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A guest blog post by Jared Correia:
Busy lawyers often only have the time, within their work lives, to practice law, and, by that: “the practice of law”, I mean “the substantive practice of law”. And, while it would be a wonderful dreamscape to sit at your desk and just hack away at the substantive practice of law all day long, if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that that is not possible within the construct of the real world life. There is much more wrapped up in the being of a lawyer than just the reading of cases and writing on their import, especially if you are a sole practitioner, or manage your own law firm. Then it is that you become chief counsel, cook and bottlewasher.
So it is difficult to move beyond the substantive practice of the law toward considerations of law practice management (broadly: all of those things that make up being a lawyer, that make up the practical practice of law, the metasubstantive); Who has the time? Who has the inclination? Especially when such considerations are not immediate more monetary generators. Busy attorneys may be more likely to avoid such questions than to even begin to explore them, because these become daunting matters for the uninitiated. Morever, it’s just another thing to do. More work to keep you up at night, thinking afterwards, restless, when you’re done the doing. And, where to even start? You can’t expect to run the race when you know not where the starting line is placed, let alone the finish.
What many attorneys remain unaware of is that there is help available. And, not token help, either: free, or deeply discounted, dedicated and competent aid, in the form of sanctioned law practice management advisors, more colloquially called “PMAs”. Practice management assistance programs, of various acronyms and species, exist within a number of American states and Canadian provinces, and are often funded by and/or associated with bar associations or lawyer assistance programs. These services are a boon for busy lawyers of all stripes. Practice management advisors address an array of subjects related to the practical practice of law, including: financial management, technology applications, marketing and advertising queries; office organization; client relations; and, much, much more. If you do not maintain your own IT staff, bridge that gap with technical knowledge and specific referrals from your PMA. Don’t know how to open an IOLTA account? Let your PMA provide you resources explaining how to do so. Need template documents? Many PMAs maintain practice forms, and make available formbooks through internal lending libraries. Whether you are just starting your practice, or attempting to determine just how closely your existing practice comports with best practice, your local PMA should be your first stop.
If you are looking for someone to provide you extensive expertise in the realm of law practice management, with a zealous carriage that matches the nature of the advocacy that you apply to your client’s cases, you need not look further than a PMA.
The American Bar Association (http://www.abanet.org/) maintains a list of law practice management offices by American state and Canadian province. That list may be accessed here (http://www.abanet.org/dch/comadd.cfm?com=EP024000&pg=1).
And, if you can’t find a PMA, or management assistance program, in your neck of the woods, don’t become absolutely discouraged. Consider whether a dual licensure might provide you access to service in another state. Also, keep in mind that many PMAs make their resources, writing and musings available generally on the web, as alluded to above, such that, even if you can’t meet with a PMA, you can make use of their considered suggestions respecting your practice management queries.
Jared Correia is the law practice management advisor with the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program (http://www.masslomap.org/), providing free and confidential law practice management consulting to Massachusetts attorneys. True to certain veiled promises, he makes his thoughts on law practice management available generally online, most notably through the LOMAP Blog (http://masslomap.blogspot.com/) and his Twitter account (http://twitter.com/jaredcorreia).
The State Bar of Arizona posted a video explaining the qualities of a good elevator speech. Elevator speeches are typically 15-30 seconds long and are used to introduce yourself, your business and your expertise. This is your opportunity to explain to people not only who you are, but what you do.
Your speech should:
- Have a meaningful introduction
- Answer questions such as “So what?” and “How does that help me?”
- Include features with benefits
- Example: “We have 80 lawyers in 5 offices throughout the state. This enables us to help you resolve disputes and navigate the local laws and regulations as you expand into other cities.”
- Include a value proposition: An interesting, short description of the work you do and the solutions you provide
- Include types of clients you serve, your geographic market place
Most law practices produce the same documents over and over: correspondence, records requests, representation letters, court forms, discovery demands, demand letters, questionnaires, complaints, motions, etc. Automating the creation of these documents eliminates unnecessary labor and the potential of costly human errors. Sending out a document with meta-data or other confidential information left over from a previous case can put your firm at risk.
Using templates to generate documents and forms (instead of re-using previous documents) makes you more efficient and more effective. Don’t reinvent the wheel every time a document is needed. Templates merge information from your database, auto-filling frequently used documents and forms with accurate information. Retyping the same information over and over is time-consuming and creates multiple opportunities for erroneous information to appear in a document.
For more information on using templates to auto-fill documents and forms, visit www.abacuslaw.com for a complimentary demo.
A guest blog post by Gunter Enz:
For every attorney in America, it is likely his or her firm’s credentials, areas practiced, and contact information is available online—whether through legal directories or most likely, personal websites. Having a customized website is an important first step to increase the visibility of your firm by advertising who you are and what you do.
However, having a website, even one that is professionally done and looks state-of-the-art, doesn’t mean that it is going to be found. In fact, there are many websites out there (e.g. your competition) with very simple designs that could be running circles around yours when it comes to online visibility.
The most important means to increase your website’s presence is to make sure that it appears or “ranks” on popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The best way to go about this is to get the help of an online marketing company that understands the dynamics behind SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
In short, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works by maintaining fresh, optimized, relevant content with proper keyword density to establish your online popularity, and generate targeted traffic to your website. SEO also works in conjunction with social media development, such as online videos and pay-per-click campaigns on radio and television ads to maximize your exposure, and reach multiple markets at the same time.
Search engines can’t read pictures; they read words. So, no matter how many flashy graphics are on your website, or audio overlays, if your site’s content is not optimized in the proper way, it simply won’t be found—regardless of the hours and money spent developing it.
