It can be hard for legal marketing ethics experts to keep up with rapidly expanding modes of electronic communication, but the State of Ohio recently gave it a try. The issue was text messaging. Is a text message like an email, or is it more like an internet chat-room conversation, where the communication takes place in “real time?” If your answer to this question is, “Who cares?” my response is that lawyers should care. How you answer this question determines the legal and ethical guidelines that control when you solicit a client by texting. Continue reading this post at www.lawyernomics.avvo.com Read More

Most solos are all-to-familiar with the “feast or famine” roller coaster. Either you have too much work to comfortably handle on your own, or you are wondering how you are going to pay the bills. Today, I’d like to talk a little bit about a number of ways to successfully deal with the “feast” option. First of all, don’t panic. Too much work is a good problem to have. Put your situation into perspective. “Feast” is a much better problem for a solo to have than “famine.” You just need a plan. One way to handle the problem of too much work is to turn some of it down. You now have the luxury of becoming more selective about the work that you do or the clients that you work with. There’s a reason why successful lawyers tend to be happier lawyers. They not only make more money, but they can also be pickier about the matters and the clients that they accept. Look before you leap What if you are lucky and all of your work is work that you want to do for clients you enjoy? Don’t automatically decide to hire your first employee – an administrative assistant, a paralegal or another lawyer. Do some research first. Do you have a clear picture of the work that you will be delegating to someone else? Do you really know if there is enough work to keep that person busy full time? Take a step back and determine the exact tasks that could be delegated to someone else. Keep track of everything that you do over the course of a few days. I suspect you’ll be surprised to discover how you actually spend your time. The best use of your time is generally going to be practicing law, especially if you bill by the hour. After taking this inventory, assign the tasks to one of two categories: tasks related to office administration and tasks related to your actual caseload. Office administration can be easily delegated When it comes to administrative tasks, there are lots of options. You can hire college students, law students, virtual assistants or a colleague’s administrative assistant who wants to work some extra hours. These people will usually work for a relatively low hourly rate, keeping your overhead low. Caseload work requires more caution When business is good, solos often make the mistake of pursuing one of two romanticized visions. The first is hiring a young associate who can be groomed into a future partner. The second is merging with another solo and adding an ampersand to the firm’s name. Both visions often lead to trouble. Young associates can be fickle On its face, the “young associate” option is very appealing. You can leverage the associate’s time and make more money. According to law firm economics, the easiest way to increase profits is by leverage. You bill out an associate’s time at a level where the total revenue exceeds the associate’s salary and overhead. Those extra dollars all go to the firm’s bottom line. In reality, it usually takes much more time and effort to train and mentor the associate than you anticipated. But perhaps the biggest risk in this strategy is that the romantic dream of bequeathing the practice to your protégé can turn into a nightmare. How? When your so-called protégé decides that he or she wants to be the boss and opens his or her own law firm. To add insult to injury, you can bet that the protégé will attempt to steal some of your clients in the process. Solos must be carefully vetted While merging with another solo can minimize the training/mentoring problems, you can’t leverage this person as much because they’ll require a higher salary. And, do you really want to hire an experienced lawyer who has enough extra time to assist you with your caseload? I’d rather join forces with someone who has a robust book of business of their own. But that won’t solve your “busyness” problem. Contract lawyers are a better solution The solo attorney with too much work should consider hiring a part-time contract lawyer. With this alternative, you are not over-committed. If you don’t like the performance of one contract lawyer, you can easily try another. A good paralegal is even better Good paralegals or legal assistants can be worth their weight in gold. A well-trained and bright paralegal can do many of the tasks that a lawyer does. The beauty of this solution is two-fold. First, a paralegal’s time can be leveraged just as (or even more) profitably than another lawyer of any experience level. Second, a paralegal or legal assistant is less likely to jump ship and compete against you. A paralegal can go work for a competitor, but it’s unlikely that your clients would follow. Carefully consider your options When faced with a “feast” of too much work, don’t panic or rush into making a full-time hire. Take some time. Determine what you need, how often you need it, and which option of meeting that need will be most profitable. Originally appeared on Lawyerist.com’s law firm hiring & staffing portal Read More

