Tag: mentoring

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 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
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
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

Act Your Wage

Soldier sitting on tank outside of McDonald's, using cell phone.

Veronica is my Gen Z stepdaughter. She knows a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff and is not shy to educate me on just about everything.

Most recently Veronica taught me the expression ‘Act Your Wage’ and then explained to me what it means.

read more about acting your wage “Act Your Wage”
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 Practice of Law

Adapt or Perish

Maori mask from the Museum of Natural History in Sydney Australia

Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” – H. G. Wells

I can mount a persuasive argument that I had a successful career practicing law.

Although it is unlikely that in a hundred years anyone will be writing about my contributions to the Law, some of my clients likely have fond memories about how I provided sound advice, got them out of a jam, or helped them achieve their goals.

read more about adapting to change or failing in the legal profession “Adapt or Perish”
Categories
Client Development

Know Your Snack Bracket

Cake and Pies on glass shelves.

One of my best clients was a very large privately owned corporation. I had a great relationship with Steve, the majority shareholder/CEO. Our firm was the ‘go-to’ corporate counsel for the company.

The first time that Steve’s company was looking to handle some acquisitions, the CEO asked me, “What is your snack bracket for this type of work?”  What he wanted to know was what size of deal we were comfortable handling. The answer at the time was deals of up to about $100,000,000. Beyond that a larger firm would better serve him.

read more about snack brackets “Know Your Snack Bracket”
Categories
Client Development

Breaking Up Is (Not) Hard to Do

Man toppling boxes labeled "Break up, "Work,," "Deadline," "Anxiety," "Problems," and "Stress."
Photo by Shvets Production at Pexels.

Rob was one of my favourite clients. He had intellectually challenging work, treated my whole team respectfully, gave me reasonable deadlines, and promptly paid all of his bills without question.

Yet, there were lawyers in my firm who did not like working for Rob, who, being smart and creative, would frequently propose unusual business structures or litigation strategies and then insist that we convince him why they would not work.

Read More about working for the right clients “Breaking Up Is (Not) Hard to Do”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Different Types of Smart

Football players at scrimmage line.
Photo by Pixabay at Pexels.

At my high school, athletics were valued above academics. I am pretty sure that we had the only ‘Reach for the Top’ team (an academic competition) which had a student who failed a grade one year and returned to the team the next year. Needless to say, our team did not win.

On the other hand, our school had three football teams, all of which won their respective divisions just about every year.

read more about different types of smart “Different Types of Smart”