With Earth Day just having passed, and the trend being to “Go Green,” it seems lawyers might start jumping on that bandwagon. I’m not talking about digging up new clients in the cleantech industry Im talking about actually practicing in an environmentally conscious manner and maybe… saving a little green in the process (bad pun intended).

After searching a bit there doesn’t seem to be much information out there about green lawyers. I’m not sure if that means there aren’t any, or that they just aren’t bragging about it. Either way its not a bad idea for lawyers to start thinking about how they can help save the planet. The paper lawyers go through alone must be sending us, warp speed, into global warming.

Some green business practices lawyers (and everyone else) should start putting into play: electronic files – stop printing everything out!, Recycle – if you do print, recycle it! Even if you have to shred it first, buy green products such as paper made from recycled products, and provide incentives to employees who conserve water and energy around the workplace.

Contact an attorney in your area for any legal needs and convince them to go green. LawInfo can help you find one.

Deciding to file for bankruptcy is a difficult decision. Although some bankruptcy claimants are deemed as credit abusers and/or considered financially irresponsible, many individuals and businesses can succumb to financial difficulty and face irreparable economic crisis. Bankruptcy is designed as a legal option to help resolve such a crisis, and act as a financial life preserver for those drowning in debt. The most common reasons for filing for bankruptcy are unemployment, large medical expenses, overextended credit and other large unexpected expenses.

LawInfo has expanded its free online national directory to include experienced and qualified bankruptcy attorneys. These attorneys are a part of LawInfo’s signature service, the Lead Counsel Program, which provides pre-screened bankruptcy lawyers through a simple, 2-click accessible attorney directory. The Lead Counsel Program has resulted in the enhanced screening of attorneys’ credentials and has become a symbol of quality assurance for consumers searching for legal representation.

In addition to providing access to qualified, Lead Counsel bankruptcy and foreclosure attorneys throughout the nation, LawInfo’s legal resource center (LRC) can also help the public locate qualified legal experts nationwide– including bail bondsmen, expert witnesses, private investigators, court reporters, process servers, paralegals and litigation funders. Further, LawInfo has created the largest interactive legal forum with over 1200 message boards as a resource for the Internet community. The boards provide an opportunity to research information and share commentary on a multitude of legal topics.

LawInfo has also expanded its free online legal resource center to include a comprehensive legal blog–incorporating interactive polls, providing access to volumes of legal archives and keeping a live feed on breaking legal news that is updated around the clock. LawInfo has produced online videos that take the mystery out of the legal process by breaking down complex legal problems into clear, easy-to-understand solutions. These “How-to” videos provide information on a variety of legal topics in all major areas of law, including bankruptcy, foreclosure, family law, estate planning, criminal law, business, and labor and employment.

For over a decade, LawInfo’s mission has been to assist the public in locating qualified attorneys and legal services. LawInfo provides marketing packages for attorneys and legal professionals crafted by a team of specialists that integrates web design, content development and internet marketing with targeted traffic-generation tactics. LawInfo is staffed by experienced legal industry professionals and their corporate offices are located in San Marcos, California, just thirty minutes north of San Diego.

Internet scams happen everyday, but one latest scam is targeting lawyers, specifically attorneys who handle debt collections.

This Internet scam starts with a solicitation, primarily through e-mail, from a seemingly legitimate foreign company looking for legal representation for their North American customer(s). Once an attorney agrees to take on such work, the foreign company lets the attorney know that the debtor in question has become aware that they have hired a U.S. collections attorney and has agreed to issue repayment. In a few days, the contracted attorney receives what appears to be a legitimate cashier’s check from a U.S. bank, and deposits the check into a trust account. When it appears the cashier’s check has cleared, the lawyer sends the debt amount (minus his processing fees) via wire transfer to the bank account supplied by the foreign company. Once this wire has been deposited, the scam is complete, and according to bank officials, nothing can be done to retrieve the money.

How this scam really works is that scammers know how to delay confirmation that the cashier’s check is fraudulent by changing the nine-digit MICR lines at the bottom of the check. And banks often make funds “available” to good customers; i.e. reputable law firms, before a check has cleared—even though technically, there is no money in the account yet. By the time it is discovered that the check is no good, the wire has usually been sent, and the lawyer is left empty-handed.

If you are an attorney who has been contacted by what looks like such a scam, report the incident immediately to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. For more information, click here.