attorneys Archives

22 07, 2009

Alert for Lawyers on Nonprofit Boards

2019-02-10T23:15:57+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Alert for Lawyers on Nonprofit Boards

Many lawyers get invited to serve on nonprofit boards. Of course, the organization hopes to get some free legal advice from you now and then, but they may also be seeking your general worldly wisdom and perspective. Serving on the board for a cause you care about gives you a chance to make a difference in your community, while also doing some much needed public relations work for the legal profession.

Most lawyers work with nonprofits for laudable and generous reasons, but even the curmudgeons among us have found that serving on a such boards can be good for their law practice. Nonprofits usually seek out business leaders and prominent citizens to serve on their boards, so board membership gives you a chance to get to know and interact regularly with quality potential clients and referral sources.

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24 04, 2009

Silver Linings in Recessionary Times

2009-04-24T15:03:13+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Silver Linings in Recessionary Times

The current economic downturn has affected BigLaw to an unprecedented extent, resulting in lawyer layoffs. Many smaller firms, however, have not actually seen a drop in business. This scary economic climate may actually create opportunities for smaller law firms.

Small Firm Opportunities

1. Big companies with shrinking budgets may take a chance on smaller law firms with good reputations and less expensive fee structures. Make sure you keep your corporate relationships current.
2. Your firm may attract higher quality, experienced attorneys or staff at reasonable salaries, as the result of layoffs from corporations or large firms. Some lawyers may be glad to work on an Of Counsel basis or office sharing basis, just to have a respectable place to land with the possibility of referral business.
3. More graduating law students will have difficulty finding jobs, and they may seek positions as law clerks or even unpaid interns, just to get experience. Get some help or delegate tasks you don’t like to do, without over-extending your budget.

Take Advantage of Slower Business

If your business has slowed down, this too shall pass. Take advantage of the additional time you now have available. Do what you kept wishing you had time for, when you were too busy. Here are a few suggestions to consider.

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16 03, 2009

How to Say “No” to a Partner

2009-03-16T18:45:09+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How to Say “No” to a Partner

Author Anne Lamott says, “‘No’ is a complete sentence.” When you’re a junior associate facing a demanding partner in a law firm, however, it seems more like the path to a death sentence. How can you “be a team player,” yet protect your vital interests in your own health and well-being? Do you dare say “no” during an economic recession, when you see other lawyers getting laid off? Here are five strategies for taking care of your needs while still taking care of business.

1. Be proactive.

Minimize the number of occasions when you need to be reactive or negative. Do you work with a partner who has a pattern of dumping a new project on your desk on Friday at 3:00 p.m. with a Monday morning deadline? Try dropping by his office earlier in the week to discuss what may be coming up.

You might say, “I have an important commitment this weekend, so I want to make sure I cover all the bases for you by Friday. (Note: It’s important to insert that “for you.” It reassures him that you have his interests in mind.”) Are there any projects that you could find the need to hand off to me later? If so, I would like to know about them now, so that I don’t have to leave you in the lurch.” That last part forewarns him that you intend to stand firm, yet you care about what he cares about…him. […]

18 02, 2009

Creating Your Personal Marketing Plan

2009-02-18T16:15:22+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Creating Your Personal Marketing Plan

In the last article we talked about preparing to create a marketing plan. Now it’s time to write down your plan. A written plan requires you to organize your thoughts, and provides some accountability guidelines for your activities. This article does not address the specifics of advertising, but if you do plan to use advertising, it should be addressed in your plan, too. Here are five steps to create your marketing plan.

1. Budget marketing time. Decide how much time you will commit to marketing activities each week. It’s important to set a minimum so you will develop a regular habit of marketing activity. You can’t postpone your marketing efforts until you are low on work, because marketing legal services is a long-term process. You have to plant and nurture seeds before you can harvest the fruit. You can’t wait until you need the apples to plant the apple seeds.

Budget a minimum of five hours per week. That will allow for 10 to 15 minutes per day for making little connections by emails, notes or phone calls. Your other marketing activities will require time blocks of approximately two hours each. You might choose two per week from the categories of (a) in-person meeting over lunch, breakfast, dinner, coffee or cocktails with a client, prospect or referral source, (b) group networking activity such as a bar, civic, or industry association meeting, (c) writing or blogging, (d) online networking in listservs, social networking sites like LinkedIn, chat rooms or forums, or (e) speaking. Some weeks all of your efforts will fall in one category, but try to diversify your efforts over time.

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2 07, 2008

Which Marketing Book Can Help You?

2008-07-02T14:55:57+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Which Marketing Book Can Help You?

Many of my clients ask me to recommend books that can be good tools or reference materials for enhancing their law practice management skills. Today I’m sharing with you my reviews of three popular books that address business development for lawyers.

1. Rainmaking Made Simple: What Every Professional Must Know by Mark M. Maraia. Maraia writes in an easy to read style, and gives numerous real life examples of how attorneys have successfully implemented the techniques he recommends. Those anecdotes shift the conceptual into the concrete, a real strength of the book.

Maraia’s book is ideal for attorneys who find marketing daunting, unpleasant or bothersome. He teaches the reader how to make marketing fun, or at least, in his words, “less torture.” He helps lawyers find ways to market their law practice while doing things they already like doing. He teaches them how to become more effective at the marketing techniques they have already attempted, and encourages them to stretch a little into some new activities.

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14 05, 2008

Achieving Balance from the Inside Out

2008-05-14T09:45:33+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

Lately I have received a rash of requests for coaching and speaking on the topic of attorney work/life balance. You can find some specific suggestions on that topic in my article titled Work/Life Balance: Are You Tottering on the Brink? first published on December 11, 2006 in The Practice Manager.

