Learn some new tricks—but don’t try this one in the office.

I’ve been a solo practitioner for nearly a year and a half now. During that time I’ve learned that sustaining a small firm or solo practice isn’t easy work. In fact, it’s safe to say that most of us work nights, weekends, and holidays for the good of their practice. Nonetheless, it’s satisfying work and many solo practitioners are happy with their practice just the way it is. However, if you’d like to make your practice grow—if you’d like to give your office a little extra OOMPH—then you’re going to need to work at it. Here are a few tips to build your firm beyond the start-up stage.

1. Network, Network, Network

If you want your practice to grow, you’re going to need to expand your network. It’s really that simple. After all, it’s your reputation that will win you new business. The more people who know and respect you as a professional, the more business will come through your door as referrals. Doing good work is only the beginning. You need people to learn about your good work.

For this reason, you should set aside regular time in your schedule for networking. This is something you can do both in and out of the office. Attend conferences, seminars, and other networking events as often as possible. Consider submitting your credentials for speaking roles on panels at conferences. And while you’re there, collect business cards, shake hands, and make friends. But, remember, like many things in life it’s not the quantity of the connections you make, but the quality of those connections.

Once you’re back in the office, you can continue to build and strengthen your network. Connect with your new connections on social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. And, of course, using those same social media outlets you can seek out and develop new connections as well. After all, the beauty of social media is that it makes it easier than ever to network.

2. Time to Hire Help!

If you just read that last section, and thought to yourself, “I have no time to network,” then it might be time to hire some help. After all, winning new business is an essential part of your firm’s growth and long term stability. If you’re overloaded with work and are unable to focus on new business acquisition, then it’s time to seek an associate to help free up some of your time. Sure, an associate costs both time and money, but it’s an investment that can allow you the freedom to continue to grow your practice.

3. Learn Some New Tricks

If time isn’t an issue, but you’re struggling to stand out in a crowded legal market, then maybe it’s time to learn some new tricks. Many solo practitioners discover new opportunities for revenue by offering services in new practice areas. Others have expanded their practices by honing in on niche specialties. Both options open up new opportunities and new business for your office. Remember, however, that while Continuing Legal Education courses provide learning opportunities and credit towards your bar requirements, they are not enough. Learning new specialties includes doing research by reading books, legal journals, and blawgs.

4. Be More Cost-Efficient

Sometimes the easiest way to earn more money isn’t to find new revenue sources, but to cut your existing costs. One of the most important breakthroughs for my business involved cutting costs by discovering alternatives to my current business expenses. Those costs are often unique for each practice and each business. Nonetheless, many attorneys find significant savings for their practices by investigating legal research alternatives and evaluating options for shared office spaces. Again, your office has its own specific needs, but it’s often worthwhile to evaluate your expenses for opportunities to lower your firm’s overhead.

By following these tips, you can make your practice bigger, faster, stronger—and leaner. Of course, every firm’s path to success is different, so we’d love to hear what’s worked for you. Share your tips in the comments section.

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Don’t get the run around when negotiating your lease.

I remember going to a carnival when I was a kid. They had a game where you had to throw baseballs at these metal milk bottles. If you knocked them all over you won a prize. As a pitcher, I thought it would be a piece of cake. I remember hurling a fastball at the middle bottle. Instead of knocking it over, the ball bounced right off the bottle. It was at that moment I knew the odds were stacked against me.

When you’re negotiating a commercial lease, think about those metal milk bottles. The nature of the lease is stacked against you. Property owners will always put in as much language as possible to benefit their own interests. You have to be skeptical, and you have to be ready to stand your ground as you negotiate. Remember, unless you’re vying for a storefront in a super-successful location, you have power. The landlord’s alternative is an empty space. Landlords need you more than you need them. You can always walk away and find something else.  They, on the other hand, have to start over to get it rented.

