Author: TSA Press

Justice
continues
to
be
meted
out
for
those
who
participated
in
the
January
6th
attack
on
the
U.S.
Capitol,
and
one
of
the
defendants
sentenced
just
last
week
was
a
recent
law
school
admittee.
For
someone
who
had
aspirations
to
enter
the
legal
profession,
this
isn’t
the
side
of
the
law
you
want
to
be
on.

As
first
reported
by

CBS
42,
would-be
lawyer
James
Grant
had
been
accepted
to
the
University
of
Alabama
School
of
Law
in
the
Fall
of
2021.
In
his

sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
lawyer,
Robert
Feitel,
states
that
his
client
was
accepted
to
the
Top
50
law
school
with
a
full
tuition
scholarship.
CBS
has
additional
details:

Grant,
31,
of
Cary,
North
Carolina,
climbed
into
the
Capitol
through
a
broken
window
and
entered
a
senator’s
office.
After
his
arrest,
he
told
investigators
that
the
FBI
was
“the
biggest
threat
to
Americans”
and
that
prosecuting
Jan.
6
rioters
was
“a
big
witch
hunt.”

One
of
the
first
to
breach
the
interior
of
the
Capitol,
according
to
his
own
sentencing
memo,
Grant
“wandered
through
the
halls,
entered
a
Senator’s
office,
where
he
was
photographed
sitting
calmly.”
Here’s
that
photo,
where
Grant
can
be
seen
giving
the
peace
sign:

As
related
in
his
sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
father
would
later
go
on
to
tell
a
probation
officer
that
his
son
had
“made
an
incredibly
stupid
decision
(regarding
his
conduct
in
the
instant
offense)
which
is
not
emblematic
of
his
character.”

Although
prosecutors
asked
that
Grant
be
sentenced
to
nine
years
behind
bars,
he
was
instead
sentenced
to
three
years
for
his
crimes.
His
attorney
said
it
was
“almost
incomprehensible”
that
such
a
lengthy
sentence
had
been
recommended
for
his
client.

Grant
has
been
behind
bars
since
January
2022
after
he
was
charged
with
driving
while
drunk
with
an
assault
rifle
in
his
car
and
will
get
credit
for
the
time
he
has
already
spent
locked
up.

“I
think
I’ve
been
sufficiently
punished,”
Grant
told
the
judge.

Grant’s
attorney
said
he
should
be
eligible
for
release
almost
immediately
after
getting
credit
for
time
served
and
good
behavior
in
jail.

Per
his
own
sentencing
memo,
“The
opportunity
to
attend
law
school
may
well
be
lost
to
James
forever.”
Will
Alabama
Law
be
willing
give
a
convicted
J6
defendant
a
second
chance?
We
suppose
we’ll
have
to
see.

Man
sentenced
to
prison
for
taking
part
in
Jan.
6
riot
had
been
accepted
to
Alabama
law
school
before
arrest
[CBS
42]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to

email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Justice
continues
to
be
meted
out
for
those
who
participated
in
the
January
6th
attack
on
the
U.S.
Capitol,
and
one
of
the
defendants
sentenced
just
last
week
was
a
recent
law
school
admittee.
For
someone
who
had
aspirations
to
enter
the
legal
profession,
this
isn’t
the
side
of
the
law
you
want
to
be
on.

As
first
reported
by

CBS
42,
would-be
lawyer
James
Grant
had
been
accepted
to
the
University
of
Alabama
School
of
Law
in
the
Fall
of
2021.
In
his

sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
lawyer,
Robert
Feitel,
states
that
his
client
was
accepted
to
the
Top
50
law
school
with
a
full
tuition
scholarship.
CBS
has
additional
details:

Grant,
31,
of
Cary,
North
Carolina,
climbed
into
the
Capitol
through
a
broken
window
and
entered
a
senator’s
office.
After
his
arrest,
he
told
investigators
that
the
FBI
was
“the
biggest
threat
to
Americans”
and
that
prosecuting
Jan.
6
rioters
was
“a
big
witch
hunt.”

One
of
the
first
to
breach
the
interior
of
the
Capitol,
according
to
his
own
sentencing
memo,
Grant
“wandered
through
the
halls,
entered
a
Senator’s
office,
where
he
was
photographed
sitting
calmly.”
Here’s
that
photo,
where
Grant
can
be
seen
giving
the
peace
sign:

As
related
in
his
sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
father
would
later
go
on
to
tell
a
probation
officer
that
his
son
had
“made
an
incredibly
stupid
decision
(regarding
his
conduct
in
the
instant
offense)
which
is
not
emblematic
of
his
character.”

