What responsibility does a lawyer have when a financial institution fails and a client’s trust money is held by the financial firm?
Ed Poll answers this question as he talks about Trust Accounts this week.
Factors to Consider When Marketing You Firm:
-Have a Marketing Plan
-Consider the commonality between you and prospective clients.
-Play the Numbers Game
-The more people you can get in front of; the better the chance of someone engaging you.
-Build a quality referral sources
-Understand that people learn differently
-Connect with other professions who share your market
Ed offers 5 ways to increase your law firm’s revenue.
1. Emphasize collections.
2. Hire lateral lawyers to meet specific demands, a new practice area, a new need.
3. Leverage technology.
4. Create a cooperative compensation model that emphasizes the law firm as an institution.
5. Outsource functions that are better done by others. Delegate.
Richard Susskind said: “What I often say is that the future of law is not Rumpole of the Bailey, and it’s not John Grisham. It’s not a version of what we have today slightly tweaked. It will be people working in the legal sector but offering legal services and legal help in new ways.” It may be the end of the profession as immortalised (sic) in courtroom dramas, but as software eats the old jobs it will have to create new ones too.
Yes, I agree that technology will cause the delivery of legal services to altered, that legal services will be delivered more effectively and more efficiently … and perhaps even less expensively.
But, the real gravamen of the lawyer’s work is the analysis of the issues at hand, understanding the real needs and wants (not necessarily the same things) of the client and achieving the desired result. The desired result is hardly ever the result of technology … it still requires the mental acumen of the lawyer!
Ed discusses managing a client’s fee expectations.
Ed advises: keep track of your work, bill timely, and collect efficiently.
Ed notes that poor client service is responsible for 63% of clients leaving their law firm.
Will you be one of the 400,000 lawyers retiring in the next 10 years? Ed discusses what to do when it’s time to move on.
Ed’s wife reminds him that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but today Ed shares tips that will promote your firm and services at little expense.
Ed is often asked how much a law firm should allocate for advertising. The first thing he asks back is, “What is advertising?” Watch this week’s clip to learn more.