This article is intended to assist those of us who are trying to practice law and also run a law practice.
Some lawyers will only practice law. Those lawyers do not get involved in the day-to-day operational issues of actually running a law practice as a profitable business.
Some may argue that they have that understanding, but most are only worried about their next case and when the brief is due.
But others, myself included, practice law and also have to run the practice of law.
The business of practicing law has seen a great transformation over the past 26 years: advertising, the increase in the number of licensed lawyers, technology, increased client demands, vocabulary that includes lawyers as vendors, etc.
Gone are the days where there were recommended fees, you could hold off a client by saying the letter was in the mail, there was no voice mail, no faxes, no e-mails. How have we, as business owners, adapted to this changing environment?
Much has been written on this subject. My intent is not to cover ground that has already been churned. My intent is to provide you with resources so you can begin to manage your business.
I want to interject the notion that this is a business. Yes, we are in a profession, but if you are trying to make money, you are also in a business. Thus you have to approach your day-to-day operations, as would any other business person.
Think about how some of your larger clients refer to you. You are one of their vendors. You may actually find a point person at a client's office who has the title, of “vendor manager.” Clients look to the services we perform and see the dollar value first, rather than the services we are offering.
The insurance defense bar has seen its hourly billing rates held to very low levels; foreclosure firms have fixed-rate fees; residential real estate practitioners have very low rates. All of this is a result of the factors I cite above and the changing view of law firms and the services that we provide.
If we agree that we are running businesses, how should we run them? What do we need to know to be successful and, hopefully, to make a profit? How are you going to run your law practice?
If you are reading this article you are an ISBA member. I recommend that you join the Committee on Law Office Management and Economics.
This committee provides valuable tips and reference materials to assist you. Managing partners, lawyers and legal administrators who are involved in the administration of their firms write articles for the committee newsletter.
In addition to reading the materials that are published, any of the authors or members of the committee would be more than happy to discuss any issues that you might have.
There is another benefit to being a member of the ISBA. You can sign up for the listserv – a great discussion forum where you can pose questions to fellow lawyers about matters of general interest and information. The best feature is that it is free.
The American Bar Association has a Law Practice Management Section as well. This section publishes a monthly magazine. This section has authors who are more than willing to share with you their insights on how to run a firm.
However, many day-to-day issues arise that you need help on, such as what the office dress code should be, whether anyone used product xyz (and how does it function), does anyone have a policy on internet usage, how do you handle FMLA issues, etc.
Other issues that we, as owners, face include how do we really go about managing employees, how do we develop metrics (or should we), how do we set up a remote office, what about a merger, etc.
I wish to share a secret with you. I found an organization that will help you through many of the issues: the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA). I have found this organization to be very helpful in supplementing the ISBA and the ABA materials.
The ALA exists to support law firm administrators. In the past these individuals were called office managers, but today that term has evolved.
This organization serves law offices of from one attorney up to a thousand or more. It offers white papers on various subjects, links to all the issues that we face day to day, and discussion groups.
My final point is that we, as lawyers, need to approach the practice of law the way other businesses approach their operations. We need to set budgets, we need to create and drive metrics, and we need to have strategic plans.
We need all of these in order to succeed. The ISBA can help you along this path.
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