The 80/20 Principle

If you want to make steady, powerful improvements to your law business, in a way that's super effective and surprisingly easy, you should leverage the principle of "Kaizen." It's a Japanese business philosophy of continuously improving operations in small incremental steps. But it's also a powerful tool for solo and small law firm owners in the modern tech-driven world Show Notes Atomic Habits , b...

PKM is a new term, but an important one for all knowledge workers (i.e. lawyers and others who think for a living and solve problems by thinking). Here are some basics of PKM, which will probably seem alien to many lawyers. But it's worth making the effort to grasp the power of PKM. Show Notes Nick Milo's PKM story (article published on Medium) Nick Milo's YouTube channel What is PKM (Nick MIlo's...

Unfortunately, most lawyers don't know how to write persuasively, and their marketing copy is boring. And surprisingly, many marketing folks (who supposedly are experts in persuasive ad writing and marketing writing) also do a really poor job. So don't feel bad if you struggle to write persuasively. It's not something you were ever taught to do, certainly not in law school. In this episode, you'll...

Discover how he approached the creation of his solo practice, and which tools and resources he has found most useful in the process. Show Notes Episode Transcript (via Otter.ai) Team Desk (database software) ScanSnap iX1600 scanner Paperless Lawyering course (that Bin took to learn to become paperless) Zoho CRM TextExpander (amazing keyboard macro software) SweetProcess (process documentation soft...

You need to train yourself to understand how the most common attacks work. That's how you avoid them. So that's what we're going to talk about, with a special focus on phishing attacks & ransomware. Show Notes Episode 154: Security for Lawyers Beyond Fear  (recommended book by Bruce Schneier) LastPass (free password manager) Password Management Policy (good overview of using passwords effectively)...

In this episode, Ernie speaks with an anonymous associate at a large firm about resistance she faces in her attempts to get her firm to adopt technology. Ernie shares some strategies and tactics for getting buy-in. Human nature is a bigger factor than cold logic and well-pled arguments. Show Notes The free preview to my Working Smarter course contains the discussion about using automated calendari...

We must learn to think sensibly about security in order to properly implement it and manage it. According to Bruce Schneier, a renowned security expert, there are 5 elements to consider when making security decisions. Show Notes Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World , by Bruce Schneier General Resources The 80/20 Principle  (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tec...

In my Systems Workshop, we begin by delving into the role of creativity in creating systems for improving a law practice. There are some common myths about creativity that need to be debunked, and that's where we start in this episode. Show Notes Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide , by John Cleese The HBR Guide to Better Business Writing: Divide the Writing Process into Four Separate Tasks , b...

You know your situation better than anyone else. Sometimes you should trust what your gut instincts tell you is best for you, and not what a supposed expert says. We'll talk about some things that experts say that need to be questioned, and we'll also talk about places where your intuition can be wrong. Interestingly, persuasion is one area where both supposed lawyer experts and your intuition are...

Joe Emmerth is a family law practitioner in the Chicago area who left the firm he joined out of law school to start his own firm. After 15 years of practice, he knew a lot about being a lawyer, but suddenly he had to make sure he knew enough about running his own law business.  In this episode, he explains how he planned his move, and what tools he finds most essential in his new firm. Show Notes...

Warren Buffet nails it when he observes: "The interesting thing about business is that it's not like the Olympics. You don't get any extra points for the fact that something's very hard to do. So you might as well just step over one-foot bars, instead of trying to jump over seven-foot bars."  In other words, find the easy path and take it. Finding the easy path isn't so easy though. In this episod...

Creating radical improvement requires radical new ways of solving a problem, which requires radical new ways of thinking. And that radical thinking will inevitably feel like crazy talk at first. But it's not, if you are willing to listen and open your mind and discover that some things that seem incompatible in what you want actually are not. Show Notes The Power of Simplicity  (2015 YouTube prese...

