What kinds of training do you have available at your law firm? When I ask this question of lawyers, I am often told that there is no real training at their firms. New employees are given an orientation of sorts and taught how to use the firm’s systems, but this training is minimal, and there …
What are the consequences when you don’t communicate with the people in your firm about what it takes to move to the next level? In my last video in this series on retaining your best employees, I talked about being transparent about what it takes for them to get to the next level. Today, I’d …
What does it take to get ahead at your law firm? If you want to retain your best employees, you need to be transparent with them about what it takes to get ahead at your firm. What happens if an employee wants a promotion? How does an associate become a partner in the firm? What skills, activities, or behaviors are required for advancement? Employees get restless when they don’t know where they stand. In my experience, law firms are really good at communicating things like how many billable hours are required or conducting performance reviews that talk about past performance, but they’re not necessarily so good at talking about the future and what an employee wants to get out of their career, what opportunities there are for advancement at the firm and what an employee needs to do to get there. Instead of just focusing on billable hours and past performance, talk to your employees about what they want out of their careers. Help them to set goals that will help them to advance in your firm. If becoming a partner means that you have to bring in business, make sure that your associates know that. Encourage them to get involved in their local community or their bar association. If trial experience is required for partnership, make sure that your associates know that as well and help them to find opportunities to get that experience. If you can’t become a partner unless you’ve had a certain number of years as a lawyer, make sure that people in your firm know that as well. Remember, what might be obvious to you isn’t necessarily so obvious to your employees. More articles and videos like this:
Do you know what the total cost of hiring a new employee is? Hiring employees costs money and takes time. Aside from all of the time it takes to review resumes, interview candidates and make hiring decisions, a new employee has to learn all of your office’s procedures and systems, and needs to be able …
Are your law firm invoices helping or hurting you? I’ve seen far too many legal bills that are confusing, disjointed, filled with abbreviations that are difficult to decipher or don’t contain enough information to understand what was done and what the client is actually paying for. Watch the video below (or scroll down if you …
Are you waiting for your clients to call or email you before you let them know what’s happening on their matter? Find out why this may result in clients not paying your bills on time in the video below, or scroll down to continue reading. If your clients are calling you for status updates, you’re …
Here’s another video in my series on how to talk to your clients about billing and fees. I’ve talked in previous videos about what to cover with clients during the initial consultation, but even if you’ve done a great job of covering the basics of your billing practices and how you set your fees during …
Do you like surprises? Everyone likes surprises – unless the surprise is a bill you weren’t expecting. The one thing clients hate more than anything is a surprise bill. If a client is surprised by a bill, it usually means you didn’t do a good job of communicating with your client about your fees, either …
Do your clients balk at your fees? Do you have to chase them down to pay your bills, only to have them argue about the charges? This is the first in a series of posts and videos about how to talk to your clients about fees. We’re starting with the initial consultation. Watch the video …
What do you do if a client questions your bill? Nobody likes it when a client questions their bill. It doesn’t feel good. It’s easy to get defensive and to feel as if the client is questioning your integrity. Don’t fall into that trap. Watch the video below, or scroll down to read on and …
Are you a procrastinator? Do you have some items that just sit on your to-do list forever and you just never get around to them? Yesterday I was doing a presentation on productivity and one of the attendees said to me, “What do I do when I have tasks that I procrastinate on because I have anxiety about them, I’m concerned that I won’t be able to do them well, or they’re just tasks that I hate doing or tasks that I find boring?” I have a couple of strategies that might help you if you’re in any of these situations, and I’m sure all three of these are familiar probably to all …
Did you know that about 40% of our daily life is shaped by our habits? Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about habits, and that statistic comes from author Gretchen Rubin. Watch the video below (or scroll down to read) to learn how habits affect productivity. If you have seen many of my previous videos, …
How well do you manage your clients’ anxiety? Let’s face it, most of the time clients don’t come to see a lawyer when everything is great in their world. Usually, clients go to a lawyer when they’re in trouble, they’re facing some kind of problem, or they are facing challenging life circumstances. Even if a …
Are you a control freak? Are you overwhelmed with work because you think you are the only one who can do everything, and do it right? As lawyers, we are perfectionists – we’re over-achievers, so if this sounds like you, you’re not alone. But you’re doing yourself, your staff, and your clients a disservice. And …
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