When gas prices and unemployment soar, so too does the value of our business.

You know, when you run a business that actually delivers value for a reasonable price, it can flourish, even in the worst economic times.

Consider these stories:

A student wanders through the law school hallways, and comes face-to-face with one of our instructors. The two discuss promissory estoppel and the rule against perpetuities briefly. The student then drags the instructor to the nearest ATM and says, “tell me exactly how much to withdraw in order to get you to spend the afternoon teaching me about future interests”.

And then this….
A student asks our billing manager to bill his credit card for several hundred dollars. “For what?” the manager asks. “For services I know I’ll use in the future. I want to make sure that money is earmarked for your services and I don’t want to take any risks.”

Why are we sharing these stories? To gloat? Never. To show the world that we don’t need no stinkin’ stimulus package? Well, maybe.

We really share these stories to remind everyone what business is really about. We appreciate our clients for who they are, and we appreciate every dollar they choose to spend with us. We work our asses off to deliver value to each one of them. And the result? We achieve the kind of customer loyalty that automotive companies, healthcare providers, and supermarket chains can only dream of. And we’re damn proud of it.

Wiregrass Weddings – wedding programs and more!

Finally I’m posting!  I’ve been putting this off for WAY too long. Several months ago, I was tasked by the other authors of the myunderwire blog with giving a brief introduction of myself and my business! I am not a writer and I don’t like to “brag” about myself, or my business — so I’ve dreaded doing this for some time!

I am however, good with website SEO, marketing and general business — and I have lots of ideas that I would like to share on the blog related to those topics, so I guess I’ll get this intro over with so that I can move on to the stuff that you may really find useful! Elura said that I’m a non-nonsense business woman, which I think is funny! I’m really a peace-maker (in my own mind), so I think it’s funny how my personality comes across to her. As you probably already know, we all met in February, 2010 in Houston, Texas at a conference for women business owners. We were all in a business competition together and out of that competition, we have made friends with each other. We meet online weekly to share our business related struggles, ideas and sucesses (with loads of humor mixed in too). It’s been such a blessing to have these women in my life for the past year to learn from and to share with.

I’m Laurie Chapman, owner of Wiregrass Weddings. I started my business in 1999 from a spare bedroom in a tiny town in southeast Alabama. We struggled along for several years. Two kids later, I finally figured out how to bring in money from outside of my area via the internet. I’d had a website for a while, but never knew how to promote it. It was cluttered with a bunch of “junk” and was not user-friendly at all.

We totally revamped the site, got it search engine friendly and then started growing, growing, growing. My business specializes in printing wedding invitations, wedding programs, wedding menus, wedding napkins, table numbers, place cards, thank you notes, and party invitations.  Today, we have been in two storefronts and now we are back in my yard in a brand new building that my husband and I built ourselves.  People ask me why I don’t have a storefront, but frankly I like being at home.  I can keep one eye on my kids and dogs and the other on my business.  The majority of my customers live in my computer, so I’m not “wasting” time chit-chatting with little ladies about random things when I could be working.  But, best of all — I work in my pajamas until lunch.  So, if you are local, want to make a appointment and don’t have a preference, I’ll schedule you after lunch!

So that’s what I do and a little about me! I’ll get into the good stuff next time!

Why Charlie Sheen should sue, but why you shouldn’t

What’s good for Charlie Sheen isn’t necessarily good for the rest of us.

But you knew that already, didn’t you? No, I’m not going to lecture you about the wisdom of getting into a periodic tenancy with a bunch of hookers. But I am going to point out the difference between Sheen’s employment lawsuit and yours.

Here’s the basic deal:

Charlie Sheen, like many actors, has a contract with CBS to perform on the sitcom with Duckie. ”Having a contract” with CBS means that if Sheen decides one day to stop working because he’s had all the one-liners he can stand, he’ll have to endure a few more until the end of the season. It also means that if he goes on a bender (no, not Charlie!) and ends up in inpatient rehab for a month, that CBS can probably sue him for failure to perform his side of the contract. And CBS might be able to do more than just not pay his inflated salary. CBS might even be entitled to compensation for any domino-effect damages that happen as a result of his failure to do his job.

But most likely, the same does not hold true for you and your employer.

Most employees are “at-will” employees. That means that either party can end the relationship at any time, for any valid reason. (No, “valid” doesn’t mean that your employer suddenly hates your race, but it might mean that your employer suddenly hates your face). If you quit your job tomorrow, your employer can’t force you to keep on working. And if you get laid off because your employer just prefers to give your salary to its CEO as an annual bonus, then that sucks for you, but you probably can’t successfully fight it.

So getting back to first year contract law…

Charlie’s obligation was to act in the TV show.

CBS’s obligation was to continue to produce the show and pay Charlie for his acting.

