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The Haiku of What You Do
I’m a fan of Haiku, and have been doing an exercise based upon it for several years now at conferences and law firm retreats. Instead of the 5-7-5 syllable format, I ask my audiences to answer three questions, using just five words for the first question, seven for the second and five again for the third.
Though I’ll use different questions depending upon the event, I recently spoke to the New York City Bar about in-person networking and gave these three questions as a way to quickly develop an “elevator speech” that responds to the “What do you do?” question we get all the time.
The three questions, which must be answered with the specified number of words, are:
- Who do I help? (Answer in Five Words)
- What do I do for them? (Answer in Seven Words)
- Why do they need me? (Answer in Five Words)
An example response to these questions from a business lawyer could be:
I help small business owners
incorporate their businesses and protect their assets
so they can sleep better.
Another example for a personal injury lawyer may be:
I help injured accident victims
understand their rights and recover medical expenses
from people who are responsible.
Give it a try. It isn’t an easy exercise, but it will help you answer that all-to-common networking question with something other than, “I’m a lawyer.”
Update: Thanks to Gina Roers for the new title for the post.
Ten Rules for Law Students
Over a year ago, I wrote 15 Thoughts for Law Students. It was one of my first “Rules” posts, though I wasn’t calling them that at the time. Since then, it has been one of the more popular items on this blog, and was even republished in the Canadian Bar Association magazine.
I’ve revised it just a bit, and shortened it to 10 “rules” for the law students out there. Enjoy.
1. Law school is a trade school. The only people who don’t believe this to be true are the professors and deans.2. Being good at writing makes you a good law student. Being good at understanding makes you a good lawyer. Being good at arguing makes you an ass.
3. You can learn more about client service by working at Starbucks for three weeks than you can by going to law school for three years.
4. Law school doesn’t teach you to think like a lawyer. Law school teaches you to think like a law professor. There’s a huge difference.
5. The people who will help you the most in your legal career are sitting next to you in class. Get to know them outside of law school. They are pretty cool people. They are even cooler when you stop talking about the Rule Against Perpetuities.
6. Law is a precedent-based profession. It doesn’t have to be a precedent-based business. Challenge the status quo. Somebody has to.
7. When you bill by the hour, getting your work done in half the time as your peers doesn’t get you rewarded. It gets you more work.
8. Your reputation as a lawyer begins now. People won’t remember your class rank as much as they’ll remember how decent and honest you were. They’ll really remember if you were a jerk.
9. There are plenty of things you don’t know. There are even more things you’ll never know. Get used to it. Use your ignorance to your benefit. The most significant advantage you possess over those who’ve come before you is that you don’t believe what they do.
10. People don’t tell lawyer jokes just because they think they are funny. They tell lawyer jokes because they think they are true. Spend your career proving them wrong.
If you enjoyed these, check out my other posts in the series: Ten Rules for the New Economy, Ten Rules for New Solos, Ten Rules of Legal Innovation, Ten Rules of Legal Technology, Ten Rules of Hourly Billing and Ten New Rules of Legal Marketing.
Also, if you’d like to get more ideas like these in real time, follow me on Twitter.
Give Clients More Certainty
Clients crave predictability. They find comfort in knowing what to expect — especially in stressful situations like the ones you handle for them everyday.
But how can you deliver more certainty to your clients? After all, outcomes are impossible to predict and matters ebb and flow from beginning to end. You keep your clients “in the know,” writing them when something’s going on, calling or meeting with them when there’s something to discuss and billing them (almost) every month.
If you want to understand how predictable you are to clients, begin by looking at each file as they do.
While a file may remain “active” to you, your clients may feel otherwise. Their only cues to the activity on their case come from you, in the form of correspondence, calls, meetings or bills . When they’re not receiving regular, predictable updates on what’s happening, they become uncomfortable and stressed.
Want to better understand how your clients perceive your handling of their matter? Using the diagram below as a guide, take a few active files and a blank calendar, and map out for each the days you write the client, call them, meet them or bill them. What do you see?
If you asked your clients to name the next thing they expect from you (and when they’ll get it) would they have a answer?
If your client interactions look as unpredictable and scattered as the ones below, that’s probably how your clients are feeling about the work you’re doing for them. By giving them a measure of certainty about the things you can control, you’ll have much calmer clients, who are much happier with the work you do.
