Hurry - Take advantage of this offer!
Today is the last day to take advantage of the pre-publication offer, to purchase our just-released book, More Secrets of the Business of Law: Ways to Be More Effective, Efficient and Profitable.
If you follow the advice set forth on these pages, you are guaranteed to have happier clients! ... and make more money!
The cost of losing a lawyer
Managing partners of large law firms have told me that the firm incurs a loss of $200,000 to $400,000 for each lawyer that leaves the firm. This figure includes the cost of recruiting and training, among other costs.
Continue Reading...True cost of blogging is at least $20,000 per year
Thanks to Larry Bodine for highlighting my June article about the true cost of blogging.
Alternative Fee Billing - Shared Risk
Ed Poll interviews attorney Rick Simses on the subject of alternative fee billing. They discuss sharing the risk of a matter with the client... what it means and how it should impact the client's fee.
RO transforms Best Buy
I was listening to an interview of a Best Buy management person talking about their RO program. This Results Oriented program, started by Best Buy in 2002, has transformed the company's performance.
The program is still in the experimental stage. But preliminary results are astonishing.
What is the program? Tell management teams that they no longer have to worry about hours; they will not be paid based on the hours they work. They can take off during the middle of the day to see their kid's soccer game, go to a doctor, or contemplate their navel.
They will be paid based on performance! Is the job getting done? Have they fulfilled their commitment to the company and to the other members of their work community? These are the factors that are important to the company.
The person interviewed said that the performance has improved significantly as measured by any and every standard possible. People no longer look at the clock. They focus on the job, the quality of the job and the satisfaction of their "customers," the people for whom the work is being done.
When I heard this interview, I thought of "value billing" and client satisfaction. We see more and more examples in industry how to improve the relationship between the company and the work environment, between the employee and the customer. Sooner or later, law firms will have to change their business model to reflect this advanced thinking in industry.
LawBiz Tips published
The July issue of LawBiz Tips has just been published and can now be seen at www.lawbiz.com.
Business Competency for Lawyers got an airing in today's webinar
Lisa Solomon today hosted a webinar where I presented on the topic of the Business Competency of Lawyers. More than 60 people signed up for a new experience. Technology is great when it works. :-)
No one had to leave their office. And anyone with a question could ask it immediately. Great experience for me as the presenter and my thanks to both those who joined us and to Lisa for managing the webinar process.
For those who missed the program, it will be available within two weeks after the post-production process is completed. If interested, contact edpoll@lawbiz.com for further information.
What Do Huge Multi-National Corporations Look for in Outside Counsel?
Let's take another look at what general counsel are searching for when they hire outside law firms. This time, Thomas S. Brooks, Vice President of AT&T Law & Government Affairs, shares his views on the subject.
Does size of law firm change marketing efforts for lawyers?
The question was asked, "What is the difference in the marketing activities of large and small firm lawyers?"
To be effective, irrespective of the size of the law firm or the firm's marketing activities as a whole, each lawyer must establish his/her expertise to entice a prospect to become a client. This is done in many ways including, but not limited to (the former lawyer in me just came out), writing, speaking, using the internet and sometimes advertising (in any medium that is cost effective), among other modalities. And, with this expertise, each lawyer must create a personal relationship with the prospect before he/she becomes a client.
Factoids of interest
A law firm was held to be a public figure. A law firm sued a legislator for defamation when the legislator said the law firm received exhorbitant, unauthorized amounts of money for work they didn't perform and that the firm also exceed political contribution limits to a particular legislator. The politcally connected law firm was held by the state court to be a public figure which required that the law firm must meet an actual malice standard, thus making plaintiff's case harder to prove. Read more about this in the current edition of ALM's Small Firm Business.
In today's USA Today, their survey shows that patient (you can read this as client) satisfaction is of greater concern in 2006 (51%) than in 2005 (44%). I suspect that the same trend is true for the legal profession (even if the numbers are different).
In "Talking Tech," the Wall Street Journal reports on a Microsoft study. The study suggests that productivity improves by 9% when workers have 3 monitors on their desk and can have various pieces of information they need immediately available on the screen as they work, without having to minimize the current screen and looking for additional information. An interesting conclusion. Of course, while productivity may increase, what about the cost of increased real estate? That is, to have 3 monitors on the same desk at one time, each worker will likely need a larger desk which means a larger office. Will this increased cost offset the savings of more technology?
Chew 'em up and spit 'em out! The Flaw
Ashby Jones writes in the July 10th edition of the Wall Street Journal an article entitled, “Survey Says: How Three Law Firms Aim to Boost Associate Satisfaction.”
His article on law firms’ associates’ satisfaction was interesting. However, until the business model of the large law firms changes, there will be no change in the satisfaction of associates with their law firms. It really is irrelevant whether one large firm scores a little better than another. Very few associates from any of the large law firms is satisfied.
Continue Reading...Selling a law practice for a fixed sum: Smart or not?
Question: When buying a law practice, why should I pay any price that is not calculated on a percentage of the revenue that actually is produced from that practice after I take charge?
Continue Reading...
