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When you have a contract attorney work for you, how do you bill your client? How do you write his/her time on your bill?
This issue has been litigated. The conclusion is that the contract attorney is not an out-of-pocket cost for billing purposes. You are not required to bill the client at the cost to you for his/her time. You may bill the client for the contract attorney at an “attorney’s rate” or any reasonable rate you establish in your engagement agreement acceptable to the client. (more…)
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The late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun once said, “A wedding is an event; a marriage is an achievement.” Much the same could be said about the attainment of ownership in your professional practice. Your ascension is an event; partnership is an achievement. And so the analogy goes that a law firm partnership is much like a marriage and a breakup much like a divorce. Life repeats itself in business.
James Cotterman lists 12 tasks or steps that the new partner must consider
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See MayItPleasetheCourt. Craig Williams, in his web log, talks about diving not being the same as floating. While he didn’t intend to take the metaphor further, he reminds me that networking is not the same thing as netresting.
In order to be effective in networking, one must work … work the room, work the rolodex, work the telephone, etc. in order to meet people and let them know what you do. Only when they know what you do can they make a choice to have you work for them.
Building a field doesn’t mean, despite the film, that baseball players will come to play. Unless you let folks know what you do, they won’t know they may benefit from having you represent them. Give them a chance to know you … Give them a chance to include you in their list of options. They just may choose you to be their lawyer!
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Happiness = Expectations – Reality! (more…)
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Internet
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See The Best Surprise by Kevin Salwen on Travel who said that those of a certain age will certainly remember the Holiday Inn ad campaign “The best surprise is no surprise.” But lately, I’ve been surprised many a time in my hotel stays — and almost always to the upside.
— In New York, at the Dream Hotel (a New Age-style place with Deepak Chopra themes — I’m not kidding), the Gideon’s Bible has been replaced by The Teaching of Buddha. For the first time in years, I actually started reading.
— In Santa Monica, at the Loew’s Hotel, there’s a remarkable computer-screen jukebox in the lobby with 3,000 songs that allows guests to “program music for the entire hotel.” I tossed on a Sheryl Crow tune.
— In San Francisco, at the Adagio, a great basket of Aveda products adorned the bathroom. Mint and rosemary shampoo, anyone?
Hotels are scrambling to be more distinctive — and I should quickly note that these are mostly mid-priced places. Some openly tout 300-thread-count sheets, others in-room high-speed wireless, still others plasma TVs. Is there another industry that is working as hard to out-unique the other guy?
I agree with Kevin. And certainly the airline industry is one example of negative surprises. My travels continue to emphasize for me the airline industry’s total disregard for their customers … It is not surprising to me that there is only one airline that has made money in the last 30 years! Southwest continues to focus on its core mission and treats its employees as members of the family in a way that encourages them to treat their customers likewise. Read the book, Nuts!
One industry that abhors surprises is the banking industry. When a customer borrows money, the bank expects to be repaid! Funny about that. Tip: When you know in advance that you will have a problem making the loan payment, go to your lending officer and explain the circumstances. Bankers are people, they want to help and will do so if approached in advance of a problem. Suggest alternative ways in which you can handle the challenge and ask for their input and advice.
The worst thing you can do in such situations is ignore the problem and fail to let them know in advance.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Society for Advancement of Consulting info@consultingsociety.com 800/825-6153
Board Approval Awarded to Edward Poll, Principal, LawBiz Management Co., 800-837-5880.
Society for Advancement of Consulting
Announces Board Approval Designation
Edward Poll Cited for Excellence
SAC is an international association of solo practitioners who must provide validated proof of their high performance in consulting; successfully completed client engagements; testimonials from client executives; achieve a high level of professional income over a prolonged period; have worked with a minimum of 25 clients; and who adhere to a strict code of professional ethics. The members interact as an international community to better the profession and their own techniques.
Board Approvals in specialties require at least a year as a full professional member of SAC. Fewer than two per month are currently granted.
Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, is a coach, consultant, author and speaker. Helping lawyers develop loyal clients, Ed coaches lawyers to be more effective, efficient and profitable. Also known as “Your Practical Guide to Profit,” Ed guides lawyers to expand client market share and increase repeat business with less stress.
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One of the best consultants I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning from has put together several tips on negotiating:
– Start from a very strong position and work your way down from there. Surprisingly, your strong position may be accepted as is. That applies to payment terms, fee levels, etc.
– Understand your “musts” and don’t sacrifice them for mere “wants.” Give in on the discretionary things, fight to the finish on the critical things.
– Listen more than you talk. Don’t attempt to fill silences.
– Try not to go one-on-ten. Negotiate with one person, not a team if at all possible. Otherwise, you’ll have a roomful of people trying to impress each other at your expense.
– Don’t burn bridges. This is business, don’t take it personally. Neither gloat nor pout, do not celebrate or seek revenge. Move on.
Suggested Reading: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
�� Alan Weiss, 2005 All rights reserved.
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Written communications from lawyers to clients and prospective clients are very important to establish the expectations of clients. And engagement letters, in particular, are essential to establish the threshold of these expectations.
A recent article in the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Update sets forth a number of matters that should be included in an engagement agreement. These elements include the following:
*Who the lawyer is representing
*The scope of the representation including, when appropriate, what the lawyer is not undertaking
*The fee to be charged and the manner in which the fee is to be calculated
*When the fee is to be paid
*The consequences of non-payment, including the right to withdraw
*Staffing
*Communications
*The client’s responsibilities, including the obligation pay the lawyer’s fee in accordance with the terms of the agreement
*Dispute resolution
*Ethical issues, if any, including potential conflicts of interest
I would add another element: Add a signature stamp in the margin of the agreement at every point where fees and payment schedules are discussed. Ask the client to initial each of these, indicating his understanding and agreement with the provision next to his initials.
This will go a long way to assuring prompt payment by the client.
Then, it is the responsibility of the lawyer to carefully monitor the client’s payment performance to be assured that the client is honoring his/her part of the bargain and to withdraw, if necessary, before the client owes the lawyer too much money, contrary to the parties understanding.
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General counsel say that they find lawyers from a number of sources including:
-Referrals from trusted sources (usually other general counsel)
-Publications they read in which lawyers write about the topics of their concern
-Networking
General counsel say they look for lawyers who
–Respond promptly
-Are expert in their field
-Have a good reputation
-Know the client’s industry
-Have a relationship with the company in the past
-Are members of a firm that has a good reputation
-Are confident, but not arrogant
Reputation is very important to general counsel because they are always reviewed and criticized by someone – everyone – in their organization. While reputation is important in high stakes matters, cost is very important in commodity-type work.
Do what you can to relieve the stress of general counsel. That is their message. That’s how to bind yourself to your corporate client.
These were the sentiments expressed at a recent meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Legal Marketing Association by several general counsel.
Another message that came through in the presentation is that the maxim that clients seek lawyers, not law firms, is not entirely true. Rather, it is true that clients — Corporate America — do look at the law firms. They have to in order to CYA because, as noted above, their every move is scrutinized by everyone else in their corporate organization. It’s a lot easier to say a mistake was the result of an action by a major law firm than it is to say it was the result of a sole practitioner or small firm. This prejudice of large organizations (clients) regarding the size of their law firm is a fact of life. There are many ways to deal with size bias, but the prejudice must be met …
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