attorneys Archives

28 01, 2007

Are You Getting in Your Own Way at the Office?

2007-01-28T13:25:23+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Are You Getting in Your Own Way at the Office?

Have you ever considered what role you may play in the effective functioning of your office staff? I have worked with lawyers who were unhappy with the performance of their administrative assistants, and who wondered what to do to correct the situation. I have worked with dedicated firm administrators and support staff who were stressing to the breaking point from working with difficult attorneys. Even as a lawyer myself, I learned that at […]

12 06, 2006

What Does Marketing Have to Do with Practicing Law?

2006-06-12T11:15:40+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on What Does Marketing Have to Do with Practicing Law?

The answer: Everything, if you are a small firm practitioner. How can you practice law without clients? Without marketing, how do you get clients? Most law schools don’t even mention the concept of marketing, much less teach aspiring lawyers how to sell their services. Selling and marketing, in fact, are dirty words among lawyers, being considered cousins of the unethical practice of soliciting.

The reality is, however, that you are probably engaging in marketing every week. The question is, how effective are you at it? Every time you respond to the question, “What do you do?” you are marketing. Every time you meet or greet someone who already knows what you do for a living, you are marketing. What are you advertising about yourself when you are not even talking about your business? Are you communicating by your demeanor and conversation that you are competent and knowledgeable, yet compassionate and trustworthy enough for someone to safely reveal a significant and troubling problem to you? Or do others feel inferior, judged and unimportant in your presence? Which professional would you choose to handle your important concerns?

Instead of marketing unconsciously, get on the road to becoming an effective marketer by following these three tips:

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1 11, 2005

Get Noticed to Get Business

2005-11-01T10:46:49+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Get Noticed to Get Business

An important axiom of marketing is: “Customers do business with people they know, like and trust.” The significance of that axiom swells when you market a professional service instead of a product, because your potential clients can’t see, touch or taste your wares in advance of the purchase. To achieve that coveted status of being known, liked and trusted in advance of providing the service, choose marketing strategies that enhance visibility, credibility, personal relationships and referrals. Clients can’t like and trust you if they don’t know you exist. So this month we’re focusing on how you can augment your visibility to potential clients and referral sources.

The Value of Name Recognition

When you increase your visibility, you increase your name recognition. People gravitate toward names they recognize, even when they don’t remember why they recognize the name. The “I’ve heard of her somewhere” factor pays off. A while back I read an article reporting the polling results about the best lawyers in another city. I recognized the names of many of the lawyers selected, and could confirm the quality of a number of them from personal experience. I also recognized the name of one lawyer in a category that I didn’t have much knowledge about, but I assumed he was good because I had heard of him. Later I saw his name selected in several other categories requiring dramatically different skill sets and knowledge bases. Something seemed awry. With today’s in-depth specialization, rarely can a generalist truly excel in multiple legal practice areas, and this fellow was named among the best in four different areas! On reflection, I recognized that he had been very active in leadership roles in bar and community activities, and was a former State Bar President. He may be a genius and a multi-tasking time management pro, or he may […]

1 08, 2005

Dealing with Distractions

2019-02-10T23:15:54+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Dealing with Distractions

A reader asks for advice on how to deal with distractions. If you, too, have difficulty putting aside distractions, here are a few subjects to investigate for the source of the problem, along with some possible solutions.

Which goals fall by the wayside?

First, let’s look at what goal you get distracted from accomplishing. What is the purpose or goal of that “to-do”? Is it a compelling goal? Is it your goal, or really someone else’s? For a mundane, but common example, let’s say your to-do is to get your messy desk organized. If your purpose for cleaning up your desk is so other people won’t think you are a slob, then that’s just a should, and not very compelling. It really is someone else’s goal, not yours. No wonder you are easily distracted from it! If, on the other hand, your purpose is (i) to get a burst of energy from releasing all those little worry strings tied to every piece of potentially important paper lost on your desk, (ii) to be able to respond promptly, decisively and effectively to challenges that come your way today (leaping tall buildings in a single bound) because you know how to quickly put your hands on every piece of information available to you, or (iii) to avoid repeating the embarrassment you suffered yesterday when a client called and you couldn’t find her file well, those goals sound significantly more compelling. It is easier to keep motivated and on track when we have vivid outcomes in mind. So the next time you have a to-do of reviewing a deed of trust or a routine set of responses to interrogatories (yawn), consider the purpose of your review and the outcome you desire. Ask yourself a few questions: What’s important about this task? What will I be able to […]

1 07, 2005

Get More Done by Doing Less

2005-07-01T11:00:22+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Get More Done by Doing Less

“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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1 06, 2005

It’s All for a Good Cause

2005-06-01T11:04:13+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

More accurately, it’s for two good causes: your bottom line, and the promotion of a charity or social cause that you believe in. I’m talking about “cause marketing.” Cause marketing (also known as cause-related marketing) has been defined as a partnership between a company and a non-profit organization that increases the company’s sales while raising money and visibility for the cause.

An early and often cited example of successful cause marketing involved raising funds for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in 1983. American Express pledged a one-cent donation for every transaction made by its cardholders. American Express donated $1.7 million to the restoration, and experienced a 28% increase in card usage, creating a win for both organizations.

