Maine Law Practice Management

I was talking to a friend of mine, who runs  a highly successful  law firm, the other day .   And,  he told me  ‘clients   aren’t  the problem, I need to hire good  lawyers’ .   And,  I thought to myself: ‘You know what – I have been hearing that  a lot  lately ’.   Now, that makes for an interesting inflection point in the marketplace – because, I think that, if you asked   lawyers what they need more, the answer would be ‘client s , I can never have enough  clients’ .   But, in the current job market, it’s actually harder to get good  attorneys,  than it is to get good clients.   Believe it or not , good clients are far more plentiful right now .   Now, this may turn around, at some point;  but,  there are no signs  (at least  currently ) , that this will again become an  employer’s  market, as it did during the start of the pandemi...

Law firms lack structure, generally;  and,   that’s  also true of how they  compensate  their lawyers, beyond their salaries .   And,   that’s   maybe the  most dangerous game to be playing in the current hiring environment – because, if you  can’t  keep your current staff happy,  they’re  more likely to be able to find an alternate position, easier  and faster  than  they  ever  have  before.   Most law firm s  rely on  ad hoc  bonuses for their employees;  but,   that’s  a bad idea .   One reason  that’s  the case is because those sorts of bonuses  come at random times for random reasons .   That creates an expectation that  they’ll  come  along  again, but without grounding for how  or  when .   And then, since  there’s  nothing tied to those bonuses aside from the wh...

Contingency firms scratch a bunch of lottery tickets, and sometimes get a (big) hit .  I mean, it’s a little better than the lottery, because there is some skill involved; but, it is a lottery.     So, when that endorphin rush of a big hit, um . . . hits – it’s easy to just plow that money into a new Maserati .  But, you have other obligations , as well.   The best strategy to employ, then, is to create a payoff sheet for settlements .  You can use whatever format you want: a document, a spreadsheet, notes in your case management system – but, it would look something like this :     First, get any disbursements out that need to be made on the case, eg – medical bill payments on behalf of the client .  (This process almost always festers in law firms; and so, you want to move through it as quickly as you can.)  Next, allocate the appropriate percentage for payments of taxes (federal and state, if applicable) from the settlemen...