Twitter beginning to slide?
Some lawyers are beginning to leave Twitter.
I started with Twitter several months ago and within 48 hours received 2 invitations to speak at conference, one on the West Coast and one in the Northeast. Beyond that, I haven't seen any revenue generated, but I have made connections with folks whom I value. Is it worthwhile? That depends on your metric for success. For revenue, no, not yet. For connections and an avenue for quick conversation, I think so (at least that's my current thinking. And I know a number of folks who swear by Twitter.
The problem with all of this social media is that the human body needs no further inducement to hunch over ... we've tried for so long to stand tall, straight. And being hunched over to look at our portable screen takes us back to our origins ... and takes multi-tasking to an entirely new level of understanding.
What has been your experience?
Are you the manager or the visionary?
I was just getting used to the "Information Age" when I learned about Dan Pink from Stewart Levine, a friend of mine.
Pink says we're moving out of the information age and into the "conceptual age" in which creativity will be supreme.
Wow, sure is tough to stay current. Someone asked me today about widgets. I said I learned about them, along with Blackacre, in law school. But, apparently, widgets has taken on a whole new meaning. :-)
How does this impact the law firm? Well, is the leader of your firm a visionary, one who can see the future for the firm, or a manager, one who implements the firm's policies? It is rare that we find one person embracing both roles.
Legal fees - New proposal prevents retainers
A new proposal, supported by the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, appears to make it illegal for a lawyer to charge and accept an advance retainer in matters involving loan modifications. Do you think that, after the work is completed, the lawyer will be able to get the client to pay the fee?
How similar is this to the new San Francisco City ordinance that forces landlords to reduce their rent if a tenant loses his/her employment?
I thought these matters were the government's responsibility or charities? Perhaps lawyers and landlords are being conscripted now as charities.
Proud parent
Today, I'm a super proud parent (though I'm always proud of my kids!)
My daughter received a certification as a WCS (Women's Health Certified Specialist), 1 of only about 50 in the country.
Age discrimination lawsuits will be harder to win
In a decision this week, the US Supreme Court decided to change precedent. And who said "conservative" justices don't make law, are not "activists"? This decision is one of those based on ideological lines.
The Court in a 5-4 decision said that the burden of proving age discrimination lies solely with the plaintiff. In previous cases, the plaintiff merely had to prove that age was a factor ... and then the company had to show that there were legitimate reasons for the termination. How, now, will plaintiffs be able to show that age was the primary factor? Afer all, the plaintiff was not in the room when the decision to terminate him/her was made.
LawBiz® Forum goes live
The Forum, previewed at the ABA TechShow, is now "live." Lawyers are invited to join at no cost and participate with their questions and support for other lawyers. We are creating a community, unique in the legal world.
Call Ed with any questions at 800/837-5880 or edpoll@lawbiz.com.
Doing business the "old way" must change or ....
Linda J. Popky, "The Marketing Master," recently had to completely change her diet in order to treat a persistent cough. She compared her experience to that of businesses suffering in today's economy. She says that they will need to change the way they do business, or suffer the consequences...
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Senior lawyers at risk
Layoffs in the legal profession have been in the news lately, but downsizing from the top? More experienced attorneys, even senior partners in some larger law firms are not as secure in their jobs as they once were in what may be more signs of practicing law as a business. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome Ed Poll, a recognized expert and author in law practice management and Stephen E. Seckler, president of Seckler Legal Consulting, to discuss the new benchmarks the legal profession is seeing in job performance and what The Business of Law may look like in the future.
LawBiz® Forum
NEW ONLINE FORUM LAUNCHES FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS
Ed Poll Unveils LawBiz® Forum as New Online Community
VENICE, CA MAY 5, 2009 - Nationally recognized law firm management expert Ed Poll, JD, MBA, CMC, announced today the launch of www.LawBizForum.com, an online destination for lawyers, sole practitioners, partners, managing partners, of-counsel and in-house counsel, and others who are members of the legal community providing services to the American people.
LawBiz® Forum will promote discussion about issues that enable lawyers to more effectively and efficiently deliver their services to their clients, such as management, marketing, technology and finance, and others. LawBiz® Forum is a place where the legal community can exchange ideas and techniques in order to improve the personal and professional lives of its members.
