The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

When it comes to engagement agreements, law firms often practice a ‘less is more’ philosophy.  Doing what is ethically required in terms of identifying rates and  scope of representation covers what you  need  to tell  your  clients; but, it may not be all that you  want  to tell  your  clients.   M odern law firms, as well as modern legal consumers, can also focus on important additional clauses.  For instance, modern legal consumers may want to know about the technology a law firm uses, as well as the data security principles to which it adheres.  Modern legal consumers expect that type of transparency from data and software companies; and, as law firms become more technically viable moving forward, there are  going to be more similarities than differences between those two (seemingly wholly different) business models.   If this sounds like a thrilling (well, maybe not) new endeavor, you can st...

Remember  that scene from the ‘Wizard of Oz’, where the guard at the gates of  the  Emerald City is very reticent to let Dorothy and her friends in, until he realizes who they are, and changes his tune ?  Well, consider yourself the green- moustachioed  guard, and your law firm clients  Dorothy Gale .  The only problem is, by the time you figure out who’s at your gates, and when you’re ready to help them, they’re already long gone.   The point is that most law firms unconsciously set up barriers between themselves and their clients.  Lawyers don’t like to pick up the phone, and talk to existing clients, let alone potential clients, thereby driving a wedge between them and their business.  Clunky contact forms at law firm websites   don’t always work.  Well, that’s another barrier.  Believe it or not, voicemail is a barrier.  Anything that stands between you and engagement with a potential client is a barrier.  And, more than anything else...

Lawyers start their own law firms for any number of reasons.  There isn’t a wrong one.   Despite that, most lawyers starting law firms tend to make the same mistakes.   So, if it’s time for you to start your own law firm, good for you.  And, these are three things you should figure out now, so you don’t get caught short resolving them later.   Create a Niche.    It’s really hard to market a law firm if you’re trying to sell ‘general practice’ legal services.  You can’t sell everything.  So focus down, create a niche, and build on it.  In a hypercompetitive environment, like small law, you need every  single  edge you can  get ; and, the most obvious differentiation point for a law firm is to drill down to specific practice areas.  This process also has the added benefit of opening you up to referrals from law firms focused on complementary practice areas.   Decide What to Cha...

Lawyers are often so head - down on substantive work that they spend very little time considering their ‘ sales cycle ’, which every business has.  Whereas software companies consider metrics like ‘ cost  of  acquisition ’, law firms merely send out cadres of attorneys to network, with the fervent hope that that activity generates business, at some  undetermined  point in the future.     I remember having a conversation with a lawyer who told me that his marketing goal was to have lunch with a nother  business professional every day.  I asked him to track how many referrals he got from that.  A month later, I asked him how things were going, and he said, ‘Well, I guess I was just having lunch .’   The point is that, while marketing seems inscrutable, the results of your efforts are predictable, to a large degree.  If you track your intake, you too can figure out your own cost of acquisition, best sources for ref...