Another anonymous lawyer blogger who claims to be the “hiring partner at a large firm in a major city,” at the aptly titled Anonymous Lawyer. I know he/she is truly a large firm lawyer because you just can’t make this stuff up:
I hate Fridays. Everyone else in the world loves Fridays because it means the weekend is here. I hate Fridays because it means another weekend when I should be home but instead I’ll either be at work, thinking about work, or wondering if I should be at work. Saturday at least. Sunday I don’t work. Well, 80% of the time. Sunday is help my family spend my paycheck day. Anyone want a pony?
Or this:
A kid that I interviewed this past fall — I can’t remember exactly which one — commented on all the stacks of paper in everyone’s office. It was just idle small-talk, it wasn’t like he asked a question about the paper, or made a big deal of it. He said he’d have thought so much more would be electronic. And a lot of what we do is electronic — I certainly don’t print out every e-mail I get — but you can’t mark up a document on the computer, you can’t carry it down the hall and wave it in someone’s face and ask them what they were thinking when they left out the comma on page 17. I never thought about it before, but I can’t imagine ever getting to a point where there wasn’t all this paper. You just can’t walk into an associate’s office, slam your laptop on his desk, and scroll down to the place where he made a mistake. You need to have that brief printed out, you need to be able to tear those pages right in front of eyes, to scatter them wildly across the room, to fill the sheet with red lines and crosses and corrections, to crumple those papers up, toss them in the trash can, light them on fire, and watch them burn. Sure, we could probably afford to destroy a couple dozen laptops a day just to make a point that we demand perfection — but paper just works so much better for that.
And finally:
Someone, and I think I know who, keeps “borrowing” my stapler and never returning it. So I have to get my assistant just to come in here and staple some papers for me. Or if it’s 7:30 in the morning, and my assistant isn’t here yet, I have to go wandering the halls looking for someone else’s stapler, so I can steal it, and bring it back to my desk. I shouldn’t have to go combing the halls for a stapler. I’m a hiring partner. Staplers should be lining up at my door, begging for me to use them. Like summer associates. The hiring process is very rewarding, but having thirty insufferable law students here for 10 weeks every summer is a real chore. None of them know how to do anything, but they don’t realize it and just end up making everyone else’s lives more difficult. There are two types of summer associates that bother me the most. The first are the ones who half-ass everything and turn in memos that my five-year-old niece could write. The second are the ones who are hell-bent on finding a “mentor” and follow me around all day. “Can I look over your shoulder while you read a three-hundred-page contract?” No! If I like the work you’re doing, I’ll come find you and take you to lunch and, if you’re lucky, make you feel like you actually belong. But if you make yourself my shadow, the only thing you’re doing is making me wish we never gave you an offer. Those stakes really aren’t high enough. We need to fire more summer associates. That would make the summer fun again. I need a stapler.
From the And What Thanks Do We Get blog from one of the anonymous firm partners, complaining to/about his associates:
And while I’m on the subject, who is the “us” you refer to when you moan about how much the client is paying us? The “us” that I am thinking of is my partners and me. You figure into the equation as overhead. I don’t hear the desks and chairs complaining about what our clients pay. The nonprofessional staff is blissfully unaware of what our realization rate is. Be more like that. The day may come when you are asked to participate in the discussions that the partnership has on these matters. I assure you, these meetings are much less about oysters and caviar and lighting cigars with $20 bills than you think. Be glad that you are presently spared from the grind of partners’ meetings– I do not know a single partner in a law firm anywhere that enjoys that aspect of what we do, and you will be no different. For now, you are called upon to work enough to justify what we pay you, and the work we have is what enables you to fulfill your part of the bargain.
I wish the firm partners weren’t anonymous so I could find out if they are seeking additional “overhead” and send them a resume:
HELP WANTED: Traditional law firm seeking qualified, blissfully unaware, overhead. Flexible hours — work enough to justify what we pay. Challenging work with partners and the support of nonprofessional staff. Apply by sending resume to …
I hope I get the job.
Great non-disclosure agreement written by a non-lawyer for non-lawyers:
Confidentiality: Paul asks that you not show or tell anyone this idea without first calling him at 781-648-1500 to ask his OK. If you tell one person you trust, they will tell one person they trust, and so on. If this idea gets out too early, Paul’s business could be ruined. Thanks.
Via Business Opportunities Weblog.
Saw this post on the blog Knowledge Jolt with Jack about Wiio’s Laws, kind of the Murphy’s Law of communication:
1. Communication usually fails, except by accident.
2. If a message can be interpreted in several ways, it will be interpreted in a manner that maximizes damages.
3. There is always someone who knows better than you what you meant with your message.
4. The more we communicate, the worse communication succeeds.
5. In mass communication, the important thing is not how things are but how they seem to be.
6. The importance of a news item is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.
7. The more important the situation is, the more probably you forget an essential thing that you remembered a moment ago.
