March 2011

How to Ask for Payment

Some clients pay their bills when asked. You send them an invoice, and they make payment. Others treat invoices like junk mail. They toss your invoice in the circular file or delete it from their e-mail. Asking for payment is challenging for some of us. However, it isn’t optional. You’ve got to get paid. It’s [...]

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Intake Is the Scariest Part of Our Law Firms

A prospective client called our office a few weeks ago. Our intake person was out sick. The backup person wasn’t paying attention to voicemails. The supervisor of these two employees was tied up in a series of meetings lasting most of the day. The prospective client’s voicemail sat in the inbox for five hours before [...]

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Your Photo Is Essential to Your Website

I’m in the process of selling an old sofa. It’s left over from our recent office space transition. I went on Craigslist to get a feel for how much one should ask for a used sofa. I’m worried about the price impact of the weird stain on the seat. As I scanned the listings, I [...]

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How Will LegalZoom Put You Out of Business?

Customer: I’d like my ____________ (insert “divorce,” “estate plan,” “construction litigation,” “personal injury matter,” etc.) handled by LegalZoom. The company has really nice TV ads. I like them. Lawyer: Sorry, the company can’t do that. That would be the unauthorized practice of law. Legislator: I can see Russia from my house. BOOM!!! There’s a big, [...]

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Has That Image Been Photoshopped?

Has the image you’re looking at been photoshopped? Has someone modified it using image editing software? You can run an image through the processor at ErrorLevelAnalysis.com and find out. Error level analysis shows differing error levels in an image. When you place your cursor over the image after processing, you see the error levels, and [...]

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Is Your Own Marriage Suffering?

How many divorce lawyers do you know who are divorced? Lots, I’ll bet. We aren’t much better than our clients at staying married. You’d think we’d learn something from watching our clients make mistakes. You’d think we’d know that communication is the most important thing we can do to stay married. One would imagine we’d be [...]

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11 Things You Can Do That Will Make Clients Love You

Getting a family law client to love you is tough. Our clients are in no mood to love anyone new. They aren’t sure they’re even going to like you. So when I provide you with 11 things you can do that will make clients love you, you’d better listen, because this stuff must be really [...]

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Are Your Files Totally Out of Control?

On more than one occasion, I’ve found myself consulting with a lawyer and have asked, “How many open files do you have right now?” The lawyer looks at me, confusion spreading over his or her face, and says, “What do you mean by ‘open’?” I say, “I mean open, like something you’re working on…a file with [...]

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