Flex Time

The first thing you need to consider is the length of the lease.  If you have a new business, you have to consider that it may not take off. If you sign a five-year lease, you could have major headaches.  A more practical approach is to agree to a two-year lease with an option to extend for two or three years. That way you can see how it goes. If your business tanks, you can still work something out for the remaining year. Please keep in mind that landlords have a duty to mitigate. That means they can not simply sit back and allow back rent to pile up. They have to take steps to rent the space. In this economy that could be difficult in certain places, but dealing with one year left on a lease is much better than four years on a lease.

Field Research

If you can, walk into adjoining stores or offices in the same building. Find out how the tenants like renting from this landlord. How reasonable is he or she?  Compare the tenants’ square footage to yours, and find out what they are paying.  That way you can see if you’re being treated fairly. A red flag is certainly complaints from other tenants about the landlord.  Keep in mind that most tenants will complain, but look at the nature of their complaints. If they are adamant that they have been mistreated, you may want to go to another space. If they say that the landlord is fair, you can rest a bit easier.  You’re going into business and your landlord is going to be one of the people you’ll be communicating with for years to come.  If he or she has a bad reputation, you may want to move on. Remember, you do not have to sign the lease, you can walk away.

Worth a Thousand Words

Before you move in, walk around take pictures and/or video of the entire premises. Bring a witness. If you see signs of prior damage, put it in a letter to the landlord. Include a photo to show that it was pre-existing, and you did not cause this damage.

Waterproofing

Keep in mind that you’ll need a liability policy for the premises in case someone slips and falls. You’ll also agree to indemnify the landlord. This means if someone gets injured and sues the landlord, you will provide a defense to the landlord and/or pay any judgment.  Check the indemnification language carefully. It should only cover personal injury and damage to property—nothing else. These two matters should be covered under your liability policy, so you should be fine. If there are other matters listed, you need to strike them or review them with your insurance agent if they are covered under your insurance policy.

Also consider what other protection you might need. Take a look around outside. Does the area tend to flood?  If so, you may want to get flood insurance. You’ll also need to add the landlord to that policy. Talk to your insurance agent about what other coverage you might need. A second policy will probably be a lot cheaper to add on.

Common (Area) Problems

If you see that your lease has provisions for common areas, you need to flesh them out. If they relate to a small grassy area near your unit, that’s one thing. Perhaps you have to keep it clean or maintain it.  Make sure you’re not being held responsible for maintaing the parking lot.  If so, you need to strike that. Most personal injuries occur in parking lots on broken asphalt or ice.  That should be handled by the landlord.  Remember, you are responsible for the area in front of your unit and/or store. As such, it never hurts to put down ice melt in the winter and/or a rubber mat year round to reduce the chances of someone falling.

If your business is unique, you need to make sure that you’ll be able to use for your needs. Will you be running any types of events outside?  Will you be running strobe lights or playing music out front? Setting up tables and chairs outside, or placing a placard on the sidewalk? Will you have a generator that blows up an inflatable animal? If so, you need to get it in the lease agreement. If it’s not in the lease, chances are you’re not going to be able to do it.  So keep that in mind. Nothing goes outside that’s not agreed upon.  When in doubt, bring up the issue during lease negotiations and put it in writing.  That way there is no misunderstanding.

Remember, most litigation comes from the gray areas: the things that no one discussed.  Put all of your concerns and needs on the table so they can be discussed. The landlord may not care about most of them. If so, put it in writing that they have no objections.  Brainstorm. Go over any and everything you plan to do with the space for your business and run them all by the landlord in writing. Put all of your cards on the table.

Pay as You Grow

Lastly, don’t get overly optimistic about how much rent you can afford. If you have a new business, negotiate a price you know you can handle now, not one based on your best-case scenario. Some landlords will agree to a starting price that increases it in six months of a year, so that you can get your business moving and making money. Your rent will be one of—if not the—biggest expense.  Make sure you can pay it before you sign on the bottom line.

Be it carnivals or the terms of a commercial lease, be vigilant for opportunities to improve your odds. You must negotiate every item you can. Leases are written to benefit landlords—and they know it. They’re used to tenants pushing back on certain terms, so if something doesn’t feel right to you, change it. It’s your business and your future.  Go in with your eyes wide open and your plan in place.  A successful business with a fair commercial lease is one of the best scenarios you can hope for as you travel down the path to a bright future.

