Total Attorneys

It's that time of year when most of us make an extra effort to stop and count the blessings in our lives.  For some, that might be a bit more challenging the past couple of years, as work is hard to come by, salaries are down and it doesn't appear that change is right around the corner.  In particular, many new lawyers who invested significant time, effort and money in preparing themselves for legal careers are facing challenges they never anticipated.

So what's to be thankful for in all that?  The flexibility and opportunities that we attorneys have today.

When I graduated from law school nearly twenty years ago, going solo required a significant up-front investment, contract lawyers were few and far between, working remotely was virtually unheard of and I'd never met a part-time lawyer.  Yes, in one way these are tough times in which to build a legal career...but in another they're the most exciting times in history.  New technology, new flexibility in the way legal services are delivered, a new understanding of what clients need and a new generation of prospective clients are bringing change to the legal profession in far more ways than just scaling back the available large-firm jobs and putting that astronomical salary out of reach for most graduates.  They're allowing us to redefine our profession in a way that could be better for us, better for the clients we serve and better for the way the public views lawyers.

Some amazing minds are envisioning a future in which lawyers work more efficiently, offer affordable services to a wider range of clients while still building lucrative careers and bring their own special strengths and talents to the profession.  Experts in technology, legal ethics, business management and other areas are collaborating to create new models, and we've only scratched the surface.

So, today, I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the renovation of the legal profession, and to be in a position to provide tools and resources to the attorneys who recognize that they get to decide what "be a lawyer" means for them in the future and who will thus create new possibilities for all of us.

All of the buzz surrounding MILOfest over the past few days has me thinking about converts.  The conference offers several sessions geared toward recent converts, and that’s no surprise:  not only is the Mac movement growing, but the very nature of technology means that people are going to make new discoveries and want to make changes.

In business, though, it’s easy to get locked in to a system simply because that’s what you’ve always used, what your colleagues use and what your (often expensive) software runs on.  Making a change can look daunting and professionals may be discouraged from making the switch simply because they don’t have time to sort out all of changes and expenses and data transfers that would be associated with the move.  That, unfortunately, can mean not taking advantage of the best, most efficient technology available.  And this can be a vicious circle:  when the business needs new software, it’s matched to the old hardware and operating system, creating one more reason it might be difficult or expensive to make a change.

Fortunately, cloud computing eliminates many of these issues.  There’s been a lot of talk—and rightly so—about how cloud computing provides flexibility in location, but I’ve seen little mention of the equally-important flexibility in equipment.

A web-based law practice management platform like TotalAttorneys.com doesn’t discriminate based on your operating system. Simply log in with a secure Internet connection and access your files from any machine.  That means no conflicts if you use a PC in the office and a Mac at home.  It means that you can access a client file from your PC laptop connection just as easily as you can through your iPhone app.  It even means that you can work on a Mac while your partner works on a PC.

With cloud computing, attorneys and other professionals will be freer than ever to “convert” without replicating software costs and interrupting the flow of business.

Right now, Mac-loving and Mac-curious lawyers from all over the country are gathered at MILOfest in Florida. Even though I’m working away in my office in Chicago, I’m a little excited about that gathering, and the fact that it’s the third annual Macs in the Law Office conference and appears to be gaining in popularity. When the 2009 conference was announced, the message many Mac enthusiasts were attempting to spread was simply that it was possible to run a law firm on Macs. In just two years, we’ve advanced to sharing advantages and looking at the opportunities devices like the iPhone and iPad present for legal practice, and the number of lawyers and law firms using Macs in their practices and Apple devices to do business continues to grow.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, it will come as no surprise to you that I’m kind of an Apple geek. You’ve undoubtedly noticed that I liberally quote Steve Jobs, and you might remember that earlier this year, we held a company-wide Oregon Trail tournament in our atrium. At Total Attorneys, I have the good fortune to work with many people who shared my nostalgia for the Apple IIs we set up for the tournament and who remain Mac enthusiasts to this day. My past with Apple is long. Like many my age, I learned to program Basic on an Apple II in the 80s. Now, a quarter-century later, it’s energizing to see new converts recognizing the Mac advantage and long-time enthusiasts realizing that they don’t have to run their law offices on PCs even as they delight in their Macs at home and relish their iPhones and iPads.

