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Marketing: What Are You Already Doing Right?

2007-06-01T12:54:51+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

On a panel for a webcast by the Law Practice Management Program about “Finding and Keeping Good Clients,” we discussed the efficacy of public speaking. Rick Albers, a real estate lawyer in Austin, recounted that another lawyer once told him that he had spoken many times at continuing legal education programs, and never got any business from it. Rick’s mouth dropped open. He himself had referred four matters to that lawyer over the last several years. Rick made those referrals because he knew from hearing the lawyer speak that he was knowledgeable in the relevant area of practice.

Many years ago, when I had my own law firm, my father asked me how I got my clients. I blinked, dumbfounded by the question, and finally responded, “I wish I knew, Dad, so I could get more of them.” That question spurred me to examine my list of current and former clients. I discovered that 75% of my business came from referrals from other lawyers. To my surprise, many of those referrals came from my competitors!

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Get More Done by Doing Less

2005-07-01T11:00:22+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

“For fast-acting relief – slow down.” ~ Lily Tomlin

Life is full of paradox. If you feel harried and stressed at work every day, if you are always putting out fires, stop everything else you are doing and read this article. Three steps will revolutionize your practice.

I know you are in a hurry, so here they are:

Create blocks of quiet time.
Prioritize your work each morning.
Stop multi-tasking.

Some of you are rolling your eyes and muttering disgustedly, “Get real!” or ” Give me something I can use.” You may be the ones who will have the most difficulty implementing this advice. You will also be the ones who will benefit most from it.

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5 Common Concerns When Delegating Work and How to Tackle Them

2022-11-03T15:07:04+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

1 “If I don’t do it myself, it will not be done right”

This is the first thought that comes to our minds when delegating isn’t part of our everyday routine yet. It’s common and understandable, yet it’s far from being beneficial for you or your firm. Believing that you’re the only person that can perform a task effectively will not only make you waste resources but, if you think about it, it can also be a little naive. For example, how many good law firms are out there? How many competent, efficient, committed, and even perfectionist legal practitioners have you met throughout your entire career? How many people are as passionate as you about law, that will want to perform their job properly? You can be absolutely certain that there are people out there that can, and will, be the right fit for your practice, the key is knowing how to choose the right person. […]

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2024-04-03T16:28:10+00:00By Joe Thompson|

No More Excuses!

You work too many hours. You deserve better compensation. Your associates and staff aren’t following through. Your work is unfulfilling and it is starting to affect your home life. Sound familiar?

A Lawyer Coach Can Help

As an attorney, you work in a burn-out prone career. Navigating a career path in the law is hard enough, but to preserve a healthy balance of work, family and personal fulfillment can seem impossible. It’s not impossible.

Take charge of your life! Don’t be a victim of circumstance and professional inertia!
We are lawyers and we know what you’re going through and how to help. Call us at 713-682-4353. Our lawyer coaches can help you:
> Manage your time more effectively
> Reduce stress and irritation
> Bring in new clients
> Create balance in your life
> Get more productivity from your staff
> Structure your work to enjoy it
> Improve work relationships
> Set and achieve goals with an action plan
> Resolve and reduce internal conflicts
> Step up to an Olympic performance level Learn More about Executive Coaching for Lawyers

Clients and Prospective Clients

Want to explore whether coaching is right for you?

Book a Compatibility Preview appointment now!

Schedule Appointment

Existing and Returning Clients can also use this button to schedule a new appointment. If you are rescheduling, please send an email to say which appointment you wish to cancel

Setting goals for your life and career?