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Don’t let cyber scammers catch you unawares.

There’s an old saying that knowledge is power. In today’s fight against fraud and identity theft, knowledge is your best and sole defense. Understanding and identifying scams trains you to become more cautious in future dealings, and in negotiations against scammers.

A common scam that many of us have fallen for at least once in our lifetimes is phishing and its variations, vishing and smishing; individuals pretending to be from well-known companies, organizations, government agencies or educational institutions contact you and trick you into giving them personal information such as your social security number and passwords. They then use that information to open their own accounts, get credit in your name and control your bank accounts—or even engage in other criminal activities. Some of their favorite company names to use include PayPal, Western Union, Visa, banks or even the IRS. Phishing can take any form, from emails to phone calls or text messages.

It’s easy to recognize the warning signs of these scams.

Phishing School

If you get an email from any of your financial institutions that doesn’t seem quite right:

• Read the sender’s name carefully. If, for example, Visa sends you an alert about emails that come from the address “VERIFIEDVISA.COM,” it’s a scam. This site does not connect with the real Visa. Even if the email has the name visa.com or paypal.com, make sure you pay close attention to the return address. It’s masked to appear as a legitimate company. Usually, no other contact information is provided.
• Notice whether or not the email includes your name as a customer. If it doesn’t, that’s another sign of a scam. Visa, PayPal and other companies do not contact their customers by either e-mail or by phone about personal information updates or any private facts.
• Read the email carefully. Phishing e-mails will generally threaten you with ‘immediate suspension’ of your account. They often include typos or bad grammar—other warning signs of fraud.

Vishing, or Voice Phishing

If you receive a call from a live or automated caller claiming to be contacting you on behalf of a trusted company, it could be vishing. The caller will likely ask you to provide personal, payment or account information. It’s likely that the anonymous caller will ask for the information under the pretext of a problem, such as theft or overdrawn accounts. You cannot rely on the caller ID or the name displayed on the phone to contact them back for any reason.

SMiShing, or Short Message Service Phishing

Most of us rely on smart phones these days. But scammers can enter the texting worlds just as easily as the rest of us can. Some of the most common warnings signs include texts that don’t have the name of an issuing bank or any information that identifies your card or account number. Be aware that banks and credit or debit card companies do not contact cardholders through text messages to request personal account

Do’s and Don’ts to Avoid Becoming a Victim

Before you even consider taking any action or responding to those e-mails, calls or texts, make sure you contact the company that you supposedly received them from. Ask to speak to the fraud department to inquire about the message, and report all suspicious activity. Some companies, such as Visa, advise consumers to forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (spells the word SPAM).

• Do not reply to emails or texts. Contact the company directly.
• Do not provide any personal information to anonymous or otherwise odd callers.
• Do not click on any hyperlink in any of the e-mails you receive that contain any of the aforementioned warning signs.

Lastly, messages or even phone calls that include the words “urgent”, “verify” or “provide information immediately” should be viewed as highly suspicious. Consider these as life lessons in the cyberworld of scammers and fraudsters.

———————————————-

Visit Rocketlawyer.com for more information on identity theft and online ID theft prevention tools.

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Watch out for ambiguity when drafting a contract.

Many lawyers define themselves as being involved in either litigation or transactional law. In fact, I do this myself. And for many, the distinction may be somewhat warranted. But if you’re a solo practitioner or small-firm attorney, there’s a good chance that your work involves at a little of both. Even if your practice focuses primarily on litigation, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to competently draft a straightforward contract for a client. It’s a skill that every lawyer should possess.

Here are a ten simple tips for getting started on your next contract.

1. Have Your Client Prepare the Outline

Before you begin drafting the contract, ask your client to prepare an outline of the agreement as they understand it. They can write it out or talk it out with you. You probably won’t build the contract directly from their outline, but it will create a blueprint of the points that are important to them. Your client’s outline also serves as a good starting point for discussing other critical issues that that they might not have thought of and should be addressed, such as what should happen if one party breaches the contract or if circumstances change in any way.

