Do You Provide First Class Legal Services?
If you’d like to learn to make yourself invaluable to current and future clients, the latest addition to the PMAP Checkout Library can point the way. Although seemingly aimed at…
Has Decomposition Set In?
No, this is not a joke about how long it's been since I've posted regularly to this blog! When I think of decomposition my thoughts generally turn, at best, to…
Turns Out, It’s Really True
I first heard it when I was studying for the bar exam. My law school asked some young lawyers recently admitted to practice to come to one of our exam…
It’s Alive! The Last Word Rises from the Grave!
Do you feel like you work hard every day yet don’t accomplish the things that really need to be done? I’m hardly one to pontificate on this topic as I…
When It’s Time to Make A Change
I’m still trying to absorb the news that Sue Bell Cobb, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, announced her resignation this morning, effective August 1st. Chief Justice Cobb has…
Want Fun in the Sun? Sign Up Now!
If you haven't already registered for the Alabama State Bar's Annual Meeting & Legal Expo 2011 (July 13-16) at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, you can do so online…
Polish Up Client Relationships
Generally we lawyers long to ask our clients “How am I doing?” But often we dread hearing the answer. If your client base isn’t improving, or at least holding steady,…
Want to Earn More? Change Your Perspective
When I was a kid one of the games we would play was to stare at a geometric figure, such as the one above, until it would “flip” and we…
The End of Clients?
Richard Susskind’s book, The End of Lawyers?: Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, has recently come out in paperback. The book discusses how changes in technology are eroding, and will continue to change, the work available for lawyers. Today, though, I’m more concerned with the possibility of the end of clients – those of solo practitioners and small firms.
Despite the fact that the recession has been declared officially over, I continue to receive calls from lawyers, especially solo and small firm lawyers, who are having trouble maintaining their practices. Almost uniformly, they report that their business has just fallen off and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of returning. I’ve been puzzling over these mysterious, disappearing clients. Were they going to other lawyers? Were they solving their problems without resort to the established legal system? Is it simply that so many people have lost their jobs? Last week the happenstance of finding two diametrically opposed news items at the same time gave me a clue to what I’m afraid is happening. (more…)
Can John Wooden’s Seven Principles Make You a Better Lawyer?
The airwaves on Saturday were filled with the sad news of the death of John Wooden, legendary coach of the UCLA basketball team. I'm not a huge sports fan, but…