Cause marketing works best when there is an obvious link between the company and the cause. Bayer Aspirin paired up with the American Stroke Association to raise money for ASA and to educate the public about strokes. Bayer’s sales increased 9% over the same month in the previous year.

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1 04, 2005

Who Says Nice Guys Finish Last?

2005-04-01T11:08:37+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|4 Comments

“He was still talking about that 10 years later!” said Dan Hedges, senior partner at Porter & Hedges, L.L.P. in Houston. Hedges was referring to the time he was waiting for his wife to join him for dinner at one of Houston’s private clubs. He heard that a new member applicant was coming in, so when he saw a stranger hesitating in the foyer, Hedges went up and introduced himself. It was the stranger’s first day in Houston, and he appreciated the kindness. The stranger turned out to be the new CEO of a Fortune 500 energy company, which became a significant client of Hedges’ firm.

A partner in a large Dallas firm was involved in resolving a complicated billing dispute with a client. She suggested that the clients bring in their CPA for the next meeting, if it would help them feel more comfortable. After the matter was resolved, the CPA said he had observed her handling the conflict with such consideration and professionalism that he would send all his future business to her.

A financial planner had a problem getting a carpet cleaning company to settle up on damage done to his furniture. He had met Jim Dunn, a litigation partner in Houston’s Dunn, Neal & Gerger, so he called Jim for a little advice. Jim stepped in, and soon the financial planner received a reasonable settlement, with which he was very pleased. When he offered to pay for Jim’s services, it was a small matter that had not taken much time, so Jim said he was pleased to do it a no charge. Since then the financial planner has referred several clients to Jim and described him in very gracious terms.

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1 03, 2005

Collaborative Law Spreading Like a Virus

2019-02-10T23:15:54+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Collaborative Law Spreading Like a Virus

It’s growing and it’s infectious. Could we be experiencing an epidemic of civility and candor among our fellow lawyers? Collaborative Law, once contained to the family law sector, may be breaking through to the resolution of business and other civil disputes. A recent rash of events evidences the spread of the contagion.

Where Collaborative Law is Spreading

On December 9, 2004, Texas State Representative Toby Goodman filed HB 205 to amend the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code to authorize Collaborative Law procedures in civil litigation outside the family law arena. On January 18, 2005, the Board of Directors of the Houston Bar Association authorized the creation of a new Section of the Houston Bar Association called the Collaborative Law Section. The HBA is the first major bar association to establish a Collaborative Law Section, but Dallas is not far behind. The Dallas Bar Association has a newly formed Collaborative Law study group, which is a required precursor to becoming a section of the Dallas Bar Association.The Texas Collaborative Law Council, Inc. was formed in August 2004 as a non-profit corporation by civil attorneys to promote the use of the collaborative process for resolving civil disputes, and to educate lawyers and the public as to the benefits of the process. Collaborative Law also garnered nationwide, mainstream attention in January 2005 when The Today Show, the NBC television morning news program, featured a segment on the positive impact the Collaborative Law process is having on divorcing couples.

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2 02, 2005

10 Tips for Surviving the Email Avalanche

2005-02-02T17:59:17+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on 10 Tips for Surviving the Email Avalanche

Are you buried under an avalanche of email? Do you lose important information hiding among the emails clogging your inbox? Here are 10 tips for digging out of the email avalanche. These tips reference features available in Outlook, but most email programs have similar features.

1. Use automated features to sort your emails into folders as they arrive. The Outlook Rules Wizard (under Tools) will let you create rules for automated sorting of incoming emails by sender, subject, text and other filters. Incoming messages are routed to the designated folders, which change to bold print to indicate an unread message. Set up folders (select File, New, Folder) for your clients so that you can see at a glance that you have email from them, and keep all your correspondence together. Replies to an email in that folder automatically will be stored in that folder as well. You can also route newsletters, listservs and other high volume, low priority emails to special folders to keep them from clogging your inbox until you have time to read them.
2. Drag and drop emails to your task icon if they have “to-do” items associated with them. The task will be included in the task list, and a copy of the email will be visible in the details window for the task. You can set a due date and reminder for the task. Delete the email or move it to a storage folder. You will get a pop-up reminder at the designated reminder time, even if you have deleted the original email. If the task is not marked as complete by the due date, it will turn red in the task list as a further reminder.
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1 02, 2005

Returning Civility to Your Civil Practice:

2019-02-10T23:15:54+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Returning Civility to Your Civil Practice:

“When I graduated from law school I was proud and excited to be a lawyer, but 20 years later I leave the office every day feeling battered and bruised I feel like the proverbial kicked dog.” Those were the words of one of my clients, a bright and successful trial lawyer.

Are you on the verge of burnout from the escalating incivility in your civil practice? Thanks to the pioneering efforts of some family lawyers, there may be a solution on the horizon.

Minnesota lawyer, Stuart Webb, the “Father of Collaborative Law”, was burning out after 8 years of civil practice followed by 17 years of family law practice. Before giving up and shutting down his firm, however, he began experimenting with new ways of trying to resolve family law disputes, and Collaborative Law was born.

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