The 80/20 Principle

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...

You can learn to be more persuasive, but if you want to learn the most important elements then you should read the short book discussed in this episode. You'll also learn why polarization is persuasive even though it's usually immoral and improper. Episode Notes The One Sentence Persuasion Course - 27 Words to Make the World Do Your Bidding , by Blair Warren General Resources The 80/20 Principle  ...

Learn how to recover 5 more hours of your time per week. Dina Cataldo is a criminal defense lawyer turned coach who helps lawyers master time-management, grow their businesses, and have more fun. In this episode, she and Ernie talk about getting leverage in your law business and gaining margin in your life. Episode Notes Dina's business website Dina's Be a Better Lawyer Podcast Dina's downloadable...

Leveraging strengths and conquering weaknesses is vital to your success. When you harness strengths you can make big improvements in your practice that make your life a lot easier. The key to doing this is with a well-known 4-step analysis called S.W.O.T. which many business managers find to be indispensable.  In this episode, we'll delve into what the SWOT analysis looks like for a solo or small...

The less paper you handle the more freedom you have in your practice. David Sparks is a California business attorney who teaches others how to use technology to shed paper and be more productive and less stressed out. While he focuses on Mac-based technology in terms of the tools he uses, his systems are platform-independent. In this episode, he talks about how he created his paperless practice an...

You want your practice to run better, with less involvement on your part. But there are several challenges to making this happen. One is finding the best tool to document, refine, and optimize all your workflows. The more workflows you document the less involved you can be. The better those workflows are described (and optimized over time) the smoother your practice will run. In this episode, we w...

Your intuition is a vast repository of life experiences, insights, and deep knowledge. There are times you should trust your intuition, and times when not doing so will put you in peril. In this episode, you'll discover when and how to tap into the immense power of your subconscious knowledge to get more good clients more easily. General Resources The 80/20 Principle  (my email newsletter) The 5 P...

Documenting your workflows is boring but essential if you want to crank the gears of your law business, and evolve into something that doesn't depend on you doing all the work and making all the decisions. Why is it so hard to document workflows? Well, it has to do with the nature of the work we do, which is mostly information processing that's intangible and ephemeral. But if you learn to visuali...