The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

As much as I advocate for the use of cloud software by law firms, sometimes there can develop an over reliance on such tools by lawyers.     Take, for example, cloud document storage.  If you’re a law firm, and you’ve recently moved to a  paperless office , adding your document files to a  cloud drive  system  ( like  Google Drive ,  Microsoft OneDrive  or  Dropbox )   may seem like  the  solution to all of your problems.   It’s certainly a huge step in the right direction; but, remember that  a cloud drive does not a data backup make.   Storing your files online does not create a data backup.  If you think of a data backup as a redundancy = another place where your information is stored, solely using a cloud drive for document storage does not answer for that.  You still need to backup up your cloud drive  data  somewhere else.  And, this isn’t about Google or Microsoft or Amazon’s server  architecture  going down  in flames  -- if that happens, we’ve  all  got real problems -- it’s m

Law firm managers have always preferred to have staff onsite; and, the ongoing pandemic has represented a significant change in circumstances.  Even now, many law offices are either entirely remote or adhering to hybrid arrangements, where attorneys and staff are sometime in the office, and sometimes at  home .  Now, that may not be likely to change, even as the majority of the population is vaccinated against the coronavirus.     In many cases, law firms view this as a hassle, and something to overcome.  But, even if few law firms see an obvious upside to the arrangement, there is a significant one ;  and ,  it involves simple math being applied to the notion of a talent pool.     It works like this: If your law office is able to hire in-person talent from a specific location  ( i.e. – within driving distance of your physical office or accessible via commuter transport options ), t hat is a finite geographic area, and necessarily limits your talent pool, from which you can hire.   Now

Lawyers who relied totally on networking and the personal referrals generating therefrom have take a hit of late, as many of those in-person marketing opportunities have dried up, or been significantly reduced.     It’s not the end of networking as we know it, even if it feels that way.   A lot of those networking opportunities have moved online, and lawyers can now take advantage of broader marketing options via the web.  In fact, all of those in-person networking opportunities you’ve so heavily relied on are still around: they’ve just moved online.  And, if you play your cards right, that can actually mean that your reach is expanded, rather than diminished.  That’s because many traditionally localized groups are opening up their chapters to visitors.     So, if you were tired of seeing the same old faces, in the same old coffee shops for regularly scheduled marketing meetings, you can expand your horizons.     Getting to know business owners in next t own  over, or the next county, 

What happens when you don’t convert a lead?  For most law firms, the answer is a resounding:  absolutely  nothing.     But, just because a  potential  client doesn’t convert immediately, that doesn’t mean that you’ve lost that opportunity forever.  Legal consumers who reach out to law firms aren’t always ready to sign up right away, for a number of reasons.  That doesn’t mean that those folks will  never  want to use your legal services -- even if most attorneys treat that as a final answer.  Even if lawyers would like another crack at those non-converting clients, they don’t do anything about it; most will never contact that lead again.   In order to give yourself another bite at the apple for leads who don’t convert the first time, you need to be able to develop a remarketing strategy.  There is significant value in someone’s willingness to provide you with their contact information, and if you don’t access it, you’re leaving that value on the table.  Even if that potential client ne