2. Be Clear

Ambiguity has been the cause of death for many contracts throughout history. To avoid that fate, it’s incredibly important that the language you use in your contract is—above all else—clear. Avoid ambiguous terms and flowery language. Many experienced transactional attorneys I’ve spoken with recommend that your contract be clear enough that a layperson will understand the terms of the deal. In this case, it’s good to think like an attorney but not sound like one.

Similarly, you should be clear in your use and placement of conjunctions (i.e. “and,” “or,” and “but”) and modifiers (i.e. “actively,” “knowingly,” and so forth). For example, if a contract states that a party is required to “actively market and sell” a product, it’s not entirely clear whether the party must be actively selling the product throughout the term of the contract, or if a plan to sell in the future would be acceptable so long as the party was actively marketing the product from the start. If both were required, the contract should state that the party is required to “actively promote and actively sell” the product. Conversely, if only active marketing—and not active selling—is required, the contract would be better written in reverse (i.e. “sell and actively market”) so that it’s clear that the modifier only applies to the final term.

3. Be Concise

Cut unnecessary words or phrases. This helps ensure not only that the contract is straight-forward, but also that the contract isn’t creating any inadvertent obligations, conditions, distinctions, and so forth.

 4. Be Consistent

Once you’ve defined a party or term, be consistent in your use of it. For example, if you define one party as “Buyer” early in the contract, don’t refer to them by other names later in the contract. Instead, continue to refer to that individual as “Buyer” throughout. After all, your goal when drafting a contract isn’t to make it interesting. Unlike in creative writing, repetition in contracts is not a sin, it’s a virtue.

5. Include Recitals

Recitals typically appear at the beginning of a contract, and provide context for the agreement. They often begin with the word “whereas” (i.e. Whereas, Buyer seeks to purchase real property from Seller…”). Although the recitals aren’t required, they provide enough background that an outside party (such as a judge or jury) can quickly understand the parties’ intent.

6. Define Important Terms and Parties

It’s a good idea to define all important terms as you use them. For example, if your contract specifies that “profits” are to be split between the parties, then it’s also a good idea to specify whether you are referring to gross profits or net profits. Similarly, the contract should clearly specify what sales or proceeds will be deemed “profits” in the first place. Likewise, if your contract involves the buying and selling of property, define the property clearly enough that it could be identified by a third party otherwise unfamiliar with the deal. The same is true when identifying the parties to the contract.

7. Avoid Inadvertently Using Words With Legal Significance

Some words have greater significance to a lawyer than they might to a layperson. While this may be obvious, it’s an essential point to remember when drafting a contract. After all, the difference in legal meaning and standard usage of a word can lead to confusion in a contract. For example, labeling an individual as an “agent” can carry specific legal significance in terms of the individual’s legal authority to act on a party’s behalf. For this reason, you should be very careful any time you use a word that you recognize as possessing a specific legal meaning. If you don’t intend to apply that specific legal meaning, choose another word.

8. Write Numbers in Both Words and Numerals

When you’re reviewing your contract, it’s incredibly easy to make small errors like misplacing a comma, dropping a zero, or omitting a decimal point. But when those decimal points, zeroes, or commas are important aspects of the contract (such as when they define the amounts of cash or stock exchanged), it’s important to avoid mistakes. By providing numbers as both numerals and words, such as writing “one thousand (1,000)” in this format, you decrease both the risk of making a costly error.

9. Plan for Litigation

The goal of drafting a good contract is to avoid ending up in court. Nonetheless, you should draft a contract as if you are expecting every term in it to be fully litigated. If a term is important to your client, make sure there is no ambiguity as to what is required, when it is required, who it is required of, and so forth.

Moreover, consider issues such as where you’d like the contract to be litigated (i.e. which venue would be the best choice for your client?); which law will govern the contract; and whether your client prefers mandatory arbitration or mediation. Include provisions that address each of these issues.

