You are here: Home / Archives for Law Office Management

11 Little Secrets For Running Your Law Office

April 12, 2010 By

Law Office Management 11 Secrets

Last week, Chris Penn gave us his 11 Little Secrets to staying happy, healthy, productive and sane.  A bunch of bloggers have added their 11 cents into the mix, and I’m feeling inspired to jump into the fray.

I don’t have 11 little secrets to being healthy because … well, I’m not a health guy.

I can’t tell you about sanity because … well, some would say I border on insanity.

But I thought it would be fun to contribute in my own little way, which led me back to the old idea of, “write what you know.” So here are my 11 little law office management secrets to help you have a better day.

  1. Listen before speaking. Our staffers are the ones on the front line in the office, and they see stuff we don’t.  They know exactly what the client is worried about, what the judge’s clerk wants, and why the postage machine isn’t working.  Listen to what’s on their minds before you tell them what to do – or what they’ve done wrong.
  2. Check your fear at the door. We come to the practice of law – and our notions of running a law firm – with a set of preconceived notions.  People who work in the office can have amazing ideas about how to run the law firm better, more efficiently, more effectively.  If you’re willing to stash the fear of change and give something new a try, you may find that it works out well for you.  And if it doesn’t, you can always change again.
  3. Never stop learning. You are NOT the smartest lawyer in the world.  Nor, for that matter, are you the dumbest.  But if you don’t take the time to actively learn, you’re going to end up one of those dinosaurs who continues to use a typewriter and carbon paper.
  4. Recognize greatness. Every once in awhile, you’ll hire someone who is truly great.  Someone who cares about clients deeply, who constantly works to make the office a better place, and who wants nothing more than the see the firm succeed.  Always keep looking for that person, and never let them go.
  5. Hire slowly, fire quickly. Most lawyers hire new employees who have some defined skills.  Someone who can type fast, who has a good speaking voice, and who knows Microsoft Windows (or whatever software package makes you feel comfortable).  You should be hiring for someone who cares, who communicates well, and who can connect with your office and client base.  Everything else can be taught.  Take the time to not only interview, but also to learn about this person you’re thinking of inviting into your family.On the flip site, remember that if someone doesn’t fit with your business goals then you need to get rid of them immediately.  It’s good for your law firm, it’s good for your clients, and it’s good for the employee.  Don’t fire people as a knee-jerk reaction, but don’t hold onto dead weight out of fear or obligation.
  6. Look outside the industry. Lawyers are good with the law, but not so terrific at running a law firm profitably and effectively.  Look to see how other industries operate, and seek to emulate their best practices.  You’ll learn a lot that doesn’t make sense for you, but you’ll also gain some powerful insights and nuggets that will help your firm be better.
  7. Read voraciously. Business books are a dime a dozen, but a good business book will send your brain reeling.  Find biographies of powerful people who shook up their industries and showed the world a new way of doing things.  You’ll expand your horizons and learn new ideas that will help shape your firm going forward.
  8. Ignore platitudes.  You can go online and read a bunch of mamby-pamby stuff, with inspirational quotes and soft ideas.  People will tell you to keep going, to work harder, to be smarter.  Avoid those people and their words because they add nothing of value to your practice.  Instead, surround yourself with people and ideas that make you stronger, smarter, and more efficient.  They won’t get you all the way there, but if someone can help you move halfway that’s going to make things a lot easier for you.
  9. Keep records. How do you know if your law firm is making money or is efficient if you’re not tracking every little thing?  Buy QuickBooks and use the heck out of it.  Install Google Analytics and immerse yourself in the wealth of data it provides.  Have everyone in the office track their time, even if you rely on flat-fee billing.  Use every possible feature of your case management system.
  10. Enforce rules when needed, ignore when needed. Rules help make your law firm run more effectively, and they provide a framework within which to operate.  Rules give staff and clients a sense of safety and predictability.  Enforce them, but only when necessary.  There are going to be times when procedures aren’t followed for a good reason – it’s good for the client, it’s good for the firm, it’s good for the court.  You need to recognize those times, and make mental allowances for them.
  11. Go home. You run a law firm because you want to create a good life for yourself.  If you stay at work all the time, you’re failing on all cylinders.  Go home at the end of the day.  Turn off the lights.  Have dinner with family or friends.  Smile.  Laugh.  It makes you more relaxed, and a better version of yourself.  That makes you stronger tomorrow, and better prepared to run your law firm more effectively.
Photo courtesy of cosmo flash.
Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

4 Steps To Training Your Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant

March 29, 2010 By

Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants - The Missing Puzzle Piece

A virtual bankruptcy assistant can be the most helpful resource in your office, or the worst. And it all depends on how you approach it.

