Total Attorneys

Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day that came out in 1993?  It featured Bill Murray as a burned-out weatherman named Phil Connors who had to cover the annual events in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  In the movie, this was the one job that Connors hated to do most, but when he finished the job and went to sleep on February 2, he woke up then next day only to find himself repeating the same dreaded February 2 day over and over again in a seemingly endless loop.

After numerous suicide attempts and hedonistic indulgences, Connors begins to reexamine his life and priorities in an effort to break the chain.  He stops focusing on the monotony of his job and depression, pulls himself away from his autopilot approach to life and uses his vast experience of a single day to help people in his community, strengthen personal relationships and learn how to do a number of new things.  After Connors learns to focus more on the things that really matter most—getting involved in his community, spending time with loved ones and working on his personal growth—he is able to wake up the next morning to find that the time loop is broken.

Almost twenty years later, the plot of this movie rings true for many people working in the legal industry.  As an attorney, do you see yourself going into the office, dreading the day, and working on autopilot, only to find yourself stuck on a loop that has you missing out on the things that matter most to you in life?  If so, I urge you to do take a tip from Bill Murray’s character and find ways to break the loop by making more time for yourself and those around you.

Instead of heading to the office at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, have your virtual receptionist forward your calls to your email while you spend the morning volunteering for a cause that inspires you.  Are you sick of looking at your office walls during client meetings?  Just upload contracts and forms to your virtual law office and let your client sign and fill out these documents from home.  Do you find yourself getting stuck late at the office filling out forms and doing paperwork? Why not take off from work early and send non-billable tasks to a reliable case support staff who can get the job done while you have dinner with your spouse or enjoy a card game with friends?

At the end of the day, take a look at your job and find out which parts of it you can streamline or delegate.  This will give you more time to do the things that matter most to you.  And if you are doing more of the things you love, you will be able to do your work with more energy and optimism rather than feeling the pains of a monotonous loop like the one Bill Murray’s character suffered in Groundhog Day.

Total Attorneys invites you to join us this Thursday, February 4, on Blog Talk Radio for a new show featuring two leading authorities on law firm management and marketing—PR Strategies on a Shoe String Budget.  Listen or call in while your host, Kevin Chern, talks to John Remsen and Larry Bodine about working with the media to build your reputation as a leading attorney and attract desirable clients.  The show starts at 11 a.m. Central time, and you can get answers to your questions by listening in here or calling in at (347) 857-1419 during the show.  Can’t listen in during showtime this week?  Be sure to check out the Total Attorneys Blog Talk Radio page for more information about upcoming shows and recorded archives of all of our past shows.

Today, I ran across a really great article on the Lawyerist blog.  The article focused on how to do the things that you can “do now” versus doing the things that are “due now” when you plan your work schedule.  So often we tackle our deadlines within minutes of the due date when we could be planning ahead, checking things off our lists early and finding more time to do the things we really enjoy in life.

Sam Glover’s article gave a few great tips on how to make a switch from the “due now” to the “do now” mentality, such as setting aside an hour every week to make a schedule to plan work ahead of the due date.   He also gave a work schedule plan that breaks down deadlines into individual tasks that can be completed in advance, and he suggested completing some tasks early when you have time to do so.

I think that utilizing legal tech resources can be another way to help move from a “due now” to a “do now” schedule.  For example, if you hire a virtual receptionist to answer your phone calls, take your messages and schedule appointments, why not add a few other tasks?

• Prepare an intake questionnaire for your virtual receptionist to use when answering calls from prospective clients.  This will save time and help you evaluate the tasks you need to do before you return the prospective client’s call.

• Breakdown messages into different prioritized categories.  That way your virtual receptionist can flag messages that are sent to your inbox with different levels of importance and time commitments.

• Ask your virtual assistant to rank messages based on clients’ sense of urgency.  This will help you rank importance of your call return list, and it will help you determine how much time you may need to dedicate to your next client meeting.