Resolve to Land a Big Fish
Almost every lawyer has a “big fish” they’d like to land. Whether that fish is an individual client, a corporation, an insurance company or even a great referral source, your big fish isn’t going to catch itself. And what better place to find advice on catching “big fish” than on a website called TakeMeFishing? Some…
Create a Menu for Your Practice
Do you know all the kinds of things your firm does? Perhaps you should take a page (literally) from the restaurant industry and create a “menu” of your services. Though you may not decide to use it with clients, merely deciding what goes on the menu — and what gets left off — makes you…
Explain the “Why” to Your Clients
Smashing Magazine has published a tremendous guide to designing an easy to understand e-commerce checkout process for web sites. If you take credit cards on your site, it is a must-read. However, even if you don't charge people on the web, you should check out the article anyway, because it explains something about collecting sensitive…
Resolve to Apologize Better
Everyone makes mistakes. Even lawyers. That's why, in 2010, you should Resolve to Apologize Better. Why apologize? Apologies increase client loyalty and reduce malpractice exposure. But how do you apologize better? Practice! Here's a great guide from Psychology Today (about apologizing to women) that sets out the six mandatory elements a good apology: 1. Acknowledge…
Resolve To Fix Your Technology Less
This resolution is for nearly every solo and small firm lawyer out there (including those with computer science degrees): Resolve to Fix Your Technology Less. How many times has a quick technology fix turned into a day of un-billable time? Trust me on this one, no matter how much (or little) work you have, your…
Ten Rules for Presenters
Lately, I’ve been giving lots of presentations, and have six more coming up before the Summer ends. I work pretty hard on my speeches (here are a few examples of my slides) and thought I’d share some of the tips I’ve learned the hard way in this Ten Rules post. Enjoy! 1. The greatest gift…
Resolve to Ask Current Clients More
If you’re a lawyer who only surveys your clients once the engagement’s over, you’re leaving a lot of information on the table — information that will not only help you serve future clients, but your current ones as well. That’s why, in 2010, you should Resolve To Ask Current Clients More. Institute a regular, ongoing…
Thinking Unthinkable Thoughts
Kevin Kelly thinks about thinking the unthinkable: The futurist Herman Khan introduced the idea of “thinking the unthinkable” as a way to loosen up the imagination in trying to forecast the future. Most time we are unable to guess the future because we are inhibited by conventional wisdom – something that everyone knows is true. For…
Rethinking Your Firm’s Bills
If your clients designed your bills, what would they look like? Would they be easier to understand? Contain useful case status information? How about upcoming dates or milestones? Would your bills include information about the people who worked on the case that month? How about a report card seeking monthly feedback about how you’re serving…
Resolve to Let Clients Set Your Price
I’ve been using my “You Decide” fill-in-the-blank invoice, for over a year now. In that time, I’ve found time and time again that my clients pay me more than I would have charged them. And, in situations where clients demand a fixed price, I’m quoting them much higher prices (coupled with a money-back guarantee) than…
What are your Relationship Rituals?
Keith Ferrazzi shares a few simple “Relationship Rituals” that should be on every professional’s weekly checklist: 1. First thing every day after you turn on your computer, ping one friend and one acquaintance. 2. Every weekend, invite someone else into an activity that you normally do alone (walks, gym sessions, gardening, shopping trips). 3. Pick…
Ten New Rules of Legal Marketing
Legal Marketing has changed. It used to be enough to keep an ad in the yellow pages and belong to the Rotary Club. Not anymore. Times are tough, so I present to you Ten “New” Rules of Legal Marketing. Let me know what you think. 1. “My lawyer can beat up your lawyer” isn’t a…
Ten Rules of Legal Innovation
“Innovative Lawyer” shouldn’t be an oxymoron. Lawyers — who are constantly applying their creative, problem-solving skills to help clients — too often turn their innovation engines off as soon as their “billable” work ends. If you’re a lawyer, and willing to set aside some time to innovate, I am happy to help you. Until then,…
Ten Rules of Client Service
Quick, name your favorite customer service class from law school. Can’t do it? I’m not surprised. Most lawyers don’t learn much about client service in school, and the only class that touches upon service at all is Legal Ethics — which is kind of like teaching someone to ride a bike by showing them lots…
Communicating Value and Price
I’ve been a big fan of Merlin Mann for several years now. As I was checking out his website yesterday, I found his pricing page cheekily titled: Do You Charge Money to Do Things? Here’s how Merlin describes his pricing scheme: For most all of my speaking, consulting, and advisory work, yes: I do charge…
Your Clients Don’t Care Where You Went to Law School
After my Law Firm Website Venn Diagram got such great feedback, I thought I’d do another highlighting one of my big pet peeves: lawyer bios. Here you go:
Resolve to Count Cards
As 2009 draws to a close, we all find ourselves with lots of stuff on our "to do" lists for the next year. Whether your thinking about finding time to meet your deadlines, accomplish your goals or even follow your resolutions, there never seems to be enough time to do it all. As you begin…
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Understand Music (by finally.)
Future Learning Short Documentary
Inventive way to merge old media (books) with technology. Out of the box - book (by Vitamins) Brilliant!
60 Mind-blowing Advertisements That Will Boost Your Creativity
