Category: Personal Thoughts

Seven Feathers

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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Balance of Life

Today is the first full day of a journey/vacation. We may be gone for 3 weeks+, depending on how we feel as we travel through Central and Northern California on to Northern Oregon, and then returning by way of the Pacific Coast … My wife is a bit anxious and I’m a bit eager. For cross country purposes, this trip will be our "dry run." If we do well, next year we’ll go across the country from L.A. to N.Y.

If you want to follow our trail, tune in to Facebook.

I’ve always believed that over a life time, there is a balance of life. But, at any one time, there is a focus on that which you’re doing, not a balance. Today, and for the next few weeks, I’m going to test out whether I can focus on relaxing, "smelling the roses," and appreciating the beauty of our surroundings. Being me, of course, it’s not likely that I will do no work. In fact, I’ve brought material with me. But I hope to do a fair amount of reading and learning en route. To me, that’s balance. In fact, that’s the basis of our trailer license, STESPOT.


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Las Vegas rocks

I’m in Las Vegas on assignment. The heat index is down, making it more comfortable to walk … The last time I was here, the city felt depressed, I think reflecting the economy. Today, the spirits of the people seem to be "up," the money flowing more loosely and the people again seeking a good time. This, too, seems to be reflecting the spirit of the country. While the feeling seems to be more subdued than before, I sense a degree of optimism not present during my last assignment here.

Since the economics of law firms follows the economics of clients, I suspect that our legal community will reflect more positive results this year, though not yet a break-through. The question becomes whether it will take another decade for the Great Recession to be only a bad memory or whether we will see a real sea change.


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Life is not a circle

The "circle of life" is a concept I’ve heard a lot about throughout my life. To me, that means that you start in the world as a baby with dependency on others … and you end your life with dependency on others. But, there is a difference. When you enter the world, you have a certain DNA pattern that will enable you to grow, learn, develop and contribute to others. By the time you are on the other side of the spectrum, you have contributed mightily to the betterment of others in many ways.

Note that I used the word, "spectrum." This infers a straight line, or at least the absence of a circle. John Wooden, dead just a scant 4 months before reaching 100 years of age, is a classic example of having contributed to the well-being of so many people.

Life is not circular. We need not whimper out; we need not abandon ourselves as we age. We can age gracefully and courageously. That is my hope for all of us.

 

 


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Edwards Air Force Base – What a place!

The last few days were spent in the peaceful environs of Tehachapi, CA with a group of Airstream trailer folks. While there, we visited Edwards Air Force Base. After seeing the new F-35, F-22 and old F-16, among other weapons of mass destruction, I walked away marveling at our ingenuity and our capacity for bending the laws of nature (to an extent) to our will. While there, we heard the breaking of the sound barrier from one of their tests. Ah, if we could only be so ingenious in finding ways for peace. One would think that we would get it right after more than 2000 years of trying.

 

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Winners from our April contest!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our April contest! I hope that you all have enjoyed my new book, Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times. If you haven’t read it already – don’t worry! There’s still time to enjoy it and share your feedback here on the blog, on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LawBizManagement), on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LawBiz), and on the book’s page here.

 

I am pleased to announce the winners of last month’s contest.

 

 

First Place – Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Blog will win a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner, plus ½ hour coaching session with me.

 

 

Second Place – Daniela Romero of the Law Office of Daniela P. Romero in Pasadena, CA will receive ½ hour coaching session with me.

 

 

Third Place – Dan X. Nguyen of the Law Office of Dan X. Nguyen in Fountain Valley, CA will receive my set of 4 Special Reports (electronic versions).

 

Congratulations to all!

 

Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times is available for sale at West’s webpage here. Keep reading LawBizBlog for more contests and opportunities to win LawBiz® prizes. 


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Malpractice Insurance Report

In the recent California Lawyer’s Annual Professional Liability Insurance Report, the writer quotes the ABA. Their study shows that 44,000 claims were lodged against insured lawyers nationally within the study’s three year period. Of this group, “…(s)olos and smaller firms were sued the most: 70 percent of all insurance claims were brought against lawyers in firms with one to five attorneys.”

I suppose this was the basis for arguing that lawyers either need malpractice insurance or should disclose to their clients that they don’t have such insurance. Yet, if 70% of the legal community works in the small firm environment, wouldn’t it make sense that 70% of the claims would be filed against this goup?

Despite these statistics, there is no study ever cited that shows how many claims, IF ANY, were filed against the approximately 30,000 (20%) attorneys in California who do not carry malpractice insurance. There is no study to conclude they have claims filed against them; there is no study to conclude they have been unable to negotiate settlements with their aggrieved clients, if any; there is no study to conclude these are “bad” or negligent attorneys from whom the public needs protection.

Despite this, the Bar (now about 23 states) has moved forward in lock-step to punish this group of attorneys by increasing their already marginal cost of operation and forcing them to become adversarial with their prospective clients by having this discussion.

Clever lawyers who may seek to avoid the negative consequences of this new rule can take a number of alternative paths to side-step the issue. They can obtain the most minimal policy, the true net effect of which will leave nothing for the client at the end of any malpractice litigation. They can bury the required disclosure language in a long written engagement agreement, seldom read by clients, thus avoiding the necessity of raising the issue with the client. Among other tactics.

As in other instances, the Bar fails to protect its members who pay their salaries and fails to protect the public by availing attorneys with affordable negligence insurance.

 


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