Archives for November 2011

2012 Legal Industry Predictions: Bob Denney’s Annual Trend Report

November 30, 2011 by
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legal industry tends and predictionsWhat’s hot right now in the legal industry and what trends can we expect to play out in 2012? For 23 years, Bob Denney has made that call in his report, “What Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession.” Here in its entirety is his latest report.

This is our 23rd annual report on what’s going on in the legal profession, not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world. Like all our previous reports it is based on information we compile throughout the year from many sources, including discussions with leaders in the profession. As always, some of our findings are obvious but they still must be included. Others are surprising and some are contrary to the Conventional Wisdom. Nevertheless, this is the picture at the beginning of 2012, a year which may well hold both economic and political surprises.

PRACTICE AREAS

RED HOT:

  • Banking. Perhaps the hottest area in Financial Services due to uncertainty if the “Volker Rule” will be implemented this coming July when regulations that are part of Dodd-Frank take effect.
  • Health care. A broad area that includes regulatory, finance, M&A, real estate, labor & employment and professional liability. Regulatory may become red, red hot. The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, expected by June 30, will be a legal, as well as political, flashpoint.
  • Energy. Oil, coal and gas in certain parts of the U.S. as well as Canada. Regulatory, land use and litigation are particularly hot in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania because of Marcellus Shale. Nuclear power is getting hot due to safety concerns in the U.S. but alternate energy may be cooling somewhat.
  • Intellectual property. Due to patent reform (“First-to-file”) but mostly for start-ups and smaller companies since large companies were already on a FTF system because of their global operations. Patent Litigation is becoming red hot for most firms while rate-sensitive patent prosecution work is being reduced and even eliminated in larger firms.

HOT:

  • White collar crime. Internal investigations due to fraud continue to increase. Adding fuel to the fire are new issues relating to the disclosure of inside information on social media.
  • Regulatory. Many states are passing laws in opposition to federal regulations, particularly in health care, energy, banking and environmental. Constitutional issues are beginning to arise.
  • Financial services. Mergers and acquisitions. Venture capital. Private equity. As a result, IPOs are really red hot right now—since about 200 companies have filed this year, the largest backlog in more than a decade. However, some experts say new issues will cool down in 2012.
  • Cyber crime. Due to growing hacking and security issues at computer networks.
  • Labor and employment. On both the labor and management sides. Violations of wage-and-hour laws are increasing. Collective bargaining is a hot issue. Right-to-Work is heating up. Some L&E departments have added immigration lawyers.
  • Commercial litigation. In addition to patents and white collar crime, regulatory, insurance, health care and retail/wholesale cases are hot. Some experts and GCs report a big increase in “bread-and-butter” cases—some call it “law factory work”—and a steady decline in “bet the farm” cases. The decline in cases going to trial continues, resulting in more Alternative Dispute Resolution. Also see “Online ADR” under “Other Trends and Issues,” below.
  • Immigration. With some exceptions, BigLaw and even MidLaw firms leave this to firms that specialize in it.

GETTING HOT:

  • Commercial real estate. Some investors are buying individual loans and real estate owned (REO) properties taken back by the lender after foreclosure. Others are buying or building multi-family residences to capitalize on the booming rental market.

GEOGRAPHIC MARKETS

  • Washington, DC. “The British are coming! The British are coming!” Four and perhaps all of the U.K.’s top five firms – the so-called “Magic Circle” – are opening offices here in an attempt to build U.S.-based regulatory practices. This is part of their broader strategy to enter the U.S. market in a big way.
  • Texas, particularly Houston. The British aren’t coming – at least not yet – but the energy business continues to attract more U.S. firms to open offices here.
  • BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). As we stated in last year’s report, they continue to be regarded by global firms as major growth opportunities. But see “Challenges to Globalization” under “Other Trends and Issues” below.

MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

HOT:

  • Social media. Hotter than ever. As Deborah McMurray pointed out in her recent blog, it “is driving business and influencing it.” Legal marketing expert Larry Bodine sees huge potential for Google+ in marketing. However, some firms are starting to encourage more in-person relationship building instead. Also more firms continue to develop social media polices to prevent ethical as well as legal violations.
  • Experience databases and KM. Also hotter than ever. This is why Content Pilot, McMurray’s strategy and technology company, developed Velocity, a mobile app to quickly provide information on a firm’s experience and expertise.
  • RFPs. In the words of one CMO, “They are pouring in to big firms.” As a result, proposal automation apps that automate the RFP process continue to be hot.

