Comments on: Tips and tricks to help solo practitioners run a law practice for under $100 a month

By: John Mashni

John Mashni — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:47:02 +0000

Kevin, this was fantastic. You’re a leading a charge, and I love seeing what you come out with next. I think the principles here apply to anyone who is running a business. I look forward to more cost saving advice!

By: Kevin Thompson

Kevin Thompson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:34:23 +0000

Tyler, great question. As with all law related questions, the answer is “it depends.” I currently do not have a Westlaw/Lexis subscription. Depending on your niche, I think it’s certainly fine to practice without a Wexis subscription. And Fastcase does offer users the ability to cross-reference cases. I might be in a bubble in the sense that most of my work is transactional and involves contract development and other administrative details for start-up companies. If a lawyer was doing a lot of litigation work (or even a little) and maybe some criminal defense, I would strongly urge them to fork out the cash to get Lexis or Westlaw. I had Lexis at my old employer’s office and we paid near $500 a month. It’s an absolute monopoly on publicly available documents! I think the open source movement will make those companies irrelevant in the near future, though. All the best.

By: Tyler Hawkes

Tyler Hawkes — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:24:24 +0000

I really liked the presentation. It gave a great overview of tools that can save a lot of time, money, and hassle when starting your own little firm. I only have one question: is it really possible to practice without Wexis? It seems like not using them to at least Shepardize really exposes yourself to bad case law. From what I know, the free resources really don’t have an equivalent, and you have to use them to protect yourself and your clients. What do you think? That would make it much more expensive to bootstrap a firm.