successful law practice Archives

2 12, 2014

Overcome Bad Habit Loops

2019-02-21T23:25:14+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Overcome Bad Habit Loops

This year is almost over. As you think about next year, do you have things you want to do differently? Have you started contemplating your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Do you notice some of the same items on your list that you had last year? Perhaps you are a victim of “the power of habit.”

New York Times business reporter, Charles Duhigg, published an excellent book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business in 2012. He summarized research by neuroscientists on habits and provided illuminating case studies of how people and companies broke bad habits and transformed their futures. Using the research and principles Duhigg described, I’ll provide some guidance on how you can look at the patterns in your life to design structures for better habits in the future. […]

7 10, 2014

Who Will Pinch-Hit for an Injured Solo?

2019-03-20T21:31:45+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Who Will Pinch-Hit for an Injured Solo?

A lawyer client recently posed a question to me about obtaining professional liability insurance. She practiced in a larger firm, and now she wants to start her own solo practice. Solos face some unique issues in obtaining insurance and making disaster contingency plans. Some legal malpractice carriers require a solo to designate a back-up attorney who will step in for her if she is incapacitated due to illness, injury, or even death. How does a solo find a lawyer willing to do that? Here are some of my suggestions:

Perhaps you have a colleague with a similar practice in a solo or small firm. They need lawyers available to cover for them, too. By making a reciprocal arrangement, you may be able to persuade a lawyer to take on that daunting responsibility.

If you don’t know someone who would be a good fit, however, it’s time to develop some additional relationships. How could you go about that? […]

2 09, 2014

Humorous Client Misconceptions

2024-11-03T00:38:33+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Humorous Client Misconceptions

Judge throws up his hands in confusion over plaintiff's request Clients get confused sometimes and we are all aware of how that can lead to misunderstandings. However, many of their misconceptions are quite humorous and I have compiled several of these for today’s post. Hopefully this will offer you a little break from your daily grind while you read some of their “ideas” about their cases. If you are a new lawyer, perhaps this information can help you head off some misunderstandings in the future.

First, some misconceptions about domestic relations matters:

1. I don’t need to negotiate with my spouse. The Domestic Relations Court will resolve my case and my problems.

2. Joint custody or shared parenting automatically means we will split time with the children on a 50/50 basis.

3. Since the divorce wasn’t my idea, I shouldn’t have to endure changes to my lifestyle, like selling the house, getting a job or experiencing a lower standard of living. […]

5 08, 2014

“Circle of 8”

2019-02-21T23:25:19+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on “Circle of 8”

Mastermind groups are a small group of colleagues who meet regularly and can provide support, accountability, solution brainstorming and a sense of community in your law practice. Mastermind partners usually share experience and resources. They can also offer crucial reality checks that keep you from launching bad ideas.

You can create your own support and referral group that can be particularly helpful for your law business. It is called the “Circle of 8,” so named because it shouldn’t have more than eight members. It is a hybrid of a mastermind group and a business networking group. It consists of a limited number of select entrepreneurs in related, but non-competitive businesses. Besides the masterminding aspect, the Circle of 8 differs from traditional networking or leads generation groups because (i) the number is limited, (ii) all the participants serve a similar target audience, and (iii) the members are handpicked.

Circle of 8 Benefits

A Circle of 8 delivers value in many ways. As a result of the shared target audience, the members jointly have a 360 degree view of their market, with which they can educate and support each other. Your circle members may come into contact with someone needing your services before you do, so they can be good referral sources. You’ll be able to provide better service to your clients by confidently introducing them to reliable resources for their non-legal needs. Circle members may hear opinions expressed by your potential clients about what they really appreciate in legal services, or dislike about other lawyers, giving you an edge on your competition. They may be able to give you valuable feedback about your own services that your clients don’t tell you. Participants may collaborate to put on seminars or other marketing […]

1 07, 2014

What Clients Want

2019-02-21T23:25:20+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on What Clients Want

In 2000 Mel Gibson starred in a movie called “What Women Want” in which a freak accident caused his character, Nick Marshall, to suddenly have the ability to hear women’s unspoken thoughts. He initially found it to be a very disconcerting experience, because (1) he discovered that he had some erroneous assumptions, and (2) women’s impressions of him were not very flattering. In fact, many of them thought he was a jerk. It turned out that what they said to him and what they actually thought did not exactly coincide.