GETTING HOT:

  • Educational online video. In his post on Attorney at Work, Bob Weiss says these are an excellent opportunity to build a practice.
  • Return on investment. Firms are paying increasing attention to this. One example: Susan Greene, Marketing Director at Becker & Poliakoff, constantly evaluates goals and spending to measure the marketing ROI.
  • Recruiting and marketing. Recognizing the relationship of the two functions, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff has elevated CMO Jeanne Hammerstrom to be in charge of recruiting as well.
  • Client interviews and audits. More firms are recognizing, however slowly, that the feedback and information obtained from them—particularly when they are conducted by knowledgeable outside consultants—are critical in strategic planning and development of growth strategies.

OTHER TRENDS AND ISSUES

  • Firm management. As discussed in our November Legal Communique, in addition to DLA Piper’s bringing in an outsider to co-chair, some MidLaw firms are bringing in non-lawyer business professionals as advisors—an interesting and encouraging trend.
  • Revenues and profitability. According to various reports, since 2008 total revenues as well as revenues per lawyer (RPL) have been flat or even down for many firms in the AmLaw 100. This may be one reason for their reporting profits per partner (PPP) instead. Now CitiBank recently reported that revenues and profits will be down this year for a high percentage of AmLaw 200 firms. However, in most . . .
  • MidLaw firms revenues as well as RPL continue to increase and their PPP are on budget if not exceeding it. As we have been reporting, these firms are growing by attracting work from large clients who won’t pay BigLaw rates, even with AFAs.
  • Fewer partners. BigLaw firms in particular are promoting fewer associates to partner. They are also making the partnership track longer and the requirements tougher. Legal pundits say this is probably a permanent change that will continue even after the economy recovers.
  • Fewer entry level associates. Although summer associate hiring has generally increased for 2012, some BigLaw and also MidLaw firms plan to hire fewer first-year associates than they did before the recession. Instead, in addition to recruiting lateral partners, they are recruiting two- and three-year associates who don’t need several years of development before they are profitable. However, a few MidLaw firms report that, despite offering lower salaries, they are now able to attract high-quality 3Ls who would have gone to BigLaw firms in the past.
  • The new leverage. The age-old principle of leverage, a high ratio of associates to partners, is steadily dying out. As I discussed in the September/October 2011 issue of Law Practice, it is being replaced by a “New Leverage” based, not only on associates, but also on other forms of leverage—temporary or contract lawyers, paralegals, process management specialists and by the outsourcing of functions such as legal research, e-discovery and document management. This trend is not restricted to law firms. Many corporate legal departments, faced with senior management directives to reduce costs, are doing the same.
  • Non-lawyer competition and deregulation. A mid-year post on the Kowalski and Associates blog stated that “non-lawyers and corporate entities not owned by lawyers are actively delivering almost $2,500,000 in legal services through LPOs and Internet providers of legal services.” New model firms such as NovusLaw and Legal Zoom are just two examples. This trend is resulting in a groundswell of cries for deregulation. However, in a letter to the editor of the New York Times after it ran an op-ed supporting this trend, ABA President Bill Robinson, stated that “A rush to open the practice of law to unschooled, unregulated non-lawyers … would cause grave harm to clients.” Stay tuned. This battle over deregulating the practice of law will continue. The Jacoby & Meyers suits were just one example. Keep in mind that other professions, such as accounting, architecture and medicine, have already found answers to this issue.
  • Globalization. Continues but is getting more complex. In a recent Ark Report, Leigh Dance, President of ELD International, describes a “multi-polar world” in which a growing range of legal services must be delivered to multiple geographic markets. But she says there are alternatives to opening offices everywhere and also that emerging markets are growing faster than mature markets, i.e., the U.S. and Western Europe, and will continue to grow, particularly in Asia.
  • More on globalization. Global growth is not limited to BigLaw firms. Liaisons, affiliations and networks offer opportunities for MidLaw and even SmallLaw firms to grow internationally. Also the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 has posted draft proposals to make it easier for U.S. lawyers to engage in cross-border practice. But there are also . . .
  • Challenges to globalization. As reported by Anna Stolley Persky in the NovemberABA Journal, “U.S. law firms face an increasingly competitive—and often protectionist—legal environment when they seek to extend their operations overseas.” Some countries, such as Canada and potentially the U.K. and Australia, have few restrictions on foreign lawyers practicing. But others, including the BRIC countries, have significant restrictions. For U.S. firms there may also be another challenge to globalization which is …