Like Murphy’s Law, these are all tongue in cheek, but remember rule 2 before you send that letter to your opposing counsel or your client.
I posted two weeks ago about my Fighting Illini and was happy (relieved) to see them advance to the Sweet 16. On Friday night, I went to the ESPN Zone in Chicago with fellow Techshow attendees Ernie (the Attorney) Svenson, Buzz Bruggemann and Bob Ambrogi to watch the Illinois-Duke game. Buzz is a true evangelist — taking a break from his ActiveWords crusade, he tried to enlist a predominately Illlinois crowd to root for his alma mater Duke. Duke won, Buzz picked up the tab, and I sound like my wife (the Cubs fan): Wait ’til next year.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow, study as if you were to live forever.” Thomas More
Tom Asacker has a wonderful post on his Rebel with a Cause weblog. Tom starts, as he almost always does, with a quote, this time from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Tom writes about “branding” and “marketing” in his blog, but read the rest of his post and imagine he is talking about being the perfect lawyer:
The same is true of business and of work. Because after all, it’s still life isn’t it? And I’m talking about purpose . . . not mission. Not vision. Not money. Purpose. I keep coming back to this critical aspect of one’s brand, because it seems to differentiate the best from the rest.
1. Useful – Is you business helpful? Is it enjoyable? Does it improve the lives of your customers and employees? Or are you simply filling the world with more noise and more stuff and lining your pockets in the process? If you’re not sure, take a good, long look at the faces of your constituents. Are they smiling and serene? Do they feel good about themselves and their decisions in your presence? No? Then wake up! This is your big shot at making a difference in people’s lives and in the world.
2. Honorable – Are you honest, straightforward, trustworthy? Do you play fair? And if not, whom do you think you’re fooling? I’ll tell you who. You’re fooling your kids! You are not doing them a favor by providing for their financial security through your Machiavellian methods. That’s simply more b.s. self-talk to make you feel good about yourself. What they need during these chaotic times is a role model to teach them what’s truly important in life. So for their sake, get real!
3. Compassionate – If you think compassion is a wishy-washy concept in business, think again. Compassion is the deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. Isn’t that the key to innovation? Developing a deep understanding of the problems people have with their present life situation and developing products, services and business models to eliminate those problems? Of course it is. The days of make and sell are SO over. Sense and respond is the new branding mantra.
Now, reread #2 and go home and play with your kids.
Rob at BusinessPundit has a great post on the dangers of competing on price — especially with Wal Mart (as learned by Toys R Us). Rob says:
Blame it on Wal-Mart. Toys R Us should have seen it coming. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, but rule number two for leaders is embrace the inevitable. Competing on price is, in my opinion, not that great of a strategy. Toys R Us needs to give people a reason to come to the stores other than just cheap toys. People can go to WalMart for that.
Competing on price is almost always dangerous. If you are able to offer your clients competent legal representation at a price lower than your competition, that’s great. However, matching the lowest-priced lawyer in town can be a risky strategy — unless you can match his or her low overhead, staffing costs, etc. If you can’t, offer something that lawyer can’t — better service, quicker turnaround time, higher competence — and charge accordingly.
I am reminded of the time I started working with another lawyer as his associate. He advertised “free consultations” in the yellow pages, believing this would bring in business, and then delegated to me most of the initial client meetings. I liked the work and enjoyed meeting a number of people, but found that at least 60% of the people I met did not retain the firm. When I opened my own office, and continued the free consultation policy, I tried to find out why. I first thought that I had somehow failed to communicate my competence or answer the potential client’s questions. Instead, I found just the opposite to be true — in many cases I had managed to answer the potential client’s questions and/or solve their problems in the initial consult. They often felt that after the initial meeting, they no longer needed a lawyer any more. Since then, I have charged for initial consultations (though other lawyers in my area still do them for free) and have never had anyone complain about the cost of the consult. Most people want to talk to a lawyer and they appreciate one who will take the time to listen to their problems and offer suggestions for solving them. After all, nobody goes to the dentist for a checkup and expects to get the service for free, even if they have no cavities.
I’ve been able to catch up on my blogging quite a bit today. Now is time to watch my Fighting Illini begin their trip to the final four. See everyone next week!
John knows why. Check out his blog.
I have really enjoyed reading Michele Miller’s Wonderbranding weblog. In this post, Michele points to a Consumer Electronics Association report with these alarming statistics:
Nearly three-quarters of women surveyed by the industry group complained about being ignored, patronized or offended by sales people when shopping for electronics.
