Early case assessment, budgeting make fixed-rate plan a viable solution
There is a new criticism of the much-maligned hourly rate: it stifles innovation. An essay in The Wall Street Journal stated: “Economists and consultants say that flat fees are more efficient than...
View ArticleWhat is justice worth?
Three separate yet interwoven developments illustrate a dangerous trend: focus on the cost of legal service at the expense of the value of justice. How does each of them strike you? 1) Two members of...
View ArticleThe problem with bankruptcy? It isn’t attorneys’ fees
In recent months, press reports have discussed the Justice Department’s attempt to control fees that bankruptcy lawyers seek. The U.S. Trustee is proposing, according these reports, several new...
View Article‘Caveat emptor’ is no way to practice law
In a recent Wall Street Journal column, writers from the Brookings Institute espouse their philosophy for deregulating the legal profession and lowering costs for buyers of legal services: Let anyone...
View ArticleShould ‘outsiders’ run law firms? Perhaps
Little more than three years ago, General Motors, once regarded as the most successful company in America, had to file for bankruptcy and accept a government bailout. For many decades, GM’s management...
View ArticleLook at what goes into ‘write stuff’
The fundamental legal marketing task for any lawyer is to identify potential clients who need the services you provide, and then to educate them that you exist and can help them. One of the most...
View ArticleAll technology issues have one thing in common: they can’t be ignored
Law firms, like the players in any other economic sector, have a life cycle. There are law firm startups, as new lawyers hang out their shingles in a solo or small firm practice. There are law firm...
View ArticleCan a lawyer represent both sides? With practice diversification planning, yes
The question arises whether lawyers can effectively and ethically represent opposite types of clients — for example, insurance carriers and insurance coverage plaintiffs. The ABA’s Rule of Professional...
View ArticleBe cognizant of broad, fundamental changes that abound in law practice
When lawyers enter legal practice, they understand that certain aspects of what they will be doing will change during their careers. There will be new laws and regulations to become familiar with, new...
View ArticleWhat’s your recourse if the client refuses to pay?
A recent opinion by the New Jersey State Bar’s Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics raises a major alarm bell for any lawyer who has trouble collecting money from a current client. The Committee’s...
View ArticleAre you entitled to retire? The answer is in how your practice is valued
There is perhaps no profession where entitlement is less justified than in the law. Practice needs should always be met first, and personal needs should be the minimum expense necessary to maintain a...
View ArticleDon’t stress out about the holidays — use them to take control
The stresses of what has become “the holiday season” — an all-encompassing period stretching from before Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day — are well-known. Whether self-induced or not, the...
View ArticleSocial media use is a marketing investment
The expanding use of social media — whether it encompasses blogging, a LinkedIn or Facebook page, a Twitter post, or any number of other new iterations — is perhaps the most effective, low-cost...
View ArticleBusiness, ethics issues must be considered when selling a practice
Interest in the sale of law practices continues strong and unabated. This may reflect continued economic stress, the aging of the profession or simply greater desire to look for greener pastures...
View ArticleShould lawyers ever write down an invoice?
A dilemma that happens with increasing frequency in these tough economic times. Picture this: a client receives the lawyer’s bill, contends that it is too high, and refuses to pay it unless the invoice...
View ArticleSuicide shouldn’t be an alternative for your firm
Bruce MacEwen, whose long-running blog www.adamsmithesq.com is subtitled “an inquiry into the economics of law firms,” recently made provocative comments about where the profession’s economics are...
View ArticleThese four strategies to raise cash have their goods, bads
The financial health of any law firm ultimately depends on cash management. Too many firms operate like small businesses on a cash-in-hand basis, with insufficient reserves to weather a crisis or...
View ArticleElectronic media and the duty to preserve
It might seem that nothing would be more temporary than a quick email, text or Twitter message. Yet these messages are increasingly subject to a duty of preservation, whether that duty is for a lawyer...
View ArticleFollow fundamentals of marketing, production, collection to survive
Upheaval is the “new normal” for law firms of all size, and many observers wonder if the sole and small firm practitioner will survive this kind of current and future turmoil. However, there is...
View ArticlePractice group leadership and success comes from keeping a dialogue alive
As large law firms have developed into “corporate” organizations to better serve corporate clients, the practice group structure has become an accepted organizational model. Such groups also can be...
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