Tag: lawfirms

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

What Danger Lurks in the Shadow of Brilliance?

Yellow Dead End sign.
Photo by Dustin Tray at Pexels.

Now that I have been retired for a few years, I sometimes wonder whether my experience as to how law firms work remains valid. Also, since I spent my days with medium-sized firms and not in Big Law, I occasionally worry that my view of what goes on in Big Law is not correct.

But then I speak to lawyers working in Big Law and they invariably confirm that Big Law is exactly what I always thought it was (which is just Medium Law on steroids, with worse side effects), and nothing has changed, and likely never will.

read more about the danger of working in the shadow of brilliance “What Danger Lurks in the Shadow of Brilliance?”
Categories
Legal Tech

Enough Chatter About Chat GPT: Time to Move on Up

Rocket ship blasting off.
Photo by Pixabay at Pexels.

So, so much chatter about Chat GPT. I believe some of it. I think that some of it is nonsense.

Here is the bottom line:

  1. Lawyers did not go out of business when computers were invented and we lost all of those hours reviewing draft after draft of retyped documents.
  2. We were still able to generate enough billable hours, even after we became able to produce documents faster with document automation software.
  3. Online legal databases did not replace articling students and junior associates.
read more about chat gpt “Enough Chatter About Chat GPT: Time to Move on Up”
Categories
Client Development

Buying Clients

Woman standing at whiteboard that says "Marketing" and has numerous sticky notes.
Photo by Alena Darmel at Pexels.

Back when I was practicing law, ignoring my health, and always exhausted, there were oh so many things to think about.  One of them was referral fees.

Of course the Law Society has rules about referral fees, as they should. (There are a whole bunch of other things that they have rules about which they should not be involved in, but I will save my rant about that for another day.)

In our firm, we kept our rules about referral fees a whole lot simpler than the Law Society rules. We did not pay referral fees and we did not accept referral fees.

read more about referrals and ethics “Buying Clients”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Keep it Stupid, Simple

A skeleton wearing a wig and sunglasses.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels.

Back in 1996 my sister became a doctor. No, not the type that the cabin crew calls for desperately at 35,000 feet when some overworked lawyer has a heart attack. One of the other kinds. In my sister’s case, she holds a Doctorate in Psychology, which is often quite useful given the level of crazy in my family.

For her doctoral thesis, my sister designed an experiment which examined, among other things, the effect of gender on the diagnostic process. She sent a questionnaire to medical doctors and psychologists describing the symptoms of a patient and asking them to suggest a diagnosis. The description of the symptoms received by each clinician was the same, except for one tiny discrepancy. In some cases the patient was described as a woman with certain symptoms typically associated with premenstrual syndrome and which she reported experiencing over several days before the commencement of menstruation. In the others, the patient was described as a man who experienced the same symptoms every four or five weeks.

read more about confirmation bias “Keep it Stupid, Simple”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Look Before You Leap

Man stepping off a cliff.
Photo by João Gabrie at Pexels.

In the early 1980’s, just about the time that I was looking for my first permanent job in the legal profession, someone had called a recession and everyone had shown up. The pickings were slim for first year lawyers. Luckily for me, there was Don, a lawyer with over 25 years’ experience in the profession, who was being let go by the firm that hired me. 

read more about why you should look before you leap “Look Before You Leap”
Categories
Client Development

The Slow Game

Aerial photo of baseball stadium at night.
Photo by Time Gouw at Pexels.

You think that baseball is a slow game? It has nothing on networking.

Here is a story for you.

Many years ago I met a tax accountant named Michael. Capable guy. We built up a trusting relationship and referred business back and forth from that day forward to my retirement.  

read more about playing the long game “The Slow Game”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

The Iceman Cometh

Silhouette of a man walking under the Northern LIghts.
Photo by Shahid Sultan at Pexels

Long ago I used to work with a great lawyer named Ed. Ed was calm, at least compared to me. When I was freaking out about my files and my workload and certain that I was going to get myself sued for something or other, Ed just did his work, calmly and professionally, no matter how much pressure he was under. We used to call Ed the Iceman because we were sure that he had ice water in his veins. I envied Ed. I never did find out if his insides were any different from his outsides.

read more about how different people handle stress in law firms “The Iceman Cometh”
Categories
Legal Ethics

Musings on Trust Funds and Ethics

Skyscrapers with Bank logos.

If you are not in that part of the legal business which involves representing Banks on lending matters, you may not know that Banks love trust deposits. They pay a ridiculously low amount of interest on them, and while the firm’s mixed trust account (the “General Trust Account”) requires some managing, it does not take much effort to service the individual interest-bearing investment accounts for specific clients (the “Individual Accounts”). It is good business to have.

On the other hand, law firms like bank lending work. Less now than back in the days when it was more profitable, but still.

read more about about an obscure ethical issue “Musings on Trust Funds and Ethics”
Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

That Don’t Impress Me Much!

Doctor sitting at her desk writing notes.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko:

I know a young doctor who I will call Stephanie, whose approach to her career impresses me quite a bit. She graduated at the top of her class, became a specialist, and had many choices open to her. 

read more about what impresses me about STephanie’s Career Choices “That Don’t Impress Me Much!”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Cowboys and Aliens

Sign that says "Parking for Aliens Only" with a picture of an Alien.
Photo by James Lee at Pexels.

In the movie Cowboys and Aliens, the cowboys band together to vanquish the big, bad, powerful aliens.

When I retired, I moved to the country and tried to fit in with the country folks after having spent a lifetime in the Big City. 

read more about big law lawyers vs. the rest of us “Cowboys and Aliens”