It’s Never Too Late to Start a Law Firm

Last week, the New York Times reported that since May, there’s been a rise in new business start ups by Americans between the age of 55 and 64 — who were already starting new businesses at record clips even before the onset of the pandemic. Some of the new older founders launched businesses of necessity after layoffs, while others saw an opportunity to do purposeful work.  Said one career coach quoted in the article:

It hits you, especially during the coronavirus crisis, that time no longer feels unlimited…You’re aware of your own clock ticking. Since you don’t have a seemingly endless vista of work ahead of you, you may be motivated to finally retool and learn a new trade, or just try something different.

It’s unclear whether those statistics apply equally to lawyers. I’m aware that some older attorneys who were still running dinosaur, paper-based, brick and mortar practices have decided to wind things down rather than build a firm geared for the future. But I have to believe that there are other lawyers deep into their careers ready to take the plunge to start – because after all, life is too short.

Starting a new venture later in life can prove challenging and yet, as Steve Jobs famously said, there’s a lightness to being a beginner that is freeing and can unleash creativity in ways not possible when burdened by the heaviness of longevity and success.

Maybe as a partner at biglaw, you’ve earned all the money you need and then some – but long for something new. Maybe that idea of starting a firm has nagged at you for decades and went ignored. Or maybe you just feel as if you’ve never reached your full potential in the law. It’s never too late to start a law firm.

The Lincoln Project Got Every. Damn. Thing. They. Wanted.

The election post-mortem is going to be filled with hot takes. And I understand, after so much energy expended trying to undo the mess that Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell wrought, it’s important to understand the good and the bad of what happened on the left. Of course, Democrats will always learn the wrong lesson because they’re Democrats, but we still have to try.

Though official results have yet to be announced, it seems likely that Joe Biden will win the presidency. Yay! But, there’s bad news for liberals: it looks unlikely that they’ll wrest control of the Senate from the GOP… which dooms all hope of righting (lefting?) the federal judiciary and locks us all in for at least two years of gridlock. (Yes, if both Georgia runoffs break for Dems this is moot, but, well, we’re playing the odds on this one.) Given this turn of events, there’s lots of finger pointing — polls are forever broken! Court packing proponents scared moderates! Joe Biden’s coattails weren’t big enough!

And all those takes have some measure of truth to them. But I’m more interested in looking at the folks who benefited the most from the very specific way the election turned out. That’s right, it was the never-Trumpers turned political action committee, The Lincoln Project, that really came out on top.

First of all, remember that despite their (welcomed) opposition to Donald Trump, they are still Republicans. The PAC was founded by former Wachtell attorney George Conway, John McCain adviser Steve Schmidt, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich adviser John Weaver, former New Hampshire GOP chair Jennifer Horn, and veteran Republican operative Rick Wilson. Not exactly folks interested in upending the system.

They’re all fundamentally conservative. They didn’t want Elizabeth Warren winning the nomination for fear of a truly leftist agenda. And, it was those exact dreams of courting centrist Republicans that was the motivation behind Joe Biden’s nomination. So, point in their column.

And frankly, they have to be pretty happy that the Senate (likely) stays with the GOP. Sure, they put out a scathing ad against Lindsey Graham, who eventually kept his seat, but that’s not a bad result for them. It’s not like they really wanted Jamie Harrison in the Senate, they just wanted the veneer of congeniality slapped back on their politics. So, even though Graham still has a job, with Trump deposed (knock on wood) and with the memory of the biting attack ads, he’s been properly chastised.

And that conservative, pro-business majority on the Supreme Court that Trump gave them on his way out the door (fingers crossed)? Well, that suits them just fine.

When the history books are written about 2020’s election and the “battle for the soul of the nation,” just remember who actually came out ahead.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Trump Lawyers ‘Basically Wasting Time’ With Their Election 2020 Lawsuits

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

We’ll respond appropriately to whatever they do to try to put into question, by hook or crook, the legitimacy of this election that Joe Biden has won.

Perhaps he will get to the Supreme Court somehow on some case like the cases that his team has been losing recently. So they’re just basically wasting time and giving Donald Trump an opportunity to express yet another set of grievances, when in fact the only grief he should be experiencing is over the loss of the election. That’s not a grief I share, but it’s probably a grief that he keenly feels.

