Tag Archive: Law

What is the most feared word in the English language?

At the end of the day, the value of our law practice is based on our success and the many people we have touched over the years. This is a significant legacy we will leave on retiring from the practice. 

Most lawyers all around the country with whom I’ve spoken don’t understand this and can’t comprehend even the possibility that their many years of effort may actually have produced a monetizeable value of some significance. This value can enhance their retirement. It is a challenge to overcome such deep-seeded beliefs among many Baby-Boomers as they get ready to move on to their second season. This is the difference between personal goodwill and organizational goodwill. There is more of the latter than most people believe.

My conversations have convinced me that the most feared word in the English language is “retirement.” That may contribute to the refusal to consider an alternative to closing the office; we will maintain our office and work until our last breath. It is possible, however, to do both! The sale or merger of your law practice, rather than the closing of the office, should be an alternative that is kept open for your consideration.

 


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Digital estate plan

I’ve talked about a lawyer having an estate plan. I’ve talked about creating an estate plan for your law practice; this is an idea first generated by Ellen Peck, retired judge of the California State Bar Trial Court. Now, there is another estate plan to prepare: Digital.

What are you going to do with all your passwords, all your email accounts, all your accounts in social media and all your other accounts that reside in the internet?   

Your virtual life doesn’t end just because you die. And in some arenas, the material you have on the internet cannot be removed or taken down. You may even have money residing in some of the internet residences such as PayPal, on-line gambling accounts, etc. Be sure to appoint or designate someone to be responsible for dealing with these issues. Be sure to write down all the accounts and passwords. And be sure to contact such companies as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc. to comply with their policies.       

There is little or no case law to date about planning for digital assets after death, and certainly no precedent of which I’m aware on this. But, for just that reason, it’s time to think about these issues.


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LawBiz® Legal Pad: Collecting Your Fee Begins At the Intake

Ed discusses the factors that influence collection success.
Client selection: you have to get the right client.
You must understand the wants and the needs of the client.
You have to get confirmation of the arrangement between you and the client in writing.
And, check the client’s credit.


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Language is Everything

For growth and expansion, there are two philosophies:

               Trail your growth (conservative), or

               Hire for the future (confident and assertive)

For troubled times, there are two philosophies:

               Slow to hire

               Quick to fire

 Lawyers should do only two things:

               Market for new business:

                              Only they know if they want to represent the prospect

                              Only they know if they’re competent to handle the matter

               Lawyering

                              Only the lawyer is licensed by the state to practice

All else can and should be handled by others


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IOLTA accounts may be in jeopardy

Under current law, clients’ trust accounts are protected under the IOLTA program. The FDIC provides unlimited insurance coverage.

However, unless extended by Congress, beginning January 1, 2013, such unlimited coverage will terminate and the new limit will once again be $250,000 per depositor. All funds held in such trust accounts as well as all funds held, personally, by the same client in the same institution will be considered in the $250,000 limit.

Be careful and review your bank’s regulations and the funds you are holding for the benefit of your clients. Watch Congress for any "lame duck" laws on this and the FDIC and its responsive regulations. You may have to split clients’ funds into two or more banking institutions in order to keep his/her money insured. And you may once again have the responsibility of checking on the financial soundness of the banking institution in which you maintain your clients’ trust account.



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Lawyers’ fiduciary responsibility to partners

Yesterday, I watched the Richard Gere film, Aribtrage. The film portrays a successful billionaire’s moral decline as he attempts to save his failing company from his poor decisions. He "cooks" the company books by borrowing money that is not shown on the books as such in order to keep up appearances in order to complete a sale of the company, falsifies investors reports and otherwise plays "loose" with the truth. This is a man in trouble, but Gere continues to exude confidence in order to reach his goal.

Coincidentally, in today’s Wall Street Journal, reporters once again discuss the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP demise. Prosecutors are still questioning whether there was deception about the financial condition of the firm in the last few months. Were partners told the truth, were they given accurate financial reports, and were the firm obligations to pay down outstanding debt on behalf of terminated partners honored? And, were the transgressions that did occur a matter of a struggling business doing what it could to survive or a matter of criminal and/or civil fraud?

As a matter of "black letter law," it’s clear that management (managing partner and management committee members) owe a fiduciary duty to others — investors, lenders and partners. Did they breach this duty? How close to Arbitrage did the leaders of Dewey come?


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