The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has changed many of lawyers’ closely-held beliefs about how to run a law practice.  Not a single aspect of law firm business management is being left unexamined.  And, as law firm concerns over revenue grow, cost - cutting measure s  begin to intercede.  At this point, a number of law firms have furloughed staff; but, many have held onto the second largest office expense: the office itself.   That may change, however, as social distancing requirements linger.  If no one, or fewer people, are at the office, your law firm won’t require as much office space.  And, it’s likely that you and your employees are becoming far more proficient in working at home.   If those trends continue, it’s the smart business decision to reduce office space, and so your monthly rental nut.     Of course, that was the smart move before you ever even heard of the coronavirus; but, you were probably too afraid to pull the tri...

As the coronavirus pande mic continues to force business shutdowns and social distancing , some law firms will be forced to make hard choices about staffing and continued business operations.   But,  all law firms should now start looking at expenses, to see whether they can reduce their overhead – at least over the next quarter.   An easy place to start is with subscription services.  Lots of law firms maintain subscription services they don’t use, especially with respect to technology.  And, many law firms only use a small part of the  softwares  they have access to.    With law firms  now feeling the pressure to build   more virtual business  model s , there’s no time like the present to get  mor e lean .   And, that starts with streamlining your technology.  Determine, then, which software tools you’re  actually using , and to what extent  you’re using them .  Then, begin ...

You know what they say: good people are hard to find.  And, if you run a business, you know that it’s true.   The most difficult hurdle to law firm growth is staffing up.  Managing people is definitely tough; but, so is hiring the right people in the first place.  The good news is that hiring well can be a learned skill, too, just like becoming a good manager.   If you’ve never hired before, or screwed it up in the past, here are some tips for  getting it right the first time  . . .  or the next time:   - Build a candidate profile.   Most lawyers just draft a job description (or have someone else do it), and that’s that.  But, that doesn’t give you  a  complete picture of  what  you  want ; it’s just a snapshot of what you  need .  You’re more likely to find the perfect candidate  i f you have a notion of what that person looks like.  Drill down to specifics. ...

You’ve heard the phrase often from busy lawyers, law firm owners particularly: ‘If only I could clone myself’.  It’s wishful thinking; but, it gets to the heart of the one barrier to law firm expansion that you can’t fake: In order to grow your business, to scale it . . . you  have to  hire.   Of course, that’s a hard thing to do, especially for solos, who’ve never had an employee before, or who have only used contractors previously.   Lawyers, even lawyers who have started their own businesses, tend to be highly risk-averse.  They crave safety, surety, over all else.  But, there’s not a whole lot of surety in expanding a business.  And, that’s mainly why it’s so difficult for attorneys to move forward on this score.   Since most law firms bill on an hourly basis, the only way to increase your revenue beyond a certain point is to increase the numbers of hours you can bill, and there are only two ways to do that: become more effi...