  • Capital. Since growth requires capital and, except in Washington D.C., U.S. firms may not have outside investors, will even the largest firms have sufficient capital to fund global growth? Historically, compared to other businesses (yes, a law firm is a business!), law firms have needed relatively little working capital which, in most cases, they have been able to obtain through short-term line-of-credit loans or off-balance sheet leases. However, for BigLaw firms this may change in the future as a result of their emphasis on growth and the resulting need for capital. Adding to the pressure are the U.S. growth plans of U.K. firms, which now have access to outside capital as a result of the Legal Services Act. This issue of non-lawyers having ownership in U.S. law firms will continue to heat up.
  • Mergers. After declining in 2010, mergers have increased substantially as firms shift from a survival mode to a growth mode. Most legal experts expect this to continue. However, in the past as many as 50 percent of the mergers fail because, as I discussed in the October, 2011 issue of Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, there are many challenges and adjustments that need to be made if a merger is to succeed.
  • Alternative fee arrangements. Lots of talk and some interesting action. Pfizer’s program with 17 selected firms is noteworthy, including its mandate that neither in-house nor outside lawyers are permitted to mention hours. But there is . . .
  • More on AFAs. According to Fulbright & Jaworski’s Annual Litigation Trends Report, “Despite the growing use of AFAs … more than half of the larger companies [surveyed] and about two-thirds of the mid-size companies estimate they use AFAs for less than 20 percent of outside legal spend.” Furthermore, according to many firm leaders, the benefits and workability of AFAs are being questioned by clients as well as by firms.
  • Client satisfaction. The Fulbright Report also said respondents’ satisfaction with how well outside counsel meet their litigation needs in four key areas was between 17 percent and 21 percent for U.S. companies but over 50 percent for U.K. companies. Furthermore, in all four areas, “the figures are lower than they were in last year’s survey.” In view of all the emphasis firms are supposedly placing on client service, these figures, particularly for U.S. firms, are alarming.
  • Legal project management. More firms continue to retain outside consultants to help design and install LPM programs to deliver more value to clients and more profit to the firm.
  • E-Discovery. It is now becoming a necessity in many smaller cases which could well add cost and complexity to litigation.
  • Online ADR. General Electric’s oil-and-gas division is testing online dispute resolution by requiring thousands of suppliers to agree to cyrbersettlements in simple disputes. Right now the approach is being tested mostly in Italy. It will be interesting to learn the results and if GE expands the approach to other countries including, of course, the U.S.
  • Law school admissions. Responding to a poll by Kaplan Test Prep, 37 percent of 128 law school admission officers said they looked up an applicant on Facebook or other social media sites, and 32 percent said they had found something online that hurt an applicant’s chances of admission.
  • Law school job placement statistics. Last year, Villanova Law School admitted inflating the figures in its reports of jobs obtained by graduates. Now Michigan’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School, the largest in the country, and New York Law School have been sued on behalf of students and graduates demanding tuition refunds “and other remedies” for inflating post-graduation legal employment and salary statistics. Are these the only schools guilty of this? The lawyer representing the plaintiffs says “… this problem is not just confined to those two schools.” This could become a disturbing trend.
  • Associate training. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy is taking it to a new level. Harvard Law and Business School faculties, with assistance from firm partners, conduct a program for third- to seven-year associates. Subjects include business, finance, personal development and leadership.
  • Succession planning. Although a growing number of firms are addressing the issue, it is becoming even more of a challenge. Some older partners are not retiring because they need to continue working for obvious economic reasons.
  • Legal services corporation. A subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has recommended a cut from the $404 million LSC received this year to $300 million in 2012. ABA President Robinson stated this is a “draconian cut” because one out of every two people seeking legal services is now turned away by LSC.
  • Medical-Legal partnerships. According to CNN Money, MLPs provide legal services to patients in 200 hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S. In what is considered a major commitment to expand free critical services to more patients, Wal-Mart’s legal department is now providing free legal services for patients at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. This is described as the first such partnership between a large corporate legal department and a major hospital. In view of the situation at LSC, we hope this trend continues.
  • Mothers-in-the-Law. Since it was founded in Seattle in 2006 to address the home-work conflict that exists for mothers in law firms, the Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association (MAMA) has grown to more than 550 members in six cities. Another 25 chapters are now being developed.