It’s exciting, too, to be able to contribute to that movement by offering solutions that help attorneys make the most of those Apple machines and devices. By the end of this year, we’ll be offering Total Attorneys apps for both the iPhone and the iPad, so that attorneys can use those devices to elegantly access and manage their law practice. It has been a blast building the iPhone and iPad native apps to take advantage of the fantastic capabilities of the devices.

Cheers to you Mac lovin lawyers!

As a profession, we're traditionally slow to change, and that's all the more true with the areas of our businesses that most of us never wanted to give much thought to in the first place, like marketing.  For many law firms, that means that once the marketing plan was in place, no one ever looked back.  And that's assuming that there ever was a comprehensive marketing plan and not just a few unrelated marketing efforts tacked on as opportunities arose or the sales person from the yellow pages called.

In many areas of your law practice this might work just fine--if you're still comfortable in the old chair you purchased the day you set up your first law office, by all means keep right on sitting in it.  And if you prefer to keep your time by hand and have your secretary enter it into your billing program later, you're adding an unnecessary step and probably wasting a little time, but there's no real harm in it.

Marketing, though, is different.  If you're spending money on marketing ventures that no longer reach your prospective client base or marketing with messages that no longer resonate, you're wasting money--probably a significant amount of money.  And you're not just missing opportunities to bring in new business.  If you're not advertising where they are, they may simply never know that you exist.  But if you're advertising with the same content you hired someone to write five or ten years ago, you may be sending a message that doesn't resonate with your current prospects and actually discourages them from picking up the phone.

If you haven't carefully reviewed and consciously overhauled your law firm marketing plan recently, it's time. And it's not a one-time process, either:  once you've assessed, cut some efforts, ramped up others and integrated a new strategy or two, you'll want to monitor, reassess and adjust your investments based on performance.

Start reviewing now to start out the new year with a fresh, more effective approach to law firm marketing.

Related Resources:

5 Reasons Your Law Firm Marketing Isn't Working

How to Measure the Return on Your Legal Marketing Investment

Last week, a paralegal blogger posted about a job posting that called for “JD Paralegals”. Her primary concern seemed to be that there were plenty of qualified paralegals and no reason attorneys should be encroaching on that territory or law firms should be paying higher rates just to get JDs.

What struck me about the situation, though, was that the ad invited lawyers to downgrade themselves to paralegal status and paralegal pay. For the law firm, of course, it’s a great deal—if they get takers, they’ll essentially be getting contract lawyers at paralegal rates and paralegal prestige. And they will get takers. The lawyers won’t make a lot of money, they won’t get experience that looks particularly good on their resumes, but they’ll get a (relatively small) paycheck for a while, which is more than many of their former classmates can say.

It’s easy to see how even a small steady paycheck might be enticing in the current economy, especially as news reports indicate that the already bleak legal employment landscape may actually be worse than law schools have been leading us to believe. There may even be good reason to take on such projects in the short term. But it’s also easy to get caught in that cycle of accepting low-paying jobs that don’t really make full use of your skills just to keep the bills paid, and it can be self-perpetuating.

In legal publications and mainstream news and even right here, you hear over and over again that the legal profession is changing and that attorneys are going to have to adapt or “die”. But think carefully about what adaptation means for you, and don’t just accept a place at the bottom of the totem pole where someone else can take advantage of those changes to profit from your education and hard work while you remain trapped.

“The legal profession is changing” doesn’t mean “accept that you’re going to be stuck in a low-level, poorly compensated job.” It means getting creative, making the most of new tools, being prepared to become an entrepreneur or to join forces with other attorneys in your situation; it means finding new markets, taking advantage of technology and adapting the services you offer to those markets and networking in new ways.

Going solo, starting up a virtual law practice and finding a niche in which to offer contract legal services to law firms from your home are just a few ways that you may be able to find your place in the new legal landscape; don’t blindly accept the place that the large firms who don’t want to compete with new structures and options want to assign you. Yes, the changing legal marketplace presents some challenges, especially if it crept up while you were in law school and you graduated into a very different world than the one you’d been preparing for. But it also offers opportunities, and this is the time to find them, when you can be part of the foundation of the new legal profession.

