Legal Ease Blog

The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success

The Busy Lawyer’s Guide to Success - Essential Tips to Power Your Practice by Dan Pinnington and Reid F. Trautz is one of the ABA Law Practice Management section’s newest books. This book is only 132 pages long, but it is packed with powerful insights and tips for your practice. It’s small enough to fit into any lawyer's bag or briefcase and it belongs in every one.

An easy read, the book is broken up into sections and provides short, to the point statements that can be implemented easily and effectively. If you choose one section (or even one page), take the tips to heart and take action, you’ll see a difference in your practice.

If you’ve ever attended ABA Techshow, you know that the ’60 tips’ sessions are among the most popular and well-attended sessions in all of Techshow. This book is like an extended version of one of those lightning-fast tips sessions. It’s broken down into these essential sections:

• Client Service
• Marketing and Client Development
• Technology
• Coping with Email (it’s such a pain it needs a chapter all its own)
• Making (More) Money
• Ethics & Professionalism
• Management, Operations and Staff
• Strategy and Planning

Yes, the book is short. It’s written that way on purpose. The authors, busy, active lawyers themselves, know how valuable a lawyer's time is. They know you don’t want a big heavy book that you aren’t going to have time to read anyway. They’ve dispensed with long explanations and extra verbiage and distilled the book and each of their tips down to its core. The result? You get a book filled with just the ‘good stuff.’ You don’t need to search it out – it’s there on every page. For those of you that want more, they’ve included a Learning More section which points you in the direction of other resources on these topics.

Creating a book that’s comprised just of those golden nuggets undoubtedly took an awful lot of editing. It’s often easier to write something long than it is to write something short, because the short takes more editing. Your words need to be more precise. So if you’re wondering whether this ‘little’ book is worth the ‘big’ price, think about how much time (which, unfortunately, for most of you still translates into billable hours) these two guys saved you by giving you only the good stuff.

Still don’t believe me? Perhaps this will entice you:

• Check out pages 25-28 for a step by step individual marketing plan that you can start working on today.

• To find out which are your highest and lowest value clients, use the client report card found on Page 65.

• Learn how to conduct productive meetings by incorporating tips from pages 94-96 and 102-105.

You can get your copy of the book through the ABA ($69.95 for non-members, $44.95 for LPM members), or you can pre-order it from Amazon.com for $44.07, but it isn’t available yet.

Ed Poll's New Special Report - Fees and Compensation for Law Firms

Ed Poll's latest Special Report, entitled, Law Firm Fees and Compensation is out, and it's a must read for all lawyers, whether they're in charge of firm finances or not. Poll covers everything from alternatives to the billable hour to associate compensation, retainer agreements, collections and trust accounts – all in one easy to read volume. The report provides clear examples and forms and is easily understandable, even to the most mathematically challenged lawyer.

Poll includes practical hints in such areas as negotiating your rates and changing the focus of compensation from number of hours to team effort and meeting organizational, rather than individual targets.

This special report is right in line with Poll's emphasis on the business aspects of practicing law. It presents an integrated approach to measuring, billing and collecting fees and to compensation of attorneys within the firm. The basis for the report is his 'three dimensional' approach to law firm business: sales (getting work), production (doing the work) and finance (getting paid).

Poll's report answers the most frequently asked questions that lawyers are confronted with in these areas, including the feasibility of taking credit cards, how to properly use your trust account, when you can (and must) withdraw funds, when a fee is considered 'earned,' what constitutes fee splitting and what to consider when using contract lawyers. He presents the often-overlooked but all-important issues of determining clients' goals, tracking progress toward those goals and increasing the client's perception of value.

Law Firm Fees and Compensation is a comprehensive reference which lawyers are sure to return to again and again as they continue to improve their firm's operations, services and finances. To order, click here.

Solo By Choice: A Handbook for Creating a Successful Law Practice

If you’ve ever considered entering into solo practice, Carolyn Elefant’s new book Solo By Choice is a must-read. But the book is so packed with practical advice about running a law office that I’d recommend it even if you’re a seasoned practitioner or not currently considering going solo.

Solo By Choice presents a practical, pragmatic and realistic view of solo practice, including reasons to become a solo and a ‘reality check’ on whether you’re cut out for solo practice. The book contains step by step advice starting with what to do in your current position before opening your own firm or how to start a solo practice directly out of law school, including essential considerations such as malpractice insurance, choosing a name for your firm, and deciding whether (and where) to look for office space. But the advice doesn’t stop there.

Most law schools don’t teach the business issues that are essential for any solo (or law firm manager) to master. This book explores how to choose a jurisdiction and practice area, how to create a client-centric practice and how to determine which clients or matters to keep and which to refer to others. Carolyn leaves no stone unturned, tackling difficult issues like dealing with ‘nightmare’ clients, essentials of retainer agreements and billing and fees.

In today’s climate, no book on solo practice would be complete with out discussions about staffing, outsourcing and creating reliable revenue streams, particularly when starting out as a solo. This book addresses them all and provides marketing ideas are straightforward and achievable by lawyers on any budget. For solos facing ‘growing pains,’ Carolyn discusses virtual law firms, affiliations, project partnering and networks.

Throughout, Carolyn reminds the reader of jurisdictional quirks, ethical considerations and client concerns that could affect the would-be solo’s decisions. She includes stories from her own experience going from a law firm environment to solo practice, as well as the real-life experiences of other solo lawyers (in their own words.) Her writing is straightforward and accessible and she provides resources throughout the book for more information on each of the topics she discusses.

Carolyn is a tireless advocate for solos, and is the author the blog MyShingle, so she's the perfect person to write a book about solo practice. If you’re looking for a handbook for starting a law practice or going out on your own, this is it. To purchase Solo By Choice, click here.

Here I am with Carolyn during this month's ABA Techshow 2008: