Jordan Furlong over at Law21 has published a post describing the 21st-century solo practitioner and announced a competition to drive innovation.
Furlong lists what he sees are four characteristics of the new solo lawyer. One of these characteristics is the ability to innovate. Solos may have more flexibility to take the risks necessary to come up with truly unique methods of delivering legal services and operating a law practice. Just as the rest of the legal marketplace is having to adapt to changes in the use of technology to practice law, solos are in an ideal situation to take advantage of these trends to give themselves a competitive advantage.
Furlong calls to solos to come up with new ways to deliver legal services and ends his post with the announcement that he is giving away five scholarships to Solo Practice University to “five current or soon-to-be solos or small-firm lawyers who are now engaging, or are ready to engage, in 21st-century sole practice.”
Those of you who are solos engaged in elawyering, virtual law practice or are coming up with ways to use cloud computing in your practice, get in the running for one of these scholarships. I’ve been on the faculty at SPU teaching a course in virtual law practice since it launched a couple years ago. It’s a wonderful community of entrepreneurial solos with awesome online access to great mentors and teachers. I’m looking forward to reading about the innovations that come out of this competition and hope at least a few of them involve the online delivery of legal services.