Thanks to Monica Bay and her ALM group, I saw one of the best baseball games ever this evening: California Angels (still can’t get used to saying the Los Angeles Angels, or the California Angels of Los Angeles — but this should make one interesting lawsuit!) VS. the New York Yankees (there is no confusion there).
6-5 in favor of the Angels!
Question: How are clients kept with a firm when a lawyer retires?
This is a classic and difficult problem for many law and professional firms. Typically 10% of the lawyers bring in 80% of the business. When the rainmakers hit 65, they slow down, and their referral sources retire. Meanwhile, the next generation of partners has been accustomed to inheriting business and has no marketing skills.
This is usually when I get a call.
Firms must start with the premise that clients are a firm asset, and not a partner’s personal asset. I have advised law firms to:
– Have the rainmakers introduce younger partners to their client contacts
– Build teams around the top 20 clients, and to let the client know they have a team.
– Actively start cross-selling the top 20 clients. For more info see Larry Bodine’s webinar: Best Practices Of Cross Marketing and Selling New Services To Clients
– Create a business/strategic plan for the firm
– Compose a strategic marketing plan built around the top industries in which the firm has clients.
– Train the lawyers to go after target businesses and have each lawyer compose a personal marketing plan. Those who don’t make the effort have their pay docked at review time. Those who get results get bonuses.
– Don’t make associates partners unless they have a book of business; don’t hire associates unless they have business development skills.
– Require everyone on the management committee to be rainmakers. If they can’t bring in enough business to feed themselves and a platoon of associates, demote them off the committee.
And that’s just for starters.
Stephen Pratt, CEO and Managing Director of Infosys Consulting, Inc., organizes work around the workers. This approach moves work to workers rather than workers to work. Support and expertise can be piped in by telephone in today’s world by way of the the internet as well as by telephone (now over the internet with VOIP). The real collaborative stuff (the real value that professionals offer), he says, is done at the client’s site. (more…)
Most lawyers fail to plan for succession because i) they think they’re immortal; ii) they live in a system (most law firms) in which they (more…)
Steven G. Kraus, a Massachusetts attorney, just told me about a doctrine in New Jersey that should be adopted in every State. It should make litigants act more reasonably.
Steve said: “…an insurance coverage doctrine that we in New Jersey call ‘Rova Farms‘ … The doctrine provides that if an insurance company can resolve a lawsuit reasonably worth more than its liability policy limits for those policy limits and the plaintiff makes a demand to settle for the policy limits, if the insurance company refuses the offer and the case is later tried and comes in for more than the policy limits, the policy limits are reformed to cover the full amount of the verdict.”
Wow! Talk about a way to make litigants, and their counsel, analyze their cases before they reach the Courthouse steps and act more reasonably! This should be adopted in every State, if not by Court doctrine, then by statute. That would be Tort Reform I could live with ….
As an avid cyclist, I’ve been watching the Tour de France with great enthusiasm and hope for all the Americans in this year’s race. Of course, I want Armstrong to win an unprecedented 7th consecutive Tour.
But, Terri Lonier, took her enthusiasm one step further … to glean certain lessons that can be applied to all businesses as well. These lessons apply equally to lawyers and The Business of Law(tm).
In her current Solo newsletter, Terri Lonier said:
“If it’s July, it means that the annual cycling spectacle, the Tour de France, is underway… There are so many things to be gleaned from this competition. I believe three key lessons for soloists are: (more…)
We spend most of our day (and sometimes much of our night) in the workplace. For many, this time is neither creative nor satisfying. For some, this time is almost like a prison sentence. (more…)
Here’s a new one: Create a client profile, the profile for your ideal client. Then, create a marketing plan that focuses just on your target market, not everyone. Then, go get ’em! Increase your revenue by five and six figures while everyone else is sitting still, wondering how you flew so high!
Client profile answers these questions:
What characteristics describe your ideal client?
What is your client’s occupation?
What are their demographics?
What is their response to coaching?
How do you know when it’s a “fit”?
Number of clients.
Weeks of coaching.
Monthly fee?
Annual income?
Other profit centers?
Relationships?
Vocation/Calling?
Location?
Vision/Dreams?
Legacy?
The question was asked by a lawyer, “How can I get my law firm to allow me (and pay for) to telecommute.
This is a question being asked more frequently … And the answers from larger law firms vary. (more…)
In a piece by Peter Drucker, he said that successful CEOs were effective because they followed the same 8 practices:
They asked “What needs to be done?”
They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
They developed action plans.
They took responsibility for decisions.
They took responsibility for communicating.
There were focused on opportunities rather than probelms.
They ran productive meetings.
They thought and said “we” rather than “I”. (more…)