Although
prosecutors
asked
that
Grant
be
sentenced
to
nine
years
behind
bars,
he
was
instead
sentenced
to
three
years
for
his
crimes.
His
attorney
said
it
was
“almost
incomprehensible”
that
such
a
lengthy
sentence
had
been
recommended
for
his
client.

Grant
has
been
behind
bars
since
January
2022
after
he
was
charged
with
driving
while
drunk
with
an
assault
rifle
in
his
car
and
will
get
credit
for
the
time
he
has
already
spent
locked
up.

“I
think
I’ve
been
sufficiently
punished,”
Grant
told
the
judge.

Grant’s
attorney
said
he
should
be
eligible
for
release
almost
immediately
after
getting
credit
for
time
served
and
good
behavior
in
jail.

Per
his
own
sentencing
memo,
“The
opportunity
to
attend
law
school
may
well
be
lost
to
James
forever.”
Will
Alabama
Law
be
willing
give
a
convicted
J6
defendant
a
second
chance?
We
suppose
we’ll
have
to
see.

Man
sentenced
to
prison
for
taking
part
in
Jan.
6
riot
had
been
accepted
to
Alabama
law
school
before
arrest
[CBS
42]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to

email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Justice
continues
to
be
meted
out
for
those
who
participated
in
the
January
6th
attack
on
the
U.S.
Capitol,
and
one
of
the
defendants
sentenced
just
last
week
was
a
recent
law
school
admittee.
For
someone
who
had
aspirations
to
enter
the
legal
profession,
this
isn’t
the
side
of
the
law
you
want
to
be
on.

As
first
reported
by

CBS
42,
would-be
lawyer
James
Grant
had
been
accepted
to
the
University
of
Alabama
School
of
Law
in
the
Fall
of
2021.
In
his

sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
lawyer,
Robert
Feitel,
states
that
his
client
was
accepted
to
the
Top
50
law
school
with
a
full
tuition
scholarship.
CBS
has
additional
details:

Grant,
31,
of
Cary,
North
Carolina,
climbed
into
the
Capitol
through
a
broken
window
and
entered
a
senator’s
office.
After
his
arrest,
he
told
investigators
that
the
FBI
was
“the
biggest
threat
to
Americans”
and
that
prosecuting
Jan.
6
rioters
was
“a
big
witch
hunt.”

One
of
the
first
to
breach
the
interior
of
the
Capitol,
according
to
his
own
sentencing
memo,
Grant
“wandered
through
the
halls,
entered
a
Senator’s
office,
where
he
was
photographed
sitting
calmly.”
Here’s
that
photo,
where
Grant
can
be
seen
giving
the
peace
sign:

As
related
in
his
sentencing
memo,
Grant’s
father
would
later
go
on
to
tell
a
probation
officer
that
his
son
had
“made
an
incredibly
stupid
decision
(regarding
his
conduct
in
the
instant
offense)
which
is
not
emblematic
of
his
character.”

Although
prosecutors
asked
that
Grant
be
sentenced
to
nine
years
behind
bars,
he
was
instead
sentenced
to
three
years
for
his
crimes.
His
attorney
said
it
was
“almost
incomprehensible”
that
such
a
lengthy
sentence
had
been
recommended
for
his
client.

Grant
has
been
behind
bars
since
January
2022
after
he
was
charged
with
driving
while
drunk
with
an
assault
rifle
in
his
car
and
will
get
credit
for
the
time
he
has
already
spent
locked
up.

“I
think
I’ve
been
sufficiently
punished,”
Grant
told
the
judge.

Grant’s
attorney
said
he
should
be
eligible
for
release
almost
immediately
after
getting
credit
for
time
served
and
good
behavior
in
jail.

Per
his
own
sentencing
memo,
“The
opportunity
to
attend
law
school
may
well
be
lost
to
James
forever.”
Will
Alabama
Law
be
willing
give
a
convicted
J6
defendant
a
second
chance?
We
suppose
we’ll
have
to
see.

Man
sentenced
to
prison
for
taking
part
in
Jan.
6
riot
had
been
accepted
to
Alabama
law
school
before
arrest
[CBS
42]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to

email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Over
the
first
three
posts
in
this
series,
I’ve
talked
about
the
shrinking
ownership
of
law
practice
management
technology
for
solo
and
small
firms
—
how
most
of
the
major
contenders
in
the
market
have
all
come
to
be
owned
by
just
six
overarching
ownership
groups.

I’ve
shown
you
who
those
groups
are
and
which
products
they
own.
I’ve
covered
what
we
know
about
their
market
share
and
what
we
can
expect
as
they
each
seek
to
expand
their
customers
and
revenues.

