantive point; or you have to make or respond to a post-trial motion in a timely manner. In other instances, your decision whether to even take on a case depends on the answers to legal issues you've identified, and you need help finding those answers.

Since 1996, I have focused my practice exclusively on assisting attorneys with all of their legal research and writing needs, including preparing and arguing appeals and drafting substantive motions and trial memoranda. I work in almost every area of law, teaming with my clients to determine the best strategy to apply to the unique facts and legal issues in each case.

A Proactive and Personalized Approach to Legal Analysis
When you are faced with a motion, appeal, or legal research issue, you need to know more than the black letter law—you need to know how that law applies to the unique facts of your case. I never give you a "canned" brief; all of my work is customized, to be of most use to the busy attorneys who use my services.

I also take a proactive approach to identifying legal issues beyond the scope of the original assignment that may be crucial to the ultimate success of the project, helping you to be the most effective advocate for your client.

Learn more at www.QuestionOfLaw.net.


The Billable Hour Company

Looking for that perfect gift or greeting card for a lawyer, paralegal, law student, or other legal professional? The Billable Hour Company sells unique clocks and watches with dials divided into six-minute increments; humorous CDs by and for lawyers; law-related books and games; desk accessories; personal accessories; and Survival Kits—gift baskets containing selections of our most popular products. We also offer gift certificates that never expire.

The Billable Hour Card Store is the world’s only online greeting card store featuring humorous and customizable printed greeting cards especially for lawyers and other legal professionals. The store uses print-on-demand technology that allows customers to send highly personalized cards to their clients, colleagues, prospects and friends.

We offer volume discounts and custom logo clocks and watches. Contact us at 815-346-3468 or info@TheBillableHour.com to discuss how we can assist with your corporate gift program.

The Billable Hour Company is run by practicing lawyers Mark and Lisa Solomon.

Visit us at www.TheBillableHour.com.


Legal Research & Writing Pro

I started Legal Research & Writing Pro to help other lawyers improve their legal writing skills, and to teach lawyers how to start and run successful legal research and writing practices.

Studies and surveys show that career satisfaction among lawyers is at an all-time low. Chief among the reasons for a lack of satisfaction is the inability of many lawyers to achieve a balance between the demands of their careers and their personal lives. I believe your law degree shouldn’t be a trap: it should be a liberating, empowering force.

Technology and the outsourcing revolution have joined forces to make this the best time in history to establish a legal research and writing practice.

I’ve been in the field of outsourced legal research and writing since its infancy. When I started my practice twelve years ago, a lot of lawyers didn’t even use e-mail: I had to drag some of my clients, kicking and screaming, into the internet age. Although I could do legal research online, my dial-up connection was painfully slow. But the most difficult challenge to overcome was lawyers’ unfamiliarity with the idea of outsourcing research and writing work to a contract attorney.

Today, all that has changed. E-mail use is well-nigh universal among lawyers. High-speed internet connections make online legal research a breeze. And, most importantly, lawyers are becoming more comfortable with the idea of using contract attorneys to perform discrete tasks, whether the task is making a court appearance, defending a deposition, or researching and writing a brief.

For years, lawyers across the country have called and e-mailed me asking for advice on how to start and run a legal research and writing practice. I’m pleased that I’ve been able to help so many lawyers get their start in this practice area. But I realized that I could help so many more people in a much more comprehensive way if I compiled everything I have learned over the past twelve years and made it widely available.

I can understand if you’re a little leery: after all, why should I share what I’ve learned with thousands of potential competitors? The answer is simple: I think there is amazing pent-up demand for high-quality outsourced legal research and writing services.

As a solo practitioner, I need only a handful of good clients to support my practice. According to the American Bar Association, as of December 31, 2005, there were over 1.1 million practicing lawyers in the United States. In a 2000 statistical survey, the American Bar Foundation found that 36% of lawyers were solo practitioners and 38% worked in small firms. Small firms and solos are the most likely potential clients for a legal research and writing practitioner. As these lawyers search for their own work/life balance, they’ll be more and more interested in outsourcing their excess workload to specially-trained legal research and writing providers.

At the same time, based on my research, there currently are very few lawyers out there who actively promote themselves as dedicated legal research and writing service providers. In fact, I have located fewer than 100 lawyers in the United States whose web sites indicate that they perform legal research and writing services of any sort on a contract basis. (Of course, it’s likely that many more lawyers take on contract work, including legal research and writing projects, but do not advertise that fact.

