UpCounsel

Further down the road, UpCounsel says that it plans to launch its own branded law firm.

* Madonna has been sued over claims that this “material girl” has been showing up late to concerts. [Billboard]

* UpCounsel, the website that matches lawyers with clients that need projects completed, has announced that it will be shuttering on March 4th. [ABA Journal]

* A Minnesota personal injury lawyer is in hot water for allegedly conspiring with chiropractors to defraud insurance companies. [Star Tribune]

* The attorney for a woman charged with busting through Mar-a-Lago checkpoints claims his client is mentally unwell. [Associated Press]

* Judge Deborah Batts, the federal judge tasked with overseeing the New York criminal trial of Michael Avenatti, passed away yesterday at the age of 72. [NBC News]

Why do solos and smalls find themselves in a perpetual state of catch-up?

Many businesses have no simple way of finding reasonably priced attorneys they can trust. That's where UpCounsel comes in...

A comprehensive overview of current alternative, potentially disruptive, legal services delivery platforms.

Columnist Gaston Kroub, Biglaw partner turned boutique firm founder, tries out a new service for finding clients.

Small-firm columnist Carolyn Elefant questions whether new technological platforms cure the most significant problem that deters some lawyers from representing very small business clients.

* According to Altman Weil, law firm merger mania is on pace for record highs as firms desperately attempt to stave off financial problems by gobbling up smaller firms’ clients. [Am Law Daily]

* The NCAA better watch its back: Jeffrey Kessler, the Winston & Strawn partner who helped bring free agency to the NFL, wants in on the potential case for unpaid college athletes. [Bloomberg]

* Lawyers doing regulatory work are very afraid that the shutdown will decimate their fourth quarter billables because “[t]he longer it goes, the more problematic it will be.” Yay government. [Reuters]

* GrayRobinson partner Philippe Devé is in need of a bone marrow transplant, and his firm is using its social media presence to crowdsource a donor. Will you lend a helping hand? [Daily Business Review]

* UpCounsel has successfully raised $1.5 million in funding to beef up its international patent practice, proving the point that it costs a pretty penny to protect clients from the world’s patent trolls. [TechCrunch]

* Law schools in New York State are feeling the pain of the drop in applications, and some are now willing admit that their graduates had to start “cannibalizing each other” in the job market. [New York Law Journal]

* But really, so what if applications are down? Lots of law schools consider themselves lucky to be keeping the lights on with the assistance of generous alumni donations in the millions. [National Law Journal]

* Another day, another “diploma mill.” Sorry to disappoint you, law students and alumni, but Charleston School of Law is moving forward with its plans to sell out to the InfiLaw System. [Post and Courier]

* Who’s bad? Not AEG Live. A jury made up of people unable to answer yes or no questions during the reading of the verdict found that the concert promoter wasn’t liable in Michael Jackson’s death. [CNN]

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How did law firms of various sizes fare financially in 2012?