Melissa Shanahan coaches attorneys and insists that they define key benchmarks as a way of growing their practices. In this episode, she and I discuss whether Jason Fried's statement is crazy talk or whether maybe there is some wisdom behind it. Show Notes " I've Never Had a Goal " (article by Jason Fried) Rework: Change the Way You Work Forever , by Jason Fried Remote: Office Not Required , by Ja...

These books have been influential in helping many successful people learn to "work smarter." Study them carefully Strive to absorb the key principles so they become part of your regular thought patterns . Once that happens, your massive success is virtually guaranteed. Show Notes Mindset: The New Psychology of Success , by Carol Dweck The Effective Executive , by Peter Drucker The Four Hour Workwe...

Scaling your business in a sustainable way is possible, but the way to do it is counter-intuitive for many reasons. In this episode, I'll complete my 3-part discussion of this issue and recommend a sane, sustainable, and effective solution. Show Notes Future Shock , by Alvin Toffler book Remote: Office Not Required , by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson Rework , by Jason Fried & David Heineme...

I've been participating in Melissa Shanahan's 30-day sprint. I've gained so many valuable insights and practical takeaways that have helped me start working at a much higher level. The way Melissa gets results is by helping you achieve more—but without that achievement coming at the expense of your enjoyment of life. But there is a mindset shift that has to happen and that's what we'll talk about...

While email overload might seem like one big reason for our being mired in busywork, the root cause is something deeper.  In this episode, I'll lay out the real problem and start to share some thoughts about the best solution. And we'll be talking about the solution for the next few episodes because the best solution is also counter-intuitive. Show Notes Otter.ai transcript of podcast Deep Work ,...

Keith Lee is a good friend (and fellow contrarian) from back in 2010 when he started a law blog called Associates Mind . In this episode, we'll reminisce about big shifts that technology has created in the legal profession over the past decade. And we'll focus on a new tool that now makes it easy for lawyers to provide quick case status updates to clients via a smartphone app. Show Notes Associate...

Lawyers who write briefs know that their first drafts are usually filled with errors and inconsistencies. Having a set of fresh eyes look over the draft helps tremendously, and now you can use artificial intelligence to help you edit faster and do a better job with less stress.   In this episode, premier legal writing instructor Ross Guberman explains how he created his A.I.-driven "legal-writing...

These are the essential software options that many lawyers aren't using but should be using, or should be using more than they are (if they're using any of these options). BTW, I'd love to get your feedback or answer any questions you hav e ( which can get to in an upcoming episode ). Show Notes Here's a list of essential software that was discussed: Automated Scheduling (e.g. Acuity , Calendly ,...

Morning pages is a simple, easy tool that can help you overcome a lot of what's keeping you confused or stuck about many important things in your life and in your law practice. This simple daily exercise has made helped me make massive progress in areas where I was perpetually stuck. And apparently, this process has worked for thousands of people. Of course, just because it's easy and simple doesn...

In the Information Age (which we are now living in) there's a lot of information to keep track of. Most of it is useless, but some of it is powerful. The trick is to separate the signal from the noise, and having "information sherpas" will help you do that. Information sherpas are people who pay close attention to particular areas of interest. In this episode I'll share some of the best sherpas to...

Lawyers who fully understand what's known as "megatrends" will thrive. And those who ignore the megatrends or (worse) resist them, will probably struggle to survive. The megatrends we'll discuss are ones that are inherent in the shift from an industrial society to one based on the flow of information —specifically, digital information. Show Notes Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Liv...

Kerry Wallis practices family law in Los Angeles California, and aspires to spend more time traveling the world. She's been working on building systems by documenting workflows, and she's been traveling Europe with her family during the pandemic. How is she able to do this? Listen to this episode and find out. Show Notes Gray Law Corp (Kerry's law firm website) Slack (tool Kerry uses extensively)...

If you're need to hire an associate but don't have enough work for a full-time person check out a legal outsourcing service called Lawclerk . In this episode Kristin Tyler (one of the founders) explains how their service works, and talks about their new subscription program. Show Notes LawClerk.legal home page Details on Associate Subscription Program (features & pricing) 50-State Review of Rules...