nursinglawbandit

Its Not Direct TV: Pay Your Licensure Fees

I don't like to pay my Bar dues and my RN renewal fee, but I have to if I want the privilege of practicing law and nursing. See this ad in the Columbus Dispatch about 1100 lawyers who haven't paid the $350 registration fee. http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/11/07/ATTORNEYS_NAILED.ART_ART_11-07-07_B1_3S8D7R6.html?sid=101.

This year, I paid Ohio ($350), Indiana ($110), Kentucky ($285), and Ohio RN ($65). I used to wait until a day or two before the deadlines to mail my payments but not anymore. My livelihood depends on my ability to practice and I don't pay licensure renewal fees late. I never pay Direct TV in a timely manner. 

Licensure renewal fees are placed in between my two most important monthly bills, my cell phone bill and mortgage. I also calendar the deadlines for renewal on all four of my calendar systems. 

What systems do you use?

Ancillary Businesses for Attorneys & Law Firms

There is an interesting article on the ABA Journal Law News Now website about law firm ancillary business practices. See http://www.abajournal.com/news/law_firms_selling_off_ancillary_businesses/.

In addition to having a law firm, I also have a consulting firm, The Healthcare Risk Aversion Group, LLC that offers medical-legal consulting services to the healthcare community. I offer legal CE for nurses and expert witness services.

While I have no plans to sell off or dissolve my consulting firm, the far majority of my time is spent practicing law and not consulting. When I started my LLCs in 2001, I assumed that it would be my consulting practice that took off and blossomed, not my law practice.

My bread and butter is my law practice and my representation of nurses before the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana Boards of Nursing. I do have a few ideas for my consulting practice that I plan to launch in 2008 and pitch to hospitals and other large nursing employers.

I launched the Ohio Directing RN and LPN-IP Professional Services Contract in 2007 through my consulting firm.

The headache associated with an ancillary practice is navigating the ethical canons and complying with the attorney marketing and advertising rules. The same rules that apply to law firm marketing apply to ancillary businesses owned by attorneys.