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Ringer: Who Should Answer the Phone at Your Law Firm?

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This is kind of a trick question .  It’s one that initiates the lawyer’s go-to response: It depends.     But , in reality, the choice of who answers your phone when clients and potential clients call has a lot of la yers to it, not unlike an onion .  And, this is reflective of the many cho ices now available to attorneys.     In a perfect world, where you have ample time ( riiiight ), it’s probably best to have lawyers answering every call – and, the more senior the lawyer, the better .  Why ?  Because it surprises and delights clients .  (Wait, I’m actually talking to the lawyer?!)  Clients and potential clients expect you to have gatekeepers; if you don’t = they’re amazed, and thrilled.  Some law firm actually employ this method.  Not surprisingly, clients are happy, and revenue increases. Of course, the vast majority of law firms can’t accommodate that arrangement.   And, if that’s your law firm, the next best option is to have a staffperson pick up the phone, bec
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Accommodation: Making Money in Legal Services Is About Finding More Time to Work

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The notion of a ‘factory practice’ gets a bad name among lawyers, who retain a burning desire to exist as white tower intellectuals .  Conversations about revenue and efficiency only get in the way of a good conversation about Supreme Court cases from the late 1880 s.  Ah, the Gilded Age, indeed.     But, really, it’s the law firms that can accommodate the most work, that make the most money.   Lawyers often think it’s pricing, that makes them money .  It’s not .  In specific geographic areas, for specific practice areas, lawyers charge about the same, across the board.     What really separates the law firms that make the money versus those that don’t (make as much of the money ) is how many widgets they can make .  In an environment where legal services is becoming commoditized, and in which consumers continue to exhibit increasing price sensitivity, it only makes sense that efficiency would be the ultimate answer.     So, yeah : the more your law firm functions like a fa
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Is Walmart Targeting Your Law Firm? What Alternative Business Structures Will Mean for Small Firms

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Small law firms generally have it pretty good , in that they’ve mostly had to compete only against other small law firms, that aren’t particularly innovative either , and that also don’t spend money aggressively to build their businesses.  Now, over the course of time, cracks have been made in that armor, as organizations like LegalZoom have addressed services for legal consumers in an entirely different way – by focusing on products (document delivery), at more cost-effective prices than most law firms are willing to offer .  And, even if th ose law firms have access to the technology need ed to accommodate that approach , they can’t or won’t adopt it .   But, that’s all just an initial volley in the coming clash between small law firms and legal service providers.     Lawyers have always been protected against other business owners infiltrating their territory by the existence of ethics rules ba nn ing lawyers from sharing fees with non-lawyers, effectively barring b
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