HeyCounsel Newsletter
Posts
This Week in HeyCounsel (April 29, 2026)

This Week in HeyCounsel (April 29, 2026)

HeyCounsel Pulse is Live! Finally, get data on how your peers build and run their firms. Plus: CIPA + ADA drama, a website redesign workshop, an AI notetaker webinar, and more...

Brian Scherer
April 29, 2026

HeyCounsel Weekly Community Digest

Weekly Community Digest

April 29, 2026

Client
Opps

Questions
Answered

Upcoming
Events

Join the Pack

⚡ This Week in 30 Seconds

→ HeyCounsel Pulse is Live. We just launched HeyCounsel Pulse -- a new benchmarking tool inside your HC dashboard. Complete the first two modules (Your Practice + Your Tech Stack) and see how you compare to your peers. See the announcement • Complete Pulse

→ Of Counsel Rates: What's the Going Rate? What do you pay a senior attorney brought on as Of Counsel for a few hours a week? Flat hourly vs. percentage of billables -- members broke it all down. Read the thread Members

→ Superhuman's AI Voice Dictation. A member called it a game changer -- two minutes of talking replaced 30 minutes of drafting. Thread turned into a broader roundup of AI dictation tools members are actually using. Read the thread Members

→ NYC Dinner -- May 14. A member-organized dinner is coming together in New York City. 13 confirmed so far. If you're NYC-based, jump into the #nyc channel. Read the thread Members

🔥 Community Spotlight

HeyCounsel Pulse is live -- go see where you stand

We built Pulse because we kept getting the same question: how do other members do it? Billing rates, team size, what software they're actually running. Good data is hard to find for independent practitioners. So after the community survey we ran at the end of 2025, we built something to fix that.

Pulse lives inside your HeyCounsel dashboard. You fill out survey modules -- right now there are two: Your Practice (billing, revenue, capacity, hiring) and Your Tech Stack (tools, vendors, software). Once we hit 30+ responses on a module, the benchmarks unlock and you can see how your answers stack up against peers. Your answers stay anonymous. You get real numbers from people who run practices like yours. Go fill it out.

Complete Pulse →

💬 Threads of the Week

Of Counsel Rates →

What's the going rate for a senior attorney (10+ years) brought on as Of Counsel at 3-5 hrs/week on a 1099? The thread surfaced a range of models -- from flat hourly to percentage of billables (1/3 to 1/2). One member flagged that the percentage-of-billables model can raise ethics issues around fee division depending on jurisdiction. Members

AI Dictation Tools Members Are Actually Using →

One member said two minutes of talking replaced 30 minutes of drafting. That kicked off a full roundup of AI voice dictation tools members are using day-to-day. Practical, specific, and worth bookmarking. Members

CIPA + ADA: A New Demand Letter Combo →

A member flagged that some plaintiffs' firms are now combining CIPA/cookie/pixel claims with ADA website accessibility complaints in the same demand letter. The tactic is new enough that it hasn't been tested at the motion to dismiss stage. Worth knowing about. Members

All threads above are members only.

🚀 New Client Opportunities

These are the public opportunities only -- members get access to many more, plus the ability to submit proposals.

1. Trademark Name Search and Filing for a Start-Up

2. Pre-IPO Liquidity Counsel: SPVs, Forward Contracts, and Creative Structures

3. Defense Counsel Needed: Commercial Lease Breach Lawsuit

4. Franchise Attorney Referral: Multi-Entity Investment Structure

5. Employment Attorney Needed: Pre-Litigation Ownership Dispute

6. AI-Assisted Contract and Policy Review for a Services Company

7. Litigation Counsel: Founder Separation and Equity Dispute

See all opportunities → Members

Want access? Apply to join

📅 Upcoming Events

TUE

HeyCounsel Claude Hackathon Day 2 (Demo Day)

Teams present what they built. Come see demos live.

TUE

AI Notetakers and the Law

What you need to know before hitting record in client meetings.

WED

HeyCounsel Tech Lab Demos (monthly)

Members show off what they're building and testing.

THU

Redesign My Firm Website (Workshop w/ Claude Code)

Hands-on session rebuilding your site with Claude.

TUE

Demo and Q&A with SignWell

Live walkthrough of a modern e-signature platform built for legal teams.

Full calendar →

⚖️ Why Join HeyCounsel?

HeyCounsel is a vetted private community for solo and small firm lawyers. Independent practitioners get the same resources, relationships, and opportunities that big firms take for granted. Here's what membership looks like:

✔️ New client opportunities and member referrals

✔️ Best practices for building AI-native firms

✔️ Relationships in a private Slack community of peers

✔️ Exclusive discounts on tech & services, including Spellbook, GC AI, and more

✔️ Hundreds of member-contributed templates

✔️ Free CLEs, educational programming, and mastermind groups

✔️ Private demos, hackathons, and in-person events

Apply to Join HeyCounsel →

Have a great week,
Brian