Written by Russ Korins, Nimbus Law Firm Marketing. Russ Korins assists law firms with marketing and practice development. He previously practiced corporate and technology law. He is based in New York City and works with clients around the country.

The next time you are out with your non-lawyer friends, try asking them a couple of questions:

"Who here urgently needs commercial litigation?"

"Raise your hand if you need trusts & estates work."

If these sound stilted and silly, just think: most legal marketing is guilty of this very problem. You can do better by incorporating an approach called client-centric marketing into your practice development efforts.

Focusing on the benefits and value to buyers, from the buyer’s perspective, is something most great businesses already do. Think about ads for the hottest smartphone: they do not talk about the technical aspects of how data packets travel from point A to point B; they instead emphasize staying in touch, connectivity, sharing, and doing what you love and working from anywhere. These are things people want and need. They say "I want to be able to email when I'm away from the office."

Law firms can benefit from the same approach. Client-centric marketing for lawyers means explaining how their work is:

• the solution to a problem, or
• the key to an opportunity.

Imagine what a prospective client is thinking to spur the search for an attorney. Then, describe your work in those terms, from the client's perspective.

Returning to the commercial litigation example, no businessperson walks around saying, "I need commercial litigation." Instead, they say they need help resolving a dispute with another company and protecting their own business.

Similarly, people do not say, "I need trusts & estates." They think, "I need a lawyer for a will because I want to protect my loved ones."

Consider your own practice. What problems do you solve? What do you help people do? If you are not sure, a good way to start is completing the sentence "I help ____ do ______."

Once you sharpen your client-centric message, work it into all of your marketing channels: your website, your email with contacts, and the way you introduce yourself in person. For help, explain what you do to those non-lawyer friends, and ask them why they think it is valuable.

A client-centric perspective is an important element of successful legal marketing. Work it into everything you say, and prospects and referral sources will remember you as someone valuable.

As the legal profession continues to shift and change, many attorneys see unbundling legal services as a way to remain competitive with non-attorney "legal" services, reach a market that has money to spend but is unable to afford or unwilling to spring for full-service legal representation and accommodate a new generation of customers who are accustomed to using the Internet to do their own legwork and obtain the products and services they need.

As with any emerging practice, the trend toward unbundled legal services has raised a number of questions for attorneys. While the ABA and many state bar associations have embraced unbundled services as a means of increasing access to justice, there are of course caveats and requirements. And, of course, some of those restrictions and requirements vary from state to state.

This month's GPSolo eReport focuses on answering attorneys' questions about unbundling and pointing them to relevant resources.  Our very own Stephanie Kimbro authored this comprehensive overview of the reasons for unbundling, where regulatory bodies currently stand on the practice, best practices, steps attorneys should take to protect themselves and make sure clients are informed and where to find more information.

If you're providing unbundled legal services or considering undertaking limited scope representation, read The Ethics of Unbundling.

Recently, Lawyer Coach Debra Bruce provided an excellent overview of the benefits of listening to your clients and prospective clients:  one of the key things a client needs from his attorney--the one that sets the stage for most of the others--is to feel that the lawyer hears and understands his concerns.  But that's just the first step; once you've assured the prospect or client that you understand his concerns, your next task is to clearly address those concerns.

Prospective clients are often a bit overwhelemed when they pick up the phone or walk through your office doors.  In many areas of consumer law, the would-be client is facing much mroe than the decision as to whether to hire an attorney and which one.  The person sitting in front of  you may also be dealing with the fallout from a broken relationship or coping with the possibility of a jail sentence or is in a constant state of anxiety after months of creditor calls and juggling to try to keep the utilities on and food on the table.

He may not consciously realize it himself, but he's not just shopping for a legal service.  He's shopping for reassurance.

The woman who is unable to work due to an injury and worried about supporting her family, the man whose wife and children moved out last week and many others in need of legal assistance feel that the world is out of control.  Helping these prospective clients see the days ahead in manageable pieces and clear action steps will not only set their minds at ease, but will build faith in you and your ability and willingness to help.

