Category: Marketing
Are you a thought leader? Does a lawyer need to be a thought leader? Only if you want more revenue, only if you want people to recognize your name and seek you out. Lawyers, since the beginnings of our country, have been thought leaders. People like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and many other of our founding fathers, were trained in the law.
Until recently, more than 50% of our Congress were trained in the law. Today, less than 25% have such training. Where have all our thought leaders gone? Is it that lawyers no longer see public service as a calling? Is it that lawyers who might otherwise serve earn a disproportionately higher income in the practice than they could in public service and therefore the lure to politics is diminished? Is it that the legal profession no longer focuses on pro bono and community service as a differentiator between practicing law and engaging in other professions? Is it that lawyers have stooped to being ill-tempered and without civility, therefore just not commanding or deserving the respect of the community as in years past?
Far more questions than answers. But, we used to produce statesmen with a legal education and no longer seem to be able to do this.
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This famous quote from Shakespeare is used by politicians seeking to divert attention from any issue of controversy. Of course, what they fail to quote is the balance of that sentence, “… if we want to control the society.”
Ronald Reagan, while governor of California, used this tactic quite effectively. And, of course, he failed to finish the comment with the fact that many of the lawsuits brought against him in his capacity as governor of the state were successful. Lawyers, both for fee and for free (pro bono), were seeking to redress social wrongs.
Fast forward to 2010. Politicians, mortgage holders and bankers are once again lambasting lawyers. This time, the targets are those lawyers who have the temerity to question foreclosure procedures. In particular, lawyers are finding that mortgage/bank representatives are signing declarations (under penalty of perjury) that they have reviewed the file and know the contents of the loan default to be true. This unexpected discovery of “robo-signers” by an attorney in Florida has thrown the entire foreclosure business (23 states require such signing) into turmoil.
The net result for the plaintiffs is that they get additional time to remain in their homes and, in some cases, the opportunity to renegotiate the terms of their loan or to remove the foreclosure from a credit report in order to refinance the house and start over.
One lawyer, representing the mortgage lending industry, said that people don’t have the right to a “fee house.” This is true. But what is the difference between this and a business filing an answer and using other dilatory tactics in order to delay ultimate payment of a legitimate debt? Using the legal system for personal advantage is common. And, in the case of the housing industry, where bankruptcy proceedings have no authority to discharge the debt, let alone even modify the payment schedule to permit the debtor to retain the house while making “affordable” payments, there may be no other alternative.
Again, the legal profession has come to the aid of those in need. And, what is also common is for monied-interests to seek to limit the effectiveness of the legal profession to help the disadvantaged amongst us.
As a follow up to the success of the Florida lawyer who devised this new tactic for his clients, some states attorneys general are seeking new laws to void “technical problems” as a defense where the foreclosure is “substantially appropriate.” In California, for example, both a new penal code and rule of professional conduct, prevent a lawyer from taking a retainer in a mortgage refinance case. In other words, a lawyer cannot take a retainer from a client if the gravamen of the service will be to negotiate with a lender for the refinance of the house mortgage. Even when the retainer will be placed into the client’s trust account and not removed until the service is delivered. How will a lawyer be able to represent such a person?
A person with admitted financial problems, whose problems will not go away merely by refinancing. This lawyer will then be working pro bono in most cases. California, in effect, has prevented lawyers from helping an endangered class of troubled Americans … the home owner suffering from the current woes of our economy. The claim was that there were some lawyers who “stole” from this unsophisticated group of people and took advantage of their fears. However, theft is already a crime and moral turpitude violates the rules of professional conduct and subjects a lawyer to disbarment. This new law/rule, adopted “to protect the public,” actually hurts the very people it’s intended to protect by denying them access to counsel.
The battle goes on … between those lawyers seeking to help needy clients and those monied-interests seeking to control the society.
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There is a great deal of heat generated thus far over the ABA looking into the issues of internet marketing/advertising/promotion … They have not overtly yet taken a position, only solicited commentary for the ethics commission to consider.
Yet, many bloggers and commentators believe that the ABA is seeking to destroy the marketing advantage gained in the social media by sole and small firm practitioners.
The mood of the country, as seen in the recent election, appears to be that less is more. (Though I believe that that is true only as an electioneering slogan — just wait until "they" get into power.) Translating that feeling, though, into the legal world and we want fewer rules to regulate our conduct.
Yes, there are enough rules already on the books to protect the innocent and govern the "guilty." But, new technology does require a new look … perhaps even a loosening of the current ad hoc rules. Frankly, I’d rather have the ABA review these issues than the many states who tend to take a far more restrictive stance than does the ABA.
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The press will fixate on this lawyer’s hourly billing rate. But, that is not why he was disbarred. Rather, he was disbarred because of his wild and bizarre conduct.
There is no prohibition to charging a high hourly rate so long as at least 3 factors co-exist: 1.) The client receives value commensurate with the charge; 2.) The client perceives he/she has received value commensurate with the fee; and 3) There is sufficient communication between the lawyer and the client to confirm that the client understands what the charges will be … and the client is sophisticated enough to accept or reject the engagement agreement and fee being proposed.
