Un-Billable Hour: Business Management Strategies for the Busy Lawyer Around the Community Table

In this episode’s discussion around the Community Table: Why did your quarterly revenue plummet? Before you panic, look for anomalies like production capacity, weird payment timing, and changes in Google search algorithms. Fix what’s broken, but be rational. (What’s “Demand-Based Marketing?”) Stop personally handling every little issue and designate tasks across your team. How to set boundaries an...

In this episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How to say no to some cases (without losing clients). It’s great to “niche down” to your expertise, but never say no. Say, “I know someone who can help.” Be both – the lawyer and the referral source. When it’s time to grow into a new market, everything starts with location. Do the research, know the territory, and establish the “look” that m...

Let’s talk about marketing (because we know you love to, the numbers don’t lie). But let’s talk about how podcasting fits into your law firm’s marketing mix. Guest Robert Ingalls calls himself a “recovering attorney.” While he had a law degree and his own firm, Ingalls wasn’t happy and wanted to do something else. He landed on creating his own legal-oriented podcast … and something clicked. If he...

Guest Sandrene “Sandy” Ryan is the senior director of recruiting at Level Legal. She’s built a unique process that focuses on quality and creating “the right match” over putting bodies into slots. Culture fit can be more important than a specific skill. You can teach a skill, but you can’t make the wrong person fit your own culture. Production is the lynchpin of your firm. Acquiring new clients an...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: Sometimes when it comes to your brand and marketing, doing everything is doing nothing. What is it you want to be known for? On the fence about hiring support staff? Do the math. Would more staff create more business, better reviews, and happier clients? The next step could be more profit. Gamification – cash rewards for individual and team goa...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table:  Is hiring a temp I’ve already worked with previously a mistake? “It’s not personal,” it’s personnel. I need a body, even if s/he won’t stay with me. Is this reasonable? Sometimes, a contractor (even one you already know and know won’t stay with you) is the answer. Mr. Right vs. Mr. Right Now. How do you test the “seriousness” of a job candidat...

Today's guests, Erik and Elliot, will be joining Christopher on our upcoming Community Table live Q&A on February 16, 2023 to discuss all things marketing. Sign up here (it's free) to join us so you can get your questions answered! ----- Acquisition, from cold lead to paying client, is the important stuff. Marketing is one of three pillars of a successful firm: finding and signing new clients. Gue...

Let’s look at your law firm’s culture when it comes to tech. It’s bottom up and top down, a full circle. You can’t delegate this stuff to one department or one level. Don’t be afraid of change. Embrace efficiencies. Be better. It’s not easy, but you can do this. Guests Anthony Seale and Isabel Parker understand today’s tech better than most, and they never stop innovating. They’ve seen law firms t...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How to focus your practice. If you’re not known for something, you aren’t known for anything. The one thing all clients in every business want: A better life. How do your services make my life better? The steps you must take after firing an employee. It’s not just about the employee, it’s also about the clients. Mentioned in This Episode: Adver...

In this episode: Law is intense, and you love your business. But are you trying to do everything? Trust the team you’ve hired. You can do too much, and you’re not that special. Make the best use of your time, don’t micromanage. It’s not sustainable and it’s not profitable. Learn about “calendar blocking,” building space for success. The habit you must learn. Guest Corine Rogers, a Clio systems and...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How to Determine if a New Hire Is a Success in the First 90 Days How To Master the Process of Employee Contract Negotiations How To Improve Your Job Offer to a Potential Candidate

Let’s talk about practice management, tech, and production. How do you find and apply the right tech tools that help you deliver what you’ve promised to your clients? Acquiring new clients, moving cases through the process, reaching successful outputs, and applying the right business metrics that help you understand your business performance all require the right technologies. Did you know, even t...

How To Decide A Timeline For Firing An Employee How To Craft A Good Job Package to Attract Better Quality Applicants How To Give An Employee An Ultimatum Before Firing Them

Acquisition, getting new clients “from contact to contract,” is vital to your success. So why are so many firms struggling at the most basic levels? Guest Adam Reiman, director of coaching and live events at Lawyer.com, explains. Signing a prospective client starts the instant you pick up the phone. Clients are won or lost in those critical first moments. If you’re waiting to respond to calls or p...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How can a law firm effectively use the non-attorney salesperson in a way that meets client expectations?

Every attorney knows to lock client secrets behind sophisticated cybersecurity. But as guest Rich Hale explains, the data that’s hiding in plain sight, “Dark Data,” is just as important to your client relationships and your reputation. After this important episode, you’ll want to look around your office. What do you see? Passwords taped to keyboards, thumb drives and scribbled notes left on deskto...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: What do I need to consider to bring the firm’s outsource bookkeeping in-house? How can I utilize job boards more effectively to find quality candidates? What is the best way to script internal messaging to my team about a firing?

Feeling overwhelmed, like you’ve lost control of your life and your practice, like your job runs you instead of the other way around? You’re not alone and there are ways to overcome anxiety, doubt, and feeling overwhelmed. You can put you back in charge of you. Guest Monica Levi is a lawyer and former corporate HR executive who channels what she learned into leadership coaching for attorneys. This...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How can I minimize the damage of an upcoming employee resignation? How do I decide which size cases my firm should pursue? How do I handle two employees that need to be hired/transferred?

Marketing is about message, not volume. Before big advertising spends, figure out who you are and what you want to say. What makes you special? Look inside your firm and understand your culture and passions. You don’t have to dress, act, and talk like every other firm. And you can’t buy authenticity. Guests April and Tyler Roberts are co-founders of NOMOS Marketing. They dig into what makes a law...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How should I structure a bonus plan for my client intake specialist? How should I construct a pro hac vice agreement with an out-of-state law firm? How should I market my newly created educational course to my potential clients?

If there’s a key lesson in this episode, it’s “Don’t try to do it all.” Guest Mike Morse founded the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. But it wasn’t always that way. He started out trying to do everything himself, from trials to correspondence to hiring assistants to finding office space. Nobody in law school teaches you how to run a law firm – law school doesn’t even admit a law firm...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How do I decide which candidate to hire for the office manager position? How do I attract quality candidates to my small firm when we’re competing against larger law firms? How do I hold people accountable in a way that doesn’t create a lot of extra work for me?

The COVID pandemic changed our understanding of remote work with new technologies and more efficient management. But does that remote employee need to be in your town, or even country? Guest Brett Trembly is cofounder of Get Staffed Up, a growing firm that provides talented, English-proficient, remote professional legal support staffers from around the world. Some 700 law firms around the U.S. pro...

This episode’s discussion around the Community Table: How do I promote an employee to a part-time position without upsetting the current full-time coworker? Did I make a mistake hiring a friend? How do I overcome my reluctance to hand over the drag-in duties to a new hire?   Special thanks to our sponsors LawClerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.