Nancy has a bucket list of places she wants to visit and things she wants to do. We checked one item off her bucket list recently when we visited Mount Rushmore. If you ever visit South Dakota, I know you will be impressed with how helpful and friendly the people are there. I get the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Law as a Business
Subscribe to Law as a Business RSS FeedLaw Firm Economics 2012: New Reality ?
Posted in Law as a Business, Law Firm LeadershipLaw as a business and law firms have certainly been in the news recently. Just this morning, I read: Business litigators are leaving big law firms for boutiques in the Dallas Morning News. I recently read the New York Times article: Dewey’s Fall Underscores Law Firms’ New Reality? I found this quote interesting: As dispatches from my Times colleague Peter… Continue Reading
Client Service: What does pizza shop delivery have to do with practicing law?
Posted in Client Development, Client Service, Law as a BusinessLet me tell you a story about customer service involving pizza delivery and share what it might mean for your own client service. Nancy and I grew up in Lombard, Illinois a Chicago suburb. Unlike many from Chicago, we always preferred thin crust pizza. Here in Dallas it is not easy to find pizza the… Continue Reading
10 Essential Questions to Help You Connect with Your Contacts
Posted in Client Development, Law as a BusinessThink back to your last breakfast, lunch or meeting with one of your contacts and answer these questions: What if any preparation did you do for the meeting? What questions did you ask? What percentage of the time were you talking? What did you learn about his or her company? What did you learn about… Continue Reading
When Would Your Clients Be Willing to Pay You $1000 an Hour?
Posted in Client Development, Law as a BusinessI came home last week from a coaching trip and found Nancy had saved the business section of the Dallas Morning News. I looked at the front page article: Few lawyers can charge $1,000 an hour, but the number is growing. Nancy jokingly told me that I must have been in the wrong practice area since… Continue Reading
What is the Single Most Important Attribute I Look for in Associates?
Posted in Career Development, Law as a BusinessA human resources director once asked me: What is the single most important attribute you look for in the associates who work with you? If you are an associate who worked with me, you likely know how I answered the question. I told him: I want associates who have a burning desire (fire in the… Continue Reading
What can law firms learn from the 2011 Boston Red Sox?
Posted in Law as a BusinessOk, I have to confess, here in Dallas we are still distraught over being one pitch away two times from winning the first World Series in franchise history. I couldn’t sleep after game 6 and I couldn’t watch game 7. But, our disappointment cannot be close to the the disappointment the Red Sox fans must… Continue Reading
It’s the Little Things That Will Upset Your Clients
Posted in Law as a BusinessIf you are a regular reader, you read Client Service: Sometimes You Have to Be Available 24/7 and know that I traveled to New York last week. After leaving the Apple Store at 11:30 PM I checked in at a small luxury hotel in the financial district. It was near the law firm office where… Continue Reading
What is a Collaborative Law Firm and…Does It Matter?
Posted in Law as a BusinessI recently read an HBR Blog:Why a Great Individual is Better than a Good Team. This appeared a week after Bill Taylor posted Great People Are Overrated Parts 1 and 2 and the day before Turn Your Group into a True Team. By the time I finished reading these HBR blog posts I wondered if a collaborative law firm… Continue Reading
7 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Law Firm Right Now
Posted in Law as a BusinessOver the years since I left practicing law, in addition to coaching, I have helped firms, practice groups and offices develop their own strategic plans. That involves the firm/group/office focusing on improving. Here are seven suggestions: As David Maister suggested years ago in an article, focus on Balance Sheet (long term profitability) as much as… Continue Reading