Remember: a website’s primary function is an advertisement, and prime online real estate is limited. A website that is built out and not strategically managed may as well be a billboard in the desert. Who is going to find it?
Gunter Enz is the founder of LawInfo, a recognized nationwide leader within the legal community, providing public access to pre-qualified, pre-screened attorneys, and to free legal resources.
You’ve been physically suffering off and on for weeks. You go to the doctor, who diagnoses the problem and prescribes medicine. Would you wait to fill the prescription and take the medicine? Do you tell yourself “I now know how to fix my problem, but I’m too busy to take the medication.” Hopefully not.
But that’s exactly what some attorneys do when it comes to improving the health of their practice. They:
- Risk missing key court dates due to juggling multiple calendars
- Lose time every day looking for folders or phone numbers that are missing
- Waste time generating and completing similar documents and forms
- Don’t know where prospective clients came from
- Can’t quickly and completely conflict check when potential clients visit
- Provide a lower level of client service than they know they can
- Spend time on cases every day that’s not getting fully captured and accurately billed
- Don’t know which type of cases are their most profitable, for time and marketing dollars invested
Many attorneys recognize the importance of using practice management software, but find excuses to delay implementing it. They say things like “I don’t want to do this now, but I will one day”. So, all their office risks and under-performance continues.
Improve the longevity and health of your practice before it’s too late. Allison Shields, Esq., says it best, “Practice management software is an investment in your practice for now and the future.”
Absolutely not! No matter the size of your firm, technology plays a vital role in helping to keep your firm productive and successful.
For small firms, time is one of the most valuable resources – and one of the scarcest. Inadequate or improper use of technology deprives a firm of sufficient time for more valuable activities, such as practicing law, marketing, growing the practice, and, as hard as it may seem to achieve, having a reasonable amount of personal time. Because time and resources are limited, effective use of technology is critical to giving smaller firms the edge to excel while helping your staff maintain their sanity.
For a larger firm, because there is an abundance of concurrent activities and people involved, it’s easy for important details, information, and deadlines to fall through the cracks. Effective use of technology is essential to managing the high volume of interconnected data (case facts, people, events, documents, forms and email) and streamlining the work flow to move cases along quickly and smoothly.
For more information on how technology can help your firm, regardless of its size, request the complimentary guide, “Know Your Law Office Technology Options: Something for Everyone.” here.
A blog post on The Nutmeg Lawyer told an entertaining story about an attorney who was approached by a client while using a drive-through ATM machine. The post said, “Just because technology makes it possible to communicate 24/7, doesn’t mean you should be available 24/7.”
I always say that it is important to respond to client inquiries in a timely fashion, and it is. However, it is also important that you take time for yourself. Respond to clients when it is reasonable to do so.
A guest blog post by Gunter Enz:
When assessing your firm’s current business, and establishing professional and personal goals for the weeks and months ahead, are you considering consolidating your client base in hopes to take on fewer (and more lucrative) clients? If so, the first thing you need to ask yourself is: Is this a smart move for my firm to make, and in today’s economy, a realistic one?
Over the last decade with the surge of banks and large corporations compounding money like Monopoly cash, many law firms set their sights on landing individual clients that would fulfill their business goals all in one convenient package. And for many law firms, this worked. Until things started to change.
As many of these booming businesses succumbed to unsuccessful investments, and required government-mandated bailouts to make up for the money they were hemorrhaging, company clientele was drastically slashed—and this included the roster of extraneous counsel and staff attorneys. While many senior partners were salvaged to help with the ensuing legal mess, counsel and staff attorneys became expendable—and this is still happening today.
So while having fewer, more high-profile clients may seem like the way to go, unless you have already established yourself as senior counsel with a financially secure business that is making money hand-over-fist (companies such as YouTube and Apple come to mind), it is recommended not to put all of your eggs in one basket—until you have much more experience and years of service under your belt.
Instead, map out your business goals for the year, and pay closer attention to what kind of cases you might need to take in this economy. Consider broadening your client base with more diversified clients—instead of banking only on clients that surfaced during lofty dreams in law school. Those will be waiting for you, in time.
Gunter Enz is the founder of LawInfo, a recognized nationwide leader within the legal community, providing public access to pre-qualified, pre-screened attorneys, and to free legal resources.
In our week-long celebration of Law Day 2010 (officially May 1), Abacus is pleased to offer you a complimentary copy of “Networking for Lawyers”. Whether in meetings, at events, or on any of the online networking websites, you’ll feel more comfortable and get more value, when you apply the tips included in this guide.
For your copy, visit www.AbacusLaw.com.
Investing in technology is a great way to ensure your staff won’t burn out on mundane tasks. Sadly, many firms who have implemented practice management software haven’t spent the time to train their staff to use it effectively.
Technology is only as good at those who use it. The following example illustrates this point well:
Mr. A asks Mr. B to cut down a tree from the forest. Mr. B goes to grab an axe. Mr. A hands Mr. B a chainsaw to make his life easier. At the end of the day when Mr. B comes back, Mr. A asks him, “How did it go?” Mr. B replies that the chainsaw wasn’t any better than his axe. Mr. A takes the chainsaw and pulls the start cord. Startled, Mr. B exclaims, “What’s that?!?”
Adequate training will enable your staff to spend their time on more productive tasks.
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Great blog post.Really looking forward to read more.
Great to see your post Jared! Lawyers should confirm whether confidentiality applies. Some state bars ensure that accessing PMA is ...