Bob Bauer, one of the top legal advisers to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, commenting on President Donald Trump’s plans to go to the Supreme Court with his election woes. Bauer, expressing confidence that Biden has won the election with votes still being counted, said, “We will respond appropriately to defend the vote. That’s what we’re there to do.”


Staci ZaretskyStaci 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 Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Trump Campaign Charges Into Court To Stop Vote Based On Latest Internet Rumors

What stage of grief is this?

“Plenty of proof – just check out the Media” is perhaps a suboptimal legal strategy. But it appears to be the one the Trump campaign is going with. Here’s the president’s pro bono lawyer Rudy “It Was a Tuck” Giuliani laying it out yesterday in Philadelphia.

Don’t answer that!

The Trump campaign has filed a bevy of small bore lawsuits to try to “STOP THE COUNT!” as Trump has repeatedly demanded. This morning Judge James Bass of the Superior Court of Chatham County Georgia tossed a suit filed by the campaign and the state’s Republican party because a witness who thinks he saw a stack of 53 absentee ballots that may or may not have arrived after the deadline and may or may not have gotten commingled with timely votes is insufficient evidence for an injunction to halt vote tabulation.

The Trump team has had what the president referred to as a “Big legal win in Pennsylvania!” By which he means that a state court ordered elections officials to let poll watchers stand a little bit closer as the votes are counted. The Trump team has pinned its hopes on getting late-arriving ballots tossed with an assist from the Supreme Court. But if Biden winds up with a 100,000 vote lead when Philadelphia and Pittsburgh’s absentee ballots are finally counted, a handful of late votes probably won’t make a difference.

Trump ally Matt Schlapp, a veteran of the original Brooks Brothers riot and president of the American Conservative Union, has been flogging an internet conspiracy that contends poll workers deliberately invalidated Republican ballots by having voters fill them out with Sharpie pens.

Here on Planet Earth, the voting machines read felt tip pens just fine, and this is a totally made up controversy. Nevertheless, the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative group, has filed suit to put a stop to the vote tabulation in Arizona.

In Michigan, Donald J. Trump (apparently in his personal capacity) and a poll watcher sued Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to gain access to videotapes of every drop box and to halt the vote count based on vague allegations that this individual poll watcher was at some point improperly excluded from the counting process.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens bounced them out of Zoom court this morning because (a) Secretary Benson already told the individual elections boards to comply with the law, (b) it’s unclear that Benson herself has access to the video feed from every drop box, so the plaintiffs can go ask the individual elections boards for it if they’re that curious, and (c) even if Secretary Benson had all the tapes in her purse, there’s no statutory requirement that she hand them over to the campaign.

Meanwhile in Nevada, the Trump campaign dream team called a press conference this morning to announce a lawsuit challenging 10,000 “illegal voters” in the Silver State.

As the Nevada Independent points out, state law does provide a procedure to challenge the eligibility of a voter. Unfortunately, if the campaign’s legal team bothers to read the fine print of NRS 293.535, they’ll find that “An affidavit filed pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 1 must be filed not later than 30 days before an election.”

In the event, former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell (who initially refused to give his name to reporters, despite wearing a Team Trump “Grenell” sweatshirt to the event) failed to provide proof of any widespread vote fraud. And the one facially credible allegation he made was swiftly debunked by NBC.

There was also this bizarre exchange where Grenell insisted it was the Clark County Board of Elections job to prove that they weren’t clocking ten thousand “illegal” votes, not his job to back up his allegation with evidence.

We were given to understand that “the Media” had all the proof that these lawsuits weren’t just performative garbage meant to stall the count so that the election isn’t called for Biden. So confusing!


Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Someone Is Getting Marianne Lake’s Hopes Up Again

Hope For Fall Special Bonuses Is Fading Fast

The hope that associates will receive fall special bonuses in recognition of their hard work during the pandemic has nearly been extinguished. It is November, the sun is setting earlier and earlier, and Biglaw’s normal bonus schedule is right around the corner. In that way, Cravath’s wait-and-see approach has become a model for large swaths of Biglaw, despite others like Davis PolkMilbank, and Latham moving forward with special bonuses. But Cravath is still Cravath, and lots of firms have taken their lead on fall bonuses.