Clients as Mirrors
Coaches remark that their clients often bring to them the very challenges that the coaches themselves need to address. What a blessing! It is so much easier to see the options available to someone else. Then we can just listen to the ideas and observations we offer our clients, and apply them to our own lives.

I have been struggling to keep my own workload in balance. In my practice I see attorneys reluctant to ask for help. I see them postpone the investment in hiring the additional quality assistance they need. I see lawyers hold themselves to an impossible standard. I see lawyers say “yes” to too many commitments. I see them promise a document delivery at the earliest date possible, without finding out when the client really needs it, or without assessing how much time they need to meet their existing commitments. I see attorneys spend time on low priority squeaky wheels and distractions, instead of protecting their time for more important projects. I warn them to “put your own oxygen mask on first” as I watch them put the needs of family and clients ahead of their own, once again. At one time or another I do all the same things.

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21 04, 2008

Clues You Can Use to Soothe Clashes

2008-04-21T15:47:31+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Clues You Can Use to Soothe Clashes

We all have someone we have to deal with who is somehow blocking us from getting what we want. It may be opposing counsel, but it may just as likely be our own partner or a staff member who isn’t performing to our expectations. In those situations our frustration levels mount, and some of us sneer or explode. We go from dealing with a difficult person to being a difficult person.

Many such problems can be solved or prevented if we can improve our communication skills. Here are some “clues you can use” to improve your communication and reduce the conflict in your office.

1. Deal with annoyances while they are small.

This concept particularly applies to people we interact with frequently. Sometimes someone does something that annoys us, inconveniences us or hurts us, but because it is a small matter, we think it would be too petty to bring up. By the time it (or something like it) happens the tenth time, we have a big stack of grievances to address, and our emotions run high. We appear to react out of proportion to the incident, but actually we are reacting to ten incidents. Ambrose Bierce, an American author and newspaper columnist, said, “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” If we simply address the issue the first or second time it occurs, we usually can discuss it calmly, casually and without a lot of emotional investment.

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13 12, 2007

Send Holiday Greetings That Really Connect

2019-02-10T23:15:55+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Send Holiday Greetings That Really Connect

The holidays and year end present many opportunities for enhancing existing client relationships and developing new prospects. Many attorneys don’t take full advantage of the opportunities, however, because they fail to invest a little forethought. Here are some ideas to consider if you engage in the venerable tradition of sending out holiday greetings.

When to Send Out Greetings

Although the number of holiday cards sent out has declined over the last decade, it is still difficult to stand out in the flurry of holiday communication. Some lawyers have migrated to sending Thanksgiving cards. What an excellent opportunity to express gratitude for your clients’ trust and confidence in you, as demonstrated by their business. Alternatively, you might choose to adopt the French tradition of sending New Year’s cards. Either way, at least your card won’t be buried in a stack of other cards. If you want to showcase your firm’s experience in representing clients who do business in China, perhaps you should consider sending out Chinese New Year cards.

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10 11, 2007

Who Do I Need to Know and How Do I Meet Them?

2007-11-10T20:27:52+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

I. Rule 1.01 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct

A lawyer should not accept employment in a matter beyond his/her competence.
Unless: 1.01(a)(1) a competent lawyer is associated with client’s prior informed consent
“Competence” defined as having the ability to timely acquire the necessary knowledge, skill & training.

Need to know: lawyers

That you can call on to give you advice and guidance to expeditiously acquire such additional knowledge, skills and training as you may need.
That you can associate in your client matter with the client’s consent if the matter is too complex to handle on your own.

How do you meet them?

Houston Young Lawyers Association meetings
State and local bar association section meetings.
Solos Supporting Solos.
Call your old professors, especially if you are practicing in the same town. They can answer questions and refer you to other lawyers. They may even be able to help you find employment down the road if you stay in touch. Established lawyers often contact their old professors when they are looking to hire a young lawyer.
Lawyers in firms where your friends are working. Even someone just 2 or 3 years ahead of you can be helpful.
Take on bar association duties or section duties.

Start attending meetings before you have questions, so that you will already have the relationships established before you have the questions. Most of the organizations have student memberships, but very few students take advantage of them. You will stand out as dedicated, plucky, and savvy.

Find ways that you can benefit the lawyers you would like to benefit from. When you do them a favor first, they will want to find a way to benefit you.

Perhaps offer to 2d chair a trial with them for free, or at a very cheap rate.
Handle some of their “dog” cases for them.
Find out what needs or interests they have and try to help get them met.
Baby-sit their kids in […]

22 02, 2007

Trimming Expenses to Fatten the Kitty

2007-02-22T12:37:43+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Trimming Expenses to Fatten the Kitty

Recently I have been getting a number of questions about reducing overhead in law firms, so this article will give you some tips. For a strong first step, get a clear picture of the existing expenses, and determine which of them are necessities, and which are luxuries.

Review and Investigate the Firm Financial Reports

Do you review your firm’s monthly financial reports? Do you really know what the specific numbers on your financial statement represent? Are there some categories that fluctuate pretty dramatically from month to month or year to year? If so, that might indicate some discretionary spending items, and it may be worthwhile to review the expenditures represented by those numbers. It may be appropriate to develop some approval procedures within those categories. Establish a budget and follow-up on over-expenditures to get a real handle on expenses.

By investigating the facts underlying financial reports, lawyers I know have discovered seriously overdue accounts receivable, employees using firm services and accounts for personal purposes, courier services used daily for routine non-urgent transmissions, unnecessary equipment service contracts for nonessential or infrequently used equipment, infrequently used season tickets, and downright embezzlement. (Lawyers are rather common victims of embezzlement.) Some of those expenditures sound deminimus, but with frequent repetition, they add up.

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