Shifting focus, I now turn to an under-emphasized yet imperative consideration, judicial philosophy. This aspect’s importance is evidenced in the fact that court’s decisions can change with the composition of that court. Maintaining my emphasis on contract law I shall focus primarily on the Indiana State Court System. I shall, however, incorporate limited discussion and review of the United States Supreme Court. In my future post I shall discuss:

• General overview of the court systems
• Specifics of the Indiana State Court System
• Philosophy of Indiana judges
• Discussion of each Indiana Supreme Court Justice and their philosophy
• Present day philosophy of the Indiana Supreme Court in reference to contract law
• Discussion of each United States Supreme Court Justice and their philosophy
• Present day philosophy of the United States Supreme Court in reference to contract law

Maintaining my focus on my previous post discussion of The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), I focus now on certain techniques that can be employed while networking. The first step is to attend the events where networking will occur. Finding a calendar of events can satisfy that requirement. The AFP calendar provides numerous events to choose from. One such upcoming event is the National Philanthropy Day, which lends itself well to networking. A next natural step would be to acquaint yourself with the membership of the organization, this to can be done by browsing the company’s website. For AFP they have a succinct listing on their member directory, which you have to login to access. Other tips for networking can be viewed at
· http://www.marketingforsuccessstore.com/networking.html
· http://www.indybar.org/lawrefer.cfm

As I mentioned in my previous post, selecting your firm’s clientele is essential. If such efforts were directed towards not-for-profit organizations then the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) may be of interest. I am a member and treasurer of the Indiana – Purdue Fort Wayne Collegiate Chapter of AFP. As cited from AFP’s about us page AFP has “27,000 members throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China working to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs.” This organization could prove valuable as a networking/clientele booster. Marketing your skills solely to the organization’s members would provide a substantial list of potential clients. In addition, you will be able to network through the members to their corporations and their personal/professional acquaintances. Other sites of interest pertaining to lawyers networking for clientele include: 1) http://www.netaff.com/legal/networking.htm 2) http://www.rrrlawpractice.com/cayne2.htm

After your firm is incorporated and you are an official business the next step is developing a clientele. This step is vital to a successful law firm. Understanding who your firm will service will allow for specific marketing and reduced cost. Will your firm service: the indigent or high-end clientele, corporations or the general public, plaintiffs or defendants, etc? This does not exclude overlapping clientele; rather it promotes the superiority of a general idea as opposed to attempting to cater to everyone. Bearing this in mind, the question then becomes where does one begin? Organizations are a great start, because they have large groups of individuals with similar interest. In addition, members of these organizations can network on your behalf. Again, narrowing my focus to just contract law I will focus on specific organizations for illustrative purposes. The larger, less controversial, organizations will best serve this need. My next few posts shall focus on specific organizations and their potential as clientele boosters.

No information herein should be construed as legal advice. This blog is established as a research project conducted by a non-lawyer for course credit. I shall first narrow the scope of this blog to consider the necessary steps I would take in beginning a law firm. After developing a mission and vision statement I would research which company structure would best suit my company’s needs. Writing assistance for a vision and mission statement can be found from several online sources including The Grantsmanship Center and/or YourBusinessPal.com, to name a few. After completion of the mission and vision statement I would be better positioned to decide what form my law firm would take. Options, which are outlined in greater detail at INbiz, include:
Sole Proprietorship
General Partnership
Corporation
S-Corporation
Limited Liability Company
Limited, Partnership
Limited Liability Partnership Though helpful these limited definitions require a supplementation, which can be found online at nolo, CompaniesIncorporated, or by visiting Dictionary.com. Once the structure is decided upon the next step would be filing with the state of incorporation (state your practice will be located within). For the sake of conciseness I shall examine only Indiana based law firms conducting in-state business.

I have created this research blog as a part of a course assignment in my Business and Administrative Writing class. After completing my Associate of Science in Paralegal at Ivy Tech State College – Fort Wayne in fall 2005; I began and continue working towards my Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs with a concentration in Legal Studies anticipated spring 2008. After which time, I plan to attend Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis. While attending IU Law School I will concentrate in Constitutional law; Civil Liberties; Contracts; and Wills, Trust, and Estate Planning. This blog shall focus on the steps necessary and resources available for beginning a law firm. Such resources include links to Walker Clark, LLC Business Advisors and Counselors to the Legal Profession, and IU Law School Employment Statistics to name a few. This site seeks to be a serious resource when leaving law school and/or beginning a law firm.