Laying the Groundwork: Socializing Metrics Is Important for Law Firms

Setting business goals is immeasurably important, for lawyers.  Business goals supported by data are measurable.  But, you may not be ready for that latter part right away – that may also be true of your staff. 



While it’s exciting to discover new datasets, and reports – you don’t necessarily have to utilize those to build mandates within your law firm . . . at least , not right away.  If you’ve never set data-based metrics before, that’s gonna be a big change for both you and your team.  So, it makes more sense to ‘socialize’ the idea of these KPIs (key performance indicators) first.  Just run your reports, and make those available for people.  Do that for a year, if you have to.  Then, once folks are used to looking at law firm numbers, across various categories, you can align team and individual goals for your staff, with those numbers.  That’s when you begin to hold people accountable, and/or potentially tie goal-based achievements to compensable incentives. 

 

Of course, this may be a longer process, than the one described above.  If you’ve never collected data before, it may even make sense to start doing so, and testing various reports, to get a ‘baseline’, for what you’re looking – before you do anything else.  Then, you can socialize reporting.  After that, comes the goals. 

 

But, you’ll get there; you’ll have to: Modern, growing law firms require data-based metrics, to thrive. 

 

. . . 

 

If you want to talk data, just reach out. 

Through a unique partnership between the bar association and Jared Correia's Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, National Creditors' Bar Association members have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discount rate.

To get started, visit Red Cave's NCBA landing page, and start running your law practice like a business.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top Shelf: How to Maximize Lawyer Staff in a Modern Law Firm

Image
Broadly speaking, lawyers take on too much.  You know: at work, emotionally.  They’re probably also trying to carry too many grocery bags into the house at one time.  You know how it is.     This, of course, leads to a whole host of problems, including that attorneys have higher incidences of alcohol and drug dependence, as well as depression, than does the general population .  Maybe you already knew that.  But, the fact is that this also has a direct effect on how much a lawyer can make. Hear me out: Because lawyers try to do everything, and to do everything perfectly, they’re also more prone than the general population to take on more work than they need to.  For example, they’re unwilling to delegate, including to paralegal and administrative staff, but also to other attorneys.  That means that lawyers end up being chief cook and bottlewasher, rather than focusing on the high-end work (strategy , client engagement), that they get paid th...
Read more

Transfer Portal: Sharing Files Securely is a Piece of Cake Now

Image
If you’re still sharing files with clients, referral sources and other attorneys, via email attachment – or, heaven forfend: fax! – you need to step up your game .  Email is an inherently unsecure technology; so, if you’re sending confidential information via email, you need to secure that information, by encrypting it – at the document level, or at the system level .  But, that takes additional time and effort, and cost s more.   Instead, why not share confidential information through a secure , encrypted platform, th rough which the person who is to receive the information logs into, thereby bypassing the email problem, where that information passes through several servers (some of which may be unencrypted), before reach ing its final destination .  With a client portal, your document stays where it is (safely encrypted), and your recipient comes in to get it.     Now, you can share files and documents via document storage programs in this fashi...
Read more

Outlaw: The One Key Employee You Need, to Stop Practicing Law

Image
Some lawyers love to practice law; and, they would do it for the rest of their lives, if they could .  But, for other attorneys, the practice of law – really, building a law firm, as a business – is a way out, of the practice of law .  It is/will be the thing that provides them with enough revenue, to do what they really want to do .   For some attorneys, that’s the end game.     To get there, the law firm either needs to generate enough profit for you to get paid, without having to practice law anymore ; or, it has to generate enough revenue, for you to be able to sell it, and retire or start something new.   But, if you’re not managing the firm, who is ?  If you’re looking to devolve your caseload, even if you have multiple partners and/or associate attorneys, someone needs to sit in the role of case manager, which you formerly occupied.     And, that’s why you need a ‘ Chief Legal Officer ’ .   This is a corporate concept that ...
Read more