• Block off time to schedule tasks at least once a week, and give your virtual receptionists blackout days and times so that they will not schedule appointments during those times.

Another way to use technology to help schedule your workweek is by taking advantage of the features available on a virtual law office platform.  Virtual law offices help streamline the administrative side of law practice management using processes that are built into the software.

• For example, using the calendar feature in a virtual law office, you can set deadline reminders that will keep both you and your client on pace with case matters.

• Does your new client’s case sound extremely similar to something you worked on last year? Use your virtual law office’s search engine to avoid reinventing the wheel.  In just minutes, the file, forms and law library will give you the tools to turn a 10-hour task into a 30-minute one.

• Do you find yourself waiting until the end of the week to call your clients back to tell them how their case is going? Or do you end up waiting to receive a check in the mail or a signature before you act on a time-sensitive matter?  Don’t put off important aspects of your client relationship.  Instead, use the automated features in your virtual law office to notify clients of case updates and respond to messages quickly.  In addition, stop wasting time waiting to receive checks or signed documents in the mail when you can just have your client pay online, upload signed documents and accept your retainer agreement with the click of a mouse.

After using these technologies to prioritize your to-do list and help you check off the items on that list, you might find that you can add a round of golf, a vacation or at least an hour of relaxation to your schedule with a few days to spare before you head to the court house to file a motion or send a timely response to a USPTO office action.

In the past year, virtual law offices and cloud-based services have become commonplace in many law firms because they offer attorneys new ways to manage their practice both in the office and on the road, organize documents in a centralized and accessible location, monitor billing and timekeeping and add ways for attorneys to communicate and collaborate with co-counsel and clients.  In addition, these web-based services often offer attractive, efficient and economic solutions to practice management and client communication issues that may come up within the four walls of a traditional brick and mortar office.  While most internet-based services operate on secure systems and offer regular back-ups and encryption for confidential data, it is still important to be aware of malpractices risks that are unique to virtual practices.

Recently, Stephanie Kimbro did a great article on these risks on her Virtual Law Practice blog.  Here is a quick overview of the malpractice-related issues that may come up in a virtual law practice:

* Keep in mind that rules and statutes of limitation may vary state-by-state if you plan to accept clients from more than one state via your virtual law office.  In addition, it is important to avoid the unauthorized practice of law in states in which you are not admitted to practice.

* Be sure to check for conflicts of interest.  VLOTech offers a conflict of interest checking system that rates the relevancy of entries so that attorneys can see which cases have names of parties that are similar to prospective clients.

* Be picky when selecting clients.  You may never see your client face-to-face, so it is important to choose carefully and reject or refer-out clients that have matters that may be better suited in a traditional law firm setting.

* Always require a retainer or engagement agreement.  Be sure to clearly define the scope of your relationship with the client, what services you will and will not provide, and any risks that might exist.  This can be done through a signed agreement or via a click-through button on your law office website.

* Do not go out of your comfort zone. If you do not feel that you can represent the client competently because you are not familiar with a particular area of law or you feel that a traditional firm would better serve their matter, you should refer the client to another law firm or collaborate with another attorney.

In addition to some of the issues that can come up when running a web-based law practice, a virtual law office can also help you avoid malpractice with automatic reminders and thorough client communication mechanisms.  Virtual law offices have many benefits that are missing in most physical offices:

* You can set up a calendar or ticker system to remind you of important deadlines and meetings.

* Virtual law offices make collaborating easy since you can authorize multiple users to access a case file from more than one physical location.  If you plan to collaborate with an assisting attorney, however, it is important that you acquire consent from your clients.

* A virtual law office can help you communicate better with your clients because you can give them 24/7 access to case files and status updates, and you can set up auto-responders to let clients know when you have read their messages or reviewed their files.  In addition, automatic time and date stamps will allow clients to clearly see any progress or changes in the case file.  This lets clients know that you are working on their case and this type of transparency can helps build up value and trust in your work.

