Maine Law Practice Management

Speed of response and engagement is essential for starting legal consumers on the client journey .  If you don’t get to your leads quickly, you won’t have a chance to close them .  So, it’s important that, if someone calls your law firm, you pick up . . . or, have someone pick up for you .  That’s in part because 64% of law firms voicemails are never returned.     But, most lawyers aren’t picking up the phones on their own .  And, traditionally, the answer for that was that the law firm would hire a receptionist, who s a t in the exact same, physical space every day, while answer ed phone calls on the same , exact phone .  But now , you’ve got more options.     You can still hire a full-time, traditional legal secretary or receptionist, who can sit at a desk and pick up the phone , sure .  But, VoIP phone systems can be used from any internet-ready device .  So, you could have that person work outside the office ....

Many law firm owners are comfortable just paying out a salary .  And, that can work, for sure .  But, if you want to drive revenue within your law firm, it makes sense to look at bonusing attorneys and staff in ways that will incentivize your employees to generate or close more cases for the firm, which will lead to additional revenue. Obviously, this is a bit easier for attorney staff, since lawyers can share fees with each other, which makes it easier to create a direct incentive plan .  But, for staff , you can bonus them without sharing fees, including for converting clients from leads, for example, by doing things like offering a $50 bonus for each lead closed, potentially in a certain time frame .   This is the same method that lead generation services use to get paid by law firms, without sharing fees.     But, the place that law firm owners can really make money here is by using origination fees to bonus their attorney staff .  Law firms ...

Law firms were sitting in the cat-bird seat for quite a while, in terms of the job marketplace .  Now, employees have the upper hand .  So, how can a law firm with hiring needs find success in a marketplace where they’re no longer in the driver’s seat ?  Well, there’s no perfect solution; but, here are a few suggestions you could employ:     First, try to make your law firm a more compelling environment for potential hires .  Does your website look like an enjoyable place to work, or does everyone’s headshot seem like it’s a hostage photo ?  How do your social media profiles look ?   What does your content that you produce say about your law firm ?  Every job candidate is going to vet your web presence; and, what you’re doing there has to appeal to your potential hires, in the same way that it do es to your potential clients.   Second, you’ll need to rethink your compensation model .  While salary isn’t the only thing th...