Judging from CBS’ ratings and the information available to the general public, Charlie performed on his obligation…. which brings us to…. yup…. you guessed it… BREACH!

I know, I know. It just seems distasteful to say that an obviously manic habitual drug-user who hangs out with hookers and drips with tiger blood should win any lawsuit. But sorry, folks. That’s just how it goes.

And remember. What’s good for Charlie isn’t necessarily good for you. That goes for dating practices, parenting practices, use of hotel rooms and pretty much any post-Ferris Bueller decision.

School supply review- Wow-that-was-fast!

We pride ourselves on our fast and friendly service!

Check out this review of our school supply program!

http://tanyerhide.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/wow-that-was-fast/

I really think law schools could learn something from Nordstrom

It’s amazing, really. The business of running a law school seems, in many ways, to be the polar opposite of running any other business. At Lawyer Up, we know that giving perks and freebies to our clients is an important part of showing people that we care about them. And when we have an opportunity to get a freebie for our clients from another source, we’re thrilled to pass it along. But not law schools!

When we’ve offered free seminars to law schools across the country, half of the schools refuse our offer. And it’s not just our offers that are being refused. Law schools approach everything with a kind of skepticism that basically blocks its students from any outside-the-doors contact. You’d think that once a school verified that we’re legit, that it’d be happy to pass along a freebie to its students, in the same way that Nordstrom is happy to pass along perfume samples to its shoppers.

Shouldn’t the law schools be doing all they can for their students? I mean, if there’s a way for them to get their students discounts or freebies for anything, shouldn’t they be doing that? Wouldn’t the alumni be more willing to donate money if their alma maters helped them with buying a car, leasing an office, or tailoring a suit?

That brings me to a comparison:

Nordstrom versus Law School.

At Nordstrom, the customer (the person paying) comes first. Whether you’ve opened your wallet for a $15 scarf or a $1500 jacket, the staff thanks you for your business and kisses your ass a little on the way out.
At law school, you pay $40,000-60,000 a year, and they act like they’re doing YOU a favor. The only asses that get kissed are those of the professors, and the same people expected to pony up the 40 Gs are expected to pucker up when necessary.
At Nordstrom, if you bring back a sweater, you’ll get a refund. Even if you didn’t buy that sweater there.
At law school, they’ll kick you out in January and not give you back a penny of your money.
At Nordstrom, they have free valet parking for shoppers. Employees park in the back lot by themselves.
At law school, professors get free parking, but students pay $500 a month.
At Nordstrom, they extend credit to you if you’d like to shop there, but can’t really afford to.
At law school, your lack of funds are your problem. If you run low, you can expect a blank look from the bursar’s staff.
At Nordstrom, they seem to get that you’re choosing to spend your money there.
At law school, they’ll brainwash you into believing that they decided on you, not vice-versa.

Honestly, I think the entire mentality is nonsensical. Law schools spend a ton of time on their “capital campaigns”, which is their fancy way of saying “your $200 grand wasn’t enough and we want more of your money”. If its true that the school is floundering because $65,000 in tuition isn’t enough to keep things running smoothly, then perhaps they should look internally. Perhaps they could save a bit by paying professors with a two-day workweek only $120,000 instead of $150,000. Or if alumni contributions are mandatory, perhaps they could start the ass-kissing before the alumni become “alumni”. Wouldn’t that be revolutionary? A school could walk around the counter, shake your hand, and say “thank you” when you write them a six-figure check.

I know that’s what keeps me coming back to Nordstrom.

Really, Florida?

So yesterday, I was watching CNN to see what’s happening in the world… and apparently, the answer is: jackassery.

Apparently, the Florida legislature is spending its time dreaming up unnecessary law, just for the fun of it.

Back in July, a pediatrician, during a routine well-visit, asked a child’s mother whether guns were kept in their home. When the mother refused to answer, citing that “guns have nothing to do with health”, the doctor told her that she had to find another pediatrician. Naturally, the Florida legislature cannot stand by while doctors act so irresponsibly. And the only appropriate response was certainly to draft a law that makes it a FELONY for any doctor to even inquire about gun ownership. The law goes on to set the penalty as up to five years in prison or a fine up to $5,000,000.00. Yep. I’m serious. Under this law, a doctor would be put in jail for asking about gun safety, or for refusing to treat patients who won’t answer gun-safety-related questions.

Last I checked, doctors weren’t buses, and they didn’t have to accept every patient that comes through their doors… but I was intrigued by this case, so I listened intently as a proponent of the law explained his reasoning.

According to the Florida Congressman, this law is absolutely necessary to protect people’s “right to privacy”.

Mmm hmm.

It would be great if professional lawmakers had an understanding of the American government akin to, say, your average tenth-grader… but hey, who am I to criticize?