Of course, you never want to create unrealistic expectations in a client; you can't solve all of their problems and shouldn't pretend that you can.  But you do know what to do next, and how to break down the issues your client is facing and focus your energy (and his) on those aspects you can address productively.  By clearly conveying that, you can help your client see the life changes he's facing as manageable and give him clear action steps for the pieces of the coming process that are in fact within his control. In doing so, you help alleviate his anxiety and sense of chaos, and also help him to make the first decision on the path to regaining control: hiring you to help address the coming legal hurdles.

Putting it into practice:

• Clearly restate your prospective client's key concerns so he knows that you "get it"
• Tie your responses and advice to the things he cares about
• Use language like "Here's how I can help with that..." and "The first thing I would do for you..."
• Give him something manageable to work on:  don't keep him in the dark or throw an overwhelming task list at him right away

Attorneys--how do you help your clients and prospective clients feel confident in your ability to help them regain control in emotion-driven areas of law?

Last Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56 after his 6-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Within minutes of this news, social media was buzzing with memorials, tributes and memories from Apple fans around the world.

We mourn the death of Steve Jobs because of the legacy he left behind. Steve Jobs was not just the face of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Steve Jobs was not just a successful business owner. He was an entrepreneur who took risks, faced huge setbacks, survived on a dream, and went on to build one of the most recognizable brands in the world. He was a man who redefined what it means to communicate and stay connected in the 21st century. Steve’s story is one of inspiration. Here are some things I learned from Steve that will stick with me:

Don't follow the rules. Connect the dots instead. I talked about this a few months ago when I reflected on Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech. During his speech, he told a story about how he dropped out of college because he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. One day, out of curiosity, he decided to "drop in" to a calligraphy class just for fun. Years later, when he developed the first Mac computer, Jobs remembered this course and had the idea to add multiple font options to the word processor. While Jobs could have followed the status quo by staying in college and taking only classes that applied to his chosen career path, he chased after what seemed like detours only to find out that his experiences came in handy later in life. This symmetry seems unlikely to happen to the regular person, but Steve’s advice is true for us all: look for connectedness in the seemingly disparate parts of life, and build with them.

Don't lose faith in what you love. Jobs started Apple with a friend in his parents' garage when he was 20. In just 10 years, the 2-person operation grew to over 4000 employees. By the time Jobs was 30, he had a falling out with the company and he was fired. This event was very devastating and public, and it could have ruined anyone. But, with his love for technology and innovation, Jobs pressed on and started NeXT, helped Pixar create the world's first animated feature film and eventually made his way back to Apple to resurrect it from a path of failure and grow it into the most successful technology companies in the world. Jobs stated in his 2005 speech: "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."

Live each day as if it were your last. Instead of taking his illness lying down, Jobs pursued his dreams, lived his life, and contributed to our world every day.

Steve’s memory will live on in those who remember him as the passionate, innovative, and inspirational person he was.

Written by Russ Korins, law firm marketing consultant. Russ Korins assists law firms with marketing and practice development. He previously practiced corporate and technology law. He is based in New York City and works with clients around the country. Visit www.russkorinsconsulting.com for more information.

Attorney biographies: they are one of the most important things prospective clients check in deciding whether to hire a lawyer. And yet, most attorney bios, rather than assuring and compelling prospects and referral sources, simply report on previous experience, or rattle off a list of accomplishments. Have you ever noticed how many attorney bios mention “extensive experience” in their practice areas? Yawn.

You can start today on improving your bio. Think of it as a strategically positioned argument, not an exhaustive history. What would you tell a prospective client, or key referral source, about your work? Consider the aspects of your experience, and the needs your legal services meet, that are most valuable in the eyes of your audience.

Even better, think about your marketing or business plans over the next six months: who you expect to meet, the kinds of clients you want to attract, and the referral sources you will engage and cultivate. Now edit your biography in anticipation of these opportunities, so that it will be as strong as possible for the audience you create.

Writing a biography can mean much more than compiling a life story, and editing a biography should be more than just adding a new reported case or representative transaction to the list. Make your biography an integral part of your total marketing and business generation effort. When you write a better bio, better clients will follow.