The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

Law firm collection rate s  tend to be well below average.  That’s in part because law firms are great extenders of credit.   They’ll taka a retainer upfront, struggle to collect any more money, and then continue to work through a situation in which it’s unlikely they ’ ll get paid anything more.  This  is precisely  why most senior lawyers will tell their juniors to get paid as much as possible upfront, because another dime may not ever come.   But, that's bad advice in a market in which there is continued downward pressure on legal fees; and, it also encourages attorneys to avoid a fixable problem.     It’s not the only solution available, but one method for dramatically increasing your  collection s  is to   adopt an evergreen retainer model.  The way it works is :  the law firm sets a retainer amount for an initial client payment ;  and  then,  moving forward, it’s the client’s job to ‘top off’...

Lawyers look for revenue in all types of places.     Sometimes they try to reduce overhead.  Sometimes they try to generate more leads.  Sometimes they try to convert more leads.  Sometimes they try to throw more money at the problem.  Sometimes they try to throw less money at the problem.  If most of those solutions haven’t worked – keep reading.     O ne place you can find lost revenue is by focusing on your current clients.   The most efficient law firms make the most money , because they move through cases quicker; consequently, they can bring in new cases faster.   That’s pretty simple math.  But, making the equation work is hard.  Since law firms don’t generally pay attention to the speed at which they process particular tasks, or parts ,  of cases, there is no baseline to improve on.  In other words :  you can’t reduce the time it takes you to do something, if you have no idea how long it takes in the...

Attorneys have, like most business owners, spent lots of their marketing dollars on Google search.  It makes sense: Google is the most popular search engine.  (Google-owned YouTube is #2.)     Google Screened is Google’s latest addition to its collection of local service ads.  Google Screened offers up attorney  recommendations  for practice area searc hes .  So, if you’re a bankruptcy attorney using Google Screened, when someone in your local area searches for a bankruptcy attorney, your profile would be displayed.  Your profile will feature a headshot, a link to your website, information about your Google Reviews and your hours of operation.  Plus, there’ll be a Google Screened green checkmark icon above your name.   A consumer that clicks on your Screened profile is then presented with options to contact you – via phone, text or request form.  When a consumer selects one of those options, that’s a lead for which you are char...

There’s a lot in flux around the legal industry of late.  Work roles, places and preferences seem to be changing constantly.  Yet, law firms continue to require associates to move business forward.     Managing partners often think, in these instances, about what the law firm needs.  But,  even if in an employer’s market, it pays to  consider what your associates  ( and potential associates )   actually do  want – especially if you want those associates to stick around for a while, along with all the capital you’ve invested in them.   One of the major challenges of hiring is that those doing the hiring are often a generation (or more) removed from those they are hiring.   There’s lots of barriers there to begin with; and ,  most of those hiring partners are not going to take the time to learn more about candidate preferences.   So, let’s do a quick crash course on what millennial  ( and younger )  emplo...