The Art of Getting Clients to Pay

If someone doesn’t replenish a retainer after it runs out and you continue to represent him or her, thinking that the person will eventually pay, you’ll probably wind up doing the work pro bono even if you didn’t intend to . . . .

Article here (via abajournal) 

Practice tips: don't be afraid to look at a rule book, or read a few cases

Novel thoughts in the practice of law: Number 532 - Know the law.

So it might be a good idea, if you're a practicing lawyer, to know the law from time to time. Or know that, before beginning an argument, you might need to point the judge to the fact that you know it exists.

Here's another way to look at it - knowing the law is a way to win cases and make your clients happy. If you can show the judge "hey, here's the law" and then show the judge "but here's the facts of my case" you have a better chance of winning an argument. Which means more cases, and more clients, since happy clients will refer other people to you.

In other words, cases, laws, and rules are your friends. Here's the thing - cite the law, case, rule, statute, what have you. The judge needs to know that you know it. Besides, you went to law school for a while, then passed the Bar exam to practice, and you are probably proud of that fact. Then argue that -for certain reasons - your case is unique, so the law, case, rule etc. shouldn't apply, or that it applies in the way that you and your client want it to.

Make it easy for the judge to agree with you!

Also - if you have somehow become an attorney who doesn't do this, this small fact gets known. It's easy - and maybe a little lazy - to jump right into arguing, and repeat facts to the judge and ask the judge to rule your way - but if the law's not on your side, or you can't argue that it should be, that is the first thing that opposing counsel will point out to the judge, and the thing that they will point out to their client.

Here's a good place to start - Michigan Rules of Court (MCR). (via Michigan Courts).

Are you a lawyer and billing clients for your time? Do it smarter.

Making sure clients get invoiced is the way you get paid, right? So do it right.

Hopefully that is a no-brainer for everyone who reads this post, but I doubt it. I have known plenty of lawyers who reconstruct time at the end of every month — or every couple of months — from their calendar, emails, and memory. Even if you only put together your bill at the end of the month, you need to track your time as you go. These are the major tools for doing that.

However you decide to track your time, pick a method and stick to it. When you sit down to assemble your invoices, the fewer places you have to go to get the raw data, the better. The more methods you use to track your time, the more mistakes you will make.

Article here (via the lawyerist). 

Is understanding technology a lawyer's job? Or the paralegal's job?

Lawyers are often behind on technology. It's a fact.

It’s not our fault, though — law school taught us from the very beginning to focus only on the theory of law as if practical skills never existed. Just look at the bar exam and ask yourself how many times have you or anyone you have ever known ever had to challenge POTUS’s ability to appoint major Cabinet members without congressional approval? How many of you practice criminal law and live in a state that has adopted provisions of the Model Penal Code? Those are mandatory law school classes and a good portion of the MPRE and possibly essay portion of your bar exams.

On the other hand, how many times have you had to draft billing entries so they aren’t cut by the client?

Article here (via Above the Law). 

If you're an attorney and think you can "get away" with just shoving technical responsibilities onto the shoulders of your support staff, think again. The ABA has changed the Model Rules to include technical know-how as part of the attorney's job.

What makes a law firm fail?

U of California Hastings Law Dean Frank Wu did a study on why law firms fail. It has nothing to do with the academics of the lawyers involved.

What is remarkable, he says, is that many failed firms were made up of superlative “lawyer’s lawyers” with excellent credentials and envied clients. Observers wonder how a law firm made up of the best lawyers can fail.

“And that makes my argument,” Wu writes. “Smart people overestimate the importance of being a smart person. To be the best lawyer, or the best collection of lawyers, is not enough; it doesn’t even guarantee you stay in the game.

Article here (via ABA journal). 

In other words, you don't have to be "smart" in the measured, academic way to be successful at the legal profession.

Lawyers: When should you decide not to take a case?

Getting more work is part of the work when you're a solo attorney. As if it's not enough to just do a good job on the work you do get, you won't get new work unless you are actively looking for it. And everyone says they want more cases, but what they really want is more good cases.

This article is a short list (from The Lawyerist) of how to evaluate when a case is good (worth taking) or not.

When evaluating clients, I have a list of red flags that generally mean I will not take the case. Like most lawyers, I have talked to potential clients and declined to represent them without hearing much about their potential case. If there is something about a client that does not fit my standard profile at the intake stage, it will become a bigger problem as the case develops.

Law Firm Finances: Everything you need to know

This is a good article about finances, cash flow, and law firm practices. (from the Lawyerist).

Legal Technology: What a solo law practice needs

What does a solo law practice need, in terms of technology?

Read this article for one lawyer's opinion (via the Lawyerist). It's a fairly complete list, and covers a lot of law-specific technology needs

My office set up ideally has: 2 cell phones (I have one for work and one for non-work); a printer, a wireless connection, a laptop, some spreadsheets (I am trying to move to Quicken but haven't yet), some specific software (I bought Marginsoft's "Support 2014" to calculate child support & spousal support), and (eek!) some notebooks for tracking my time (not recommended, I know.)