Counsel to Counsel

A Blessing in Disguise?

2009-07-03T07:33:00.003-04:00

That's one way to think about being laid off from your large firm job.

For most of the lawyers I've worked with over the years, leaving large firm practice was an improvement in their lives. That's not to say that the transition is easy or without ups and downs. Few things in life are more stressful than being laid off; and in the short run, there may be some very difficult financial decisions to make.

But in my observation, many lawyers are happier in either small firm practice, in-house or government (and some are happier leaving practice altogether). The potential financial rewards may not be as great (although sometimes they are); but having more responsibility at an earlier stage in your career, having the chance to really build your own base of clients and having more autonomy, all lead to increased career satisfaction.

The key to making a successful transition is to achieve some degree of acceptance of your situation so that you can move on. It's very much like going through the stages of mourning that were identified by the Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (who actually applied her own model to job loss later in her career.)

In other words, in order to move on, you need to allow yourself to feel some anger, etc. Just make sure that you express these feelings in the safety of your personal relationships or with a coach or mental health professional (i.e. not during your next job interview.)

These are very hard times for the legal profession; the silver lining, though, is that sometimes a forced change becomes the catalyst for making change that will ultimately lead to a happier career. Make the best of the situation, leave on good terms, keep in contact with as many partners and associates as you can (i.e. the ones you actually like and who seem willing to help). If history is any indication, you will probably end up in a better place sooner than you think.

The Power of Digital Media

2009-06-26T18:54:00.001-04:00

Why Relying on Spell Checker is Dangerous

2009-06-19T11:30:00.003-04:00

Those of us that blog, tweet and make general use of social media are often in a hurry to publish our posts. Some of us use spell checker to avoid egregious spelling error. But an e-mail I received this morning is a good reminder of why relying on spell checker alone can get you into trouble. You need to reread your posts before you hit "publish". Apparently, these were all taken from synagogue bulletins and newsletter. Enjoy! It's Friday!

1. Don't let worry kill you. Let your synagogue help. Join us for our Oneg after services. Prayer and medication to follow. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our congregation.

2. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

3. We are pleased to announce the birth of David Weiss, the sin of Rabbi and Mrs. Abe Weiss.

4. Thursday at, there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club.

All women wishing to become Little Mothers please see the rabbi in his private study.

5. The ladies of Hadassah have cast off clothing of every kind and they may be seen in the basement on Tuesdays.

6. A bean supper will be held Wednesday evening in the community center.

Music will follow.

7. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the JCC. Please use the large double door at the side entrance.

8. Rabbi is on vacation. Massages can be given to his secretary.

9. Goldblum will be entering the hospital this week for testes.

10. The Men's Club is warmly invited to the Oneg hosted by Hadassah.

Refreshments will be served for a nominal feel.

11. Please join us as we show our support for Amy and Rob, who are preparing for the girth of their first=2 0child.

12. We are taking up a collection to defray the cost of the new carpet in the sanctuary. All those wishing to do something on the carpet will come forward and get a piece of paper.

13. If you enjoy sinning, the choir is looking for you!

14. The Associate Rabbi unveiled the synagogue's new fundraising campaign slogan this week: "I Upped My Pledge. Up Yours."

Overcoming Adversity

2009-06-16T10:06:00.001-04:00

That's the key to real career success. Success is not a straight path to the top. That in today's Career Journal.

How is the Downturn Effecting More Senior Lawyers

2009-06-12T16:31:00.003-04:00

Hear yours truly interviewed on the Legal Talk Network.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Partners

2009-06-10T09:28:00.004-04:00

Actually it's 8; but doing excellent work is presumed and not counted on the list by this author.

I'm sure many equity partners fall far short in following these tips. These are all aspects of managing and building a business and obviously each lawyer brings a different strength to the table (aside from his or her practice expertise); but if you consider them aspirational, it's a good road map for success (i.e. pay for yourself, pay for someone else, cross sell, develop associates and staff, play nice, help manage the firm, represent the firm in the community).