Today, I hosted a Total Expert Radio show on attorney obligations to comply with the rules of professional conduct that govern law firm marketing.  Our featured guests were two experts on ethics and legal marketing: Will Hornsby and Nancy Roberts Linder.

Hornsby is counsel in the American Bar Association’s Division for Legal Services, chair of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Hearing Panel, a Cook County arbitrator and an adjunct faculty member of the John Marshall Law School.  Hornsby has written several articles and two books on technology, law firm marketing and legal ethics, and he also teaches a class on the professional responsibility of a technology-based law practice.

Nancy Roberts Linder is the Principal of Nancy Roberts Linder Consulting, a LaGrange, Illinois-based marketing consulting practice for professional service entities, primarily law firms.  She consults in a variety of client development and client relationship management areas, including strategic planning, communications development, and attorney skills enhancement.  In addition, Linder has written numerous articles on lawyer marketing; designed and implemented marketing databases; advised on website design, content and usage evaluation; taught HTML to marketing support staff; evaluated marketing-related software for law firm applications; and developed curriculum to teach marketing skills to law students.

Both of my guests gave some great tips, and you can access the entire show here, but here are a few highlights from today’s show:

• The ethics rules that exist now were written in the 20^th century, and many people would argue that they reflect 19^th century values, but now we are dealing with 21^st century technology, so the ability to apply those rules to current opportunities for client development can create a lot of friction.

• Lawyers who use new technology are ahead of the policymakers, so they need to weigh the benefits of using that new technology with the potential risks that their may be issues or unanswered questions under ethics rules.

• Generally, issues with ethics rules will not arise from the technology itself but instead from the way you use that technology to present messages and market your law practice.

• The ethics game is largely played with semantics, and ethics rules can often rest more on how an attorneys says things rather than what the attorney is trying to say.

• There is some subjectivity in the interpretation of rules, but when lawyers understand what the rules say and how they apply they can learn how to use them to their advantage.

• Ethics rules are very nuanced and can vary widely state-by-state.  Attorneys have an obligation to comply with the rules of the states in which they are seeking clients.

• Listen to the full recorded show and learn how to do the following and more: use ethics rules to your advantage; create disclaimers for your website that is seen by people in multiple states; prevent conflicts when potential clients send you unsolicited messages through your website or email; maintain client confidentiality and security when communicating online; and write blog posts that subtly promote your expertise and practice without conflicting with ethics rules regarding advertising and solicitation.

Total Attorneys invites you to join our experts for a live question and answer session on Blog Talk Radio this Thursday, January 21 at 11:00 a.m. CDT.  Call in or listen as Will Hornsby and Nancy Roberts Linder discuss attorneys’ obligations to comply with the rules of professional conduct that govern law firm marketing.  This show will be a follow-up to their session, “The Jeopardy of Marketing Legal Services,” which was featured at the 2009 Get a Life Conference hosted by the Total Practice Management Association.  Categories will include commercial speech, false or misleading communications, advertisements, solicitations and multi-state marketing.  Check out the show here and call in with you questions at 347-857-1419.

One key to a successful law firm is having an energized, productive staff.  The winter months, however, can wreak havoc on energy levels and moods.  The weather is colder, the days are darker, flu season is in full effect, and many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder or feel the need to hibernate during this time of the year.  In order to counter the effects of the season, you should bring positive energy to your law office to help colleagues and employees maintain focus and productivity.

