According to NALP, 14% of law school graduates earn $135,000 (now $160,000) starting compensation. 42% earn $55,000 or less.
This is consistent with statistics that show experienced lawyers earning less than the public believes lawyers earn: 50% at less than $100,000 and 25% at less than $50,000!
Thus, lawyers are "between a rock and a hard place!" The public believes that figures reported in the Wall Street Journal of August 22nd to the effect that lawyers are now charging $1,000 per hour is the norm or standard. Yet, only a few lawyers are commanding that fee level, and then only in the "bet the company" kind of cases. Commoditized work cannot command that rate. Even in extraordinary matters, that rate approaches what one New York law firm partner said is clients’ "vomit point." (more…)
I was asked if the current credit crunch/crisis is affecting law firms.
My response was that the credit crunch, I think, is somewhat artificial … and folks that are being hurt are ones that extended themselves too far in the first place without a safety net …. Or ones whose business just evaporated without warning (although there usually is some kind of warning if observant).
Thom Singer, author of Some Assembly Required, 2nd edition. and The ABC’s of Networking, is Ed’s guest today. In this fast-paced interview they discuss practice development techniques and increasing your connections by using networking principles.
At the ABA conference in San Francisco last week, I had the pleasure to moderate an outstanding panel of experts about the financial management of their firms and their “best practices.” The panel consisted of Bob Hirshon, CEO of Stoel Rives in Portland, OR (and former ABA president); Marcia Wasserman, COO of Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott; Larry Kleinberg, CFO of Munger Tolles & Olson; and Ron Yano, CFO of Loeb & Loeb.
Reid Trautz mentioned his observations from our panel:
“From a terrific panel of firm financial managers moderated by Ed Poll, comes these interesting ideas:
Firms are taking advantage of the new check scanners offered by some banks to more quickly and securely deposit client checks.
More firms are closing their billing on the 25th day of each month to get their bills into the “first of the month” billing cycle of clients–both businesses and individuals.
Law firms are putting more pressure on partners to collect bills sooner (nothing new there!), but they are using automated e-mail and other added technology features now available in many time & billing programs to keep the pressure on, well, automatically!
Larger firms are doing more to ensure that each new client matter has a signed representation letter or agreement before starting any work. This is a smart practice, and is just one area where large firms tend to lag behind smaller firms.”
National Speakers Association, Los Angeles chapter, is offering a great week-end of learning and fun. Learn how to use the speaking platform to enhance your revenue, to take your practice to the next level of success and to be more effective with your clients.
What’s in it for you? There are many reasons, but here are three:
Enhance you uniqueness in business strategy and leadership to enhance your bottom line.
Learn the 6-step formula for proven goal setting and high achievement, plus how to have more fun and take your practice to the next level.
Discover five simple questions you can ask informally that can teach you so much about other people and make them feel important.
In a recent blog post, I suggested that it was o.k. for lawyers to seek profit. One justification that I didn’t suggest, however, becomes very clear when you look at state bars disciplinary reports: Clients’ trust accounts are invaded by economically marginal lawyers (exclude out and out theft from this discussion, a rare event). Thus, when we encourage lawyers to be business-wise, we are actually seeking to protect the public.
Being effective with clients, efficient in the delivery of services to clients and therefore more profitable, we are actually protecting the public by providing sufficient resources to the lawyer to feed his/her family and therefore have no need to invade the trust account funds.
To say that law is a business, a service business, is not to deny that it is also a profession rooted in the highest ideals from the very beginning of our country. (more…)
Today Ed Interviews Scott Simmonds, an insurance consultant for buyers and lawyers. Scott talks about common mistakes that lawyers make when buying both general business and professional liability insurance. He also provides some key clues on how to improve not only your purchasing power but also your coverage.
Scott was a general agent for 20 years and has consulted with buyers for the last 7. While he works out of Maine, his consulting is national in scope.
Listen now for ideas on how to reduce your overhead and increase your protection.
Tom Kane asks us to do something which most of us can’t: " … Think about the unique legal features your practice offers clients … "
Lawyers have a very difficult time truly understanding what we (lawyers) provide to clients. Clearly, this is not easy for most of us. Saying "we provide solutions" is not sufficient.
Because of this, it is difficult to differentiate ourselves from the other 1 million lawyers in this country! As the legal profession matures and lawyers come to fully understand the business-like qualities of professional service providers, being able to state the differentiation in ways clients understand may be one key to economic survival.
USA TODAY Snapshots tells us, in today’s edition, that certain cities blog more than others. I’m not sure how they get this information, but the number of posts per 100,000 residents in March and April are the following:
Boston 89
Philadelphia 88
Pittsburgh 53
Washington 51
Portland, OR 49
I’m surprised that Western cities (further south of OR) aren’t on the list and, with all the politicians in the area, why Washington didn’t rate higher …
But, it takes a blog to talk about the blogging list, right? 🙂
Edward Poll, principal of LawBiz® Management Co., announces that LawBiz® Blog has gone live! As of today, the complete redesign of the Blog site is active. (more…)
According to NALP, 14% of law school graduates earn $135,000 (now $160,000) starting compensation. 42% earn $55,000 or less.