Click here […]

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Overcoming Fears of Virtual Legal Assistants

2019-03-20T21:30:37+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

Is running your law practice growing to more than you can handle, but maybe not enough for full-time help? As a prudent business person, perhaps you aren’t ready to make the commitment to hire more staff or to lease additional space to accommodate them. If you find yourself working too many long hours just to keep up, and doing work that you should be delegating, maybe it’s time to experiment with a virtual paralegal or virtual administrative assistant. Virtual workers can permit you to flexibly expand and contract your office staff as your needs fluctuate on a project by project basis. […]

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“We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us”

2019-02-21T23:25:16+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

When you’re searching for solutions to personnel problems in the office, take steps to make sure you have accurately identified the source of the problem.You need to uncover obstacles to good performance by your office staff by being sure they have the necessary training, optimal equipment and clear instructions.

What if you’ve done all of these things, but you’re still getting poor performance? Is it time to terminate him? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Have you had difficulty finding anyone who could perform these job responsibilities well? Have you had trouble keeping the talent who did perform well? You might first verify that you are paying a competitive salary. If you are underpaying the market, talented personnel may not be attracted to the position, or they may parlay the experience and training they get in your office to a higher paying job. […]

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How to Get That Thing Done That You Keep Putting Off

2019-03-15T18:27:12+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

Most of us have something that we keep putting off until a looming deadline spurs us to action. Our modus operandi robs us of sleep and our confidence that we did our best work. Some unpleasant tasks don’t have a deadline, so we postpone them until we can’t function anymore without doing something about them. Like when you know you need to get a new computer, but that requires a disagreeable choice between researching to make the right selection, or surrendering to the influence of a salesperson. So you don’t do anything about it until your processing speed slows to a crawl.

Whatever you tend to procrastinate on, that increases your stress and lowers your self-esteem. Go through this list of suggestions and look at your practice with new eyes to find one thing you can do differently now. […]

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Security in the Cloud: How to Protect Your Law Practice Business Data

2019-02-20T00:07:22+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

Security in the Cloud: How to Protect Your Law Practice Business Data

Cloud this, cloud that—no doubt you’ve been inundated with the tech industry’s message that the cloud is where it’s at these days. Just under 90 percent of small businesses use cloud-based services to store, share and back up data, according to a recent survey by Rackspace Hosting, Manchester Business School and Vanson Bourne. Cloud everything has become increasingly popular with any business, especially for Law firms that can’t afford a basement full of servers or finds an IT department impractical for other reasons.

But how secure is the cloud? Security levels vary from one provider to the next, but one thing most decision-makers may not know is how much control they do have over their own cloud security. […]

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Why Lawyers Need a Marketing Niche

2019-02-26T19:37:03+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

One might think that the topic of niche marketing has been covered ad nauseum, but I regularly coach lawyers who resist the concept. So I know that most lawyers don’t understand what they are missing, and why they should seriously consider establishing a niche. The first thing I point out is that each client wants an attorney who knows how to handle their specific problem. Who has enough time, money or energy to successfully market in several diverse practice areas? […]

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Picking the Wrong Clients? You Can’t Blame the Wreck on the Train

2019-03-20T22:20:16+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|

Lyrics from the song: “You Can’t Blame the Wreck on the Train” by Terri Sharp:

“When the gates are all down
And the signals are flashing
And the whistle is screaming in vain,
And you stay on the tracks, ignoring the facts
Well then, you can’t blame the wreck on the train.”

Almost all lawyers have rued their decision to take on some client, and with hindsight can recognize the warning signs that they disregarded. Many of us learned our lessons the hard way, but you don’t have to. Well…you probably will learn the hard way that a difficult client can cause you a lot more harm than the lost fees you wind up writing off. But after one such experience, if you ignore these warning signs, then you can’t blame the wreck on the train. […]

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Need a new search?

1 “If I don’t do it myself, it will not be done right”

No More Excuses!

A Lawyer Coach Can Help

Clients and Prospective Clients

Want to explore whether coaching is right for you?

Book a Compatibility Preview appointment now!

Existing and Returning Clients can also use this button to schedule a new appointment. If you are rescheduling, please send an email to say which appointment you wish to cancel

Setting goals for your life and career?

Make an Appointment

Setting goals for your life and career?

Setting goals for
your life and career?