The offending (former) lawyer's office was stacked with files, cardboard boxes and, most offensive of all, empty coffee cups.

"If you are a solo practitioner and you don't have a succession plan - an agreement with another lawyer, a letter of instructions to family, or some indication of how to take over your practice at a moment's notice - you could be leaving behind a messy, even tragic, situation," the website warns.

"Many lawyers don't realize that if they die, the burden of closing their practice could fall on their family's shoulders."

Folklaw is personally suspicious of any lawyer who keeps their desk too meticulously neat. When the managing partner does his annual walk around the firm, a tidy desk is a dead giveaway.