Make More Rain : marketing, expense control

Managing Law Firm Health Care Cost

Admin — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:29:00 GMT

The health care plans offered to law firm employees and principals have to be competitive. As a people business, this isn’t an area you can shortchange. Nevertheless, we are talking big bucks, and health care cost needs to be managed. The Juris Law Firm Economic Survey conducted in 2006 found that across the board, 40 percent of midrange law firms do not competitively bid health care plans. Without competitive bidding, costs are not likely to ever decline. Your costs are going in the other direction—up! You can just about guarantee two-digit increases year after year.

As for the 40 percent of law firms who do not get competitive bids, my guess is that it is a matter of “out of sight/out of mind”. They don’t competitively bid simply because they never consider the issue until its renewal time. When that happens, it is too late. No one is going to let their plan lapse while they look for a better deal. If your health care plan renews each January, you need to be shopping in June. Have your HR person or Administrator put health care shopping on their calendar at least six months in advance of the renewal date for your existing policy. From experience I can tell you that shopping your plan, especially if you have not been doing so on a regular basis, will produce more partner income.

Secondly, don’t ignore the opportunity for savings through making small changes that will not significantly impact participating individuals. Small reductions in co-pays and deductibles add up to big overall dollars. The predominance of two-income families today means that people place their family coverage with the employer offering the lowest employee cost to add family coverage. That makes it prudent for you to require some employee contribution for family care.

Adding health care savings accounts, on the other hand, can increase benefits for the firm’s people without increasing the law firm’s health care cost. Only about 25 percent of law firms surveyed have made the effort to add health care savings accounts. One of the benefits of outsourcing payroll to ADP or other equivalent payroll providers is that they make handling things like health care savings accounts easy.

Law firm surveys like the annual Juris Law Firm Economic Survey provide a blueprint for things you can do to improve financial performance and better control expenses like health care. They do that by shedding light on what others are doing. With that in mind, let me remind readers that Juris’ current survey will be put to bed after June 30. You still have a few days to participate. If you do, you will automatically receive a free copy of the survey when published. That is a $495 savings, but the ideas you will pick up to improve financial performance within your firm will be the big payoff. Ask your accounting person or administrator to complete the survey today by going to http://www.jurisinsight.com/2006survey.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income contact Juris National Sales Center:

877/377-3740, e-mail info@juris.com or go to www.Juris.com.

The Law Firm's Web Site Has Become the Manager of First Impressions

Admin — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:53:00 GMT

We have thought of the firm’s receptionist as the manager of first impressions. Not any more. Times have changed and now prospective clients and job candidates first visit the firm's Web site. Today you may have clients who have never visited your office but who do go to your Web site.

I had the occasion yesterday to again visit a number of law firm Web sites. There must be a super law firm Web site designer somewhere who has decreed that all law firm sites must look alike. Most do include their areas of practice and serve as a "who’s who" list if you need to spell a non-letterhead partner’s name. Many law firms have a Web site for the sole reason that everyone has one. “We have a Web site. That job is done. Now let’s get back to lawyering”. If that sounds like your law firm, you haven’t been listening. Web sites are now the No.1 marketing tool for law firms.

Increasingly, prospective clients go to your Web site first and, depending on their experience, you may never hear them. Where do you think prospective new hires and prospective laterals go first? When is the last time you spent time surfing your own Web site? What would your reaction be if you were a prospective client or a talent candidate? Suppose you were looking for a new law firm. Does your firm show up in a Google search? Try it! Search using search words that a prospective client might use.

Law firms aren’t alone. Michelle Golden noted that business-to-business blogs are far behind the marketing Web sites of business-to-consumer sites. As she noted in the post on her blog Golden Practices, law firms can learn a lot from business-to-consumer sites. Her post is worth your attention.

Law firm Web sites warrant more investment. They need more depth and richness. Most of all, they need the constant attention of someone in the law firm. Law firms spend a lot on their facilities to convey the firm’s desired image. Today, it’s the Web site that greets visitors first.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.

High Performing Law Firms Spend More

Admin — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:02:02 GMT

The most profitable firms don’t have the lowest cost structure. That was one of the findings from a recent Juris, Inc. survey. Top performing firms had higher per-head operating expenses and a higher ratio of non-fee earners to fee earners. Full survey details will become available later this month.

The findings provide more evidence that it pays to focus on revenue rather than cost reduction. That is not to say that profitable firms spend recklessly. While costs per head are higher, the firm’s total cost as a percentage of revenue was lower due to higher revenue per partner and per head.

Cost cutting campaigns will not move a law firm into the category of a top performer. If you want to increase profitability, you need to concentrate on increasing revenue rather than focusing attention on reducing expenses. You should pursue business development as well as opportunities to increase productivity, effective rate, and realization. Eliminating amenities, downgrading facilities, reducing personnel, holding back on salary increases, and reducing administrative staff is likely to cause more harm than gain.

Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.