Forty percent of the women said they were treated better when accompanied by a man.
More than half said advertisements for electronics were confusing — though half the men surveyed felt the same way.
A meager 1 percent of women surveyed thought manufacturers had them in mind when creating products.
Michele has this to say:
Note to consumer electronics executives…. have you looked at your numbers lately, beyond the bottom line? Are you creating a memorable experience for your most profitable customer, not to mention building a relationship with her?
I have spent the last several months “auditing” my legal practice. One area I have focused on is how women view me and the services I provide, as I am trying to better serve woman-owned small businesses. I have spoken with many women I know in this process and each woman has had similar experiences with lawyers as the women surveyed above had with electronics salespersons.
I challenge you to do a similar audit of your practice. The following questions are in no way an exhaustive list, but think about: Is your office woman-friendly? How do women feel when greeted on the telephone? Do you have woman-themed magazines in your waiting room? The last law office I visited had the following magazines: Car and Driver, Golf Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. Is there a place to play (or at least a place with books or other kid-friendly activities) for children who accompany a parent for a meeting? Can you name the two biggest civic organizations in your community whose membership is primarily made up of women? Have you spoken to these groups? Who are the three most influential women in your community, and do you know them? Do you send bills and correspondence to, “Mr. and Mrs. John Doe,” instead of including the wife’s name? Does your office sponsor charities women support? How does your firm entertain clients? Do you do more than the traditional golf outing or handing out tickets to sports events?
I would love to hear from the women (and men) in the blogosphere with comments. What other questions should I be asking myself in my law office audit? How can women be served better by male and female lawyers? What can we as lawyers do to make sure our profession doesn’t marginalize women like the consumer electronics industry apparently has?
Great tip from Frank Kautz on MyShingle.com:
Does your secretary answer the phone, “Law Office?” When is the last time you heard a major restaurant answer the phone “restaurant” or a hotel answer the phone “hotel?” Not a chance. They understand the value of name recognition or branding. So why do you let your employees answer the phone with “Law Office?” Your name is one of your biggest assets, don’t waste it.
“Promoting for Pennies” is the title of this article at Entrepreneur.com. Lots of great ideas here. My favorites:
7. Stickers: They’re not just for preschoolers. When Rosenberg launched her tax consulting business and Web site, she bought 100 red heart stickers that said, “We love referrals.” “We plastered them on everything that went out of our office, and business poured in,” recalls Rosenberg. “Simply telling people we wanted referrals made a big difference.” Cost: $7.50 for 100 stickers.
10. Occasion cards: Send birthday cards, Thanksgiving cards, congratulations cards—they’re great ways to let customers know you care. Cost: about $1.50 per card, plus postage.
11. Employees: Empower employees to solve customers’ problems and motivate them to bring customers back. Ratner says, “I make each employee sign a piece of paper stating, ‘I understand that my number-one job, no matter what I was hired for, is to make the customer come back.’ This lets my employees know that we’re serious about customer service.”
18. Referral bonuses: Inspire customers to act as your sales force by giving them an incentive to bring you new customers. This may include a discount off their next service or a small gift or credit on their account. Be sure to ask new customers where they heard about your business so you know when a customer has made a referral. Cost: a few dollars.
These are all great ideas you can use to market your firm.
The only sure way to avoid making mistakes is to have no new ideas. Albert Einstein
This post in the Digital Practice of Law weblog talks about a Forbes.com article on the use of “Live Web Chat” for internet commerce sites and suggests, “A form of this type of web interaction will become commonplace in the legal profession in the coming year.” Interesting prediction.
Great collection of articles on “Getting Paid” here from Inc.com. If you are a small firm practitioner, getting a handle on your accounts receivable is an essential part of your success.
Good review of Patrick Lencioni’s book Death by Meeting at Jon Pocaro’s mktg@msft blog. The book details the four types of meetings your organization/firm should be having. They are: The Daily Check-In (no more than 5-10 minutes); The Weekly Tactical (45-90 minutes); The Monthly Strategic; and The Quarterly Off-site Review. Read Jon’s post for more details.
Written on
03/16/04 in
Books
In this article, in People Management, Guy Browning gives his tips on fostering innovation in your organization. My favorites:
There are three vital ingredients required to cook up a more innovative workforce. These are quiet, time and permission to think. People are normally working so hard to meet their targets that they don’t have time to think about how they could meet their targets in a different and better way. Managers need to make sure their people have real time and real permission to think differently.
