 Weekly Community Digest June 4, 2026 | ⚡ This Week in 30 Seconds |
🔥 Community SpotlightIllinois Just Passed a Law That Affects More Firms Than the Headlines SuggestIllinois HB 5487 passed last week during the final hours of the legislative session. The public coverage has focused on Alternative Business Structures and Management Service Organizations -- new disclosure requirements, registration frameworks, things that matter primarily to multi-disciplinary practice structures and legal services companies. But a member who flagged the bill in the community made a point worth paying attention to: the language is broad, poorly defined, and may reach considerably further than the headlines imply. The biglaw carve-out is explicit -- firms billing over $300M annually are exempt. Everyone else in Illinois is potentially in scope, including firms that work with legal service vendors or advise them, not just firms operating as MSOs. If you practice in Illinois -- or if you advise firms or vendors that operate there -- it's worth reading the Holland & Knight analysis linked in the community thread before assuming this doesn't apply to you. The drafting is getting attention for a reason. Read the thread → Members |
💬 Threads of the WeekFinding Named Privacy Representatives for EU and UK Compliance → When does a company actually need a named EU or UK privacy representative -- and how do you find a reliable one? A member sorting out coverage kicked off a useful walkthrough of the threshold question (a non-EU entity, with no establishment in the EU, that offers goods or services to EU residents or monitors their behavior), plus member recommendations for providers who handle the formal representative role in each jurisdiction. A good reference if you have clients selling into Europe. Members |
SEC Compliance for SAFEs: What Is Everyone Actually Doing? → A member asked how the community handles SEC compliance when issuing SAFEs -- whether that means filing a Form D, conducting 506(d) diligence, using questionnaires, or treating it as a non-issue. The practical consensus: most members rely on 4(a)(2) and investor reps built into the SAFE, and skip the Form D. The thread gets more specific around whether relying on reps alone clears the standard of care when an issuer is acquiring an existing business. Good thread for anyone doing early-stage work. Members |
Fractional GC Task Intake: The Client Visibility Problem → A fractional GC running a subscription model posted a real operational problem: they use a task management system to collect requests, but once a client submits a task, it disappears into the internal system. Clients have no visibility into status without asking -- and they ask constantly. The thread turned into a practical tool roundup -- members weighed in on Smart Suite, Monday.com, ClickUp (one member automates client status updates like e-commerce order tracking to cut down on check-in emails), and Assembly, plus one member building a custom solution with Claude. Useful for anyone running a subscription or fractional practice. Members |
All threads above are members only. |
📢 Member Programs & PerksVirtual Coffee Chats Want to meet someone new this month? Join the #virtual-coffee-chats channel to get matched 1-on-1 with another member. If you link up with someone locally, HeyCounsel will cover the coffee. Members | Weekly Meditation & Mindfulness A member facilitates a 30-minute guided community sit every Thursday at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern. Beginner friendly, no minimum commitment -- drop in as you please. Join the #meditation_mindfulness channel to be added to the recurring session. Members |
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👋 Welcome to the PackA couple of the newest members who introduced themselves this week. Say hello in #02-introductions. Members Emily Long · St. Petersburg, FL A newly launched solo (six weeks in) running Long Legal. After a litigation background spanning bankruptcy, construction, and commercial work, she now supports businesses and nonprofits with a focus on the fitness, health and wellness, and life sciences industries. | Josh Hamlet · New York, NY Founder of Clarity Tax Counsel, launched about six weeks ago after nearly five years at an AmLaw 100 firm. Clarity handles federal and SALT tax controversy and planning on a flat-fee model, and he is building audit-defense and compliance software alongside the practice. |
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🏆 Community Win HeyCounsel's first Tech Stack Report dropped this week -- built from data members contributed through HeyCounsel Pulse, the community's survey and benchmarking tool. Members who've been completing the surveys now get the data back in the form of collective insights on how the community is actually running its practices and using technology. Read the Tech Stack Report → |
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🚀 New Client OpportunitiesA small sample of this week's opportunities -- members get access to the full list, plus the ability to submit proposals. See all opportunities → Members |
📅 Upcoming Events | AI Notetakers and the Law (tentative) What lawyers need to know before deploying AI note-taking in client meetings -- privilege, client consent, engagement letter language, and tool selection considerations. Register → |
| Build Your Firm Website with Claude Code A hands-on session on building and launching a professional firm website using Claude Code. No prior coding experience required. Register → |
| Biz Dev Q&A with Megan Senese and K. Adam Bloom A focused Q&A on business development strategies for independent practitioners -- what's working, what's changed, and how to build a sustainable client pipeline. Register → |
| HeyCounsel Book Club: Incorruptible by Eric Ries Monthly book club session on Eric Ries' latest -- a look at how institutions can be rebuilt to serve people rather than protect themselves. Register → |
| Demo and Q&A with MatterFlow Advisors Live demo and Q&A session with MatterFlow Advisors. Details to follow. Register → |
Full calendar → |
⚖️ Why Join HeyCounsel?HeyCounsel is a vetted private community for solo and small firm lawyers. The idea is straightforward: independent practitioners deserve the same resources, relationships, and opportunities that large firms take for granted. Here's what membership includes: | ✔️ New client opportunities and member referrals | | ✔️ Best practices for building AI-native firms | | ✔️ Relationships in a private Slack community of vetted 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 |
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