Every week I get at least 4-5 emails from bankruptcy lawyers telling me that they admire my use of virtual assistants in my office.  They lavish praise and then immediately tell me that it would never work for them.

They’ve tried going that route already, but none of the virtual bankruptcy assistants they hire are worth their weight in salt.  Plus, they charge a ton of money.

It’s tough to justify bringing on a virtual bankruptcy assistant when you’ve got that sour taste in your mouth, right?

Wrong.  You’ve got to get over it and realize it’s totally worth it.

Let me be clear – I do not know the formal training process undergone by those who are certified as virtual bankruptcy assistants.  Nor do I care.  My concern is solely with the quality of the work product as it compares with the standards and practices established by the individual law firm.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can worry about getting the right virtual bankruptcy assistant for your office.  Here are my top 4 steps to training a VBA:

Establish clear lines of communication. By speaking regularly, you and the outside professional can keep things clear.

Create A Detailed Guide.  Your trustees prefer that you not break out every single type of household good?  Your courts look at Schedule J more closely, disallowing any food expense above $200 per adult in the household?  You like credit reporting agencies listed on Schedule F?  How will your VBA know unless you tell him or her?

Consider Video. I’m not talking about a movie.  Rather, consider using a screen recording program such as Camtastia (I use Screenflow for my Mac, and it’s awesome) to walk a VBA through the actual buttons you press for each part of petition preparation.  I’ve used this method to train countless people to handle petition preparation for my office, which allows me to educate from the ground up rather than looking for the most experienced person.

Manage Your Own Expectations. Your virtual bankruptcy assistant isn’t going to be able to read your mind.  Mistakes will be made from time to time, and that’s OK.  After all, no in-house legal assistant gets it right 100% of the time either, do they?  Though there are differences between a virtual bankruptcy assistant and a staff member, here’s one place where there is very little differentiation between the two.

Have you hired a virtual bankruptcy assistant in your office?  How did you train him or her?  Add your comments below!

Photo courtesy of fdecomite.

»crosslinked«

Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hire For Passion

March 17, 2010 By

Passion

The solo and small-firm practitioner decides to start and build a law firm because he or she has a passion for a particular field of law. You have a connection with family law, bankruptcy, criminal law, personal injury … whatever it is, you’re in it for a reason.

The firm you built exists to serve your clients, and to serve them well. To do right by the public and, in turn, to make you money (no, “profit,” is not a dirty word).

When you hire new employees you look for technical expertise of some sort. Good computer skills, perhaps experience in the field. For a receptionist, you look for a good speaking voice.

Technical skills are good, to be sure. But the one thing we as business owners must actively seek is not the ability to use Microsoft Word or Outlook, it’s passion. Passion for what we, as business owners, stand for.

Your potential employees need to have that same fire in their gut that made you open the office in the first place. Be it a drive to do good in the community, to help people get to a better place, or just to make a positive impact in the world. Whatever it is that brought you here, that raw energy should be instilled in your employees before they get the job.

Once hired, it’s your job to focus that passion and guide the employee accordingly, You need to train them to put their passion to use, to give them the tools they need to connect with your clients and provide the service for which your firm has been hired.

You can teach the technical aspects of any field of law – as a judge once told me, this ain’t rocket science. Our paralegals and staffers are trained to use the tools we provide, and the lawyers we hire learn to put their education and training to use for our office.

The one thing you can’t teach, however, is caring. And if someone doesn’t care, their only motivation to get something done is the money. The employee is a clock-watcher, someone counting down the slow hours until the end of the day.

If a client email comes in at the end of the day? If you care and are passionate, you’re going to answer it. If you’re a clock-watcher, you’re out the door and on the bus home.

If a phone call comes in during lunch? If you care and are passionate, you’re going to put down the sandwich and talk with the client. If you’re a clock-watcher, the call goes to voice mail.

How do you interview for passion?

Ask questions that don’t relate to the law. Find out what fires up the interviewee. If you can’t find anything, chances are pretty good there’s not much passion there.