“Law is an honorable profession. Only lawyers are given the unique responsibility in the United States Constitution to help those accused of a crime, a fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens,” remarks Poll. “This helping, caring nature of the legal community sometimes is forgotten by the psychological, social, and economic pressures facing lawyers, and I created this forum so that we can care for each other.”
LawBiz® Forum will have several levels of membership. All visitors to the site can review the discussions at no cost. However, members will be able to contribute to the discussions, participate in exclusive webinars, and have online access to Poll’s books and audio products.
In addition to LawBiz® Forum, Ed has a popular YouTube Channel and has also started to use Twitter as a way to reach out to the cyber sphere.
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About Ed Poll
Ed Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, is a nationally recognized expert in law practice management. He helps attorneys and law firms increase their profitability consulting with them on issues of internal operations, business development, and financial matters. Poll brings his clients a solid background in both law and business. He has 25 years experience as a practicing attorney and has also served as CEO and COO for several manufacturing businesses. In 1990, he founded LawBiz® Management Company and is now focused on coaching lawyers, speaking, and writing.
Poll is the author of numerous publications that have become the definitive works in the legal field, including: Law Firm Fees & Compensation: Value and Growth Dynamics (LawBiz© Management Co. 2008), Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law: Planning and Operating for Survival and Growth, 2nd ed. (American Bar Assoc. 2003); The Profitable Law Office Handbook: Attorney’s Guide to Successful Business Planning (LawBiz® Management Co. 1996); Secrets of the Business of Law®: Successful Practices for Increasing Your Profits! (LawBiz® Management Co. 1998)
The Little Black Book
In today’s economic world, marketing is more important than ever. The people who are bringing in business are the ones who are out there courting it. That’s why I am happy to share with you a special opportunity. For the next 48 hours only, my colleague Paula Black is offering a collection of FREE bonus gifts to anyone who purchases her latest book: “The Little Black Book: A Lawyer’s Guide To Creating A Marketing Habit in 21 Days.”
Designed to help lawyers integrate marketing into their daily lives, this book is quick, easy and inspirational. And by purchasing it within the next 48 hours you will receive special access to information and resources from more than 30 experts. A compilation of advice from some of the most sought-after experts in the legal arena, “The Smart Lawyer’s Toolkit” gives you instant admittance to an incredible collection of tips and information. Click here for details…but do it fast!
Hold your head high
Take a look at today's WSJ in the Personal Journal section ... talks about our personal critic ... our worst enemy ... and suggests that challenges to our self-esteem are so devastating to our well-being. This may be one of the most important lessons I've learned and re-learned ... and continue to deal with ... in recent years! I always knew it, but never put it in the right context before listening to my coach. Self-esteem goes beyond the bravado attributed to lawyers and that has been dubbed "arrogance" by those outside the legal community.
Just one of many benefits I've received over the last few years from being in my own business coaching program with someone I trust and have a high regard for.
Self-worth may be more important than any other attribute. It allows one to hold one's head high, a very important angle for the human anatomy.
Senior Olympics - Why so special to me
I competed in two events at the Senior Olympics held this week in Los Angeles. I previously reported my results. I've been thinking further about the process of the competition and came up with ideas about how the competition relates to my life, and the lives of many people in our profession. Below is how I see the Senior Olympics on the one hand and how they are a metaphor in real life. If you have other events in your life that you care to share, please write me.
Every law practice has a value & can be sold!
I've just returned from a presentation by accountants on valuing a law practice. They talked about "excess earnings," "discounted cash flow," and "market value." They essentially discussed the valuation of a law practice from the perspective of the divorce court which fails to recognize market value as an appropriate standard of valuation, ostensibly because they can't find enough data points to make the information reliable.
However, with all due respect to the courts (and the accountants who parroted the courts' standards, the reality is that the courts will use any logic (or lack thereof) to "do equity" as between the two spouses before the court. That does not reflect market reality.
In my experience, every law practice has value ... what it may be is a subject of further discussion, but it has value! And to use formulae that are created to perpetuate a fiction does an injustice to the lawyers who have spent a full career building their goodwill and now want to retire and realize benefits from that goodwill ... We are not in the divorce court!
Senior lawyers being told to find new employment
In an interview for Lawyer2Lawyer I discussed the current trend in law firms to review their business model and their entire operation. They're taking the opportunity to cut back where appropriate because their revenues are declining ... and they are reducing their highest expense -- senior lawyers.
Don't waste a good crisis is the new mantra.