Eventually, however, Nick realized that he could use his new abilities to do research that would allow him to understand women better. He began to modify his own assumptions, expectations, perceptions, and behaviors, based on his research. His interactions became more effective and enjoyable. He became more successful in his career. […]

6 05, 2014

Six Essential Traits of the Successful Legal Entrepreneur

2019-02-21T23:25:21+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Six Essential Traits of the Successful Legal Entrepreneur

Sometimes lawyers get so focused on honing their legal skills that they don’t recognize themselves as entrepreneurs. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.”

Very few law schools have classes that actually teach a lawyer how to run a law practice. How can you know whether you will be any good at it? What if you aren’t graduating in the top 10% of your class? Does that mean you have limited potential for successfully running your own law firm?

Inc. magazine online shared advice from Steve Blank about entrepreneurism in a commencement speech to engineering students. It’s good advice for lawyers, too. He said:

“[G]reat grades and successful entrepreneurs have at best a zero correlation….You don’t get grades for resiliency, curiosity, agility, resourcefulness, pattern recognition and tenacity. You just get successful.”

In this post, I want to talk about why those qualities are essential for a successful legal practice. […]

8 04, 2014

How to Get That Thing Done That You Keep Putting Off

2019-03-15T18:27:12+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How to Get That Thing Done That You Keep Putting Off

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. […]

7 01, 2014

Avoiding the Commoditization of Your Law Practice

2019-02-21T23:25:24+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Avoiding the Commoditization of Your Law Practice

My article in 2007 about some of the potential ramifications of law firms going public generated quite a number of reader responses. One email asked a question that intrigued me. The reader asked how he could keep his law practice from becoming commoditized. Both small and large law firms should be asking themselves that, because the tide has already turned toward the commoditization of many legal services.

What are commodity legal services? Generally, legal services that involve routine and predictable legal issues that can be systematized into forms and processes. […]

8 10, 2013

Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

2019-02-21T23:25:26+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

Suzanne Meehle wrote a nice post called With a Little Help from My Friends about the value to a lawyer of network development, whether inside or outside your organization. A network of co-workers, friends and acquaintances can help you build your law practice and be the best lawyer you can be. Here are some things a good network can do for you:

1. Refer business to you;
2. Answer legal questions outside your area of expertise;
3. Act as a sounding board as you puzzle out a tough legal issue;
4. Share tips and methods for effectively running your law practice;
5. Save you from reinventing the wheel by sharing a starting form for a document you need to draft;
6. Take care of your good clients on matters you don’t usually handle;
7. Cover for you when a vacation or emergency takes you away from the office;
8. Make recommendations about vendors, software or technology they have found reliable; and
9. Introduce you to speaking, writing or leadership opportunities that will get your name out there. […]

29 08, 2013

How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 4

2019-03-20T21:43:51+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on How Do I Decide Where to Locate My Law Office? Part 4

The 4 part series, How Do I Decide where to Locate My Law Office, winds up today. We’ve pursued the different types of law office arrangements and have been looking at the relative geographics. I hope that these articles help move you forward in the decision process.

Small Town or Big City

With emerging technologies, lawyers do have a lot more flexibility in office placement. If you have a good internet connection and adequate broadband capacity, you might be able to practice almost as easily in the suburbs or in a small town as in a big city. Here are a few reasons you might choose to practice in a small town.

Usually the number of attorneys per capita will be significantly lower there, and the cost of living is lower, too. Lawyers I know in smaller towns describe a collegiality in the legal community that, sadly, seems to have largely vanished from the bigger cities. Many also report that experienced lawyers and judges took them under their wing to mentor them as they got started. With most law schools failing so miserably at actually teaching lawyers how to practice law, the opportunity to develop such relationships can be a significant benefit to someone setting up a practice straight out of school.

On the other hand, sometimes less populated communities can be rather closed to strangers. It may be important to have some family connections or a well-established sponsor there to open doors for you. […]

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