Customers don’t just have money, they also have ideas. They’re also remarkably willing to talk to you about your products and services. After all, they’re the ones who are paying for them. Develop a method by which consumers and customers can be engaged in innovation and you can speed up and make more effective the whole development process
Larry Bodine is the author of the Professional Marketing Blog. His tag line is, “News, opinions and insights into professional marketing.” I look at the site every day because Larry posts some interesting things — mainly about marketing large law firms. The problem is Larry hasn’t posted at all since January 28th. Does this mean he has had no opinions or insights since then? In his last post, Larry writes:
I’ve gotten calls from reporters who phone me up and say they saw my blog. They found me by doing a Google search, and the next thing I know they’re interviewing me for quotes in their story. If you’re a professional looking for more attention from the press, start writing a blog.
I would change that last line to, “keep writing a blog.”
Now, I don’t mean to be critical of Larry — I just want him to get back to blogging because I like to read his stuff. Is that so selfish?
Via The Nub is this post with the “10 Secrets of Business” from Stuart Craner and Des Dearlove:
1. Money is a by-product: purpose and values come first.
2. Culture is the differentiator: it’s what makes you unique.
3. The customer comes first – and co-creating value with the customer brings an edge.
4. Talk the walk: communicate, communicate and then communicate some more.
5. Rules stifle: values are more important.
6. Distill it down: so the message is clear.
7. Kill complacency, don’t let it kill you – and evolution is better than revolution.
8. Lead by example: credibility is important.
9. Best beats first: originality is not always enough.
10. Keep it simple – because business is fundamentally simple.
Sounds about right.
Good article here titled “21 Ways to Bring in the Business” from Entrepreneur.com.
Thanks to Tom Asaker for this post from his weblog about a BearingPoint, Inc. study of the state of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the financial services industry.
From the study:
Among the survey findings is that fewer than a quarter of the executives interviewed said their customers promote their financial institution enthusiastically to family and friends. After spending more than $20 billion in 2002 alone on CRM systems to help them get closer to customers, financial institutions still yearn for the brand loyalty and rich relationships enjoyed by carmakers and clothiers. Why do people not feel as attached to the place they entrust with their money as they do to the vehicle in the garage or the jeans in the closet? The answer is not that CRM technology has failed. CRM has put powerful tools in the hands of the enterprise—new processes, integrated systems and rich stores of information—that improve service and take out costs. The problem, rather, is that these huge investments have focused not on building a bond with the customer and enhancing the customer experience, but on deploying technology to manage the customer relationship.
The study advocates a focus on “CEM” or Customer Experience Management, and gives three keys to implementing it in the financial services industry:
Adopt the customer’s perspective. By putting themselves in their customers’ shoes, financial services executives will avoid mistaking customer inertia for loyalty and forbearance for acceptance. They can then identify more easily what their institutions must do to win and keep customers and to inject more enthusiasm into their relationships.
Create mutual value. For many firms, customer strategy has long hinged on maximizing marketing effectiveness to increase sales. Financial services companies need to commit to creating value for customers at each point of interaction, rather than merely to operational excellence or fiduciary duty.
Guarantee transparency and trust. Financial services providers must build a comprehensive picture of customers that matches the picture customers have of themselves, and then organize their business and technology architectures to match. Only then can they reward customers for the totality of their relationships, provide a consistent and integrated experience across multiple points of contact, and infuse much needed transparency into relationships that many customers currently suspect are one-sided.
Some great stuff here. Registration necessary to read the study.
After several months of thinking about naming my new firm (see posts here, here, and here), I have finally settled on a name: Silver Lake Law Group (Silver Lake is my town’s large lake). Still working out the details on corporate organization (LLC vs. LLP vs. PC), but should have the new identity ready for a formal unveiling in about three weeks. In the meantime, keep an eye on Eric Heel’s efforts to rename his firm Clock Tower Law Group.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters comapred to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I know, you probably didn’t miss me. I just finished a long weekend as a faculty member for a mediation seminar at Washington University Law School in St. Louis, where I serve as an adjunct professor. To take the seminar, participants had to have prior mediation experience, and I think I learned as much (or more) from them as they did from me.
Though I participated as a coach for the multiple mediation sessions, and contributed throughout the program, my primary segment of the program was entitled “Marketing Your Mediation Practice” and had to be given at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday because in Missouri, “marketing” does not qualify for CLE credit. However, if I would have titled it “How to Ethically Market Your Mediation Practice,” it would have qualified. How silly.
I just finished a nice conversation with Chan Stroman at Landlord Counsel, LLC. She incorporates a great blog in her firm website. Check it out.
In this post in her Wonderbranding weblog, Michelle Miller says that, “Today’s women are looking inward for balance, strength, and focus.” She points to the explosion in yoga programs at fitness centers thoughout the country, and asks:
So… women are not only connecting with each other but are looking for personal ways to enhance their lives. What does your business or service do for these women that would serve a similiar need?
Good question.
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