A friend recently asked me, “How many cases should I take in a year?” Unfortunately, there’s no magic number to answer that question, perhaps that’s because it isn’t the right question to ask – it’s looking at the problem from the wrong end. A better way of getting to the information that I think my friend …
By under-promising and over-delivering, law firms can increase their bottom line and improve the reputation of lawyers in general, and that makes exceeding clients’ expectations just good business. Of course, there is an opposing viewpoint. Exceeding clients’ expectations is considered by some to be a “stupid strategy.” However, often, those that think exceeding expectations is the …
A brief article in the July 2006 Inc. magazine caught my eye. The piece was about customer service in restaurants, but the lesson applies to law firms, too. A reader asked whether great customer service can be taught. The answer, by Danny Meyer, CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group, a company which includes the …
In ongoing surveys of lawyers that I’ve conducted, most agree that client service is an important part of marketing, and yet many don’t have methods in place to measure client satisfaction. Among those that do have such procedures in place, even fewer follow up with clients after each individual engagement to determine their satisfaction. Many lawyers …
Seth Godin claims that consumers say they want everything “perfect, now and cheap,” but what he thinks they really want is “interaction, expectations exceeded and respect.” Whether we agree with Godin or not, it behooves us to realize that consumers, which includes consumers of legal services, often don’t articulate what it is that they really …
Dan Hull’s What About Clients blog focuses on increasing the level of service lawyers provide to their clients. Dan’s firm has a performance evaluation system which has recently been re-vamped to include specific focus on client service. (Their system also includes ‘top down’ evaluations, but also ‘bottom up’ evaluations – something missing from many law …
Does providing excellent client service mean you have to be tied to clients 24/7? Dan Hull, who writes the respected What About Clients blog thinks lawyers should be there for clients — 24/7. I agree with Dan when he says, In the next decade, and even for high-end clients, more and more “cookie cutter” and fungible …
This is the second in a series of articles about fees, prompted by two posts authored by Carolyn Elefant on two different blogs. The post I want to discuss today was a post from the law.com legal blog network entitled, How Can Lawyers See The Value in Value Billing If No One Will Tell Us …
Carolyn Elefant’s My Shingle blog recently discussed competing on price. Carolyn contends that solos, and particularly new solos, need to compete on price in order to get their foot in the door. She says, “…what incentive does a client have to hire a new attorney unless he or she is charging a lower rate?” There …
Nobody likes change, and perhaps lawyers are even more resistant to change because they’re so used to relying on ‘precedent’ to determine what they can or should do in the practice of law. But it may be time for some more creativity when it comes to billing clients. Many assume that the market wants and supports the …
The April 14, 2006 ABA Journal e-report contained an interesting article that is another reminder to make sure your fee agreement says what you think it says. The article was about a lawyer in Louisiana who took a will contest case on a contingency fee, but after negotiating a good settlement for his client, ended up …
The June 16, 2006 edition of the ABA Journal e-report included an article discussing how the Second Circuit set fees for one solo attorney. The case involved an ERISA claim where the attorney was successful in arguing that his client’s pension should not be reduced because of a break in service. The attorney based his …
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