The death of a satirist - and more
Bill Strauss, the creator of Capitol Steps died at the young age of 60 years. Not only was he and his troop fabulous satirists, Bill was also an author who focused on generational differences. I first was introduced to the Capitol Steps at an ABA gathering in Washington, D.C. I couldn't remember when I had laughed so hard.
Without knowing his connection to the Capitol Steps, I invited him to be a keynote speaker at my Managing Partners Roundtable’s Diversity Conference in 2006. During his presentation, he talked about his theory of “5 generations.” Paraphrasing him, he said that every 4 (5?) generations repeats itself. The first generation creates a new world, the 2nd generation sustains this new world, the 3rd generation enhances or expands or grows the world, the 4th generation destroys the world and the 5th generation starts with a new world again. While my paraphrase clearly does not do Bill Strauss’ comments justice, the concept of “history repeating itself” is important. Bill said that one can trace and support this theory merely by looking at the history of the world.
With his theory, he drew certain conclusions about the differences among today’s generations, what we call the generation gap. His comments resonated well with the managing partners, the partners and the younger associates in our audience of more than 200 lawyers.
With increasing longevity, and therefore more generations co-existing than ever before, it’s essential that we understand these issues if we’re to cooperate and continue to grow as a society. With his death, we have lost an important contributor to this conversation.
Getting Paid to Complete the Cycle
The business cycle of practicing law includes getting the client, doing the work and, finally, getting paid.
David Leffler, in GPSolo Magazine (Oct/Nov 2007) suggests that there are five stages to paying a lawyer’s bill:
1. Denial – Client says this couldn’t be my bill, the charges are too high.
2. Anger – Client says lawyers are way too expensive for what they achieve.
3. Bargaining – Client seeks to negotiate a reduced fee with the lawyer.
4. Depression – Client doesn’t contact you and is unavailble for your calls.
5. Acceptance – When Client sends you a check that clears the bank.
David talks about the importance of the beginning of the lawyer-client relationship. I agree. The intake process is what essentially sets the tone of the relationship. In my opinion, your success in the intake process at the beginning will determine your success in collecting your fee at the end.
For more about suggestions about lawyers' collections efforts, see my book.
Succession planning is essential to success
What do we mean by success?
In my mind, whether your law firm can survive the departure of the firm’s leader is a critical element of success. The “leader” may be the primary rainmaker, the managing partner or the sole practitioner who has built significant goodwill over his/her years of practice.
One study shows that “...only about one-half of public and private corporate boards have CEO-succession plans...” Even fewer law firms have succession plans.
Stephen Miles, managing partner of a leadership consulting practice, said “‘Succession planning is often done looking at the rear-view mirror ... when it should be done looking out the front windshield.’” (WSJ, page B1, November 26, 2007)
When writing Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Planning for Law Firms, the executive directors in our group realized that our focus was on business continuity, not just recovery. And continuity requires succession planning ... In one event, the succession will come naturally by aging; and in another event, the succession will come suddenly, without warning! Will you be prepared in either event to continue your law firm into the next generation of leadership?
How to Stay Away From The State Bar
In a recent interview, Scott Drexel, Chief Trial Counsel for The State Bar of California, made the following suggestions to stay away from trouble with The State Bar:
1. Know the rules of professional conduct of your State. For example, in California, whenever there is a complaint against an attorney, he/she has a duty to cooperate with the investigating body. To me, this sounds like a violation of one’s Fifth Amendment rights; but, failure to cooperate is analogous “obstruction of justice” and is a separate violation of the rules. Also, settling a malpractice action cannot contain a provision for withdrawal of a State Bar complaint without becoming a separate complaint by itself. I think many attorneys would fail the quiz if these questions were on it.
2. Supervise your staff. Failure to supervise your staff properly has become a major issue in California. Too often, staff is deemed to have “practiced law” by their actions – a clear violation of the rules.
3. Create a law practice management plan. More than 50% of all complaints against attorneys have a connection to the management of the office. Failure to pay attention to The Business of Law® will cause much grief for the lawyer.
4. Communicate! Failure to respond to clients is still the number one complaint against lawyers. A 1994 Oregon Bar study showed that confidence in one’s lawyer as evidenced by their responsiveness is more important than the results achieved. Sounds like a good bed-side manner covers many ills.
