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  • March 7, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Growing a Law Firm: Issues to Think About

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. Our practice is located in Memphis. We have three attorneys, 3 paralegals, and two staff members. We will generate $1,500,000 in legal fees this year. We plan on growing the firm and hope to break the $2.5 million barrier in three years. We have a very proactive marketing plan and program. What else do we need to think about?

    A. Growth will involve more the marketing and getting more clients - particularly a firm your size. To generate this revenue you will have to add several revenue producers which could almost double your size. You will become a different firm. Instead of three attorneys - you may have six or seven unless your growth will occur by adding mostly paralegals. Even so, there will be more people. This will impact your physical facilities and physical plant, your systems, your IT infrastructure, approach to talent management, and how the firm is managed. Growth requires investment and puts strain on cash flow. So this needs to be planned for. If you don't have a strategic plan (see our blog under strategy section) I suggest that you consider developing one. A strategic plan will require you to think beyond the marketing plan and getting clients - and address all of the other issues that will impact the firm as you grow.

    Click here for our blog on law firm strategy

    Click here for our published articles

  • March 1, 2012
    Co-parties lack standing to appeal substitution-of-judge rulings

    The Illinois Supreme Court held in Powell v Dean Foods that a defendant does not have standing on appeal to challenge the ruling on a co-defendant's motion for substitution of judge. Find out more in the March Illinois Bar Journal.

  • February 29, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law firm marketing: Obtaining more business from existing clients

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. Our firm is based in Little Rock. We currently have 12 attorneys. We were larger several years ago. We have lost 8 attorneys in the last five years as well as several business clients. Profitability has suffered? What marketing initiatives should we be exploring to improve profitability and increase the size of the pie?

    A. On average it costs five times as much (dollars/time investment) to get new clients than it does to get more business from existing clients. It just makes good business sense to leverage existing relationships.

    I suggest that your first priority is to circle your wagons around your existing clients and insure that the quality of your services and the quality of your relationship with the client is beyond reproach. Then look for unmet needs and additional work from existing clients. Once this has been accomplished begin targeting new business clients and cultivating relationships one by one.

    Many of our clients that represent business clients have found the following (listed in order of value to the firm) to be a few of the more successful marketing tools at the firm and individual attorney level:

    Firm Level:

    • Firm website
    • Solicit and respond to client feedback (Client Surveys)
    • Newsletters and solid marketing collateral materials
    • Up to date marketing database of clients, past clients, referral and media sources

    Individual Attorney Level

  • February 24, 2012
    First no texting, now no talking?

    Will Illinois join the states that prohibit drivers from talking on cell phones and using other hand-held devices? Maybe. A bill has been introduced in the General Assembly that would prohibit all hand-held telephone use while driving a vehicle in Illinois, Adam Lasker writes in the March IBJ.

    2 comments (Most recent February 24, 2012)
  • February 22, 2012 | Practice News
    Law firm strategic plans: Are they practical for small law firms?

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. I am the managing partner of a 12 attorney firm in Chicago. We have been considering whether we should develop a strategic plan for the firm. We have problems even having partner meetings on a consistent basis and those often yield questionable results. What are firms doing? Does a strategic plan make sense for a firm like ours?

    A. According to recent surveys, 70+% of the responding law firms (ranging in size from the largest to 45 attorney firms) have formal written strategic plans. Smaller firms have a much lower experience. In our experiences with smaller law firms we are finding that fewer than 15% have formal written strategic plans. I consider success to be achievement of measurable results as evidenced by achievement of the goals and objectives outlined in the plan and actual implementation of action items. Lawyers and law firms seem to do better at planning than they do at implementation. Larger firms usually are more successful in implementation due to availability of management resources, leadership and functional governance. Smaller firms tend to have problems with implementation. In fact, we frequently recommend that a firm address other management issues prior to engaging in strategic planning. If a firm is having problems implementing day-to-day operational decisions the firm will not be effective in implementing strategic planning initiatives.

    You might want to get your operational house in order first and resolve day-to-day operational management issues first and then move on to the future.

  • February 16, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law Firm Coaching: When Does A Lawyer Need A Coach

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. Our firm of 16 attorneys is trying to make major strides this year in helping our firm design and implement personal business and client development plans. Should we consider hiring coaches? When should a firm consider coaching for attorneys?

    A. The day-to-day stress of practicing law and serving clients leaves little time for focusing and investing in the future of the firm. When attorneys exhibit the following it may be time for a coach:

    • Stuck and unable to move forward on new initiatives
    • Indecision paralysis
    • Lack of commitment, inertia, self-accountability or follow-up
    • Poor implementation skills
    • Lack of management, leadership, interpersonal, or other needed skills.

    Training and skill development is not easy. Studies reveal that 90 percent of the people who attend seminars and training sessions see no improvement because they don't take the time to implement what they learn. Practice creates habits and habits determine your future. Up to 90 percent of our normal behavior is based on habits. The key to skill learning is to get the new skill to become a habit. Once the new habit is well developed it becomes your new normal behavior. This requires practice. Unfortunately, attorneys do not have time to practice and experiment.

    The coach's role is that of steward, facilitative leader and teacher. Law firms retain coaches to work with attorneys and staff, mostly on a personal level, to address problems involving lack of commitment, inertia, implementation, self-accountability and follow-up. Firms are using coaching in the following areas:

  • February 15, 2012
    When your client wants to give you a gift in his will

    Your client wants to include you in his will -- the very will you're preparing for him. Your ethics antennae begin to quiver. What should you do?

    You might start by reading an article by Mike Rooney in the most recent ISBA Real Property newsletter that discusses a pair of Illinois disciplinary cases centered on the lawyer-as-testamentary-gift-recipient fact pattern.

  • February 8, 2012 | Practice News
    Getting hospitals to submit bills to your p.i client's health insurer

    More and more hospitals and doctors are trying to get a piece of your p.i. client's recovery under the Health Care Services Lien Act instead of seeking payment from his or her health insurer. Why? Because they know the insurer is likely to discount their bill.

    But often your client would be better off "having his or her medical expenses paid by health insurance rather than out of the tort recovery," Dennis L. Berkbigler writes in the latest ISBA Tort Trends newsletter.

    What to do? Threaten to sue.

  • February 8, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law Firm Compensation Committee

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. For years our 14 attorney firm has operated under a formula based eat-what-you kill system. We are moving toward a more subjective-based system. We have been advised that we will need a compensation committee. What are your thoughts regarding compensation committees?

    A. The components of your compensation plan and partner buy-in will be important to the success of your program. However, how you setup and constitute your compensation committee will be crucial. In a subjective system trust is paramount. How the members are selected, who serves on the committee, how the committee operates, and other matters must be spelled out and communicated to all partners. Here are a few ideas:

  • February 1, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law Firm Profit Improvement Strategy

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. Our firm has been struggling for the past couple years. We have lost three key institutional clients, had partner defections to other law firm, and have suffered financially. We were a 40 attorney firm- six years later we are ten. We simply must improve profitability. What areas of our overhead should we attack first?

    A. Many law firms waste considerable time trying to find ways to cut a pie that is too small up differently by implementation of new compensation systems or increasing the size of the pie by decreasing costs. While unnecessary expenses should be reduced - once they are reduced a repeated effort to slash costs proves fruitless as a strategy to increase the firm pie. The vast majority of law firm expenses are fixed or production-related. The percentage of costs that are discretionary is low, typically in the 20-30 percent range, and the number of dollars available for savings is small. The available dollars available for reduction disappear after a year or two of cost-cutting, leaving the firm with dealing with the effects of further cuts on production capacity. For example: