The College of Law Practice Management sponsors the InnovAction Award to identify and honor innovation in law practice management. The application deadline is June 1st.
The future of the legal profession
With the Australian class action law firm going public, and non-lawyers being allowed to invest in law firms, one must wonder what the future of the legal profession portends.
Continue Reading...Law school education - Is balance the issue?
The Association of American Law Schools has approved the creation of a new Section, Balance in Legal Education, designed to improve legal education and create a better balance between law school education and law practice.
Solo lawyers aren't alone ...
In the “Musings of a Dinosaur,” the doctor discusses his hospital re-credentialing application and the dilemma of a sole practitioner.
He says, among other things, “‘Solo’ means ‘alone.’ No other medical professional in the office. No one. How can anyone fill out a form like that (asking for another doctor’s confirmation of competence, a sort of peer review) meaningfully? Oh, I can probably find a buddy somewhere to sign it and send it in, but this whole episode has got me thinking about several things.
“I know I am competent; that I keep up to date; that my charts are wonderful, my patients love me, and my outcomes at least average. At least I think I know this. I believe it, at any rate. But realistically, with no one else in the office (short of an actual observer coming into the office, watching me interact with patients and auditing my charts), how can I prove this?”
How can a professional prove competence? And why is it that professional organizations appear to focus on eliminating the sole practitioner or at least making it economically far more difficult to practice in the solo setting?
Are lawyers in a different boat? See Carolyn Elefant’s recent discussions concerning the plight of the sole practitioner (lawyers) and my discussion concerning The State Bar of California’s new malpractice insurance effort that will impact sole legal practitioners more than “BigLaw” practitioners.
Technology often makes work more difficult
The New Yorker , May 28, 2007 edition, discusses the impact of our new gadgets, our new technology.
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle. This spiral of complexity, often called ‘feature creep,’ costs consumers time, but it also costs businesses money.”
Continue Reading...Law firm goes public
No longer is there a debate about whether a law firm is in business. It is clear that the answer is yes!
In Australia, a class action law firm has filed an IPO. This is the first for a law firm following new legislation in Australia that allows firms to raise funds on the public markets and allows non-lawyers to invest. A similar bill is under consideration in the United Kingdom.
While safeguards must be in place to prevent non-lawyers from practicing law, why shouldn't they be allowed to invest in law firms just as they do in other professional service or manufacturing entities? As the proverb suggests, "these are interesting times."
Is he really a lawyer?
To qualify as a lawyer in most States, one needs to graduate from law school and then pass the bar exam. (There are some exceptions.) Nothing unusual about this.
Coaching receives more support
Tom Kane discusses my article about coaching that appears in Law Practice Today, the American Bar Association's electronic magazine. The coaching concept is getting greater attention. Read Tom's comments about what the coach can do and what to look for. The importance and duration of the process has been noted in many sports stories. Here is a post about the use of coaching in sports that I wrote earlier, as well as other posts on the topic of coaching including the ROI and the business case for coaching!
Receptionists can make or break the day
A receptionist can cause great damage to a law firm! Or, a receptionist can be a shining light that clients look forward to talking to when they call. Such goodwill cannot be purchased! Such a staff-client is one of the best marketing tools available to a law firm. Too few lawyers understand this.
Continue Reading...How Should Law Firms Track Finances?
There are two basic methods for keeping track of law firm financial performance: accrual and cash accounting. Accrual records income irrespective of whether cash has been collected, and reflects billings, work in progress (completed but not yet billed) and accounts receivable (work billed but not yet collected). Cash accounting, on the other hand, reflects only collections, never billings or work in progress.
Deal or No Deal
Paraphrasing the popular NBC television show, defense counsel are increasingly coming to believe that the California State Bar (and its prosecutorial trial counsel) is less willing to bargain plea settlements with lawyers today than in the recent past, according to Amy Yarborough, Los Angeles Daily Journal Staff Writer (May 9, 2007).
Poll inducted into Hall of Fame
Ed Poll graduates from the Million Dollar Consulting College™ Graduate School and has been inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame.
We are proud to announce that Ed Poll is one of only 14 consultants in the world to have completed the inaugural Million Dollar Consulting™ Graduate School held in Naples, Florida in April 2007. “These people represent the finest talent in the profession,” noted Alan Weiss, Ph.D. who conducts the Colleges three times a year. “They are the best of the best in terms of methodology, integrity, client satisfaction, and contributions to the profession. And they are highly innovative, as attested by their enrolling the first graduate school of its kind.”
Five outstanding consultants from diverse disciplines have been inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame.
Recycling computers
Russ Ruffolo discussed recycling computers and related equipment in our podcast. The Wall Street Journal, in its April 11th edition, also discussed equipment manufacturers' offers to recycle their own equipment. Check Dell, Lenovo, HP and others. If these don't work for you, listen to Russ.
Recycling Electronic Equipment
Ed Interviews Russ Ruffolo, Asset Recovery and Recycling Coordinator of MRK Group LTD in Elgin, Illinois. Though based in Elgin, his company's focus is national. Russ will talk about recycling electronic equipment. In California alone, 6,000 computers become obsolete daily! And 680 million computers will become obsolete within the next few years! What happens to them? Russ will discuss the importance of recycling, the methods of recycling and what to look for.
14 minutes, 21 seconds
3.4MB
Financial planning for law firms - Metrics for success
Wesst LegalEdcenter will be presenting a teleseminar on the topic of financial planning and metrics for reviewing profitability. Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT
Unless there is a specific goal, one usually expressed in a number, there can be no goal. It’s been said that unless something can be measured, it has no value. Yet, when talking about creating a financial plan or a budget or, sometimes, even a strategic plan, there frequently comes a glaze over lawyers’ eyes. “That’s something for someone else to do, not me.” Yet, it’s this financial component that let’s us know whether we’re successful. How else could we tell? By the amount of money in our bank account? Yes, but how do we know whether that amount shouldn’t or couldn’t have been more? What is our benchmark?
This program will answer these questions.
Fixed fees gain acceptance
Buying legal services is generally compensated, still, by the hour. But, according to Wall Street Journal writer, Ashby Jones, on May 2, 2007 (Marketplace Section) says that technology now permits law firms to gather cost information in greater detail than ever ... and thus permits them to determine what it cost to deliver those services. With this, law firms are more willing to enter into fixed fee arrangements.
Some General Counsel, responsible for their company’s legal expenses, are interested in fixing the fees in order to be able to budget for their department’s expenses. Cisco, for example, has more than 70% of its annual $125 million legal budget under fixed fee arrangements.
Continue Reading...Technology in Human Terms
Today, I had the pleasure of listening to Fred Lederer, Professor and Director of the Center for Legal & Court Technology and the Courtroom 21 Project.
I had heard of this project for many years but this is the first time I've been in it ... a marvelous example of future thinking, applied to today's world. Prof. Lederer made some very interesting observations:
Continue Reading...
