Maine Law Practice Management

Goal setting for attorneys is often circular.  Most times, their goal is to set goals 😊 .     But, because la wyer s don’t utilize goal setting, they underachieve.  They’ve got nothing to strive for, nothing to compete over, nothing to drive them to the next chapter of their business.  This is probably the chief reason why the status quo dominate s law firm management, and why most law firms exist in suspended animation.  It’s why I’m never surprised to talk to an attorney who sounds like he’s running a law firm from 1999.     It matters less what your goals are, than that you set them.  If you’re interested in making more money, run some revenue projections, and set specific revenue goals.  If you want more of a lifestyle practice, figure out how you’re going to work less, and build more time into your schedule -- and then create actionable goals to get you there.   Maybe you want to grow your law firm beyond a solo or small prac...

All lawyers have marketed their law firms in the same fashion since time in memoriam .  The idea was always to build a personal referral base via business networking, and that the rest would take care of itself.  Even as the world around law firms has changed over time, that one constant has not changed.  But now , if a new report is to be believed, other modes of client acquisition may be outstripping this tried and true option.     The 2019 Clio Legal Trends Reports indicates that fewer potential law firm clients are seeking referrals from other attorneys or affiliated professional service providers .  In fact, the study indicates that legal consumers are more likely to ask family members for a referral .  And, more than half the time, a legal consumer performs independent research to locate the right attorney.   Of course , most of those preferred mechanisms do not align with how attorneys work to acquire and convert leads.  In fact, the ...

The majority of business owners have a very difficult time price setting.  However, much of that effort (meant to define the value for what a professional does ) is most often undone by those same professionals.  This is especially true of lawyers, who don’t like to talk with clients about money, and are more than willing to discount their services at the slightest provocation.   This becomes a significant problem, as attorneys reduce their effective rates via the method of death by a thousand cuts.  Law firms usually bleed revenue in fits and starts, until they begin to hemorrhage it; and, constantly discounting in an inconsistent manner is where it starts.  Plus, clients and referral sources talk about how a particular lawyer can be a soft touch ; so, not only does this issue exist in a vacuum, it most often mushrooms over time.  Law firms that staunch the bleeding, tend to make more money overall, and per hour.     The best way to preserve t...

Efficient law firms return the most revenue, by a wide margin.  Yet, much of what law firms do cuts against efficiency: Attorneys tend to avoid modern technology.  Attorney like to do things themselves, and so they avoid effective delegation.  Attorneys want manual processes, which they feel they have more control over.  Of course, this is not the way to practice at the top of your law license: billing at your highest rates, or acquiring more work that you can bill at your highest rates.     Too often, lawyers are trying to pilot the plane, and hand out the pretzels.   While it’s true that delegation is a proven method for driving efficiency, law firms need not always delegate from managing attorneys to associate attorneys or staff.  Automation of rote tasks and processes is often more effective.  Consider the chain of events reflecting on law firm lead intake: scheduling, emails, contact forms, chat or text communications, contracting, ecomm...