Plug the person’s name into Google. Do they have a ton of Facebook friends? Are they on Twitter? Digg? Do they have a blog about a personal hobby? These are clues as to a person’s passions. Ferret them out to get a better idea of the person behind the resume.

In short, learn as much about the person as possible.  Take your time – this is an important decision, and the one you make will help or haunt you for a long time to come.

We must hire for passion, not technical skills. Our firm deserves it, our clients deserve it.

Photo courtesy of Emily’s mind.
Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Managing The Bankruptcy Practice – Does It Scale?

February 16, 2010 By

Managing A Bankruptcy Law Firm

When you’re setting out to manage your law firm, the one thing you need to ask is whether a particular process or procedure scales.  That is, whether the management process you put in place today will still be valid when you’re pushing out 30, 40, 50 or more cases each month.  Whether your Chapter 13 case management procedures will still work if you’re doing more above-median income cases (or below-median ones, as the case may be).

For most bankruptcy lawyers, the answer would be a resounding no – their case management system doesn’t exist because they don’t see a need for it to do so.  And that’s something that spells potential ruin for your ability to manage your bankruptcy practice as it grows.

When I first started practicing bankruptcy law my case management system was … somewhat extreme in the eyes of the casual onlooker.  I instituted a (then) complex filing system with file numbers for all client matters, colored subfolders and forms for action items (mind you, this was before everything could be managed online).  My intern (yes, I had an intern even before I had a lot of clients) thought I’d lost my mind – why do so much work if there were only four clients in the entire office?

My logic, however, was simple.  If I put the system together before I needed it, it would function when I did need it.

Three years later I was working on 30 bankruptcy cases a month and there was no early way for me to remember everything I needed to recall.  The crush of information was too great.  But with my system, all went smoothly.

So here’s the thing – when you look at a file, ask yourself whether you can possible remember every aspect of it when you’ve got 100 or more just like it.  If the answer is no (and it will be), you need to formulate a way to document the nuances.  Intake documents, checklists, cross-referencing and tagging play an important role in keeping the system scalable.

We each have our way of organizing our thoughts, so yours will likely be different from anyone else’s system.  Regardless, you need to take action now – before things get out of control.

Photo courtesy of picknjim.

Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Remodeling The Bankruptcy Law Practice

January 19, 2010 By

Managing a bankruptcy practice is hard work.  You’re working with clients, bringing in new business, and doing the heavy lifting.  Starting a bankruptcy practice is also difficult, and for different reasons.  But what if you need to start a bankruptcy practice while managing the existing one?  In other word, re-creating a law firm from within?

I’m in the process of arranging to have some work done in my apartment.  We moved in about 12 years ago at a time when we really had no business getting a mortgage in the first place.  With little money behind us and just starting out, my wife (then girlfriend) and I opted to take the place as-is.  And though it was decent enough at the time, the years have taken their toll on our corner of the world.

Specifically, the wood floors need to be re-done.  12 years and a dog have conspired against out (once) lovely floor.  Now it looks like something out of a haunted house.  No choice, we need to get the floors sanded and polished.

Suddenly our lives are turned inside out.  Boxes to be packed, stuff to be moved around, dust curtains to be installed.

But life will go on.  It will be inconvenient but we know that once it’s all done we won’t have to worry about dodging splinters when we walk through the living room.

I always talk about new marketing and practice management ideas for the law firm; most of it comes from running a profitable bankruptcy law firm, which is my perspective as a consumer bankruptcy lawyer.  But how do you implement new ideas and strategies without destroying what may otherwise be a fully-functioning practice?

It’s a question I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately.  After all, most bankruptcy lawyers are solos or in small firms and don’t have the luxury of ripping out half the practice at a time and leaving the rest undisturbed.  If you’re shutting down, you’re done.  With the transactional nature of consumer bankruptcy work, that’s not an option.

Change needs to come in small bits and pieces, not all at once.  Want to go to an electronic faxing method, scrapping the fax machine entirely?  Open the new account with MaxEMail (my preferred vendor), eFax, or whatever service you choose.  Test it out for a week by forwarding your existing fax number.  Then, after you’ve made sure it works, you can start giving out the new number to clients.  Keep the old one forwarding for a year; then you can disconnect it.

Employees taking too much time off?  Need new policies?  Draft up the manual and pass it around for review and comments.  Let it sink in for a few weeks.  Then, after you’ve made sure everyone’s seen it, announce an effective date a month int the future.  Announce the date and send out periodic emails to staffers to remind them.