For
this
final
post,
I
thought
it
would
be
useful
to
just
wrapup
some
of
the
key
market
trends
I’ve
covered.

• Ever
  since
  Clio
  launched
  the
  first
  commercial
  cloud-based
  practice
  management
  platform
  in
  2008,
  lawyers
  have
  steadily
  and
  increasingly
  moved
  to
  cloud-based
  platforms.
• Although
  practice
  management
  technology
  pre-existed
  the
  cloud,
  the
  ease
  of
  adoption
  and
  ease
  of
  use
  of
  cloud
  software
  has
  increased
  lawyers’
  use
  of
  practice
  management
  software.
• While
  some
  legacy
  on-premises
  platforms
  remain
  in
  the
  market,
  their
  customers
  are
  increasing
  switching
  to
  cloud
  platforms,
  and
  even
  their
  owners
  are
  encouraging
  customers
  to
  move
  from
  their
  on-premises
  systems
  to
  cloud
  systems.
• Also
  driving
  greater
  adoption
  of
  these
  systems
  is
  lawyers’
  greater
  awareness
  of
  them.
  In
  part,
  this
  is
  due
  to
  effective
  marketing
  by
  the
  companies,
  but
  it
  is
  also
  attributable
  to
  two
  other
  factors.
  • One,
    I
    believe,
    is
    the
    ABA’s
    promulgation
    of
    the
    duty
    of
    technology
    competence
    and
    
    states’
    adoption
    of
    that
    duty,
    which
    has
    driven
    lawyers
    to
    be
    more
    mindful
    of
    the
    benefits
    (and
    risks)
    of
    technology.
  • The
    other
    factor
    is
    the
    pandemic,
    which,
    of
    necessity,
    accelerated
    lawyers’
    need
    for
    cloud-based
    systems
    to
    manage
    their
    practices.
• In
  the
  early
  years
  of
  cloud
  practice
  management,
  the
  success
  of
  companies
  such
  as
  Clio,
  Rocket
  Matter
  and
  MyCase
  inspired
  a
  surge
  of
  similar
  practice
  management
  startups.
• Beginning
  around
  2018
  and
  continuing
  through
  today,
  those
  companies
  began
  to
  be
  consolidated
  through
  acquisitions
  by
  investment
  groups.
• That
  led
  us
  to
  where
  we
  are
  today,
  with
  just
  six
  ownership
  groups
  having
  control
  over
  the
  majority
  of
  practice
  management
  platforms.
• Clio’s
  recent
  record-setting
  raise
  of
  $900
  million
  —
  the
  largest
  ever
  for
  a
  legal
  technology
  company
  of
  any
  kind
  —
  establishes
  it
  as
  the
  leader
  in
  the
  practice
  management
  field,
  at
  least
  in
  terms
  of
  size
  and
  reach.
• As
  all
  of
  these
  companies
  seek
  to
  continue
  to
  grow
  and
  expand,
  there
  are
  three
  likely
  ways
  they
  will
  do
  this:
  • Horizontally
    across
    their
    target
    market,
    seeking
    to
    expand
    the
    numbers
    of
    solo
    and
    small
    firms
    they
    serve.
  • Vertically
    into
    specialized
    practice
    areas,
    seeking
    to
    better
    serve
    solo
    and
    small
    firms
    in
    areas
    such
    as
    immigration,
    personal
    injury
    and
    bankruptcy,
    to
    name
    just
    a
    few..
  • Up
    market,
    seeing
    to
    acquire
    customers
    among
    larger
    law
    firms
    in
    the
    mid-firm
    range.
  • Geographically,
    going
    after
    customers
    in
    other
    countries.
• To
  make
  themselves
  more
  appealing
  to
  these
  expanded
  markets,
  practice
  management
  companies
  will:
  • Continue
    to
    enhance
    their
    core
    practice
    management
    features.
  • Develop
    new
    products
    and
    capabilities
    using
    generative
    AI.
  • Expand
    their
    platforms
    into
    “practice
    adjacent”
    areas
    such
    as
    litigation
    support,
    e-filing,
    service
    of
    process,
    e-discovery,
    and
    more.
  • Expand
    the
    financial
    services
    they
    offer.

Please
Share
Your
Feedback

I
am
eager
for
your
feedback
on
this
series.
What
have
I
overlooked?
What
do
I
have
wrong?
What
else
is
going
on
here?

Based
on
the
feedback
I
receive,
I
plan
to
revise
and
update
these
posts,
and
possibly
expand
them
into
a
single
report.

You
can
send
me
your
thoughts
by
emailing
me
at
ambrogi@gmail.com.

Here
is
the
full
series: