Darling Hill

Dear Faithful, Sporadic, and First Time Darling Hill Readers,

I need your help! Please! Last Friday, the entry period closed for the incredible Darling Hill Giveaway for a Lifetime Scholarship to Solo Practice University (value $595+/yr!). Thanks to Susan at Solo Practice University ("SPU"), the savvy lawyer/founder behind the "school for lawyers" that's rockin' the legal profession, Darling Hill was able to offer one of the coveted 100 SPU lifetime scholarships. If you don't know what Solo Practice University is about, go here to read more and discover why lawyers and law students are over the moon with SPU.

I've narrowed down the list of contest entries to 5. I've done the first round of dirty work. Trust me, it was dirty...so, so difficult! I wish everyone could win!

Now, it's your turn. Roll up your sleeves and read the 5 entries below and vote for your favorite on the Left Sidebar Poll. Entries are listed in no particular order. The poll closes on Wednesday, April 15th at midnight (hey, one person is bound to have a sweet tax day).

added 4/8/09: Please vote honestly. If the polling log indicates illegitimate voting activity scores will be adjusted accordingly.
added 4/9/09: If two people attempt to cast votes from the same IP address, the poll may show that a vote has already been cast. If this sounds like your situation, and you are unable to vote via the poll, please leave a comment to this post listing your choice if you have not already voted. Voting relies on the honor system.

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ENTRY # 1 - LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS...

I am a 47 year old law school graduate (NYLS 1993) who has never taken
the bar exam. I've been working for the past 15 years in a variety of
corporate and teaching positions, and in addition currently run my own
business providing research and writing services to small businesses.
Due to the difficult economy, the school where I have taught at for
the last five years is closing, and my position has been eliminated as
of this month.

It has always bothered me that I never took the bar exam, but as John
Lennon said "life is what happens while we're making other plans."
Having discovered the Solosez e-mail list many years ago (which led me
to SPU) I find reading about solo life and contributing where I can to
be very enjoyable, and it is these resources that have convinced me to
follow the solo path after I take the Pennsylvania bar exam this July.

I can think of no better mentor for my upcoming journey than having
access to SPU and the community that is developing around it, and I
thank you and Susan both for your time and most importantly the
contributions you make to the solo community.

ENTRY #2 - PRIORITIES CHANGE

Thanks for this fantastic opportunity. Absolutely love it! Here is my entry:

Priorities change. Mine sure did. Throughout college and into law school all I wanted was a corporate-power-suit career with its accompanying accoutrements. Our plan included children, but in the abstract and not for a very long time. I sit here typing this, 3 weeks away from finishing my second year of law school, pregnant with my first child, and absolutely over the moon about it. Words cannot describe how thrilled I am, but a change in priorities necessitates a change in plans. The corporate career I had envisioned is now unsustainable, and I won’t miss it.

I’d like to share an anecdote to illustrate why I need the lifetime scholarship to SPU. Last summer while interning for a federal judge, I overheard two middle-age attorneys discussing whether or not to have a web page for their law firm. I was flabbergasted because after all, this was 2008! They agreed that a website wasn’t necessary, since their clients already knew where to find them. I was thinking to myself that no one in my generation would take their firm seriously without a well-designed website. Eventually clients of their own generation will die or cease needing legal services and these attorneys will be left out in the cold. While I certainly don’t wish any misfortune upon them or anyone else, I want to prove to them and others like them that leveraging technology (not just websites) can make law practice easier, more efficient, while maintaining an adequate level of professional competence. I need SPU to help me learn how to do that. Technology is an incredibly important and underutilized piece of the puzzle that makes balancing a rewarding career and family life possible.
I would like to win the lifetime scholarship to Solo Practice University because it is magnificent what a community of visionary people can create. I feel almost giddy. I would be honored to be a part of that community. Additionally, my law school offers a few paltry courses geared towards law practice management, while the curriculum is overrun with theoretical, impractical, and in-depth courses, which are of course, interesting, but of little practical use to the blossoming solo!). SPU’s time has come; it is needed now more than ever; I need it now more than ever.

I’m ready to begin the journey to solo practice and the rest of my life. A life where the important things matter.

ENTRY #3 - SOMETHING IS MISSING

Although incredibly thankful to have a job given the economy, I have increasingly felt that something is missing from my life.

