See this article as it appeared in the May 2006 Law Practice Today on line publication of the ABA Law Practice Management Section: “How to Get Motivated” http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mgt05061.shtml Do you ever have those days when you come into the office and, as soon as you see the piles on (and maybe even around) your desk, …
Why Your ‘Don’t Do’ List May Be More Important Than Your ‘To Do’ List See this article as it appeared in the July 2006 Law Practice Today on line publication of the ABA Law Practice Management Section: “Too Much To Do Too Little Time?” http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mgt07061.shtml By: Allison C. Shields Another day, another five million things …
It may seem counterintuitive to narrow the focus of your law practice, but often establishing a niche practice brings you more, not less, business. Consider another professional practice – medicine. Would you rather see a doctor that may have seen only a few patients with your particular medical problem, or a doctor that deals with your …
See this article as it appeared in the February 2006 Law Trends on line publication of the ABA GP/Solo Section, “How to Take Control of Your Practice by Creating Vision and Mission Statements” http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/newsletter/lawtrends/0602 /business/visionstatements.html Many solos and lawyers responsible for managing their firms report feeling out of control or overwhelmed. Even successful lawyers will …
I read an interesting article yesterday morning from CRMGuru.com by David Rance, a UK consultant who helps organizations become more customer-centric. The article was entitled The Madness of Metrics: Be Careful What You Measure, and it got me thinking, once again, about law firms. Take a moment and consider what it is that your firm measures. Where …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Michelle Golden’s Golden Practices blog contains a great post entitled, “If Internal Communication is Poor, Can You Still Have A “Great Culture?” She warns that firms that take their ‘great culture’ for granted are playing with fire. She lists seven ways in which firms undermine their ‘great culture’ by failing to communicate personally with people about important …
Worried about great lawyers or staff being lured away by the competition? Read on to find out the best ways to keep your best employees loyal to your firm. I was reading one of my daily newsletters, Early to Rise, and came across an article by Michael Masterson which addressed exceeding your potential by surrounding …
I received an email from a reader in response to something I’d written about excellent client service that said, in part, Customer Service, whether in a diner, the grandest salon purveying the finest food and beverage in this or any land, or in the conference room filled with the greatest collection of legal minds … …
In a previous article I wrote about the importance of seeking feedback from clients, and the ways in which to go about obtaining it. But don’t forget what may be the most important part of the equation – what to do with the feedback once it is received. Obtaining feedback from clients and never looking at it …
Seeking feedback from clients is important. But what is the most effective way to obtain this information? The answer may depend on the kind of practice you have and the nature of the particular client – whether it’s an ongoing relationship or a ‘one time’ client. So many lawyers boast in their marketing materials, on their websites, …
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 …
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 …
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