Imagine after a late day at the office you venture to your parking garage only to find your car sitting there drained of its energy. In need of a tow, you begin looking for your AAA® membership card and rediscover that there, on the back of your driver’s license was a toll free number for free roadside assistance. In that instance, you are reminded that having access to the right resources is key, and often the right resources are closer than you think.

Cost effective solutions are particularly important for building and maintaining a thriving solo or small firm law practice in today’s economic climate. Whether you are a young associate in a small firm, a mid-career attorney for whom the economy has spurred the decision to go into solo practice, or a recently licensed attorney who has resolved to “find a way or make one” in the practice of law, you may have use for a guide to some of the resources that can enhance your practice in a cost effective manner. To that end, here are a few resources to enhance both the legal and business aspects of the solo or small firm practice. Much like the free towing service listed on the back of your driver’s license, many of the resources are free programs or benefits that are available to all attorneys licensed by the State Bar of Texas.

LEGAL RESEARCH
There are many free legal research sources that are just a mouse click away. Some of the more notable resources, FindLaw, Justia, and the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell University Law School, provide free access to case law, statutes, regulations, and other practice area resources. Justia includes a blawg search feature that provides a digital dashboard display of the most recent postings of various blogs arranged by jurisdiction or subject matter. Justia also provides a regulation tracker and an RSS subscription service to receive updates of new decisions from the United States Federal Courts. Practitioners may also find the practice management and marketing resources available on FindLaw valuable. (www.justia.com, www.lp.findlaw.com, and www.law.cornell.edu)

Google recently entered the legal research market by adding legal opinions and journals to its Google Scholar internet search engine application. Blawgers have lauded features of the search application such as the straightforward web-based format that allows for efficient mobile access as well as the “How Cited” tab that links users to additional materials that cite or have similar fact patterns to the case you are interested in.[1] But much like its traditional search engine, Google Scholar’s results are often clouded by a number of false hits that appear unrelated. (http://scholar.google.com)

The State Bar provides its members with CaseMaker 2.1 free of charge. The service includes materials from all 50 states and many federal courts. CaseMaker also includes a CaseCheck function which links users to additional case law. (www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/HOME.ASP)

For a more traditional brick and mortar approach, take advantage of the resources available at the Harris County Law Library or one of Houston’s three law school libraries. (See www.co.harris.tx.us/law/, www.law.uh.edu/libraries, www.tsu.edu/academics/law/library/index.asp, or www.stcl.edu/library/libhome.html). Perhaps two of the most valuable resources at each of the libraries are the librarians and the free access to LexisNexis Shepard’s citations service.

INSURANCE
Health insurance is at the forefront of the minds of most Americans these days. Some solos often believe they need to forego health insurance as they build their practices. However, health insurance is just one of the policies that should be included in the solo practitioner/small firm practice risk management arsenal. Others include term life insurance, disability insurance, and professional liability insurance. Assessing your level of risk and the level of your deductible are the first steps to evaluating the appropriate plan for you.

The Texas Lawyers Insurance Exchange (TLIE) has provided legal and judicial malpractice insurance to Texas Attorneys since 1979. TLIE offers comprehensive, basic and special basic policies. Such policies are tailored to attorneys who have been licensed for three years or less, work on a part-time or contract basis, or need limited coverage to qualify for participation in programs such as the Houston Lawyer Referral Service. (www.tlie.org). A helpful checklist of things to consider when purchasing liability insurance is available at www.abanet.org/legalservices/lpl/downloads/checklist.pdf.

As recently reported in the Texas Bar Journal, the State Bar of Texas Insurance Trust has worked for more than 60 years to provide members of the Texas Bar with access to health, life and disability insurance.[2] As an added feature, Texas firms with 2-50 attorneys/employees are eligible for health insurance coverage without having to provide evidence of good health. (www.sbotit.com)

Similarly, members of the American Bar Association can access term life, disability, excess medical and professional overhead insurance through the American Bar Endowment. The service has the added feature giving back to the community by financially supporting legal research, public service and educational projects. (www.abendowment.org)

COURT SERVICES
“Get Online, Not In Line” is the unofficial motto of the Harris County District Clerk’s Web services portal which now provides automated and efficient access to case information and records. Services include an enhanced records search service for reviewing documents that have been filed in the Harris County civil, family or criminal courts and a link to e-filing through one of the six approved electronic filing service providers for the State of Texas. Attorneys may submit their vacation letters and order official copies of court documents through this website. www.hcdistrictclerk.com. Additional docket inquiry tools may be accessed through the following link, http://apps.jims.hctx.net/courts/. See also, www.ccl.hctx.net/attorneys/default.htm.

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Practice management software can enhance the productivity of any firm, particularly when the system integrates time and billing programs with document and calendar management.[3] Implementing a practice management system into your practice may even reduce your malpractice premium.[4] Two of the more popular options are Amicus Attorney and Clio. Amicus Attorney offers a small firm package that starts at $499 per year for a single license; annual technical support and maintenance are an extra $295 and $280 per year. When integrated with Amicus Accounting, Amicus Attorney creates a complete front and back office solution with tools to manage communications, track time and deadlines, generate bills, and perform full accounting and general ledger functions. Amicus Attorney is a traditional software service that is installed locally on your computer or server, whereas Clio is a software as a service (SaaS) web-based application. For $49 per month per attorney, Clio offers most features that are common in practice management software along with online bill payment for clients and unlimited data storage that offers the added security of offsite data backup. Additional information about these and other practice and case management software as well as a comparison chart of their costs and features can be found at the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center, at www.abanet.org/tech/ltrc/charts/casemanagementcomparison.html.

Other helpful resources for managing your practice are available through the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Committee (www.abanet.org/lpm/home.shtml) and the Law Practice Management Program of the State Bar of Texas (www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/LMHome.asp and http://lpm-newsletter.blogspot.com ). The Houston Bar Association also has a Law Practice Management Section that provides CLE and networking opportunities (http://www.hba.org/folder-sections/sec-management.htm).

DISCUSSION BOARDS AND OTHER RESOURCES
Perhaps one of the most important resources for a solo or small firm attorney is another solo or small firm attorney. The Solos Supporting Solos group, founded by attorney Jimmy Brill, offers its members an opportunity to build a solo network wherein another attorney can often provide just the right insight for a challenge that you may encounter in your practice. For information, email andrews_lynne@att.net. SoloSez™, an American Bar Association listserv for solo and small firm lawyers (www.solosez.net), My Shingle (www.myshingle.com) and Build a Solo Practice at Solo Practice University (http://buildasolopractice.solopracticeuniversity.com) offer alternative avenues for information exchange from more seasoned solo and small firm attorneys. You may also want to check out the GP Solo magazine for additional resources and information on beginning or building your practice. Electronic versions of past issues of the magazine are available for free at www.abanet.org/genpractice/magazine/past-issues.html.

Chandria T. Jackson is an associate in the litigation section at Powers & Frost, L.L.P.

Endnotes
1. See http://www.netforlawyers.com/content/google-makes-free-caselaw-search-available-scholar. Last accessed on January 5, 2010. For a more detailed summary of Google Scholar’s features, please see http://www.llrx.com/
features/googlescholar.htm. Last accessed on January 5, 2010. 2. Solo/Small Firm: Resources for Attorneys in Hard Times, 72 TEX. B. J. 592 (2009). 3. See. http://legalease.blogs.com/legal_ease_blog/2009/07/do-lawyers-really-need-practice- management-software.html. Last accessed on January 9, 2010. 4. Havener, Kathleen B., “Geronimo!”—Or How I Become a Sole Practitioner, 36 Litigation 22, (2009).