Could your solo or small firm practice be a virtual success? 
By:
Ed Poll
Published: May 14, 2012
Tags: internet, virtual law practice
The Internet has created a revolution in the way that lawyers and clients interact.
It’s just a small step to the next transformation: the virtual law practice, in which lawyer, staff and clients conduct legal practice primarily through the Internet.
If you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a chance
By:
Ed Poll
Published: March 8, 2012
Tags: business plan, firm management
It’s no secret that lawyers tend to be individualistic (and thus reluctant to give up personal control or direction), reactive (believing they must be flexible to accommodate variables that can’t be anticipated) and short-term (focusing on the contract, case or negotiation they have today). These traits undermine a successful planning process. However, planning must be done if a firm wants to thrive. Those firms without a plan merely hop from one paycheck to another. If they’re successful, it is quite by accident.
The many faces of law firm financial impropriety
By:
Ed Poll
Published: December 16, 2011
Tags: ethics, fraud, practice management
Financial fraud should, in theory, never be a concern for a law firm, where ethical considerations must predominate.
Devoting energy to payment collections is time well spent
By:
Ed Poll
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, fee collection
For too many lawyers, the marketing and production sides outweigh collections. They equate financial success with work done, measured in billable hours. But a lawyer’s inventory is not billable hours – it is the amount of cash that is realized from the billable hours outstanding.
Using financial metrics
By:
Ed Poll
Published: August 24, 2011
Tags: business, financing, law firm
Lawyers who understand financial benchmarking can explore operating efficiencies in the firm, gauge the firm’s performance relative to its financial goals and better assess and reflect value to clients in their bills.
Alternative fees: There’s more than one way to charge a client
By:
Ed Poll
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: alternative fees, practice management
The debate continues over the future of the billable hour, but there is little disagreement that alternative arrangements are here to stay. A law firm’s commitment to use alternative fees has three basic requirements for success.
Plusses and pitfalls of accepting plastic as payment
By:
Ed Poll
Published: May 18, 2011
Tags: billing, credit cards, practice management
The way in which legal services are marketed and delivered to clients must coincide with what the client wants and needs. One effective marketing tool is a law firm billing approach that is convenient and efficient. Service is the one thing that clients want from lawyers more than anything else, even more than lower fees.
Possibility of ABA Internet regs worries small firm lawyers
By:
Ed Poll
Published: March 3, 2011
Tags: ABA, American Bar Association, blogs, ethics, Internet regulations, listserv, social media, social networking
Many attorneys and law firm marketers have sounded alarms that the American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethics 20/20 is examining legal ethics issues arising from lawyers’ use of Internet-based client development tools.
Managing IOLTA accounts
By:
Ed Poll
Published: February 8, 2011
Tags: ethics, Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts, IOLTA, IOLTA accounts, practice management
The formal term is “Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts,” but most lawyers simply call them IOLTA accounts. Every engagement agreement should stipulate that the client’s payment for work that has been performed is to be deposited into a lawyer’s general account and payment for work that will be performed is generally to be deposited into a client’s IOLTA account.
Time management tips for attorneys
By:
Ed Poll
Published: December 13, 2010
Tags: practice management, time management
For lawyers, no issue in their business is more important than the management of what Abraham Lincoln called their “stock in trade” – time.
Then come the urgent voicemails, unread e-mails and text messages, overloaded inbox and year-end holidays, and we fall back into the routine, short of time as always. Now is the time to change – time management is possible and committing to it will prepare you for a more successful 2011.
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