July 2011

Do Your People Have the Authority to Decide?

Your client asked that the documents be sent overnight. He wanted his wife to have the papers in time for a loan closing the next day. Your administrative assistant put the documents in a Federal Express envelope and sent them off. Unfortunately, she sent them via ground service rather than overnight. The documents didn’t make [...]

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Avoid This Fixed Fee Trap

We’ve employed fixed fees in our practice for a long time. As a result, I get lots of questions from other attorneys seeking advice about the best way to set up fixed fees for their practices. It’s tough for me to provide an answer because the sequence of events varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. My [...]

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“I Can’t Afford You”

Some prospective clients come right out and say it: “I can’t afford you.” Others are more subtle and simply say “I’ll have to think about it” or “I’m going to discuss it with my family.” In some instances, the clients really mean you haven’t explained the value of your services. You failed to persuade the [...]

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What’s the Next Marketing Project?

I’ve had a chance to speak to many of you over the past few years. I’ve got a pretty good sense of where you stand on marketing, technology, management, and finance. Most of you are doing pretty well, but you’re focused more on practicing law than on running your business. That’s cool. Today’s article isn’t for [...]

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Seven Things That Scare Me

The list of things that frighten me is long. I don’t have the time, energy, or courage to list them all here for you. In fact, I can’t see the value to you of my doing so. I can, however, see some benefit for you from hearing a few of the things on the list. [...]

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Which Task Manager Is Best?

I’ve tried a dozen or more task managers. I’ve spent a small fortune on software and web-based services. I’ve lost count of the different products I’ve tried. I’ve settled on one now that has served me very well for the past few months. It’s Wunderlist. It’s free. After all the money I’ve spent, I can’t [...]

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Marketing: Does It Take Time or Money?

You’ve got a choice to make with your marketing. You can do it yourself (time), or you can have someone do it for you (money). Which approach is better? With respect to certain elements of your marketing plan, the answer is easy, and you should pay someone to do it for you. With certain other [...]

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When Can I Hire an Associate?

Here’s the scenario: Lawyer opens a practice. Things get going. Lawyer is feeling successful. We have lunch to chat about how it’s going. I really enjoy the lunches where the discussion is about how well things are going. It’s way more fun to talk about success than it is to talk about failure. Our food [...]

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