Are you a transactional attorney with experience drafting, negotiating, or litigating contracts? Share your tips in our comments section.

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We’ve been following April and her stable of seven hobby horses as she navigates the legal challenges that come with building a small business. Last month, April told us about the trouble she was having finding liability insurance. When we checked back this week for the 3rd part of our series, April told us about her clever solution.

Our goal at Rocket Lawyer is to provide entrepreneurs like April with simple and affordable legal guidance, so they can follow their dreams. April, and thousands of others like her, show us how it’s done.

–

Laura: How’re things going since we last checked in with Mission Pony?

April: April was a really busy month! We had quite a few events, and we’re in the process of changing our business plan. We’ll probably need help from Rocket Lawyer again.

Laura: What’s your new plan?

April: We started with a model of entertainment rentals, but we haven’t been able to find general liability insurance. The insurers lumped us under the category of amusement rides, like roller coasters. We had two agents who shopped us around with no luck. Then we tried going through an arts consortium, but we just got turned down again.

Now, we’re changing our model from entertainment to advertising and promotions. We’ll have a Rocket Lawyer attorney help us with the business plan. The last one we used (for a liability/photo release) was excellent, so we’d be open to using him again or another attorney.

Laura: How did you come up with that angle?

April: Everywhere we go, people want to take pictures of the horses. People are really attracted to them—when they see them, they want to know what is going on. You have a captive audience for your business. Put your logo on the horse and it goes viral!

We’ve been doing promotions at all our events. At Sunday Streets (a San Francisco event when streets are closed to cars), we promoted Mutiny Radio, and online independent radio station. At the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown, we advertised the premier of the film Infinity & Chashu Ramen, filmed in San Francisco. One of the cast members dressed up as a panda. We put a panda on a unicorn, and wow! People went crazy. The film got a lot of attention, and more people went and bought tickets. At the Petaluma Butter & Egg Festival, it was the Petaluma Pie Company. We had cute girls in Petaluma pie shirts, and the logo on the horses. They handed out coupons and they ran out.

So, we were testing the the model, and it seems to work quite well. Now we’re changing our website and tweaking the business plan.

Laura: Will you also be able to pursue pony tours?

April: We can still do what we did at the Exploratorium event, which was giving pony rides under the insurance umbrella of another organization. It’s sad that we have to put that off, but until we can find (an insurer) who sees it in a different light, we’ll go with our new plan.

Laura: What’s the next show for the ponies?

April: We might be at Carnival in (San Francisco’s Mission District). It’ll be wild. We have to figure out who were are going to promote there.

We’d also really like to have the unicorns in the San Francisco Pride Parade at the end of June. I’d love to have one of the grand marshals on a unicorn! So we’ll be working on that.

I’d also love to build a giraffe. It would have a long neck so you could see it in a crowd, and it’s head could move up and down so that you could drop things into the crowd. But first, we want to make sure our business plan is solid, and we have our general liability insurance in place.

Laura: Good luck with the new plan! We’ll check back in down the road.

—

If you’re an entrepreneur just getting started or expanding, check out Rocket Lawyer’s resources for small businesses—everything from contracts to incorporation to tips and advice.  Read our 7 Ways to Bulletproof Your Business to make sure you’ve taken care of all the essentials.

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The eclectic group included lawyers, a physicist and even a musician, hailing from Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Brazil, India, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and China. All were graduates of Instituto Empresa of Madrid, which trains business leaders based on the core values of global focus, entrepreneurial spirit and a humanistic approach.

Organized by the Office of San Francisco City Attorney Dennis J Herrera to give the international students a chance to meet people working at the intersection of law and business, the tour also included visits to Facebook headquarters and Stanford University.

Charley Moore, Rocket Lawyer’s Founder and Executive Chairman, gave the group a personal tour of the San Francisco office, explaining the disparate functions but unified efforts of the engineering, sales and marketing departments to make the company tick.