There has been much talk about the “New Normal” in the legal profession. Yet some of these trends and issues, such as pressure to kill the billable hour and replace it with AFAs, are not new. Others, such as involving outsiders and non-lawyer businesspeople in firm management, are new. But, whether old or new, will they really become “normal?” That remains to be seen.

Bob Denney is President of Robert Denney Associates, Inc. He says “it seems like forever” that he has been providing counsel on management and growth strategy to firms throughout the United States and parts of Canada. The complete annual “What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession” is available as a download on his firm’s website, www.robertdenney.com. Contact Bob atbob@robertdenney.com if you’d like to be added to his mailing list and receive quarterly trends updates.

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The two elements of productivity (and why you need both)

November 29, 2011 by
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In his excellent article, “27 Productivity Killers: Why Nothing Ever Gets Done!” author Matt Tanguay presents a laundry list of reasons for failed productivity.

He begins with a “top level” view:

  • You have too much on your plate. Whether you don’t want to say no, you don’t know how or you can’t, you end up having too much to do.
  • The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Your body has needs. You need to give it the proper food, exercise and time off to stay optimally healthy.
  • The flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak. Your attitude is greatly affected by external factors such as your relationships, your finances and the kind of work you’re doing.
  • There’s always tomorrow. Procrastination is caused by obstacles and friction. These tips will help you make sure you stop procrastinating altogether.
  • Stuff keeps coming up. Interruptions from email and phone calls, distractions from your personal life, as well as meeting overload can easily kill your productivity.
  • Doing the wrong things. Clarity is power. And once you’re clear about what you want, you need the right strategy and plan of action.

He then presents “productivity killers” in each of these areas.

But what is productivity? Is it

  • Getting things done?
  • Getting MORE things done?
  • Efficiency?
  • Effectiveness?

Productivity isn’t about getting things done, it’s about getting the right things done. Getting things done means you’re busy; getting the right things done means being effective.

But productivity is also about producing desired results efficiently, meaning as quickly and abundantly as you want.

You may be effective at bringing in clients but inefficient if this takes up too much of your time. You may be efficient at organizing your files but if this isn’t helping your practice grow (desired result), you’re not being effective.

Productivity requires effectiveness and efficiency.

By and large, Tanguay’s 27 “productivity killers” are really “efficiency killers”. They don’t necessarily stop you from producing desired results, but they could be slowing you down or making you pay too high a price for those results.

There are some good suggestions here. Just make sure you don’t use them to become efficient at the wrong things.

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Does your email Inbox need to go on a diet? Try mine.

November 28, 2011 by
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email overloadMy spell checker tells me “unsubscribe” isn’t a word but I know it is because I’ve been doing a lot of it lately.

Now that I’ve achieved “Inbox Zero” (I’ll tell you how I did it in a later post) new emails into my nearly-empty Inbox stand out like a big pimple on an otherwise unblemished forehead. And I’m getting more these days now that the holiday shopping season is in high gear.

And so I’m being ruthless at unsubscribing (also not a word) from as many newsletters and other email subscriptions as possible. I know I can always re-subscribe if I change my mind.

It feels great. You should try it.

Ask yourself, “Do I usually read email from this person/company/group?” If the answer is no, hit the unsub link (okay, now I’m making up words).

If you’re not sure, or if you do at times read these emails, leave the subscription in place for now. You can have another go at this once you’ve removed the most obvious subscriptions.

Another option is to create a filter to automatically send these emails to your email archive. You’ll still get them but you won’t have to see them, unless and until you choose to. Filters are easy to set up in gmail; check your email client’s help file to see if this is possible and how to do it.

A third option for reducing the amount of incoming email is to set up another email address specifically for these subscriptions. Some email services allow you to change your email address. Others require you to unsubscribe and re-subscribe with the new email address.

I have an email address I set up for this purpose. Right now I have all of those messages forwarded to my regular Inbox, but it’s easy to turn off this function. I can then check the other email account once a month, scan through the messages, and decide if there is anything worth reading.

