LOMA queries run the gamut

by KATHLEEN O. BEITIKS
Staff Writer

LOMA was just a vision in the early 1990s when bar officials became concerned that thousands of solo practitioners were operating their offices with virtually no support system.

Solo practitioners account for more than half of the lawyers disciplined by the State Bar, they are involved in almost half of the disputes that go into the fee arbitration program and they are more likely to be defendants in malpractice actions than lawyers in large firms.

The bar contracted with Professional Consulting Group Inc. (PCG) of San Francisco to provide services to the state's 120,000 active lawyers with funding from unallocated revenues of the Lawyers' Education and Development Fund.

Currently this fund receives approximately $500,000 in annual revenue, which represents a percentage of the premiums paid by insureds in the bar's professional liability and insurance program. Estimated annual costs to operate LOMA amount to about $187,000.

Since LOMA became available in November 1995, there have been close to 600 calls to the hotline (1-800/YES-LOMA).

About one-third of the calls come from attorneys who say "I'm going out on my own -- what do I do?" said Dan Bodner, program director of PCG.

Included in that number are attorneys who were recently admitted to the bar, attorneys launching their own practice after working in the corporate world and lawyers who obtained a law degree some time ago but only recently became interested in doing something with it.

In many instances, attorneys are looking for a list of resources to get them started in their practice or just for reference material.

One of the most popular publications available, said Bodner, is the American Bar Association's publication, "How To Start And Build A Law Practice," by Jay Foonberg. And LOMA refers clients to a similar publication dealing with opening a new law practice published by the California Young Lawyers Association.

Another frequently requested item is a State Bar manual on client trust funds.

About 13 percent of LOMA calls have been software related. "They're all over the board," said Bodner. "Some attorneys want programs with calendars or time and billing options and lots of other little categories."

Another 20 percent of calls come from attorneys who have heard about LOMA "and want to know what we do." Those calls, said Bodner, usually migrate into specific questions or involve an explanation of the fax-on-demand service.

The remaining 35 percent is a "hodge-podge" of questions dealing with everything from how to collect fees and how to structure a partnership to what to do with client records.

Once in a while LOMA gets a bizarre question, such as the attorney who wanted to know how to get refugee status for some Guatemalan clients.

"But we're not into doing legal research," said Bodner. Occasionally, staff members will do some extensive research if a particular law office management question comes up more than once. For instance, said Bodner, locating office personnel salary surveys became a priority when a few attorneys began asking for a guide to structure a pay scale for their employees.

They were looking for some sort of salary guide and had no idea what was considered the norm, says Bodner. LOMA staff did some research and found an organization to help with that data.

In addition to the hotline, LOMA has a management audit and an educational component. For its auditing segment, LOMA has allocated 25 slots for attorneys interested in having a professional check their office books.

The $500 charge includes a half-day on-site visit to a solo practitioner's office, prep time and a final report. Every additional attorney in the practice adds another $100 to the fee.

The bar also plans annually to refer another 25 attorneys to LOMA who have found their way into the discipline system and need some hands-on guidance to steer them in the right direction, preventing some serious problems down the line.

As for the educational component of LOMA, Bodner said occasional seminars will be held throughout the state, the most recent of which took place at the bar's section education institute in Monterey last month.

At that meeting, LOMA presented seminars addressing Internet legal research and resolving the most frequently asked law practice questions.

[MAIN MENU][CALBAR JOURNAL] The California Bar Journal - June, 1996

LOMA queries run the gamut

by KATHLEEN O. BEITIKS
Staff Writer

LOMA was just a vision in the early 1990s when bar officials became concerned that thousands of solo practitioners were operating their offices with virtually no support system.

Solo practitioners account for more than half of the lawyers disciplined by the State Bar, they are involved in almost half of the disputes that go into the fee arbitration program and they are more likely to be defendants in malpractice actions than lawyers in large firms.

The bar contracted with Professional Consulting Group Inc. (PCG) of San Francisco to provide services to the state's 120,000 active lawyers with funding from unallocated revenues of the Lawyers' Education and Development Fund.

Currently this fund receives approximately $500,000 in annual revenue, which represents a percentage of the premiums paid by insureds in the bar's professional liability and insurance program. Estimated annual costs to operate LOMA amount to about $187,000.

Since LOMA became available in November 1995, there have been close to 600 calls to the hotline (1-800/YES-LOMA).

About one-third of the calls come from attorneys who say "I'm going out on my own -- what do I do?" said Dan Bodner, program director of PCG.

Included in that number are attorneys who were recently admitted to the bar, attorneys launching their own practice after working in the corporate world and lawyers who obtained a law degree some time ago but only recently became interested in doing something with it.

In many instances, attorneys are looking for a list of resources to get them started in their practice or just for reference material.

One of the most popular publications available, said Bodner, is the American Bar Association's publication, "How To Start And Build A Law Practice," by Jay Foonberg. And LOMA refers clients to a similar publication dealing with opening a new law practice published by the California Young Lawyers Association.

Another frequently requested item is a State Bar manual on client trust funds.

About 13 percent of LOMA calls have been software related. "They're all over the board," said Bodner. "Some attorneys want programs with calendars or time and billing options and lots of other little categories."

Another 20 percent of calls come from attorneys who have heard about LOMA "and want to know what we do." Those calls, said Bodner, usually migrate into specific questions or involve an explanation of the fax-on-demand service.

The remaining 35 percent is a "hodge-podge" of questions dealing with everything from how to collect fees and how to structure a partnership to what to do with client records.

Once in a while LOMA gets a bizarre question, such as the attorney who wanted to know how to get refugee status for some Guatemalan clients.

"But we're not into doing legal research," said Bodner. Occasionally, staff members will do some extensive research if a particular law office management question comes up more than once. For instance, said Bodner, locating office personnel salary surveys became a priority when a few attorneys began asking for a guide to structure a pay scale for their employees.

They were looking for some sort of salary guide and had no idea what was considered the norm, says Bodner. LOMA staff did some research and found an organization to help with that data.

In addition to the hotline, LOMA has a management audit and an educational component. For its auditing segment, LOMA has allocated 25 slots for attorneys interested in having a professional check their office books.

The $500 charge includes a half-day on-site visit to a solo practitioner's office, prep time and a final report. Every additional attorney in the practice adds another $100 to the fee.

The bar also plans annually to refer another 25 attorneys to LOMA who have found their way into the discipline system and need some hands-on guidance to steer them in the right direction, preventing some serious problems down the line.

As for the educational component of LOMA, Bodner said occasional seminars will be held throughout the state, the most recent of which took place at the bar's section education institute in Monterey last month.

At that meeting, LOMA presented seminars addressing Internet legal research and resolving the most frequently asked law practice questions.

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