After they gathered in the company’s colorful conference room, Charley told them how Rocket Lawyer developed from a mission to make the law more accessible into a concrete, fast-growing business. Although there are about 1 million lawyers in the United States—roughly one for every 300 people–there is a major issue of supply and demand, Charley argued. The supply of lawyers and demand for legal services are both high, but artificially inflated prices means legal help is out of reach for many people.

“Charley’s presentation was excellent, and everyone appreciated seeing  his passion for the company and his team,” said Andrea Longaretti, Program Manager of Legal Bridge to Silicon Valley. “The graduates were particularly interested in the message about ‘valuing’ legal services. Many are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Rocket Lawyer in their home countries!”

Following Charley’s presentation, several Rocket Lawyer Executives, including President & CEO Dan Nye, CFO Paul Hollerbach, VP of Technology An Tran, VP of Customer Satisfaction John Whelan and VP of User Experience Courtney O’Connell, among others, answered the visitors’ questions, which ran the gamut from how Rocket Lawyer operates with disparate legal codes across different regions to whether the company has plans to offer its services in different languages.

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After all, just like the rest of us, judges are human and therefore vulnerable to idiosyncrasies, prejudices, and mistakes. On one unpleasantly memorable occasion, the judge I was arguing before looked almost ready to jump over the bench so he could hit me over the head with his gavel. Without a doubt, he appeared to be personally offended by my client’s position. Nonetheless, I had strict marching orders which did not allow me to accept the compromise he was proposing.

We’d already suspected that he would not accept our position in the case, but it was important to us that we preserve our ability to appeal his ruling. I walked away with what amounted to a “dressing-down” in a packed courtroom and with no small amount of venom directed at me personally. Nonetheless, I felt like I was able to walk away with my head held high. I’d not let myself be bullied. My client way happy, and, much to my surprise, I even later received an apology from the judge.

When you’re required to take an unpopular position at a hearing or trial, or you have to deal with a difficult judge, it’s important that you keep your cool. After all, if you’re arguing before a jury, you don’t want the judge’s hostility towards your position to sway the jury’s opinion of you and/or your client. Even if you aren’t in front of a jury, you’re better off not burning bridges with any members of the judiciary.

Here are a few tips to help you get out of the courtroom with your nerves and reputation intact.

Always Stay Professional, Courteous, And Deferential

Staying professional, courteous, and deferential allows you to maintain the high ground. And, if there is a jury involved, you don’t want a backlash against you and your client. Most jurors tend to hold the judge in high regard and will often side with the judge. Not only that, regardless of whether you’re arguing before a jury, you’ll gain nothing for your client by dirtying the waters with the judge. At the end of the day the judge is authorized to rule on your case and enter judgments. Even after you’ve concluded a matter, you never know when you or your client could appear in the same courtroom again. And, in my experience, by remaining calm under fire you may even win the respect of a difficult judge.

Hold Your Ground

It’s true that by their very nature most successful litigators are pretty tough. Nonetheless, I’ve seen judges pressure attorneys into accepting compromises that aren’t the best options for their client. No matter what else happens, remember that your role is to advocate for what’s best for your client – no matter how difficult it is for you personally. If you know that your position is the right approach for your client and their case, then stand firm. Similarly, if the judge delivers a ruling that isn’t supported by the circumstances or relevant law then make an objection and state your position clearly for the record. At the very least, you can work to maintain a good record for a potential appeal.

Know When To Let It Go

Although it’s important to hold your ground in some occasions, it’s also important to know when to make a strategic concession. After all, it may actually be in your client’s best interest to accept a loss on minor issues in order to maintain the judge or jury’s goodwill for more important matters. By remaining calm and collected you’ll be better able to analyze whether a given issue is worth the fight.

Stay Calm

Most people operate at their best when they remain calm, cool and collected. For that reason, it’s important not to overreact or lose your cool. Getting angry typically won’t solve anything. Exaggerating will only help you lose your credibility. And by remaining calm you’ll come across as more sympathetic and sincere on the record (in the event you have to seek an appeal).

