University of Maryland Law School Project

"Demonstration Law Office" Model

The University of Maryland School of Law efforts actually started prior to the conception of the Law School Consortium Project. A core group of five solo practitioners had been regularly meeting with two former directors of the Law School Clinical Law Program to explore how a network of affiliated solo practitioners might come together to “do good while doing well.” Michael Millemann then began conversations with Chris Glen, Dean of CUNY, about this idea, and the consortium was born. The Maryland project became a reality when Civil Justice, Inc. was created, (it was developed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation), its board of directors selected, and the Project Director hired. Unlike the CUNY and Northeastern models, the Maryland model was initially developed as a Demonstration Law Office in conjunction with a network of practitioners. Unlike the other models, the Maryland model is housed outside of the Law School.

The network grew slowly at first but word-of-mouth referrals led to its growth. Its current size is about 40 attorneys. In the early stages of the network, participants engaged in a dialogue leading to the adoption of a mission statement that calls for a commitment to increasing access to justice to low and moderate-income individuals. Members are expected to commit to this mission statement and are expected to have email and Internet access and to check their email on a daily basis.

The specialty areas in which network members practice include: consumer, wills and estate planning, family, real estate, personal injury, lemon law and auto fraud, products liability, worker’s compensation, administrative law, elder, and alternative dispute resolution.

In addition to the core group of practitioners, faculty members from the Economic, Housing, and Community Development Clinic, representing local community organizations, serve as a tremendous positive influence in terms of bringing members. The Maryland model includes scheduling meetings once a month. Meeting locations vary as the membership spans a large geographic area. Meetings usually involve substantive law presentations or practice tip discussions. Members in the southern part of the state hold meetings regularly on their own in addition to the official monthly meetings.

Services and Resources Provided: The services and resources provided by Maryland are as follows:

• networking and peer technical assistance;
• mentoring;
• practice management assistance;
• substantive law training;
• access to a listserv;
• reduced price legal products and services [1]
• a client referral service;
• marketing services and opportunities [2]; and
• mediation training. [3]

As a means to generate income to support the continuation of the attorney network, project members voted to institute membership fees. The annual fee schedule is $0 for lawyers in the first year of their own private practice, $100 for the second and third years in private practice, and $300 thereafter. In addition, the Project Director and members are looking into the possibility of the project becoming a bundler and reseller of services at discounted rates. By purchasing services in bulk on behalf of its members and reselling them with the addition of a small fee, the project could bring in additional income, while nonetheless providing network members with discounted services.

According to the Project Director, as a result of their participation in the network, participants identified the following elements as essential to establishing economic viability:

• the need to narrow their practice to focus on specific practice areas, understanding that they cannot be all things to all clients; the day of the jack-of-all-trades lawyer is gone [4];
• the need to say “no” to cases that are outside their expertise or are too big to handle; and
• the benefit of networking with other lawyers to help build their practices.

One faculty member commented on the fact that for some network members, participation in the network helps to clarify, strengthen, and confirm their career goals.

[1] The project provides members with access to discounts for such services as online legal research, continuing legal education programs, time-keeping software, and malpractice insurance.
[2] Members are able to include marketing information on the project’s web site, as well as links to personal web sites, when applicable.
[3] Members were given free access to the Law School’s summer mediation course that led to mediator certification in the State of Maryland.
[4] Network members gradually began to narrow their practices and to focus on one or more areas of law rather than attempt to be jacks-of-all trades. The network, thus, became like a virtual law firm with members specializing in different areas and able to refer casework back and forth. In fact, one network member stated: “In essence, it’s like being part of a large firm, but still maintaining your independence”. The Project Director began to recruit members with an eye toward those practitioners who would be able either to bring in a new practice area or geographic diversity to better serve the community and to enhance the marketing of network members’ services.