The year 2016

Create a Six-Month Law Firm Budget

It’s that time of year when we tend to think in terms of years. People create new year’s resolutions, even though there is a lot of evidence they don’t actually help reaching goals. And in the business world, we create annual budgets. In my experience, however, too many law firms either don’t create budgets at […]

holiday card example

Are Law Firm Holiday Cards Becoming Obsolete?

I received twice as many holiday cards from law firms in 2014 than I have so far this year. And an unscientific survey of law firms suggests that this might be a growing trend. For example, the managing partner of a firm that displays the cards it receives in its reception area also noted that […]

empty cash register

Keep More Cash in the Register

For too many law firms the holiday season is accompanied by an unfortunate tradition. It’s not the bad egg nog or the awkward silence that follows an inappropriate comment made by a lawyer who had too much to drink. This law firm holiday tradition is financial in nature. Specifically, it’s when the equity partners of […]

coffee mug "keep calm and reconcile"

Don’t Forget Your Exes & Your Near Misses

Law firm marketing efforts tend to focus on the new; new clients, new practice areas, and new lateral partners. At many firms, marketing efforts directed to the old often take the form of electronic newsletters and, this time of year, holiday cards. In this context, old primarily refers to former clients and referral sources. If […]

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Networking Up: Attracting a Law Firm Mentor

You might be harboring contradictory sentiments about how a more junior attorney should interact with the most experienced or influential partners. One the one hand, your internal dialogue might criticize senior associates who you view as “kiss ups” or “ass kissers.”  But at the same time you know that you need a mentor. So how […]

sale sign

Selling By Lawyers 101: The Most Common Sales Mistake

If I gave you all the time in the world to decide whether to purchase a non-essential service, would you tend to buy it quickly? This question has a self-evident answer that leads to a bedrock principal that underlies a lot of sales training programs: If you want to improve sales, establish some sense of […]

wrapped holiday gift

Three Rules For Law Firm Holiday Gift Giving

If your law firm is planning to do this holiday season what it did last holiday season, please reconsider. Gift giving is a way to recognize and reward those who have been unusually important to your business by giving them one of your most precious gifts—your time and individualized attention. Too many lawyers view the […]

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Why Being A Good Lawyer Isn’t Enough To Succeed Financially

I still come across lawyers who feel that the distinguishing feature of their practice is their technical skill as a lawyer. Most recently that sentiment was conveyed to me by a business litigator with about ten years of experience who feels that many of the lawyers he encounters aren’t as technically proficient or reliable as […]

small child looking through binoculars

Why Law Firm Partners Resist Projecting Revenues

There are two fairly obvious benefits to projecting revenues. One is cash flow; the second is work flow. Knowing how much money you expect to generate in the next 30, 60, or 90 days helps identify potential cash flow problems. That in turn can act as an early-warning system for a firm’s collections efforts. Likewise, […]

Return on Investment in Scrabble letters

What’s Wrong with Law Firm Marketing Budgets

How much would you spend to promote a service that generated a $500,000 profit? There isn’t one single correct answer, but so long as you didn’t have more lucrative options, it certainly wouldn’t be irrational to spend $100k in marketing to generate such a profit. Too many aspects of law firm marketing and budgeting aren’t […]