Tag: attorneys

Categories
Client Development

Bad For Lawyers – The Downside of Relying on Referral Firms

Woman sitting at computer looking unhappy.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

  ~  Milton Friedman

I have a theory about lawyers who do not have much of their own client base, and that is that they would be better lawyers if they did have a client base. I say this despite having run across quite a few lawyers who were dripping with clients but sorely lacking in legal skills, and others who had great legal skills but few of their own clients.

I base my theory on the hypothesis that communication and the ability to persuade are important legal skills. If lawyers cannot communicate in a manner to develop client loyalty and persuade people to give them business, surely, they must be missing some skills that, if developed, would make them better at what they did.

read more about why it is a bad idea to rely upon referral firms “Bad For Lawyers – The Downside of Relying on Referral Firms”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

C’s Get Degrees

Woman looking at grade on paper at school.
Photo by Rdne Project at Pexels.

I was spending time with some young folks the other night. I heard a phrase which was new to me, but apparently not to the rest of the world. “C’s get degrees” has something to do with prioritizing the enjoyment of life, and physical and mental health, over stressing out to achieve high grades. Are the people who live by this adage low on ambition or high on life? I really don’t know. I suppose that it depends on your perspective.

read more about being careful where you get your advice from “C’s Get Degrees”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Being Smart is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be

Man with glasses in a formal pose.
Photo by Elsimage at Pexels.

You, who are on the road; must have a code you try to live by; and so become yourself; because the past is just a goodbye; teach your children well.

~ Graham Nash

Parents teach their children about success by reference to how things were during their productive years. To my grandparents, success was a job in the front office at the factory, rather than on the production floor. My parents hoped that their children would become professionals. I wanted my children to achieve some work/life balance.

read more about whether being smart is the key to success “Being Smart is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Shit Rolls Downhill

legs on a bobsled going downhill
Phto by minan at Pexels.

Out here in the country where I now live, it is a good thing if your septic tank is located on a lower elevation than your house. If it is not, you need something called a macerator to grind up the poop so that it can be pumped up to your septic tank, because as we all know, shit rolls downhill.

To put this in the context of a law firm, one might note that the most senior partners are usually on the highest floor of the office building.

read more about hierarchy, delgation, and teamwork in a lawfirm “Shit Rolls Downhill”
Categories
Retirement

Advice From the Beyond – You CAN Take it With You

A post-it note that says Don't Quit and Do It at the same time, by crossing out letters.
Photo by Dixmedia Hu at Pexels.

Let’s say that you are a moderately successful lawyer and have spent a few decades toiling in the trenches and building up a respectable client base.

read more about changing firms before retiring “Advice From the Beyond – You CAN Take it With You”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Citiots in Suburbia

Woman sitting in a gilded chair in a library with a chess set, looking rich and intelligent.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichen at Pexels.

Dictionary[dot]com defines a “Citiot” as follows:

“a city dweller who, when visiting or vacationing in the country, is perceived as being condescending to the locals and generally ill-equipped to be in a suburban or rural setting: applied especially in upstate New York to a tourist from New York City.”

read more about big law lawyers going down market “Citiots in Suburbia”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Let’s Kill Their Ambition and Blame it on Them

Runner in the start position.
Photo by Nappy at Pexels.

This is my very first article that is not about the legal profession – but it might as well be.

I know a recently graduated professional, finally free to make his mark on the world, and eager as hell to go out and make something of himself. It is not an easy job market out there, as we have all heard. It apparently has something to do with us evil Boomers having ruined the world, but that is a topic for another day.

read more about how employers kill the ambition of young people “Let’s Kill Their Ambition and Blame it on Them”
Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

The Implications of My Ice Cream Diet for Law Firm Management

The author eating an icecream cone at a cafe in Pars.

I have been over-weight for a good long while. My wife, Maureen, is not shallow. She loves me exactly as I am.  But she is smart, beautiful and talented, and her marketability far exceeds mine, so why take chances?

For about 15 years, I stopped eating chocolate, cake, pie, muffins, ice-cream, fudge, etc., etc., but I substituted bread, goat cheese, nut butter, and organic honey, and kept gaining weight.

read more about my diet and what it might suggest for law firm managers “The Implications of My Ice Cream Diet for Law Firm Management”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Show Me The  Money

A man opening his wallet and taking money out. Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics at Pexels.

For smart people, when it comes to getting paid, lawyers can be stupid.

read more about getting paid for your legal work “Show Me The  Money”
Categories
Law Firm Management

The Smart/Stupid Dichotomy in Law Firms

Twin men working on computers across from each other at a boardroom table.
Photo by Cottonbro Studios at Pexels.

You don’t get to insult my intelligence and depend on it at the same time. 

~  Rachel Wasserman

Imagine that you could bake up a bunch of perfect gingerbread cookies in the shape of a lawyer wearing a suit and holding a briefcase, and then say a few magic words and breathe life into them.  They would then jump off of the cookie sheet and immediately start billing hours.  I bet that there is at least one law firm Managing Partner who has fantasized about how great it would be if all of their Associates just fit the cookie-cutter mould that the firm wants, did what they were told, did not try to disrupt the system, and never complained.

read more about treating associates like future partners “The Smart/Stupid Dichotomy in Law Firms”