This week, the news broke that law firm Seikaly & Stewart is suing legal marketing outfit the Rainmaker Institute over implementation of a search engine optimization program that allegedly broke Google rules and damaged, rather than enhanced, the law firm’s online results. None of us opining about this development in the blogosphere has a clue surrounding all of the relevant facts regarding the litigation. And I don’t much care who wins or loses. I’d just like to use this case as a jumping off point to comment on the venom that seems to accompany the term “legal marketer” whenever it appears in the blogosphere. Let’s get it out in the open. Yes, at times, I earn money by providing legal marketing advice to clients who are lawyers. I guess that makes me a legal marketer. (I also practice law, and have done so for 30 years.) But it escapes me why my association with legal marketing should make me (and my colleagues) the subject of so many four-letter-words. Are there some bad apples out there in the legal marketing bunch? Of course. But does that mean that all of the apples are rotten? I certainly hope not. I find it a bit hypocritical that some of the bloggers want to lump us legal marketers all together, while at the same time, apparently think that everyone in the legal profession is above reproach. In case you haven’t noticed, lawyers (of which I am one) are not the most respected profession out there. There’s a reason for all of those lawyer jokes. Just ask any disciplinary official in the 50 states. Lots of unethical lawyers do shameful things to their clients. But the actions of a few do not taint all lawyers. Similarly, why should a few shameful legal marketers taint all legal marketers? When it comes right down to it, legal marketers are not as different from lawyers as many think. Both sell services that clients find useful. When considering whether to hire a legal marketer or an attorney, clients should weigh similar factors. These include: Credentials, Experience, References, The promise (If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true), and The fees and charges. Follow this simple advice and you should find value in what either a legal marketer or a lawyer is selling. Originally published on Lawyerist.com Read More

Leo’s post last month on Lawyerist complaining about opposing counsel’s failure to provide coffee and snacks reminded me of my biggest pet peeve when visiting a law office – a lack of decent reading material. Most law firms forget that their reception area is a component of its client service. What kinds of materials does your law firm provide for clients cooling their heels in your reception or waiting area? Most firms underestimate the importance of reading material, and therefore fall short. Diversion can be important Most lawyers are very busy during normal office hours and, as a result, sometimes run late for client appointments. When the inevitable wait occurs, what do you have for clients to do to occupy their time? When I’m kept waiting at the doctor’s office, I’m usually a lot more pleasant to deal with if I haven’t spent the time bored out of my mind and mulling over my aches and pains. Many of your clients arrive at your office already irritated by their legal problems. There is no need for you to annoy them any further. The old standby is to provide your clients with reading material that will keep them diverted while they wait. Take a look at your waiting area to see what’s available. Here’s what I’ve found while waiting in well over a hundred law firms of all shapes and sizes over the past 30 years. Nothing at all in the reception area Occasionally a law firm has absolutely nothing to read in the waiting area – often on the (misguided) advice of their decorator. While this may be esthetically pleasing, it leaves clients twiddling their thumbs and feeling aggrieved with you for the wait – especially when their phone battery is low. Something mind-numbing The next worst option is the law firm that is full of itself. These attorneys provide a captive audience with fancy brochures detailing the firm’s “thrilling” history and “unparalleled” practice expertise. While this might be better than nothing, I really don’t care. Perhaps just as boring are the intellectual property firms that proudly display arcane scientific journals for my casual amusement. They’re kidding, right? The local daily newspaper A local daily newspaper is the most frequent offering. This option at least gets a passing grade, but not a very high one. An afternoon client may have already seen the paper earlier that day. Perhaps the bored client can then read all of the horoscopes for that day or attempt the crossword? Other newspapers and magazines Now we’re getting somewhere. I’m a news junkie who rarely has the luxury of time to read The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. When I see either on the table in the waiting area, I sometimes actually hope that the person I am calling on is running late. A sampling of recent magazines is also good. How about The New Yorker, Time or Forbes? Even People magazine can be a guilty pleasure for someone who reads the headlines in the grocery line but is too embarrassed to actually buy a copy. And make sure your popular magazines are up-to-date. Have the issue about Kim’s and Kris’s final divorce settlement, not their wedding. Big screen TVs It is more common these days to find a big screen TV in the reception area. Although it looks impressive, it can be risky. Should the channel be set on Fox News or MSNBC? Dr. Oz or Ellen? Regardless, make sure the volume is off and the subtitle switch is on. Others who would rather read or work usually prefer silence. Keep your clients occupied in the reception area Just think about the last time you visited your dentist and the only thing to read while you waited in the reception area was Highlights. How did you feel? About as good as your clients will feel if you ignore my advice. Originally published on Lawyerist.com Read More