The difficulty with fee disputes is that they are always "Monday morning quarterbacking," usually being determined by people who are using outdated standards of evaluation. The only real issues are 1) Did the client understand the fee structure and 2) Did the client receive sufficient value (not time) to justify the fee.
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What are you doing to create a wow experience for your clients? And I don’t mean winning the case. Have you ever had the experience of walking out of the court room only to hear your client say something like, "Why didn’t we get xxxx?" Of course, you respond by saying you/we got everything we asked for .. everything that the law permits? You didn’t educate you client along the road from the beginning of the engagement to the point of conclusion.
What can you do to create a wow experience of dealing with you?
I am now in Las Vegas to give their customer law practice management conference keynote presentation. The conference is being held in the Aria Hotel. The hotel is new (December 2009) in their City Center. Wow! What a facility. Green. Electronics all over the place. Large, bigger than life. This is not just Las Vegas. This is Las Vegas on steroids. And, tomorrow evening, we’ll go to the Cirque show, Elvis, that is playing here. I’ve been to Las Vegas before. But, I’ve never been so impressed … This is not just big, it is beautiful and much more.
Time for me to go .. I get to take my wife to dinner at one of the fine restaurants in LV.
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The Business of Lawâ is continuously changing— from fee structures, to marketing strategies, to client preferences. In today’s economic climate, law firms have no way to catch up once they fall behind.
The good news is that the success or failure of your firm is completely in your hands. If you learn the newest practices, develop your business plan, and understand the economic situation you’re operating in, you can achieve financial performances you’ve only dreamed of.
So what’s the fastest, easiest and most innovative way to update traditional methods and boost business to the next level?
Introducing the 2nd Annual Midwestern Law Firm Management Conference- The New Norm: Understanding How To Thrive in the New Economy.
(more…)
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I met with an attorney today … he’s 61 … who is terrified that he now is solo and has never had to do anything in his career to attract clients. He was always part of a firm that delivered litigation clients to his doorstep. Now, he doesn’t have that … What can/should he do?
No matter what he does, the ultimate challenge for him will be on retirement, not that far away. Will he have developed any goodwill to be able to add more wealth to his capital for his heirs? The answer is: Maybe, but more likely not. That will be a crime after having been a very good lawyer for his entire career.
What are you doing to enhance the value of your practice? Do you have a succession plan? Does your law practice have an "estate plan?"
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While I was in Yreka, CA, I learned about The State of Jefferson. This was a political movement in the late 1930s. The focus of the movement was to create a new state out of southern Oregon (dissatisfied with the power of northern Oregon) and Northern California (wanting to keep its riches – water) out of the greedy hands of Southern California.
Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941, put an end to this effort. The entire effort of everyone was turned to the War … Though I didn’t know about this group, they surfaced again in the early 1960s, if not earlier. It was Pat Brown, the greatest governor (IMHO) California ever had. It was his focus that built the University of California into a powerhouse, and it was he that successfully lead the Feather River project on the ballot. This assured that water from the north would flow into southern California. This brought water for the farmers in the area as well as the growing population. With water connecting the State, there is very little likelihood the two segments will be separated at any time.
But, the State of Jefferson is still a state of mind. There are many folks who would like to see the separation. But there is no consensus. So, it appears to be more of an historical society.
In working with your clients, are you separate from them? Or are you able to create an inseparable bond, as Governor Pat Brown did for the people of California?
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We’re in Canyonville, OR, at the Seven Feathers RV Park. This is the best RV park I’ve ever seen … and they claim to be among the top 4 in the country. What a way to end the day.
We were staying in Yreka, CA, using that as a base to commute to Ashland, OR for the annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Got to see two great plays, She Loves Me and Twelfth Night. Then, today, my wife said her patience will permit us to stay in one spot only for 3 days. So, we got up and left Yreka.
En route, we developed a flat tire in the trailer. Had to call Good Sam to bail us out. They were great, get us help within the hour. The RV park my wife selected not only is one of the best, but also has a truck and tire facility adjacent to it … the only one open today, July 4th! What a coincidence. They looked at our tire; they believe it was the stem, not the tire … and took care of it. They will even come to the RV Park tomorrow to check it again, making sure the tire pressure holds, before we embark on our next phase of the trip.
That is service! That is caring for the customer … What have you done with your clients lately to compel them to say such things about you? His name and number will go in my book … and should I ever need someone of his skill set anywhere in the State of Oregon, he’s the first one I’ll call. Will your clients and former clients call you before they call anyone else? Will they call you on behalf of their friends and colleagues before they call anyone else? If not, why not? Look inward to address your operations and client management challenges before you look outward … Why waste your money on marketing if you can’t satisfy your clients once they arrive?
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As quoted by Alan Weiss, citing an IBM survey, CEO’s focus on three elements:
1. Embody creative leadership (take prudent risk, invite disruptive innovation)
2. Reinvent customer relationships (set priority of customer intimacy)
3. Operating dexterity (flexible cost structures and opportunistic capabilities)
Shouldn’t this be what law firms do? Take prudent risk to grow the practice and enhance the well-being of its members and staff; focus their energies outward, to benefit their clients, which would include both pricing and costing flexibility.
Too often, law firms are all about their lawyers, and they forget the well-being (intimacy) of their customers/clients.
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