My goal has always been to be a good provider for my family and to be part of their lives as they grow and develop. I am generally able to provide material things that make their life easier. But, given the demands of life in a large law firm, I don't routinely connect with them in ways that show them that I am willing to give them my greatest gift: my time spent focusing on them. Knowing this also keeps me from feeling as fulfilled as I know is possible.

As a result, these circumstances have caused me to think much more about establishing my own law practice to achieve a greater sense of independence and fulfillment. Sometimes it's difficult to determine if such a plan is a dream or a nightmare. Should I wait until the economy improves or I have enough money saved or the children are further along in school, etc., before I can begin launching myself toward my goals? I have concluded that there is no reason to delay at least putting myself on the path to my goals. There is no reason to wait to act on my dream or discover something new about myself that ultimately leads me to be happier in life and in the law.

From what I've learned about SPU, it looks like an ideal launch pad for my dream. It is designed to be a place where the faculty and students can connect, learn and acquire the practical skills that will serve an entire career in the law. The experience is designed to be a shared experience with a common goal: empowering lawyers to become solo practitioners and enriching the lives and careers of these lawyers.

Thus, having identified SPU as a great way to achieve my goal of launching and maintaining a career as a solo practitioner, it would be a privilege to win a lifetime scholarship to SPU. Regardless of the outcome of this contest, I wish SPU all the best for a successful and exciting future.

ENTRY #4 - WHOLE FAMILY LAW PRACTICE

I was thrilled to read on your site of this additional lifetime SPU scholarship opportunity. Indeed, if I were to receive a scholarship, it makes perfect sense that would be through a contest on your site; the very reasons I want to be a solo practitioner and a student at SPU stem from my experiences as a parent and my desire to be at home while practicing law.

As a solo practitioner, I want to create a practice that not only allows me to work flexibly so that I may parent full-time, I also want to create a law practice that incorporates, rather than marginalizes, my experiences as a mother. I want to market my “whole family law” practice to families with children, including families of children with special needs, and GLBT families, emphasizing the understanding that I bring to my work as a parent, along with the green, social justice and child-centered values that inform my practice.

At SPU, I have the support I need to create just such a practice – from branding to blogging, to home-office technology, to running a paperless office, to balancing work and family life, to in-depth substantive training and more. Unlike the competitive tenor of law school, I greatly appreciate that everyone at SPU – from the founders to the phenomenal instructors to the students – is invested in seeing everyone else succeed. Perhaps most importantly for me, at SPU I have all of this in a flexible format that allows me to learn at my own pace and on my own schedule (and with a chickenpox-covered, sleeping toddler on my lap, as is the case tonight).

I should note that on the day SPU opened its doors, believing no other scholarship opportunities would be available, I paid this year’s tuition in full, resolving to find the funds somewhere in my family’s very tight budget. As I have been incredibly impressed by the program, and know that SPU will play a critical role in the development of my practice, I remain committed. However, a scholarship for this year would certainly ease our financial strain. More importantly, I can already see that the program will continue to be of benefit to me as I develop as a solo practitioner. A lifetime scholarship would enable me to sustain my commitment as a student and community member for many years.

Thank you again for this opportunity,

ENTRY #5 - FEAR

Having my own practice has always been one of those dreams that I never thought I would have the courage to actually pursue. I work in house, and have approval to moonlight. So I have decided to take the plunge. I am so afraid of putting myself in debt and in a worse financial situation than I am now, that I am not making the investment I need to in order to market, grow, and succeed. This extends to Solo Practice University. It is a community I want to join, and I have seen classes that look fascinating, but I feel gripping fear to commit financially.

I believe that a few positive experiences early in my solo practice will shape how I go forward. I have positioned myself to offer a service that is not being provided currently to the client group. But is that enough? I see how SPU will give me insight into the new way to succeed as a solo, and give me a network that wants me to succeed.

It's really a matter of reinventing ourselves, isn't it? In order to stand out, we need to be in the small group that is innovating, rather then staying in the large crowd that is maintaining the status quo. I see SPU as the doorway to that innovation. A scholarship would take away the fear of joining this cutting edge group, and let me wander from the well worn path, allowing me to realize the dream, and find the courage to actually do something that others tell me I am crazy to try.

There, I've talked myself into joining. The scholarship would be lagniappe (as we say in New Orleans).

Thanks for considering me.

Congrats to these 5 finalists.... winner of the SPU Giveaway to be announced after the poll closes.

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VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SUBMISSION IN THE UPPER LEFT COLUMN POLL
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