May 2005 - More Partner Income

Rule-Based Docketing

I was once asked what I liked most and least about traveling as much as I do. What I like most are the friends I’ve made all across this country. Not only among law firms but, also, within the community of vendors and consultants serving law firms...

Published Tue, May 31 2005 3:20 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, productivity, Risk managment

Trust but Verify

A reader posted the following comment to the May 12 entry titled: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire : “Client satisfaction surveys are important not only to measure quality at your firm - but to also measure quality of firms to whom you may regularly...

Published Fri, May 27 2005 5:54 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, productivity

The Likelihood of Full Collection Decreases With Age

Since I have been on a soapbox about the 138 days (4.6 months) that the average law firm takes to bill and collect for work performed, Beth Keno shared some of her research with me. Beth Keno is a Juris representative in the Michigan and the greater Chicago...

Published Thu, May 26 2005 1:58 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Cash Flow Issues, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, productivity

Days to Bill

Hardly a day goes by without a discussion with a law firm partner about funds tied up in unbilled and uncollected fees. While those partners can't put their finger on the exact number, they understand the long delay results in unnecessary adjustments...

Published Wed, May 25 2005 2:27 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Cash Flow Issues, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, productivity

Whatyasay?

An article by Lydia Ramsey in the April/May issue of the ALA News caught my eye. She noted that some studies report that words account for only 7 percent of the message you convey. The remaining 93% is non-verbal. 55% percent is based on what people see...

Published Tue, May 24 2005 1:45 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Cash Flow Issues, Disaster Recovery, Management, Marketing, productivity

Selling the Future for a Buck

Ann McNaron, an associate of mine, called my attention to the following recent posting on TechnoLawyer : “I am concluding a stint with a firm which has consistently refused throughout its history to invest anything in "technology." The...

Published Mon, May 23 2005 1:51 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, Marketing, productivity

Malpractice Suits on the Rise

Last week, Suzanne Rose, stopped by for a visit. Suzanne Rose is a Brentwood, Tennessee, based specialist focusing on practice management and the critical areas of law firm leadership, strategic management, practice administration and profitability. She...

Published Fri, May 20 2005 1:51 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, Marketing, productivity, Risk managment

Management Candy-- "M&Ms"

I have mentioned on several occasions the concept of “main things”. I call the notion of “main things” Management Candy or "M&Ms". It is the concept that the right way to do things is to do the M ain things with the...

Published Thu, May 19 2005 2:54 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, Marketing, Planning, productivity

Tracking time

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with the president of Juris, Inc. concerning spoilage in a law firm. If the business end of a widget factory is widgets, then the business end of a law firm is billable hours. The more you produce the more units you...

Published Wed, May 18 2005 1:52 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, Policies/ Procedures, productivity

Management Judo

Peter Drucker identified weaknesses the larger competitor is likely to develop. A "not invented here" attitude is likely to make the competitor slow to take advantage of new ideas or lower cost methods. The "Creamer" concentrates too...

Published Tue, May 17 2005 1:24 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Planning, productivity

Ways to increase Per-Partner Income

Any business graduate knows that the short-term approach to inadequate profits is to increase price and reduce cost. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the long-term fix. Consider the movie theater’s escalating cost of popcorn. Volume declines...

Published Mon, May 16 2005 1:39 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Planning, productivity

Is your firm overselling itself?

In the INTERACTION section of the May 2005 Corporate Legal Times, Nat Slavin tells readers, "Don't Be Fooled by Law Firm Hype". Slavan writes, “…the most important question is the one that you should be asking yourself: Is the...

Published Fri, May 13 2005 2:16 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Law Firm Bus Model, Management, Marketing, Planning, productivity

Client Satisfaction Questionnaire

The attached client service questionnaire is a form that I particularly like. I have not copyrighted the attached document so you may reproduce it, modify it, and use it as you choose. I would encourage you to add, delete and modify individual questions...

Published Thu, May 12 2005 1:03 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, Marketing, productivity, Subscriber Content

eBilling: Blessing or Curse?

Jay Hennessy passed along the following advice for morepartnerincome.com readers: Electronic billing or “eBilling” is a fact of life. If you haven’t done so already, get used to it. It is not a matter of “if” or “how”...

Published Wed, May 11 2005 1:16 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, productivity, Subscriber Content

Policies & Procedures

Policies and procedures are ONE WAY STREETS that direct people to move in a particular direction. The planning process must include the question: what policies and procedures are hurting us and what new ones are needed to help us? I’m reminded of...

Published Tue, May 10 2005 1:32 PM by Admin

Filed under: Blog, Disaster Recovery, Management, Planning, productivity, Subscriber Content

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