I like getting email. It’s an important part of my work and personal life. I’m sure email is important to you, too. But when you get too many emails, particularly emails you aren’t reading, it’s time to put your email Inbox on a diet.

You might want to hurry. The after Christmas sales will be here before we know it.

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Are you struggling financially? Here’s the good news. . .

November 25, 2011 by
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financial challenges strengthen youBlack Friday. Some great deals out there. But for many, today is simply a reminder that they don’t have money to spend, no matter how good the deals.

The economy has hurt a lot of people. You may be just fine but I’ll bet you have clients or friends who are struggling. You may not know what to say to them (or to yourself) at a time like this, but there is something they need to hear.

They need to know that while financial problems can be painful, they can also help you grow.

Financial setbacks, no matter what the cause, are great teachers. They help us to see what does not work, on the path to discovering what does.

For some, hitting bottom is the only way they will change. It’s a wake up call that finally motives them to take action to improve their situation. The sooner they bottom out, the sooner things will improve.

No one wants to have money problems, but no one is immune to them. The ones who overcome their challenges and go on to thrive are those who learn from their problems and refuse to be defined by them. As actor Mike Todd famously noted, “Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a state of mind.”

You can allow your financial situation to inspire your creativity or you can allow it to smother you. You can learn what does not work and never repeat it or you can make the same mistakes over and over again. You can dwell on your unpaid bills or you can focus on increasing your income.

The tree planted on the corner of our lot, in the path of the wind, is bigger and stronger than the tree tucked into a corner next to our house where the wind is not nearly as strong. The buffeting of the wind has made the tree on the corner grow stronger.

Like the wind, financial challenges push you and challenge you to grow. But unlike trees, you have free will. You can allow financial problems to break you or you can allow them to make you stronger.

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What are you thankful for?

November 23, 2011 by
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Every morning for sixteen years, our dear cat Andre woke us with a throaty greeting. We couldn’t sleep in. Andre always made sure we started our day.

Last week, I realized a day would come when Andre was gone and I would miss his morning ritual. That day came on Monday.

We awoke not to his usual hearty urging but to a barely audible sound. He was on the bed between us, laid flat, looking up at us, telling us he was not well. We knew immediately he’d had a stroke. By the end of the day, a day of suffering and tears, we had to put him to sleep.

Andre brought us many years of love. He was a gentle soul and a part of our family. Our daughter was just ten years old when we brought Andre home. He was there when she was growing up and there when she came home from college. We had hoped he would be there at least one last time when she comes home this Christmas.

We lost a friend and we miss him. We are saddened but we are thankful for the years he was with us.

We all have many things to give thanks for this holiday season. One thing we should remember is the unconditional love and companionship of our pets. Don’t take them for granted. Give them a little extra attention today, this week, this month. You never know when it might be their last.

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Getting things done when you have “vacation brain”

November 22, 2011 by
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books reading kindleOne of the precepts of the Getting Things Done or GTD methodology is that it’s not necessary to prioritize your Next Actions in advance, nor is it recommended. For one thing, priorities change. What seems important today might be completely unnecessary a week from today.

Also, priorities are contextual. Picking up a new cartridge for your laser printer is something you do while running errands, not at ten o’clock at night.

Priorities, then, should be established during your daily planning, which I contend should take place the night before, and “in the moment”.

To prioritize, review your action lists and determine what you want to do based on three factors: time, energy, and importance (priority).

So today, I may see a task that is important but will take a block of two hours and I don’t have that much time. Or it requires a fair amount of energy and I’m tired. Or I have lots of time but the task under consideration really isn’t that important. These tasks will have to wait.

Some people partially prioritize tasks as they add them to their lists, noting time (how much time they estimate the task will take) and energy (how much they will need, i.e., low, medium, or high). This way, when they don’t have a lot of time or energy, they can scan their lists to find tasks that match.

I usually don’t prioritize in advance. I add a lot of tasks to my list each day and I don’t want to take the time to think about whether something will take ten minutes or twenty minutes or whether I will need high energy or just medium. To some extent, I make these decisions when I review my lists and often, I simply choose what I am inspired to do.

This week is Thanksgiving week in the United States. Some people are working like crazy to clear their desks before the long weekend and some are already in “vacation mode”. If you are in the latter category, at work but finding yourself unable to get much done, go through your lists and look for low time/low energy activities you can do.

