The Bottom Line

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics

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2013 Articles

The billing world is FLAT: Making flat fees work By William S. Wilson April 2013 Flat fees are a profitable alternative to hourly billing if researched and analyzed correctly.
Bringing in new law firm partners: Strategies for minimizing your risk By John W. Olmstead April 2013 Just because the associate has been a good associate does not mean that the associate will be a good partner—the relationship will be different.
Can you find it? By Donald E. Weihl June 2013 This article will show you how to create your own data system using a Microsoft Word program.
Finding, hiring and retaining top law firm associate attorneys: Are you getting the right associates on the bus for the long term? By John W. Olmstead, Jr. November 2013 Have you really discussed with your associates their interests in equity ownership?
How effective law firm leadership practices can help you acquire and keep your clients By John W. Olmstead June 2013 Law firms that fail to address leadership issues may find themselves unprepared for the future and unable to acquire new clients and retain existing clients.
How to reinvent your law practice in order to prosper in the 21st century By John W. Olmstead, Jr. June 2013 In order to prosper in the 21st century law firms are going to have to drastically change their models for conducting business.
Law firm partner compensation: Metrics—What is important, what matters By John W. Olmstead June 2013 An effective compensation system serves as a strong messaging and reinforcement agent that helps you obtain and retain top partner talent and helps align their goals and activities with the strategies and goals of the firm.
Not so back to basics—The sky’s the limit! By Alan Pearlman April 2013 A review of the Sky Smartpen.
The shoe-string law firm By Charles G. Wentworth April 2013 Opening an office takes at least as much—if not more—business experience as it does legal knowledge, and lawyers have to be both smart and creative about how they spend their money and time when building a practice on a shoe-string budget.
Survival strategies and best practices for a personal injury plaintiff law firm By John W. Olmstead, Jr. November 2013 Many personal injury plaintiff firms are facing challenging times. In the last few years many firms have had to deal with the impact of tort reform, increase competition from other law firms doing extensive advertising, and weathering the last recession.
Using avvo By Nicole Sartori November 2013 Avvo.com is a Web site for the general public to search for lawyers in their respective fields and physical locations or to post questions regarding a particular legal topic.
What are we doing here? By Dan Breen & Thomas Schick June 2013 How does the business of law appear through the eyes of a Marquette undergrad and would-be law student? And how does that compare to a more seasoned attorney?
WordRake—How does your document garden grow? By Alan Pearlman November 2013 WordRake is an editing program that identifies extra language to be removed allowing for brevity and clarity.