Here’s the thing, jackasses…. You don’t have a “right to privacy” with respect to private individuals. Americans DO have a “right to privacy” with respect to government interference. You know that whole Bill of Rights thing? Yeah, well in the First Amendment (yes, that’s the freedom of speech one, but stay tuned), it has some language that, over the years, has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to create a right to privacy. That means that if the Federal Government makes a law that intrudes on a private matter, that law will usually be struck down. What counts as a “private matter” changes over time, but traditionally, has encompassed things such as sex between married people, contraception, abortion and schooling one’s children. Not to get overly technical, but because of the 14th Amendment, state governments also have to play by the rules when it comes to making laws, and they too have to stay away from making laws that abridge privacy too much.

So, yeah… what part of a doctor asking about guns has anything to do with the “right to privacy”? Unless the doctor was some sort of agent of the state, the First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this situation.

I wonder how the Florida legislature would feel about my neighbor asking me what kind of birth control I use. Would that also be a criminal offense? Or how about if my friend asks me how much money I have in the bank? Jailtime? Really?

People ask private questions all the time. If you don’t like it, don’t answer them. It’s that simple. If they choose not to be your friend after you refuse to answer, then tough noogies. That’s how you learn what questions to ask and not ask. It’s called Social Darwinism, folks. Those who learn how to interact have friends, and those who don’t end up being eaten by cats.

And hey, guess what else? We already have this whole civil law system that allows you to sue someone who’s done something to invade your privacy in such a way as to cause you damages. If someone digs into your dirt and somehow hurts you as a result, you can always sue them for the tort. It’s pretty unlikely that you’d win a tort lawsuit based on a doctor’s asking you questions for the purpose of protecting your kid’s safety – but hey, if the question alone somehow causes you to suffer physical injury or economic damages, sue away!

So what, exactly, then, is the point of this Florida law? According to the Congressman, it was to “discourage” doctors from asking such intensely personal questions as “do you keep a loaded gun within reach of your toddler?”. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Let’s discourage doctors from asking whether you have a fence around your pool, whether you use a car seat, whether you have lead paint in your house, and whether you smoke next to your newborn. In fact, why stop there? Let’s also prohibit doctors from asking questions about your kid’s eating habits, sleeping habits, and toilet habits. That way, you can walk in to a pediatrician’s office, have him diagnose your two-year old without any input at all from you, and you can leave with a prescription for Amoxicillin, Accutane and Aderall. Privacy is clearly the paramount concern when dealing with medical diagnoses.

Whether you agree that doctors should ask about guns or not isn’t really the issue here. My point is this: if the gun lobbyists can afford to get this law put on the books, why can’t they afford to hire someone who understands the American legal system to back it up?

So… you want your kid to be a lawyer when she grows up?

So did my parents. And all my friends’ parents. Of course, our parents weren’t entirely inflexible… we were also free to become doctors if we so chose. If we really begged, we’d be allowed to become Pulitzer-prize winning authors, or Nobel Laureates… but that was only if the whole doctor/lawyer thing didn’t work out.

So I took the road more-traveled. Five million standardized tests later, I was a law student. That’s where I met Michele – Brooklyn-born daughter of a bus driver — who shared my passion for success and my hatred of jargon. As law students, we suffered together, and as practicing attorneys, we sought justice together. As you may suspect, justice-seeking doesn’t exactly pay off those student loans, so eventually, we moved on to larger, more mahogany-filled offices in private law firms.

And then, we learned the cold, hard truth: being a lawyer is no fun at all. In fact, most people hate their lawyers. While our relatives glowed with pride at Thanksgiving dinner, our coworkers were nasty, greedy, and most of all, painfully dull.

For a while, we wondered if this dreariness was simply our destiny. Maybe one day, we’d evolve into great lawyers.

And on that day, we’d look in the mirror and find that we’d also turned into balding, gray-haired old men in navy blue suits, who have giant trust funds, kids from four marriages, and not a true friend in the world.

But we were not to be discouraged. After all, our parents told us that the life of a lawyer would be great, dammit. So, we decided to make it great. We thought about our best achievements: completing law school, passing the bar, becoming educated, and understanding the American legal system. We loved those accomplishments, and what we loved even more was helping other people attain their own accomplishments.

And so, Lawyer Up was born. We created a business that was born out of friendship, and determined to inspire everyone we meet. Now, we create the much needed bridge between law professors and law student students. We are mentors, cheerleaders, coaches, and therapist for every students that comes before us. Their successes are our successes. And now, we’re bridging the gap between professionals and the law itself.

Going to law school wasn’t a mistake. Neither was becoming lawyers. But now, instead of filing motions or deposing witnesses, we use our knowledge to inspire others. We have become living proof that education is irreplaceable.