Going solo has been a satisfying experience. Off the top, I will not lie - I do miss the fantastic support of the law firm environment, and the daily interchange with a smart and savvy cast of characters (although not too much, as I left my last firm on the best of terms and they continue to send good appellate work my way regularly). But the do-it-yourselfer inside of me has been in DIY heaven the past few months.

Every aspect of the practice has been mine to control. Sure, I could delegate a lot more to outside vendors than I do, but if you have the vision for something, and some semblance of ability to pull it off professionally, why not take the reins as much as possible? This website is a hybrid example of that, of course. I took those pictures in my top banner of the Louisiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Fifth Circuit courthouse, and I wrote all of the content on the website, but I knew that, to maintain the professional appearance I envisioned, I needed a good graphic and website designer to put the photos into a graphic and to tie the content together in a smart website design (see KC Web Concepts, my New Orleans-based web designer). I also knew what I wanted as far as a blawg of updated appellate decisions important to Louisiana and Fifth Circuit attorneys, so, even when it’s in the middle of two big briefs and an impending vacation, I have slogged through to generate the case summaries each day and post them up. The rewards, in exposure for my practice and availability of resources to my colleagues, have been tangible.

Of course, when you’re doing it yourself, certain things might not always be as smooth as possible. One example of that has been the dearth these past months of a photo of yours truly on the attorney bio page. I didn’t want to outsource that little thing to an outside vendor. After all, I have a nice camera and a past life as a freelance photographer, and I knew how I wanted the picture to look. All I needed was the time and the lighting to do it. So months pass, people comment about my physical invisibility from the website, but now the picture has been taken, and it is up.

If there are other features that anyone believes would be helpful to have on the blawg or the website, please comment and let me know. And many thanks, as always, for stopping by The Bartlett Blawg, and for turning to The Bartlett Law Firm for your appellate needs.