In my experience, one truth about litigation is that occasionally you’ll lose cases you should have won (even though you did everything right), and you’ll win cases you should have lost (even though the other side did everything right). Although it’s natural to get worked up over an unfair outcome, I suggest you treat these outcomes like water off a duck’s back. As a result, you’ll be less stressed and a more effective representative for your client.

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Even so, apartment rents are still creeping up—2.4% in March, according to real estate monitoring firm Trulia. Vacancy rates are below 5% nationally, the lowest in a decade. Competition for rentals in cities like San Francisco and New York City remains fierce.

In a competitive market, you might feel like you need to sign over your worldly possessions to score a sweet apartment. Did you notice mold creeping down the bathroom walls? The heater doesn’t seem to be kicking out much warm air? When other tenants are lining up with checks in hand, you may feel pressure to turn a blind eye and take the unit as is.

In fact, a Rocket Lawyer survey found that many tenants may be too slow to document problems, too quick to sign their lease.

View as PDF

Almost two-thirds of renters did not know that written records are the key to protecting themselves, and resolving landlord-tenant disputes. More than a quarter of renters said they did not read through their lease, or did not understand it, before signing. And 11% of tenants did not even have a signed lease agreement.

Needless to say, this can cause problems down the road. Your rent is likely to eat up a huge chunk of your income; add to that the hefty security deposit and last-months rent that you usually have to plunk down before you get the keys, and it’s a big financial commitment. And you could face penalties for defaulting. It pays to know what you’re getting into. 

San Francisco landlord-tenant attorney Michael Bracamontes has three key pieces of advice for tenants to follow, no matter what kind of market you’re renting in:

If there’s one thing a renter should do, it is properly documenting the condition of the unit during the pre-move-in inspection.  Tenants may be quick to check all the boxes saying everything is fine, and landlords will use that against a tenant later or when a request for repair is made.

Renters need to keep in mind that they have basic rights to have their unit maintained in good condition.  A landlord can’t force you to “give up having a working heater” or take the unit “as-is” when there are known problems.  Tenants can demand repairs even if they signed provisions to that effect.

Tenants often worry about rocking the boat and getting asked to leave if they complain.  It is illegal for a landlord to retaliate against a tenant simply because a tenant is requesting repairs.

You can find more information on how to protect yourself as a renter in Rocket Lawyer’s renter center.

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It will all be over soon!

Juggling a newborn baby and a solo practice isn’t easy. I discovered this firsthand after welcoming my daughter into the world this past January.

It was especially difficult for me because I work from home, and I’m what my wife refers to as a “hands on” type of father. In fact, from the first day of her life I was involved in my daughter’s feedings, changing her diapers, putting her to sleep, and going to every one of the numerous appointments we scheduled. Nonetheless, as challenging as it may be, I also discovered that with a little planning it’s possible to make it a little less difficult on you and your practice.

1. Schedule Your Own Maternity/Paternity Leave

There is no such thing as maternity or paternity leave for a solo practitioner. At least not officially. In fact, when it’s your own business it can be incredibly difficult to walk away from everything. Nonetheless, you need to do your best to set up your schedule so that you are able to take some time off immediately following the birth of your new baby. And that’s true regardless of whether you are the mother-to-be or father-to-be. In my experience, even if your partner is planning on taking leave from their place of work, there’s a good chance they’ll need your help too. The first weeks with your newborn may prove to be difficult and trying for both parents. You and your partner will need all of the help you can get—especially from one another.

Start by planning ahead as much as possible. Get ahead on your work to the extent that you are able to. Make the most of the time you have before your little one arrives and tackle projects as early as possible. Meanwhile, be extra judicious about the cases and projects you commit yourself to in the time leading up to the baby’s due date. Now isn’t the time to take on non-essential projects.

Next, don’t hesitate to let your clients, opposing counsel, and judges/mediators/arbitrators/etc know approximately when you’re expecting your new baby. Request that hearings, trials, discovery, and other case events be planned with that in mind. By and large, you’ll find that most of them (yes, even opposing counsel) are decent people and will understand and respect that.

