Many attorneys run into issues related to the improper management of trust accounts, and some firms don't have the appropriate safeguards and checks in place to help prevent issues. Implementing proper controls can help reduce the risk of trust accounting improprieties and errors.
The collective weight of the new year is upon law firm managing partners, with the season being that of collections, partner compensation and rate-setting. And the latter has proven a bit vexing for firm leaders as they grapple with setting rates in an era where firms span multiple markets and practice concentrations, clients aren't willing to pay the published rates and alternative fee deals are a growing part of firm revenue.
For law firms to get smart about bidding on work, they need a legal management infrastructure with deep knowledge and understanding of their matters, staffing resources, billing rates and spending data. This business intelligence (BI), goes beyond a stand-alone matter management application.
Those who gauge networking success by the sheer number of contacts they can cultivate digitally need to get this through their heads: You are not "networked" unless you make your net work, which is to say, unless you work your net.
All rebranding projects are unique ' no two are the same. Here are a few tips that will help make your rebranding project ' should you dare to take one on ' a success.
Given that lawyers are not sales professionals and only spend a small amount of their time focused on business development, and given that they already have a full-time job, it's important to keep the business development approach as simple as possible. Some ideas related to keeping it simple follow:
When a client seeks representation on an equity joint venture, there are eight primary structural considerations that provide the framework for documenting the venture: 1) initial capital contributions; 2) future capital needs; 3) cash distribution waterfall; 4) governance; 5) transfers; 6) exit rights; 7) restrictive covenants; and 8) affiliate transactions.
Even though the costs and inefficiencies of paper records are an obvious strain on the law firm business model, law firms struggle with less-paper initiatives for one key reason: according to ILTA members informally surveyed in over 20 cities domestically, about half of today's attorneys would still prefer to work with paper, even if the entire file is digitally available from the DMS.
Everything you need to know about deferred compensation plans.
In recent years, as client fee pressure has increased and client loyalty has decreased, law firms are investing significant time and money in business development programs. Some partners receive training to dust off selling skills that were largely unnecessary during a time of plenty. Other partners receive training, then individualized coaching, then more training, then more coaching, in an often-futile attempt to turn everyone into a capable rainmaker.