Rarely do I meet lawyers in private practice who are not concerned about how much money they make. That seems pretty obvious. Here’s what’s not so obvious. How much money does it take to keep a lawyer satisfied? Although this is not another lawyer joke, there is a punch line. The answer is, “As much money as my colleague down the hall or my competitor across town earns.” Continue reading this post at www.lawyernomics.avvo.com Read More

It’s not always easy to convince lawyers that they should care more about client service. Too many genuinely believe their legal expertise is paramount—the only thing that truly matters when establishing their law practice’s reputation. But lawyers should not underestimate the impact of how they treat their clients: It’s the only part of the lawyer-client experience that we can control, and the only thing that can be accurately evaluated and appreciated by any client. Continue reading this post on www.attorneyatwork.com Read More

Recently, I was talking to a lawyer about the ideal mix of business with pleasure, in the context of successful business development. This attorney observed that a lawyer in his firm with lots of clients seemed to devote most of his life to his practice. All of this successful lawyer’s social and community activities revolved around clients or potential clients. His personal life was hardly separate from his work life. This lawyer I was speaking with wondered if he should take the same approach. Should he be marketing 24/7? I hate to sound like a lawyer, but the answer is both yes and no. First, I’ll provide the “yes” answer. Then, I’ll provide the “no” answer. Mixing business with pleasure is necessary Think of the most successful lawyers you know at your law firm, or in your practice area or community. The most successful lawyers tend to live and breathe work. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are workaholics: some are and some aren’t. What they all share in common is that all of their outside activities seem to be work-related, even though the primary purpose of the activity may not be. They regularly mix business with pleasure. One of the more familiar examples of mixing business with pleasure is to purposefully take a vacation with the spouse and kids to a location where a client lives. Some take it a bit further. The spouse plans where to go, but the lawyer is able to find someone at this location with whom to schedule at least one breakfast or lunch with a work-related purpose. This is a win/win. Good for business development, as well as a possible tax deduction for your vacation. A less-familiar example of mixing business with pleasure is the lawyer who attends the wedding of a relative and makes one or two contacts at the reception that could prove to be beneficial months or years down the road. Mind you, these lawyers don’t attend the wedding thinking, “I’m taking a dozen business cards tonight and will work the room until they are gone.” Rather, they routinely introduce themselves to strangers and show genuine interest in the people they meet. Inevitably, some of the conversations become work-related and, well, you know the rest. Mixing business with pleasure is not necessary Whenever I share the above examples of mixing business with pleasure with other attorneys, the usual reaction is, “Huh? You mean I can’t turn it off on vacations?” or “Give me a break. Are you saying I should be marketing at weddings and bar mitzvahs?” I usually respond that I don’t think you need to market 24/7 in order to be successful. It’s okay to have some boundaries as long as you devote a reasonable amount of time overall to business development activities. But then I ask, “How successful do you want to be?” If you have the type of personality that doesn’t mind mixing pleasure with business (and a family that can tolerate this tendency), why not? Many of these efforts are long shots. But, if you play enough races, long shots do come in. Meeting people at a specific wedding will rarely lead to business, but a pattern of meeting people at all of the events you attend will eventually pay off. Mixing business with pleasure: Do what you want If you develop a personal marketing plan and execute it well, you’ll do fine at business development. Go ahead and turn off your marketing personality whenever you want. Mixing business with pleasure is not required. But it can work. Consistently mixing business with pleasure can lead to great results. In either case, you’ll still be a success. Originally published on Lawyerist.com Read More

Job security is on the radar screens of most lawyers. Many lawyers, however, perceive that their jobs are very secure, when in reality they are not. Due to a false sense of security, these lawyers often neglect the networking they should be doing. Continue reading post at www.lawyerist.com Read More