All this talk of work/life balance and professional satisfaction might sound very “pie-in-the-sky”—even utopian—to most of us, almost too good to be true. You suspect that this kind of work must pay a pittance. But you really can have it all: a challenging career, the flexibility to enjoy personal and family time and a comfortable living.

To find out more about how LRWP can help you achieve the professional satisfaction you're looking for, visit our products page. There, you'll find more information about my new book, Contract Lawyering Success; our monthly group coaching calls; our library of recorded teleseminars and expert interviews; and personal, one-on-one private coaching sessions. These resources—in various combinations—are the keystones of our Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus Memberships.

Visit us at www.LegalResearchandWritingPro.com

Title	Publisher	Published
Appellate Services Providers: Not Just for Printing Anymore	Westchester County Bar Journal	March, 2008
Associates? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Associates	Solo Newsletter (ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division)	June, 2008
A brief introduction to the use of contract lawyers
Ethical Judicial Opinion Writing	Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics	March, 2008
Co-authored with Hon. Gerald Lebovits and Alifya V. Curtin, Esq.
Legal Research & Writing Services	GP|Solo Magazine (ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division)	March, 2008
Tips on starting and running a successful practice as a contract attorney
Powerful Persuasive Writing Techniques for Your Marketing Materials and Briefs	CLE presentation sponsored by Westchester Women's Bar Association	September, 2008
During this program, I discussed how to write more persuasive marketing materials and briefs, using the same powerful techniques that copywriters have been using for years. Topics covered include: * The greatest challenge that your marketing copy and briefs must overcome in order to achieve your goal of persuading the reader to take a desired action * A basic concept underlying all effective persuasive writing * How to write a compelling marketing piece or brief that the reader just can’t put down * The role of emotion in marketing and jurisprudence, and how to skillfully trigger the reader’s emotions * Two things readers absolutely hate—and how to avoid them * How to deal with objections to your position * Closing the deal: conclusions and calls to action
Specialists Will Take Care of the Messy Detail Work	National Law Journal	February, 2007
About working with appellate services providers (a/k/a appellate printers)
Product review: Internet Law Researcher	GP|Solo Magazine (ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division)	April, 2006
Writing Better Appellate Briefs (co-presenter)	CLE presentation sponsored by Brooklyn Women's Bar Association	January, 2006
In the first part of the program, Ginger Trunkes, Principal Court Attorney at the Appellate Division, First Department, shared her "insights from the inside" about effective brief writing. I followed up with a discussion of how judicial writing guides can help lawyers become better brief writers.
Clients: Finding Them, Keeping Them and Serving Their Needs	CLE presentation sponsored by ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division	August, 2005
Solo and small firm lawyers throughout the country are constantly searching for new clients while retaining current clients. The panelists discussed a number of effective marketing techniques. I discussed how to market your practice by writing articles and presenting educational programs, with a focus on how to maximize the marketing value of publications and speaking engagements.
How Judicial Writing Guides Can Help Lawyers Become Better Writers	Presentation sponsored by the New York City Bar Small Law Firm Committee	June, 2005
While a brief is first and foremost a forum for advocacy on behalf of your client, the closer it approximates judicial writing style, the more favorably the judge will be inclined view the substance of your argument. In this program, Lisa Solomon, a frequent speaker on legal research and writing topics, discussed how you can apply the lessons set out in judicial writing guides to write more effective briefs that will make judges want to rule in your clients' favor. All attendees received a copy of the Federal Judicial Center's Judicial Writing Manual.
How to Win on Appeal - Writing Better Briefs and Avoiding Procedural Pitfalls (co-presenter)	CLE presentation sponsored by the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York	May, 2005
In the first part of the program, Ginger Trunkes, Principal Court Attorney at the Appellate Division, First Department, shared her "insights from the inside" about effective brief writing. Next, I discussed how judicial writing guides can help lawyers become better brief writers. Capping off the program, Myrna Felder, Esq. addressed 10 appellate traps and how to avoid them. This program carried 2 CLE credits.
Taking an Appeal	GP|Solo Magazine (ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division)	October, 2002
Timely Disclaimer, reasonable Efforts and the Uncooperative Insured	New York Law Journal	November, 1999