I recently attended a CLE with approximately 25 other people. Two individuals introduced themselves as managing partners of their small law firms. Both were in their 60s and both indicated their firms had not yet identified logical successor candidates to lead when they retire. The situation these partners find themselves in is not unusual. ... Read More

You own a small law firm. For the first time, you want to make one of your associates a partial owner. But how do you determine the price of admission for the “buy-in?” ... Read More

Have you set your New Year’s resolutions for business yet? If yes, I hope that improved networking is on your list. And if no, make 2017 the year that you finally “up” your networking game. ... Read More

This lawyer fell into the trap that all-sized firms frequently do. They mistakenly believe the holy grail finance metric to be revenue. But if you ask anyone working in corporate America what the key finance metric is, you will hear one thing only: profitability. ... Read More

Solo practitioners and small law firm owners wanting to know what their practices are worth frequently rely on the “rule of thumb” valuation method. The choice is an easy one to make, because the method is simple; even lawyers who can barely read a balance sheet or a profit and loss statement can understand it. ... Read More

In my last post, I talked about meeting new contacts at large networking events. Just as a quick reminder, if you think that by simply meeting people at these events, it will lead to business, think again. It will not. You need to follow up with the ones who seem to be worth following up with. You have merely started a relationship at the event. Following up develops the type of relationship necessary to bring in new business. Now that you have these new business cards, here are the next steps: Put the names and contact information in some type of system so you know who they are, what they do and how you met them. Doesn’t have to be a fancy software solution. It just has be one where it can be relatively easy to access information about your contacts. When you reach out to a new contact, use all of the information you have to help them remember you. They likely met dozens of other people that day – make sure they know who you are. Send a LinkedIn invite. Personally, I think LinkedIn is way overrated as a business development tool, but many of those who you meet may expect it, so why not? Especially since it takes little time or effort to do so. Get out your calendar and try to schedule some coffee or lunch meetings. That is the type of setting where you can really start developing the relationship. Listen for opportunities for you to help them. People love to reciprocate, and if you can do them a favor, they are more likely to do one for you. Remember, networking is only as successful as the networker makes it. Shaking a dozen hands won’t do you any good – you need to follow up and build relationships with the new people you meet. Only after that, will your phone start to ring from new clients. Read More

Retirement often goes hand in hand with downsizing your living quarters, whether that means relocating to a warmer climate retirement community or buying the downtown condo in your present area. In either case, most senior attorneys are faced with the issue of finding a place for all of their “stuff.” It can be difficult to throw away items that represent so many sentiments from the past even when you know there is no room for it where you’re going. Welcome to the quandary of downsizing. To begin, we’ll go over some of the conventional wisdom. Then I’ll throw in my own two cents based on recent personal experience. (While I’m not quite ready to retire, I did recently downsize since my children are now all launched.) What the experts say: You have 4 choices for every item: Keep? Chuck? Sell? Donate (don’t forget to keep the receipts)? As you go through them, remember the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of these decisions should be no – brainers. Don’t succumb to the temptation of second and third guessing. The quality of decision-making will not improve and only waste time. Give yourself ten seconds to decide on each item you go through and then move on. Remember this: there is only a minuscule chance of ANY bad consequences from an ill-advised decision. Sure, you may accidentally throw something away that you would have liked to keep, but the reality is that you may not ever notice or care years down the road. And what about the 20% that may not be no-brainers? OK. There really is another choice; “I’m not sure.” But exercise restraint here; don’t abuse it. If you do, 20% will soon be 50% or even 75%. Before you know it, you will have accomplished nothing. Put the “I’m not sure” items in a separate pile and try again later. Practice makes perfect. The second time around should be easier to decide among the other 4 choices and the “I’m not sure” pile will soon be gone. Slow and steady wins the race. Just getting through the basement will likely take days. But you don’t have to do it all at once. Let yourself break it up into a few hour chunks. This way, when you work on it, your entire day will not be ruined and you can still feel a sense of accomplishment. But don’t get lulled into thinking that you’re making progress if you see that your basement still looks the same after 8 chunks of 3 hour intervals. Step up your game. Progress at your present rate will have you ready to move in 10 years. Don’t be afraid to hire an expert. People have hired you in the past because of your expertise. Moving companies have people who provide downsizing advice for a very reasonable cost. They can be especially helpful if one spouse is a pack rat and the other is not, or when dealing with sensitive items in general. A neutral third party is money well spent compared to the expense of potential future marriage counseling. Personal tips: Both my grandmother and my mother slowly gave away many sentimental items while still alive to their children and grandchildren. This seems to me a better way than having the kids divide up the personal items one by one after passing. This way, you can personally witness the appreciation of the recipient – what’s better than that? For those items you’re not quite ready to give away, get a good idea of who wants what. I remember seeing my grandmother’s look of content and accomplishment when she showed me the labels on pictures, nicknacks, and the like, of who will be getting what in her small apartment. She knew that all of her belongings would end up in a worthy home, and that meant the world to her. My in-laws, unfortunately, took none of this advice and literally and figuratively left a mess for the children clean up. This, of course, provides even more incentive to practice what I am preaching. I didn’t think it was fair to have to deal with my in-laws’ mess and want to do better for my own children’s sake. Finally, for those items that you remain unsure about, pack it up in boxes and place them in storage. Preferably the type of storage that you have to pay for. Chances are good that after paying a few months of those bills, you’ll realize that you are wasting your money which will give you the kick you need to finally dispose of those tough items. Downsizing your home may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow these simple tips and you’ll be happily enjoying a clutter-free home in no time. Read More

When most attorneys hear the word “networking,” palms start to sweat and inner thoughts turn to “You mean I have to do THAT in order to get new clients?” What is THAT anyway, and how often do you have to do THAT? THAT is attending some type of event (e.g. fundraiser, conference, reception) where there will be a large crowd, anywhere from 50 to 1000. ... Read More