So, it really isn’t a surprise that during a recent town hall, Covington & Burling told associates no fall bonuses are on the way. From a tipster at the firm:

During [Monday’s] town hall with the associates, the Management Committee announced that it will not award any fall bonuses to associates, even though firm has very strong 2020 FY financial results.

At least the projected strong 2020 financial results bodes well for year-end bonuses that can bring the associates back up to market compensation.

So, Covington attorneys, how do you feel about the bonuses? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), or by tweet (@ATLblog). A fun or insightful response — we’ll keep you anonymous — could find its way into an update to this story.

Please help us help you when it comes to bonus news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text us (646-820-8477). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

How Your Firm Can Prosper With Cloud-Based Case Management

In today’s competitive legal market, law firms face tremendous pressure to deliver high-quality legal services at the lowest possible cost — and to increase innovation without sacrificing quality or incurring extra expense.

A comprehensive case management solution that can be accessed anywhere at any time is the first step toward balancing these seemingly competing objectives, and the fastest way to deliver that solution is by using cloud-based, platform-as-a-service technology.

These are just a few benefits a PaaS-based system:

  • Unrivaled access in a work-from-home world;
  • Portals for increased collaboration;
  • Improved communication tools; and
  • Greater security — and many more.

AdvoLogix is a leading law practice and legal matter management solution that helps law firms and general counsel automate unique business processes and simplify legal matter management.

Fill out the form for an in-depth look at how a PaaS-based case management system can benefit your practice.

By requesting this report you are opting in to receive communications from Above The Law and its Partners. 


Presented by Advologix

Biglaw Firm Encourages ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy When It Comes To Election Results

Thanks to the rise of mail-in ballots due to the pandemic, Election 2020 votes are still being counted. That being the case, Election Day has now turned into Election Week, and it may soon turn into Election Month thanks to the various lawsuits that have already been filed (and the lawsuits that are assuredly yet to be filed) by President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Trump has already claimed victory without securing the necessary electoral votes to do so, conspiracy theories peddled by Trump and his supporters about purported election fraud abound, Joe Biden’s voter turnout is ever increasing as the count continues, and the true winner of the election has yet to be declared. Sleepless nights waiting on results have given way to unproductive days and billable hours lost. This is getting exhausting, and one Biglaw firm thinks it’s found a way to lessen the burden that employees are facing in the run up to the final election results.

Sources tell us that Steve Humke, the chief managing partner of Am Law 200 firm Ice Miller, sent out a firmwide email yesterday afternoon about the state of not just the election, but the state of everyone’s feelings. “In a political contest with such different candidates, it’s inevitable that the outcome leaves many of us with strong feelings. Whether those are feelings of satisfaction, disappointment or uncertainty, it’s likely that those feelings will remain for some time,” he writes. This is what Humke has proposed as a way people can deal with all of their election-related feelings:

Some members of our Ice Miller team certainly feel the lack of resolution more acutely, viewing the future with doubt and even fear. It will take time to overcome the divisions that were exposed in this campaign. It is important to give each other the space to work through these feelings. In particular, before discussing election results with co-workers, consider whether they are ready to do so. And, remember to demonstrate respect both to those in conversation and those around you; speak from your own experiences (and not for others or any group); and give yourself and others the permission to avoid or leave any such conversation at any time, without guilt or attribution. So, please reach out and support each other.

(Flip to the next page to read the email in full.)

One of our sources likened this plan to a form of “election don’t ask, don’t tell.” But really, it seems like it’s just a way to remain civil with others at work and express care for those who need it right now. Just because the election is almost over doesn’t mean that political strife will immediately stop — if anything, things are only going to get worse for a time. Ice Miller is giving its employees an avenue to express their beliefs and work through their feelings, if they so choose, and that’s not a bad thing.

Perhaps the better question to be asked here is why an email like this needed to be sent out in the first place. This election is bigger than your own ego. Be kind.


Staci ZaretskyStaci 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 Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

ICE MILLER — 2020 ELECTION


Staci ZaretskyStaci 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 Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Being A Black Mother And Attorney … In 2020 … No Pressure!