Wilmer Hale, a major law firm, recently announced that they have told a number of lawyers to look for other employment come the Fall. But, they have also done something that I have not heard anyone else do. At the same time they revised the standards to remain with the firm, they also are offering those impacted the opportunity to learn new skills that will give them the chance to meet the new standards.
While some may think their action is age discrimination, I believe it is o.k. to change the law firm model provided you also offer education and training programs to those involved so they can meet the new standards.
For me, a comparative situation might involve a secretary who has been employed by the firm for a long time. The secretary is proficient in dictation. Now, the firm believes that dictation is not the most efficient method to convert a lawyer's thoughts to paper. So, the firm converts to a new technology, making the secretary's skills obsolete. Rather than fire the secretary, though, the firm offers the secretary education programs to enable her/him to learn the new technology. If the secretary fails or refuses to learn and utilize the new technology, I believe there is no requirement to retain the secretary on staff.
Thus, with lawyers. Many were made partners because they had large billable hours, because they were good "minders" of clients despite the fact that they were not "finders" or rainmakers. Today, rainmaking has become a significant attribute that is important for partners to have. Those who don't become expendable.
While painful for many, I do believe it is not inappropriate for the firm to ask this of its lawyers.
Online pay systems scare me
With the technology available today, many people prefer to have their accounts paid automatically from their bank account. Charges such as telephone bills are processed directly to one’s bank account and then paid by the bank, oftentimes without the knowledge of the customer unless he/she reviews the account on line.
Today I read about a real nightmare in the L.A. Times. Verizon charged one customer for his cell phone bill, a charge just under $10,000. The bank said it normally doesn’t pay bills where there would be an overdraft; but when the vendor bills the account three times, the online bill pay system honors the third attempt and the customer is charged for the overdraft.
In this case, the bill was in error. The customer did not incur the charge. It was an error. And neither Verison nor Bank of America would reverse the entries without great effort and much consternation by the customer.
That is a perfect template for disaster! And the reason that this technology is one that I choose to avoid. I choose to retain control over my banking relations and vendor payments. This part of technology still frightens me.
Have you had any experience with such technology miscues?
Senior Olympics - Another cycling time trial
Just returned from the 10K … can’t believe I did it … yesterday's 5K was 10:03 minutes; today's 10K was 19:57 minutes… Today equalled two 5Ks, back to back. And my time for the first half of today's ride was 6 seconds faster than the time from yesterday … With my average speed for twice the distance today being the same 18.4/18.5 mph. Verry good for me...
So, I did better than I’ve ever done. I wasn't first, but I wasn't last. I was 8th out of 9 in yesterday’s competition … a bummer … but then I was ahead of thousands who didn’t even show up …
Senior Olympics
Tomorrow, I ride in the cycling 5K Time Trial event of the Senior Olympics. This will be my third competition on the bike in my life, and I'm eager to ride. I chose to ride the Time Trials rather than the road races because I want to compete against myself without fear of an accident. Lance Armstrong can go down in a road race, but then he's riding for millions of dollars; I'm riding for fun!
I'll let you know how I did. :-)
Cookie Lewis Discusses Law Library Audits
What is a library audit, and how can law firms save huge sums of money by conducting such an audit? Cookie Lewis, M.S.L.S. is president of Askinfomania, a legal and business research firm, who conducts such audits. As a legal information strategist, she works with law firms to maximize their return on investment in their library resources and other law library management issues. In her interview with Ed, she discusses such audits, why law firms should consider having one, and how law firms can save many dollars of overhead with the right audit results.
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Cyber Crime
Christopher Painter, a member of the cyber review task force appointed by President Obama for a “clean slate” review of our technology and security appeared before the Los Angeles chapter of the Information Systems Security Association.
I was riveted by his revelations about the process of the task force to prepare and deliver a report to President Obama within 60 days, their assignment. The report, now a matter of public record as part of the President's "transparency initiative, is the basis for the announcement on May 29th that technology department will be created in the White House and that the President will personally appoint a Cybersecurity Coordinator.
Another astounding fact is that President Obama’s comments on May 29th were the first speech by any national leader on the subject of cyber security.
Age discrimination should not be automatic response
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has told some of its more experienced lawyers that they will not have a future with the law firm. Without knowing more, it's difficult to come to any conclusions about why there will be termination notices, and why those notices will be directed to more senior or experienced lawyers.
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