If you have “vacation brain” and don’t have a list of low energy tasks to dig through, or your list doesn’t inspire you to take action, check out this list of mindless, but productive tasks that inspired this post.

Or, if you’re like me, you’ll just catch up on your reading.

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How to create an effective FAQ page for your law firm website

November 21, 2011 by
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faq for law firm web siteProspective clients visit an attorney’s web site to get information. They want to know what you can do for them and how they will be better off as a result. If you’ve done a good job with your web site, they will learn enough to either make a decision to hire you or to take the next step, e.g., call for an appointment, opt into your list, or contact you with questions.

Often, visitors have questions but don’t contact you for answers. They may be intimidated by speaking to an attorney or afraid you will pressure them. A page of frequently asked questions and, of course, your cogent answers, can get more visitors to take the next step.

A FAQ page also allows you to sell yourself without appearing to do so because you’re “just answering questions”. Your answers can demonstrate your experience, your patience, and your personality. They can show that you are thorough and professional and give readers a sense of what it would be like working with you. Ultimately, they can show why the reader should choose you instead of any other attorney.

I encourage you to create a FAQ page for your web site. Alternatively, you can incorporate FAQ’s into your “About” page. Your FAQ’s can also be used in a brochure or handout.

Ask your staff to help you brainstorm. What do prospects and new clients always ask you? What do you think they would want to know but may not ask?

I recommend starting with the following:

  • Practice areas (by name, i.e., estate planning, and features (documents you prepare), and benefits (what happens when you do it, what they get, i.e., protect their family, help them make better decisions)
  • Legal/procedure (what are my rights, what are my options, what are the risks, what’s the first step?)
  • Why you/your firm (why you are different, better)
  • General (office hours, directions, parking, appointments, payment options)
  • First appointment (what to bring, what will happen, what is expected of them, what they get from you)

Add a call to action to your FAQ page, directing the visitor to “Call for an Appointment” or “Subscribe to Our Newsletter”.

A FAQ page is also helpful for current and former clients, as well as referrals sources. An attorney in New York may be looking for an attorney in California. Keep this in mind as you create your page.

Once your page is live on your site, ask your clients directly or via a web poll if there is anything that is unclear and if there is anything you should add. And ask your staff to make a note of any questions clients and prospects routinely ask and add these to the page.

Your FAQ page will evolve over time, and eventually could turn out to be one of your most effective marketing tools.

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“It’s the cases I don’t take that make me money”

November 18, 2011 by
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“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.” -Lin Yutang, writer and translator (1895-1976)

Last night, I spoke at an event. One of the topics I talked about was “The 80/20 principle,” aka, “The Pareto Principle,” the idea that a large percentage of our results come from a small percentage of our activities.

Afterwards, I was chatting with a man who works for a bankruptcy attorney. He liked my talk and was telling me about their practice and how busy they were. He quoted something his employer said, but I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly so I asked him to repeat it:

“It’s the cases I don’t take that make me money”.

He explained that the attorney was very selective about the cases he accepts. A lot of business comes knocking on his door, but he turns down a large percentage. He turns down the lower-end of the spectrum of clients, the ones who don’t have enough for a retainer, who need installments, price shoppers, etc., in favor of those who can pay his higher than average fees.

A lot of attorneys will take the lower-end clients, figuring that whatever they pay will contribute to overhead. But this attorney understands that those clients would actually cost him money, and not just in the literal sense of “not paying,” but because they would take up a disproportionate amount of time and energy.

And, he doesn’t have the extra overhead he would have if he accepted the lower end clients.

By eliminating as much as eighty percent of the possible client pool, he is able to run a lean and profitable practice. I’m sure he also makes it home for dinner.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Career satisfaction, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Avoid “Death by Powerpoint”

November 17, 2011 by
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So you have a presentation coming up and it’s time to prepare slides. Are you going to “kill it” (i.e., the presentation) or “kill them” (your audience)?

We’ve all been a victim of bad Powerpoint presentations. Some of us have been guilty of creating them. Technology makes it easy to go a little crazy with our slides and too often, we do.

Seth Godin’s popular post, “Really Bad Powerpoint,” provides five “rules” for creating better Powerpoint presentations:

  1. No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
  2. No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images.
  3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions.
  4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.
  5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.

