For the month of March, I am going to highlight blogs that I think are interesting and useful. Some may not be directly related to personal injury or Social Security disability law, but all of us who represent injured and disabled people occasionally need help in other areas. A few have been featured here before, but they keep getting better. Today’s entry in March of the Blogs:
Connecticut attorney Susan Cartier Liebel is a very busy woman.She’s been coaching other lawyers, primarily solo lawyers, for quite a while. She uses her blog at Build A Solo Practice to help with this coaching.
But now Susan has created what could be a hugely successful venture – Solo Practice University. She has gathered faculty from around the country to teach about their specialties, whether legal, management, or marketing. This is definitely worth checking out.
Here’s a little info about Susan:
Biography
In 2000, I approached the Acting Dean of Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut and said, “let me teach your students how to open their own practice right out of law school.” I must have caught him in a weak moment because he gave me the green light. To date, a full 20% of my students have successfully “hung a shingle” right out of law school or shortly thereafter.
As a result of my teaching success, in 2004 The Connecticut Law Tribune recognized my contributions with the “Young Leaders in the Law” award for Education. This honor led to my current column in The Connecticut Law Tribune and Law.com, “An Independent Spirit,” which gives advice to solos and discusses issues many solos face.
It is my personal mission, through education and authorship, to change the way law schools educate their students and the way the legal community receives solos.
I am uniquely qualified to consult and coach lawyers on how to start and grow their law practice whether right out of law school or shortly thereafter because that is exactly what I did. I live what I teach and preach.
I went to law school a decade after graduating from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in advertising. In those ten years I earned a living in advertising, promotion, marketing and sales as both an employee and an entrepreneur. In sales, whether starting a new office for a recruiting company or selling planned unit developments, I was always the top salesperson. Why? I believe in what I do and I understand how to first identify and then address the needs of my clients as well as building a network of relationships which is the basis for a truly successful practice.
Upon passing the bar exam, a few months after graduation from the University of Bridgeport School of Law (now Quinnipiac University School of Law), two fellow students and I started the law firm of Cartier, DeMatteo and Forman, LLC based in Fairfield, Connecticut. After five years, the law firm became Cartier & DeMatteo, LLC as the partners grew into their own. Life changes; your practice evolves. Since 2001, I have operated the Law Offices of Susan Cartier-Liebel, LLC. Creating the national coaching / consulting firm of Build A Solo Practice, LLC in 2005 was a natural evolution from my professional and life experience and my teaching. It has been well-received because I’ve walked the walk, I don’t just talk the talk.
Having been so well-received, in August, 2007 I closed the doors to my law office so I could coach and consult full time. And now in 2008 I have concluded my instruction at Quinnipiac University School of Law which limited my teaching both geographically and total students and embarking on an exciting challenge to teach hundreds, if not thousands, of new lawyers throughout the country in a revolutionary new web-based educational community called Solo Practice University….to be launched soon. (Update from Bob Kraft: Solo Practice University is now officially launched.)