Thinking about a virtual assistant to help with the bankruptcy petition drafting?  Find someone you like, train them and give them one petition.  Just one.  Review it, file it, and then give them a second to handle.  Don’t fire your existing paralegal until the virtual assistant has done enough for you to know that he or she is reliable and capable.

See, it’s all a question of transition.  If you make these enormous and jarring changes they’re bound to backfire on you.  You don’t need to move out of the house to get the floors refinished, you can do it room by room.  It takes more time to get done, but you won’t need to worry about being homeless.  The rest of the house will continue to chug along even while the work continues.

Photo courtesy of isnoop.
Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Afraid To Raise Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Fees?

January 13, 2010 By

You do a decent book of business each month, feeding yourself and your family.  You’ve got a good stream of clients coming into the office and, though they drag their feet on paying their legal fees, most of them end up paying sooner or later.

Is it time to raise your fees?

Don’t tell me the competition will eat you alive – if all you have to compete on is price then you’re always going to lose.  It’s a race to bankruptcy because someone can always charge less money (unless you’re doing it for free, which is unlikely).

I’m focusing solely on Chapter 7 bankruptcy legal fees because those are the fees that typically aren’t subject to some arbitrary “no look” fee imposed by the court.  Some places have “no look” fees for Chapter 7 cases for my friends who practice there I say, “time to make waves with your court.”

So let’s keep it in the Chapter 7 arena.

Doesn’t a low fee send a message to your potential clients about the value of your services?  And in so doing, doesn’t it put you at a disadvantage?  Aren’t you just like the kid who got his lunch money stolen every day?

Some big-box stores compete solely on price, stocking enormous stores to the gills with cut-price goods.  For some things that’s fine – tube socks aren’t measurably better at $10.99 than they are at $4.99.  But would you ever go into one of those places and expect to pick up a tuxedo to wear to your wedding?  Probably not.

When you’re pricing your services – even a below-median Chapter 7 bankruptcy – at the bottom of the price spectrum you’re going to bring in clients with a different set of expectations regarding your value.  They are more likely to see you as a commodity, not a specialized high-end professional.

When that happens, the respect you get as a professional is less than what might otherwise be the case.  I’m not talking about getting a client who bows and kisses your ring, I mean someone who takes your advice seriously, a client who provides documents in a timely manner.  In other words, someone who respects your time and efforts.

Most Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases can be had for about $2,000-$2,500 depending on where you practice.  Lots of bankruptcy lawyers stop there, never taking into account the amount of time it takes to handle even a routine case of this sort.  Client meetings take a few hours, the meeting of creditors takes a few hours, drafting the petition and reviewing it takes a few hours, mean testing analysis takes some time, sending required documents takes some time …

And before you know it, you’re looking down the barrel of 15 hours to handle even a below-median, routine Chapter 7 case.

Then you need to look at overhead, the cost of hiring people to do the work that needs to get done.  The cost of having space for those people.  Keeping the lights on.  Stuff like that.

If you know you’re barely making ends meet then you know you should raise your rates.  If you don’t, even a small reduction in the number of Chapter 7 cases you handle could spell disaster for you.  Remember 2006?

Still, there are lots of reasons why people don’t raise their Chapter 7 fees to a level that provides them with fair compensation for the job they’re doing.

I’d like to hear about why you haven’t done it.  Drop a comment below and let’s figure out the roadblocks.

Photo courtesy of in da mood.
Filed Under: Law Office Management

Starting A Bankruptcy Law Practice: Don’t Be Afraid

November 16, 2009 By

Starting A Bankruptcy Law Practice

When you’re starting a bankruptcy law practice, it’s easy to experience a rush of fear when sitting in front of a new client.  What if they ask me about how many cases I’ve handled?  How long I’ve been doing this?

For the new practitioner, this can be overwhelming.  You don’t have answers that will inspire confidence – at least, that’s what you think.

I know the feeling.  I started my bankruptcy law practice when I was 25 years old.  At the time I looked 16 (no joke) and had zero experience.  I hadn’t even taken a course in bankruptcy law in law school.  To say I was wet behind the ears would be an understatement.

Add to the fact that clients spent most of their time peering at my diplomas to make sure I was actually a lawyer rather than some kid who wandered in off the street.