My biggest challenge has been with the first rule. Especially when this is combined with another rule (I don’t recall where I heard it) of using no more than 12 slides in any presentation.

But I get the point: use slides to support your presentation, not duplicate it. Keep the audience focused on you, not your slides.

Which leads me to my suggestion for creating a better presentation: don’t use ANY slides.

If you want to keep the audience focused on you and what you are saying, why give them anything else to look at? There will always be exceptions but for most presentations, slides aren’t necessary.

Years ago, I was giving a presentation and the bulb burned out on the projector. We didn’t have a replacement and I had to finish the presentation without slides. It threw me at first (and that got me some sympathy applause) but fortunately, I knew the material and everything turned out fine.

I know we tend to use slides as prompts or cue cards, to keep the presentation moving forward and so that we don’t forget anything. Godin suggests using hand-held cue cards instead of putting the information on screen. If you know your material well enough, you shouldn’t have to do either.

I do a lot of speaking, both with and without slides, and I believe I am most effective when I go “commando”. I like the challenge of holding the audience’s attention. I like being spontaneous and interjecting new ideas that arrive from my subconscious. Sometimes I forget things, but the audience doesn’t know. In fact, leaving things out can actually make for a better (and shorter) presentation.

Do you use slides in your presentations? Are you killing the presentation or killing your audience?

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Why I’m no Longer a Workaholic Attorney (and How I Got Cured)

November 16, 2011 by
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workaholic attorney lawyerWhen I opened my own practice, I practically lived at my office. I buried myself in what little work I had and spent the rest of the time organizing files, creating forms, and worrying about how I was going to get some business.

Later on, when I had lots of clients and lots of work, very little changed. I put in long hours at the office or in court, I brought home files at night and on weekends, and when I did manage to take a day off, I was on the phone with my office every couple of hours.

Some people called me a workaholic. What I was was scared s***less.

When I had no clients and no money coming in, I was paralyzed with fear. I looked at the calendar and saw the first of the month approaching and knew there was no way I could pay the rent. I tried everything I could think of to bring in business but I spent even more time distracting myself with busy work.

When I finally had clients and real work to do, I was afraid it wouldn’t last so I buried myself in my work and made as much money as I could, as fast as I could. There was no way I was ever going back to my “lean and hungry” days.

I’m no shrink, but I think workaholic-ism is driven by fear. We may tell ourselves that we love what we do and this might be true to some extent, but it also might be a story we’ve told ourselves for so long that we actually believe it.

Nobody has the right to tell you how to conduct your business and if non-stop work makes you happy, I’m happy for you. Just be honest about it. Don’t kid yourself into thinking this is what you want or this is the way it has to be.

If you’d like to work a bit less and enjoy some of life’s other offerings, you can. I know because I did it.

How did I break free of the fear of losing what I had finally achieved? How did I stop working so many hours and eventually get down to working just three days a week?

I changed my focus.

I no longer focused on things that made me fearful.

Instead of thinking about what I did not want (e.g., being broke) and using that to drive me, I thought about what I did want.

I wanted the feeling of security and strength and power that money brings. I wanted to help people solve problems. I wanted to spend time with my family and to travel. I wanted to be able to read fiction, go to the movies, eat in nice restaurants and wear fine clothes.

There were plenty of things I wanted and when I began to focus on them, instead of what I didn’t want, things began to change.

It was a process. I started with little things. Whenever I found myself thinking about the possible consequences of working fewer hours, for example, I would stop myself and think about going to a book store and browsing for an hour. A pleasant thought for a book lover like me. I relaxed. I stopped thinking about what I didn’t want. It felt good.

Eventually, I didn’t just think about going to a bookstore, I actually went. My world didn’t come crashing down on me. The clients didn’t leave. The work was still there, and so was the money.

Little by little, I trained myself to think about what I wanted and to let go of my fear of losing what I already had.

If you are a workaholic and you don’t want to be, there are many things you can do to let go of the compulsion to work. Try them if they inspire you.

But you don’t really need anything more than to let go of the fear-inducing thoughts that hold you back. Replace them with thoughts of a better future and let those pull you forward.

Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, keep coming back to your vision of an ideal life, a life of happiness and success, of work that that gives you joy but does not overwhelm. Keep doing this and you will create that life. This is the law of attraction.

Think about what you want, not what you don’t want.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Inspiration, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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