At the end of the article, this author suggests that non-equity partner should not be a long term status (at least not for a large number of attorneys). He suggests that allowing non-equity ranks to get too large creates the perception that there is a log jam for advancement at the firm. It may even breed resentment (non-equity partners who don't believe they are being recognized enough and equity partners who don't think the non-equity partners are carrying enough weight).

I'm not sure I agree with this analysis. Other businesses have figured out how to segment senior staff into ownership and non-ownership categories. The whole work/life balance movement presumes that different professionals have different priorities in life (but that doesn't mean that non-owners can't make an important and substantial contribution to the firm's bottom line).

Acing the Phone Interview

2009-06-03T09:58:00.002-04:00

Phone interviews used to be a perfunctory way to throw softball questions at prospective candidates before bringing them in for a "real" interview. But according to the WSJ, increasingly, phone interviews are becoming much more rigorous as companies seek to cut down on travel costs. The advice from the WSJ: be prepared! Do as much preparation for a phone interview as you would for an in person interview.

Phone interviews present unique challenges as well. When you are in person, you have the benefit of seeing the non-verbal reactions of the interviewer. This can provide you with important feedback so that you can fine tune your next answer. It is easier to gauge if you have spoken for an appropriate length of time when you have some visual cues (e.g. if you see a yawn forming or if you observe that the interviewer is looking at his or her watch, that's a good sign that it's time to stop talking and ask a question yourself).

Successful phone interviews also require you to be extra vigilant about avoiding distractions. Checking your blackberry is an obvious no-no during a live interview. But it is also a bad idea when you are on the phone. So is eating, being in a room where kids may run in and interrupt or surfing the internet.

I have given interviewing tips in the past where my main message is "be a great listener" (though these were written long before Web 2.0 began to play a major role in the way we communicate with friends and colleagues.) In a phone interview, the challenge of being a great listener is that much greater. Being distracted by electronic media is likely to influence your performance for the worse.

On a phone interview, be extra cautious about going on for too long. It is very important to ask follow up questions yourself before you respond to an interviewer. With no verbal cues, it is the only way you get any sense of what the interviewer is thinking.

Think Like a Lawyer-Bill Like a Consultant

2009-06-02T16:27:00.001-04:00

How can lawyers get themselves away from the dreaded billable hour? By adopting billing methods that have long been standard in the consulting industry. See my post on the Middle Office.

Advice for Summer Associates

2009-06-01T13:51:00.001-04:00

My latest article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

A Plug...for Me

2009-05-29T14:53:00.004-04:00

In general, I don't think it is a good idea to use a blog to sell your services (at least not overtly). If you blog regularly and provide good content, readers will see that you are knowledgeable about your subject area and that you are ready, willing and able to share your wisdom. Self promotion on a blog will turn readers away.

On the other hand, an occasional plug is generally acceptable. After all, even if you are good at what you do, it doesn't mean that the world even knows what you do.

So if you are interested in learning how to market your law practice more effectively and would like to find out how coaching can help, here is a description of how it works. I've worked with several coaches myself over the years and I believe that it is an invaluable service.

Sign up for three months of coaching by June 30th and I will throw in a free month. It's a great time to position yourself for the turnaround. You probably have more time on your hands so you might as well use it productively. You can reach me by e-mail at legal@seckler.com if you have questions. Phone is fine as well (617-244-3234).

Time to Get Serious About Marketing

2009-05-27T16:58:00.002-04:00

A marketing consultant says that in these times, lawyers should spend at least 3 hours a week on marketing activities. But what if you can't figure out how to spend those three hours most effectively? Hire a coach. That's what Jim Hassett suggests.

When hiring a coach, make sure you find someone who you feel you can work with. Do you want a drill sergeant? A cheerleader? A strategist? An individual who shares your values? For more on coaching click here.

Thinking of Switching to Law Firm Management?

2009-05-22T09:31:00.002-04:00

Lawyers who are thinking of switching to a management role at a firm have some advantages over non-lawyers. Presumably, they understand how lawyers think, how work gets done and how to best serve clients. But management requires a set of skills that is very different than the skills required to be a good lawyer. For starters, managing requires a focus on the big picture while much of lawyering requires a strong focus on the big picture. In working on a deal or a case, there is generally a beginning, a middle and an end. Managing people is much more open ended. For more on the subject, there is a very good article on Law.com.