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Lashawn Paige McQueen to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.

I was never ready for motherhood, but then again who is ever really ready for parenthood? Coupled with being a new attorney … talk about sheer insanity!

I sheltered myself from civilization as a whole for the first two months of the year while I studied for the state’s bar exam. Once the month of March arrived, Pandora’s box had officially opened.

The pandemic had the world at a standstill; but not only did I, as well as the rest of the world, have to deal with the uncertainty of “quarantine life,” but it also highlighted a lot of things that would normally fall through the cracks of the day-to-day hustle and bustle.

I found myself sucked into each and every horrific story of racial injustice, and I felt more and more pessimistic, and, quite honestly, fearful of what this world had to offer my young child. As I sat on my couch watching on the television screen as yet another African-American life was taken senselessly, I felt the anger begin to emerge.

Since the age of seven, I have always known that I wanted to be an attorney; but I never really took the time to think about what I wanted to do with that title. While waiting for my test scores to be released, I spent the next three months really examining what direction it was that I wanted to go into with my career. I always knew that I had a passion for criminal law, but I began to feel conflicted as to whether prosecution was really the area that I wanted to work in or defense.

As story after story was released of Ahmaud Arbery to Breonna Taylor to George Floyd and countless others, I began to feel numb.

Taylor’s death in particular is what really shook me to my core. I watch my 1-year-old sleep peacefully in my bed (I know, she should be sleeping in her own bed. That’s another story; don’t judge me) and I couldn’t imagine, as a mother, how I would feel to receive a phone call in the middle of the night that my daughter’s life was taken while she was asleep. I looked at my little Black child’s big brown eyes filled with joy and laughter and I couldn’t help but to walk away because I didn’t want her to see me weeping; but not tears of sadness, tears of anger and despair.

I WAS, AND STILL AM, TIRED!

How, as a first-time mother, am I supposed to raise my daughter to know that she is a beautiful Black queen while the world is constantly showing her that her life does not matter?

How?!

How do I explain to her that I’m not just saying these positive words of affirmation to her because I am her mother, but that they actually are true while society portrays the exact opposite to her?

As a Black female living in America, I understand that that makes me a double minority. Even in the legal profession, less than 5% of attorneys are Black and less than 2% are Black females. So being a Black female attorney who is also a wife of a Black man and a mother to a Black daughter has been a very emotionally draining time.

Even now, having passed the bar and now working as a defense attorney, it can be exhausting walking into a courtroom, introducing myself as an attorney, and watching the eyebrows go up in shock.

I have spent a lot of time trying to brush things off my shoulders and just sum it up to “it is, what it is,” but unfortunately I have conditioned myself to be numb and to just be accepting of the racial disparities, the inequalities, and overall mistreatment of Black men and women.

I have had extensive conversations with my husband, who has also been emotionally affected by the killings of Black men and women in America, about what we can do as parents to raise our child in an environment where she can feel secure about her value as a future Black woman in this world:

1) “YOU ARE LOVED.” Remind her daily that she is loved. And not just by our actions, but actually being intentional about saying “I love you” so that she will never have to question it.

2) “YOU ARE SMART.” Often, even as adults, we question whether or not we are wise enough or if we are knowledgeable enough compared to others our age.

3) “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.” Studies show that 97% of women have “at least one negative thought about their body image every single day.” This rate is incredibly alarming, and most times the lack of self-esteem tends to be a foundational issue that starts from the home; so it’s important for us to remind her that she is beautiful in every way (and yes, we use the word “beautiful” with our 1-year-old and she understands what it means and how to pronounce it).

Now, here’s where I must confess something: I have noticed as of recently, that I have had to give myself pep talks and remind myself of these three things as well. As a wife, dog mom, new mom, and new attorney, living in a new state, I can do a phenomenal job at doubting myself. So I have to remind myself that I need to practice what I preach.

I wear a lot hats, none of which I intend on taking off, so I know that I need to put on my big girl panties and make it work. Being a Black woman in America is hard, being a Black female attorney is even harder, and being a Black mother to a Black daughter is the hardest; but despite that, I have always been up for any challenge because I know that ultimately, it’s all worth it, and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.