5. Don't delegate. Contrary to the rule of delegating authority to perform tasks, one cannot delegate responsibility for your office, including trust accounts. Embezzlement occurs all too often because the lawyer failed to retain control. Despite the criminal action of a staff person, it is the lawyer who will be disciplined by the Bar, it is the lawyer who must make restitution, and it is the lawyer whose reputation will be sullied. From my perspective, this is a very sad way to end one’s career; it can be an economically disastrous way to end one’s career as well.
These are 5 lessons that should be learned well by every lawyer, irrespective of one’s State.
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Retirement: Is this the new four letter word?
According to a recent study by Altman Weil, Inc., the closer to retirement a lawyer gets, the more likely he/she is to oppose mandatory retirement ages. Interviews with a number of aging lawyers suggests that they don’t want to retire, but they do want to work only part-time and they no longer (if they ever did) want to be responsible for rainmaking.
Ed Interviews Andy Birol, business growth consultant and author of The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth
Andy Birol is a business growth consultant and author of The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth (CareerPress, 2006); he has advised over 350 business owners and is an expert contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week, among others. He discusses how attorneys can best impact the business clients they advise and how the attorney can best work together with the client's team of consultants and other experts.
16 minutes, 57 seconds
4.0MB
Self interest abounds in State Bar action
The President said that “the State Bar shouldn't base policies upon what will or won't be popular ... Ultimately, our responsibility is to do the right thing." With this remark, the President of the State Bar of California justifies requiring 30,000 mostly small firm and sole practitioners to disclose to clients when they do not have malpractice insurance.
I find this remark of particular interest because it is usually said by one who wants to justify an act that is opposed by the vast majority of his very own organization. It is also offensive because it fails to address the very issue at hand. This statement is like Mom's or Dad's "...just because ..." response to a kid's inquiry as to why he should or shouldn't do something.
In this case, the statement is used to justify an action that will prejudice an isolated group of lawyers who practice in the small firm environment. They need assistance from the Bar ... and they don’t get it. Instead, they get slapped in the face. We might just as well place yellow arm bands around these folks and say they are "bad" people. There is no empirical evidence that this group of lawyers is subject to more malpractice claims than others. There is no empirical evidence yet set forth that suggests any reason to isolate this group of lawyers and identify or punish them in this fashion.
Yet, this very same organization has not, to date, honored its earlier (2005 Board of Governors Retreat) stated commitment to its members to provide them with help in their businesses (The Business of Law®) because it might antagonize a few legislators or other special interest groups or cost a few dollars or place additional demands on the staff. Where is the Board when they're needed?
This attitude explains why members of the legal community, generally, have lost confidence in its governing body. Why the Board of Governors would anticipate that lawyers in this State would support it in any future disagreement with the State Legislature or with the Governor is beyond understanding. One can “turn one’s cheek” only so many times before the resentment rises to the point of action.
The perception amongst small firm attorneys that the State Bar is the enemy and not the friend clearly gains traction with actions such as taken now by this Board. John Dutton of the Board of Governors perhaps said it best. “Dutton argued that some county bar associations, a few State Bar committees and most of the members of the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations have joined critics in opposing disclosure. ‘And here we are,’ he said, ‘saying, 'We're going to jam it down your throat. We don't care what you think.’”
Of course, the very Governors voting on this issue also fail to disclose any personal financial interest they may have in this issue, and several do. They also fail to address more important issues for disclosure if we were truly interested in client protection. And, most importantly, they fail to create an affordable insurance program that would allow economically marginal (but very good) lawyers to buy the very product the Board is promoting! (Dare we remember that the State Bar obtains several million dollars each year from the insurance program it promotes?)
Do you want to grow? Then "outsource!"
Q: Ed, can Outsourcing really make a firm more productive and profitable?
Law Practice Development
Q: Ed, do you have any fresh ideas about how I can market my law business?
A: There is no better way to establish effective prospect relationships than by establishing a presence for your firm or your practice at industry trade shows and association meetings. By properly researching and targeting your audience, you can meet more prospects in one day than you might otherwise meet in months. And by physically being present at these meetings of potential clients, you demonstrate that you know their business, understand their concerns, and are serious about offering solutions.
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