Below are our best law practice management tips and advice, so get your practice in order!
We recommend you transition to a paperless office, try alternative billing, outsource menial tasks, create the ability to have a mobile law office, and streamline your procedures.
We also offer ideas on the best legal software and on maximizing your continuing legal education.
Once you are on your feet, you might be interested in learning our favorite productivity tactics, including the Getting Things Done (GTD) system.
Need more ideas? Join other innovative lawyers in the Lawyerist LAB.
As discussed over at Mashable, a new MasterCard poll reveals that nearly three out of four Americans (73%) say they use less cash today than 10 years ago. Which really shouldn’t come as much of surprise. However, when it comes to lawyers accepting credit card payments for legal services, there seem to be some serious obstacles, as described by at the Andrea Goldman and John W. Marshall at the Massachusetts Bar Association:
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Most solo attorneys are also first time business owners. Simple things, like setting up bank accounts, can become ginormous headaches. Depending on your practice area, lines of credit are essential to cash flow, which is another massive source of stress.
Then once you make money, there’s that whole paying taxes and stashing away excess for bad months. After a few months, take a look at your balance sheet and consider forecasting income to help maintain financial sanity.
Kimberly Alderman’s book The Freelance Lawyering Manual has been lauded as “current and comprehensive — addition to the emerging body of work on freelance law.” As a guide for attorneys trying to sell themselves as a freelance attorney I thought the book fell a little short. But that didn’t diminish its value for the overworked small firm or solo attorney who needs a little extra help.
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Lawyers bill too little for two reasons. First, they believe that a lower fee will yield more clients. Alternatively, especially when they represent individuals and small business owners, lawyers feel sorry for their clients and end up billing what they think the client can pay — not what the lawyer is worth.
Do not fall victim to either of these faulty arguments.
A new LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell survey reveals that Canadian law firms are far more likely than other international firms to ask for client feedback , but many of those firms remain unsure of the return on investment for doing so. Perhaps that’s because they aren’t doing much, if anything, with the information they receive.
In many ways, the toughest transition for solo attorneys is learning how to run a small business. First you need to set up bank accounts. Next, you need to figure out how to manage cash flow and lines of credit.
The next step is what I consider a good problem: what to do when you make money. Make sure you withhold for taxes and stuff some cash under a mattress for the inevitable bad month.
One of the most difficult new responsibilities of running a solo practice is tracking and managing finances. From accounting software to bank accounts, most of it will be a completely new and foreign experience.
Once you have made the initial financial arrangements for your firm, you are ready for step two: dealing with cash flow and lines of credit.
When you go solo, you are responsible for everything from client intake, to marketing, and to dealing with intimidating opposing counsel. You are also running a business, which is a whole new can of worms.
The financial aspects of running a solo practice can be complicated, stressful, and time-consuming. When you are getting started, here are some key considerations.
I’ve signed up for one of my state bar association’s email listservs about five times in three years. I’ve subscribed five times because I’ve unsubscribed four. If you don’t know what a listserv is, the Pennsylvania Bar Association describes it as “an internet-based discussion group of individual subscribers. Discussions are accomplished through the use of e-mail.”
Listservs can be a good way to get some questions answered by attorneys that love answering questions (both correctly and incorrectly), but they can also be giant pains-in-the-ass.
The life of a new attorney can be a rough ride. Dealing with potential clients can be tricky, you work all hours of the day, and sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to answer e-mail.
Learning to negotiate is another tall task. Before you do anything else, make sure you understand your client’s goals and your settlement authority. Step two: get inside your opponent’s head.
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