More Law Firms Shifting Marketing Dollars to Coaching

2009-05-20T09:18:00.002-04:00

That in today's WSJ (subscription req.).

Many lawyers can benefit from individual coaching. Firms are starting to see the value of training lawyers on how to build business relationships more effectively. Some firms are waking up to this reality by shifting dollars away from marketing and towards one on one support for individual attorneys.

Marketing is of course important. Law firms need to do things that build their reputation and their visibility in the media. But over time I've come to realize that marketing is only the back drop. If the desired end result is to have more clients calling you and referral sources sending you prospects, then writing articles, getting quoted in the press and speaking in public are probably not enough.

Coaching is a great way to bridge the skills gap for many attorneys. I've written about this on many occasions including an article I published here in MLW.

Thinking Creatively About The Practice of Law

2009-05-17T22:08:00.003-04:00

Why would any law firm client be willing to pay more than the agreed upon billing rate? Why would any law firm agree up front to discount its rates for clients who are unhappy with the service they received? Well at least one law firm is banking on being on the winning side of this billing strategy.

The firm, The Rimon Law Group, is a relative newcomer to the “virtual law firm” space. Based in the Silicon Valley, Rimon is the brainchild of two large firm ex-pats, Michael Moradzadeh and Yaacov Silberman . Both practiced corporate law at the law firm Ropes and Gray until they reached the conclusion that they could better serve technology clients using a different model. While they were accustomed to working with highly credentialed lawyers, they realized that there is a large group of former large firm attorneys who have chosen to live in less expensive locations (and are therefore able to provide high quality services at greatly reduced fees.)

Rimon brings together the talents of lawyers who have at least 10 years of large American firm training. Some are in the U.S. living away from major urban centers and some are Americans who have chosen to move to Israel and other countries that enjoy a lower cost of living.

In speaking with Michael Moradzadeh, it struck me that Rimon’s business model relies on many of the principals on which IPEngine was founded (i.e. that client work should be performed at the least expensive location where quality can still be achieved ).

Rimon will undoubtedly continue to experiment with ways that it can increase client satisfaction; but right now, the firm is beginning to tweak the way it charges for its services. The founders of Rimon both believe that a pure model of hourly billing creates the wrong incentives for lawyers. At the same time, it can be difficult to estimate how many hours a transaction will require before the transaction is well under way so flat fee billing can be difficult to estimate.

Rimon has therefore chosen to stick with the hourly model; but clients who agree to complete a client satisfaction survey at the end of an engagement can enjoy up to a 20% discount if they are unhappy with the firm’s responsiveness. At the same time, clients who sign on to this program also agree to pay up to a 20% “tip” if they are particularly happy with the results, the service, the level of professionalism, etc.

It’s a creative approach that is bound to pay dividends; but I guess I better check back in six months. Like all good ideas, what works on paper doesn’t always work in practice.

Want to Be Successful? Keep an Open Mind

2009-05-15T10:10:00.003-04:00

That from an interview with the inventor of Star Trek's Klingon language. This has a lot of relevance to lawyers and today's economy. If you think creatively about your options, you are more likely to find success in these challenging times. This may not be easy for many lawyers; but thinking outside the box is a skill we can all cultivate (even risk averse lawyers who spend their days advising clients how to avoid risk).

Solos Have Unique Advantages During Harsh Econonmic Times

2009-05-14T12:48:00.002-04:00

In The Complete Lawyer. Solos can be more nimble, adapting more quickly to changing market conditions. Of course it is harder to serve business clients as a solo; but there are many specialists out there who form relationships with small firms and other solos in order to keep a steady pipeline of work coming from more sophisticated clients.

Advice for Keeping Your Law Firm Job

2009-05-13T13:42:00.004-04:00

Make sure to keep up your billable hours (free subscription required). Seems like old fashioned advice since hourly billing is under attack right now.

But until the law firm model truly changes, your survival in a downturn depends on your ability to show that you are generating sufficient revenues for your firm.