But you can overcome the fear and insecurity fairly easily by taking these steps:

Be Professional. You don’t need to wear a three-piece suit to be professional.  Be neat, clean and unassuming enough to allow your client to concentrate on you rather than your attire.  Mickey Mouse wristwatches are fine, so long as they don’t blink and make noise.

Respect The Client. If you talk over the client’s head in an attempt to dazzle him or her into submission, you’ll just come off like a pompous jerk.  Respect the client’s intelligence by being approachable and understandable.

Take The Time. Rushing the client out the door is a sure-fire way to alienate him or her.  Don’t spend the whole day chatting, but don’t go into overdrive either.

Admit Your Lack Of Experience. Clients instinctively know if you’re new to the field.  They’ve looked for your online, checked out Google, Avvo, and a host of other places.  If you’re young then you’re not going to escape notice.  So if you hide from the inexperience or don’t address it, that’s the big elephant sitting in the room.  When you admit that you haven’t been practicing since the dawn of time you put the issue out there for discussion, and appear more honest.  In addition, you avoid being in the uncomfortable position of playing defense when the client mentions it to you.

Be Prepared. Nothing oozes confidence like preparedness.  Spend your time going to conferences, learning every aspect of the law, and studying and dissecting bankruptcy petitions filed by more experienced attorneys.  Spend a few days sitting in on meetings of creditors and hearings on confirmation.  Watch how trustees and judges react to various fact situations.  Hop onto your court’s ECF system and pull the decisions your judges have posted online.

The upshot is this: you’re never going to be able to buy experience – that comes only with time.  Every lawyer in the world was once a total newbie, but they eventually got their first client.  You could bemoan your lack of experience and allow it to rip a hole in you, or you can take action to make the most of your present situation.

Knowledge is power.  Honesty is power.  And when you combine both, you can be unstoppable.

Photo courtesy of juanpg.
Filed Under: Law Office Management

Staffing A Bankruptcy Law Practice $1 At A Time

October 20, 2009 By

Managing A Bankruptcy Law Office

Bankruptcy lawyers are currently experiencing a boom in business such as has not been seen in years.  Small practitioners are finding themselves flooded with new work, and new lawyers are entering the field faster than ever before.  The economy is in the toilet, and consumers need help.

To some extent, the main concern is how to get the work done without losing your mind.  The phone rings off the hook, new clients pour in the door (assuming you’re marketing with any degree of effectiveness), and the court calendar fills up fast.

How the heck do you get all the work done and manage the staff effectively?  My answer for the past number of years has been:

The Best Way To Staff A Bankruptcy Practice Is One Dollar At A Time.

What this means is that whenever you’re taking on a new client or task, opening up a new office or hiring a new staffer (real or virtual), your first inquiry needs to be one of how much much it will cost to accomplish the task versus how much money it will make to do so.

This is, after all, a business.  Make money and you live to fight another day.  Break even or lose money, and it’s curtain time.

Turning down a new client or working without that new legal assistant can be tough to do, though.  We bankruptcy lawyers tend to run on a treadmill like little gerbils, always sprinting to catch that next client for fear the phones will go dead next month.

But think of it this way.  If you take on 3 new clients this month above what your staff can reliably handle, you’re going to need to either pay overtime or hire someone new.  That costs more money than the additional income from those three cases.  Maybe you “cheap out” and decide to just work everyone that much harder.  What happens then?  Reduced productivity, sloppier work product, and a downward spiral into the abyss.

One simple way of managing your practice one dollar at a time is to plan ahead whenever possible.  If you see that things are growing by leaps and bounds, take the time to sit down with your existing staff and find out how much more they can reasonably be expected to handle.  If they’re close to the breaking point, start looking for a virtual assistant to take on some of the well-defined tasks while you determine if it’s just a blip or a long-term growth pattern.

If you’re experiencing a long-term growth pattern, watch for a few months to see where it goes.  If you have a virtual assistant who is handling the overflow more cost-effectively than a staff member then “keep on, keepin’ on,” as they say.  But if you can see the tipping point (financially) coming in short order, start looking for an in-house staffer now.

By beginning the search before it’s an emergency, you won’t feel the pressure to hire the first person who crosses your threshold.  Take the time to interview wisely so that you minimize your chances of making a bad hiring decision.

In taking care to keep the costs of personnel in balance, you can keep more dollars in your pocket while maintaining a consistently high quality of work product.

Photo courtesy of pfala.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: Law Office Management Tagged With: , ,