2. Ask For Help When You Need It

It’s almost cliche to say it, but a newborn really is a lot of work. Even if you have a partner who is able to be home full time, you might find that you’re occasionally overwhelmed and overworked. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your colleagues, friends, and family. Ideally, you should identify who you’ll turn to even before the baby arrives. Speak with a colleague who can cover for you in an emergency. Ask a friend or family member if they’d be available to babysit for a short time if necessary. Identifying your options in advance will save you from a lot of unnecessary stress once the baby arrives.

3. Work Whenever You Can—Day Or Night

The first few weeks after your baby is born can be stressful for many new families. Most newborns aren’t adjusted to anything even remotely resembling a normal sleep routine. In fact, they’re often wide awake in the middle of the night, and then nap during the day. To stay sane and avoid sleep deprivation, you’ll probably want to sleep when they sleep and work on those essential projects that you can’t avoid while they’re awake. In fact, for me, it was occasionally most convenient to work during the middle of the night. One night I was up working on my computer at 3:00 a.m. while my newborn slept in my lap. The bottom line is that if you have to work in those first few weeks, you’ll have to fit in that work whenever you can, between caring for your newborn and finding time to take care of your own needs. It won’t be easy, but thankfully it does get easier.

4. Get Out Of The House

Many solo attorneys work at least partially from home. This may be from necessity or peference. Either way, even if your partner is also at home during work hours (or maybe especially if your partner is also home during work hours), you’ll find that you need to get out of the house from time to time to have any chance of accomplishing productive work. Whenever it’s necessary and practical to do so, get out of the house with a laptop and work from a cafe or shared work space—even if it’s only for an hour at a time. Take turns with your partner and/or ask a friend or family member to babysit for an hour or two if possible.

At the risk of repeating myself, I’ll say it again: balancing your solo practice with your newborn isn’t easy. Thankfully, that newborn period is surprisingly short. With a little foresight and planning, you can make things a little easier for your practice and your family.

Parents, share your tips in the comment section.

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Rocket Lawyer founder Charley Moore (center) chats with Bootstrap creator Mark Otto (right).

Rocket Lawyer Senior Designer Kevin Keiper stopped by Everyday Law to talk about the April meetup he organized for designers on the cutting edge. 

More than 250 designers, developers, product managers, engineers and other fun-loving nerds showed up at our offices April 25 to eat, drink, schmooze, and hear about the latest in responsive design from Twitter Bootstrap creator Mark Otto.

We invited them to Rocket Lawyer’s headquarters as part of my Responsive Web Design-San Francisco meetup group, a forum for techie types interested in the next frontier in web development: content that scales seamlessly from desktop to mobile devices.

Mark Otto talks about the importance of designing for mobile first.

Mark, a designer at San Francisco’s Github, created Bootstrap at Twitter with Jacob Thornton as a way to bring some consistency to web development. It’s free and open source.

Bootstrap—as it’s now called—was a breakthrough solution to a problem common to many startups. Designing and coding a site from the ground up is messy, and it often requires recurring elements and best practices. Collecting these common styles and code patterns into a tidy and downloadable toolbox of files can help get a site up and running quickly.

Mark held the crowd’s attention for more than an hour as he talked about the history of Bootstrap and reviewed many features of Bootstrap 3. A key part of the Bootstrap project is being able to configure this toolbox to work on mobile devices—a critical issue for any company with an online presence. Mark talked in detail about how he learned to design for mobile devices first, and then add incremental functionality in order to scale up to desktop experiences.

I started the Responsive Web Design-San Francisco meetup about a year ago out of my interest in responsive design—a relatively new design and development method that incorporates CSS, HTML, and some javascript to create easy navigation across a wide range of devices, from smartphones to tablets to desktops.

As Rocket Lawyer works to fulfill its mission of providing more people access to the law, it’s easy to see why using a solution like Bootstrap is a good strategy. It’s widely supported in the local development community, and it enables rapid prototyping and deployment of web applications for mobile and desktop experiences.

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