While anyone who understands the practice of law knows that hours billed are not a good measure of true productivity, for now, that is the metric that counts at most firms.

The Era of Delayed Gratification

2009-05-13T13:19:00.003-04:00

Interesting discussion on WBUR's On Point. Did easy credit play off of one of our foibles as human beings (the difficulty we have in avoiding pain in the future when pleasure is here right now).

While I'm hardly an ascetic, I do think that one silver lining of the Big Recession is that we will all learn to plan a little more for our futures and do more investing before we reap the rewards of our hard work.

Associates at large firms will have to stick around for a while if they want to see large salary growth. Most of us will probably eat out less and prepare more of our own meals (probably a healthy thing). We'll buy fewer consumer goods (that we don't need anyway). Not good for the economy as a whole? Perhaps, though savings do provide companies with capital that can be used for investment.

Are You Fit for Solo Practice?

2009-05-08T08:10:00.003-04:00

Here is a good list of ten qualities of an entrepreneur. The list has relevance if you are contemplating striking out on your own (or starting a new firm with partners). Item #4 is probably the hardest one to translate to the law (Do you have a unique service or product?) It's hard to come up with a new practice area that the marketplace needs.

"Unique" in this context may relate more to the clientele you serve or how you deliver your services. For example: find effective ways to bill clients that do not rely on traditional hourly billing; identify an emerging industry that has a common set of legal problems; create a firm that provides a multi-disciplinary approach to solving a set of business or individual problems (making sure to adhere to the ethical rules which bar non-lawyers from owning law firms).

The point is that you need to distinguish yourself from service providers that already exist.

Checklist for Starting a Solo Practice

2009-05-06T11:52:00.003-04:00

A good overview if you are thinking of going out on your own.

Freelance Lawyers

2009-05-05T12:19:00.003-04:00

I've never seen the term "freelance lawyer" but it's a great way to differentiate "contract" lawyers who do large document review projects from "contract" lawyers who really act as associates for hire. While the words could be used interchangeably, there is clearly a difference between the lawyer who decides to do higher level work on a contract basis and a lawyer who joins a contract agency and gets send out with a small army of other contract attorneys to sift through business records.

It's nice to know that I now have a word for it (and as the article mentions, there is even an association for freelance legal professionals).

Free Download on Selling Legal Services

2009-05-05T11:25:00.002-04:00

Providing free content to prospects is a great way to market yourself. The Wellesley Hills Group has done just that by serving up a free e-book called Mastering Rainmaking Conversations.

It's a quick read and of course no single book can turn you into a rainmaker. But for someone looking for a Reader's Digest version of the subject matter, this is a very useful tool. The device of providing this book as a free download also illustrates how putting up content on the web is a great way to position yourself as an expert.

Twitter, LinkedIn and the Tower of "Babble"--Part II

2009-05-03T13:23:00.003-04:00

Several days ago, I posted some general thoughts about how to make sense of Web 2.0. It's the wild west right now so what lawyers really should be doing is experimenting. In some ways, this advice is not all that helpful. After all, it's fine to say go ahead and experiment. But where should you start?

One way to start is to follow the lead of someone else who is already using a variety of social networking tools. Here is one such template from an Altman Weil consultant.

Better Learn to Oursource

2009-04-29T17:16:00.003-04:00

If you want to succeed in the practice of law, you better learn how to outsource certain functions. Clients are not going to pay full freight for tasks that can easily be completed off shore at a much lower price point but at the same level of quality. But there are risks involved. My latest article on The Complete Lawyer website.

Avoiding Phone Tag

2009-04-29T09:40:00.003-04:00

The telephone is still a critical business tool. While electronic communication is great for scheduling, creating a record and exchanging documents, it is hard to have a highly nuanced conversation in writing. So for the foreseeable future, the telephone is still a real player.

On the other hand, I find it increasingly difficult to reach people by phone.

The solution? Schedule a telephone conversation by e-mail. I'm doing this a lot more lately and wasting a lot less time leaving messages back and forth. Sometimes these meetings get postponed. But little time is wasted.