Here are a few ways to add a little bit of energy to your law firm during the winter months:

• Focus on the positive rather than negative.  Many psychological studies have shown that happy employees are critical for any company’s success, while excessive negativity can lead to decreased productivity and employee burnout.  Make your law office brighter during the winter by encouraging staff members with positive feedback, and try to avoid leading through intimidation or scolding.
• Encourage employees to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise.  During the winter, many people feel less inclined to leave their desks during the day for their lunch break when the weather outside is frightful, but a quick burst of cold air and a stroll down the street to grab a healthy salad and soup for lunch will help your employees stay alert and refueled to finish the work day.
• Shake up the office routine.  Bored employees will be less productive and more likely to burnout during the winter months, but you can cure boredom by adding a little variety to your law office.  If you have two law clerks or paralegals, try cross training and rotating schedules.
• Pull out old resumes and re-evaluate the job descriptions of your team.  Is your phone receptionist a budding journalist or a public relations major in college?  Maybe he would be interested in writing for your law firm blog.  By giving employees more responsibility, you can show them that you respect their unique talents and you can motivate them to grow professionally.  Foster enthusiasm among employees by giving them the opportunity to define their job by incorporating their personal skills and interests.

What other ways can you think of to keep your employees energized, motivated and happy during the winter and year-round?

A couple weeks ago, I gave you tips on how to ask for help and which tasks to delegate when trying to juggle both a busy law practice and an equally chaotic home life.  This week we will move on from the “how” and talk more about the “who.”  Let’s face it, hiring new employees is not cheap, and adding full-time staff can also add other costs, such as additional desk space, computers, phone lines and other overhead expenses.  If you are looking for a cost-effective way to help you manage your law practice, there are a few good resources that you might not have thought about: virtual assistants, case support services, mentoring programs and interns.

Manage your law practice and legal work by tapping into these cost-effective, cheap and sometimes free resources:

Mentors.  If you don’t have at least one mentor right now, you should start looking.  Having a mentor will help you advance your career by giving you someone to look to for advice, guidance and inspiration.  A good mentor will be someone in your practice area with experience and knowledge about specific areas of law, networking opportunities in your area, tips on where to find clients in your area and perspectives on legal issues that you might have missed in school.  In most big law firms, it is common to match new attorneys with a mentor.  If you own your own firm or work in a smaller office, however, you may need to take a few extra steps to find veteran attorneys in your practice area to help you transition from student to practicing attorney.  One good place to start is your local bar association.  In addition, a quick search for “lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring” in Google will bring up many pages that link to state bar association programs.  Most of these programs are free with your bar membership, and they allow you to search for attorneys within your specific city, practice area and other criteria.

Virtual Assistants. Virtual assistants are great for small offices that need help managing the phone lines but do not have the financial resources or space to staff extra assistants for the sole purpose of answering the phone.  In addition to providing professional phone services, virtual assistants can help with administrative work, client correspondence, travel arrangements, calendaring, writing, marketing and a number of other tasks.  While hiring a virtual assistant is not free, it does cost a lot less than putting someone on your full-time payroll, setting up an expensive in-office phone system, and renting extra office space.  In addition, many virtual assistant services offer month-to-month contracts and specialize in the legal industry.

Interns.  Interns can be extremely valuable assets in your law firm because many interns are willing to work diligently for little or no money because they are looking for ways to showcase talent and advance their careers.  In addition, competition is high among second and third-year law students who are looking for clerking positions, so you will probably have the opportunity to choose from a large number of highly competent and eager applicants.   Try contacting nearby law schools for information about their career services recruitment process.  If you plan to hire an unpaid internship, be sure to research employment laws in your area and find out whether interns can receive school credit for their work.  An ideal internship program will be beneficial to both the employer and the intern, so try to give your interns work that is relevant to their career goals.

Case Support Services. Many practice areas deal with a lot of time-consuming research and paperwork that might overwhelm a small firm or solo practice office.  By hiring a case support service, you can outsource tasks such as filling out forms and collecting research data so that you can focus on the actual practice of law.  This will allow you to take on more clients and stay organized.  In addition, many service providers have staff working around the clock both in the U.S. and abroad.  That means that a form that might take a part-time clerk and entire week to fill out could only take 24-hours for a case support service provider who can put staff on the job around the clock.  On top of faster turnaround times and the ability to help you manage a larger caseload, case support services will only charge you on a per-case basis.  That means that you will not waste money on an employee sitting in your office during down time.