Lashawn Paige McQueen is an Attorney at The Law Firm of Andre J. Smith, P.C. in Buckhead (Atlanta), Georgia. She practices Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Contract law. She also tutors pre-law students with the LSAT, law students, and law graduates with the bar exam. Attorney McQueen is married to her high school sweetheart, has two very energetic Miniature Australian Shepherds, and is a mother of a fun-loving and beautiful 1-year-old. When she’s not #lawyerlife, you can find her watching back-to-back episodes of “Blues Clues and You” with her daughter or on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or all four while watching reality TV snuggled up under a blanket.

Florida’s Next Sports Law Consideration Should Be The Legalization Of Sports Betting

The major sports law-related measure signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2020 was a bill providing college athletes in the state with the right to commercially exploit their publicity rights. That law goes into effect as of July 1, 2021. Will there be a big sports law issue for Florida to consider in 2021?

I believe that the time is ripe for the Florida legislature, when it reconvenes, to finally pay serious attention to the promise of sports betting within its borders. As of now, 22 states and the District of Columbia allow individuals to place wagers on sporting contests and, based on 2020 election results, it seems as though Maryland, Nebraska, South Dakota, as well as most parishes in Louisiana, are set to be the next pack to join in on the benefits of sports betting, which include an increase in tax dollars for those jurisdictions that have made it legal to place such wagers.

What has stood in the way of this type of change in Florida? No stranger bedfellows than the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Disney. At least that is what some would argue.

A Political Action Committee named Voters In Charge was very active leading up to the 2018 election. This PAC raised just over $46 million from 2015 through 2018, when it seemingly stopped operations based on an accomplished goal. The two largest donors were the Seminole Tribe of Florida ($24.65 million) and Disney Worldwide Services Inc. ($20.56 million), with a corporation named No Casinos Inc. behind them at $910,000 in contributions. The next largest donor gave only $10,000.

A partial underlying motive seems to have been to install a major roadblock to the State of Florida legalizing sports gambling. This was accomplished by lobbying the state to pass a constitutional amendment (Amendment 3). The amendment was titled, “Voter Approval of Casino Gambling Initiative,” which was likely drafted to be purposefully misleading to voters who often do not look past the title of an amendment. The intention was to make it so that only citizens (not the legislature prior to voter approval) could decide whether to authorize casino gambling in Florida. The Voters in Charge PAC led the campaign in support of Amendment 3, which received enough votes to pass.

Since 2018, many have wondered whether casino gambling, as used in the amendment, should extend to include sports betting, which would thus make it more difficult for sports betting to become legalized in Florida since it would then first need to go to a vote by citizens’ initiative. The definition of casino gambling did not expressly include sports wagering. Did the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Disney thus inadvertently keep alive a much cleaner path to legalization for sports betting in the state? I believe that the answer is a resounding yes, and my colleague Daniel Wallach has provided eight reasons why he agrees.

As such, there is nothing to prevent an elected individual or a group of legislators from deciding that it is due time to add Florida to the list of states that have wisely legalized sports betting within their borders. Florida Senator Wilton Simpson previously proposed a sports betting option that would allow the Seminole Tribe of Florida to serve as the host of online sports betting because he believed it would sidestep the aforementioned Amendment 3. However, that seems unnecessary given the fact that Amendment 3 should not extend to control efforts related to sports wagering.

There also existed a bill (SB 968) sponsored by Florida Senator Jeff Brandes, which was filed in 2019, introduced on January 14, 2020, in the Senate, and died on March 14, 2020, in the Innovation, Industry, and Technology Committee. The bill sought to create a new Chapter 547 in the Florida statutes for sports wagering and place power in the hands of the Department of the Lottery to administer the chapter as well as regulate the industry in the state.

It is due time for Florida to join the likes of Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and Colorado in legalizing sports betting. The state proved that it could be a leader by giving college athletes deserved rights related to their names, images, and likenesses. The next sports law issue it should tackle is sports wagering.


Darren Heitner is the founder of Heitner Legal. He is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, published by the American Bar Association, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. You can reach him by email at heitner@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @DarrenHeitner.