If I had a nickel for every law firm that has called me in the last six months wanting to discuss law firm profitability, I’d have… well, I don’t know what I’d have but it would be at least several nickels. Law firm profitability is a topic near and dear to the hearts… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Finance
Subscribe to Finance RSS FeedHow to Avoid Charging Clearly Excessive Fees
Posted in FinanceHere’s an article I wrote for the most recent newsletter of the NCBA Law Practice Management Section: When the topic of alternative fee arrangements comes up – and it comes up a lot these days – I hear one question more than any other: “if I do flat fees, what is a clearly excessive fee?”Over… Continue Reading
Accounting and CRM: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
Posted in Finance, Marketing, TechnologyThe Wall Street Journal Digits blog reports that accounting giant Intuit and CRM (customer relations management) software giant Salesforce are teaming up in a move to dive deeper into the small business market. The product will be web-based and sold through Intuit’s App Center. This is potentially interesting news for lawyers in small and mid-sized… Continue Reading
GroupESQ: Bulk Discounts for Every Lawyer
Posted in Finance, ManagementBob Ambrogi of Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites blog uncovered a resource that allows lawyers to harness the power of bulk discounts on goods and services: Anyone who has ever shopped at a warehouse discount store knows that buying in bulk can save you money. A new Web site extends that concept to lawyers, enabling even solo… Continue Reading
Defining “Quality” in Legal Services
Posted in Finance, ManagementBruce MacEwen of Adam Smith, Esq., frames the debate on what it means to deliver “quality” legal services: What is “quality” in legal services and professional representation of a client? Had you asked me that a few years ago, I would have cocked my head and looked at you sideways. We all know what it… Continue Reading
Why You Should Bootstrap Your Start Up Law Firm
Posted in FinanceVivek Wadhwa‘s post on TechCrunch called “Ditch the Biz Plan, Buy a Lottery Ticket” extolls the virues of bootstrapping: Hardly a day goes by when I don’t have a rookie entrepreneur ask for advice on raising money from VCs. They usually have a fancy-looking business plan with detailed spreadsheets showing how their company will be… Continue Reading
Quantification and Law Practice Management
Posted in Finance, ManagementHow many open files does it take to produce X hours of billable work in Y period of time? That question came into my email inbox today, courtesy of a discussion group where people talk about law practice management. (What, that doesn’t sound like fun to you?) The consensus of the group was that the… Continue Reading
How to Reduce Your A/R to Zero in 120 Days
Posted in FinanceWould you stiff this guy if you owed him money? There is a great scene in The Dark Knight when the Joker makes his first extended appearance before an assembled gathering of Gotham’s organized crime figures. He offers to rid the cabal of their arch-enemy, Batman. When the hoodlums ask if it’s so easy to… Continue Reading
Capitalizing a New Law Practice
Posted in FinanceNot long ago I wrote an article on How Much Money Do You Really Need to Start a Law Practice. Due to the positive response the article received, I expanded it and it is featured in this month’s Law Practice Today. Check it out.
Initial Consults: To Free or Not to Free?
Posted in FinanceI’m against lawyers doing free consultations. Not for the usual reasons given — such as that it diminishes the attorney’s stature or that people simply don’t value free things. No, I’m against free consultations because they frequently mask a serious practice management problem that needs addressing: not being able to close a sale. Converting an… Continue Reading
How Much Money Do You Really Need to Start a Law Practice?
Posted in FinanceThe conventional wisdom on this topic is that you need twelve months. It’s probably as good a place as any to begin the analysis, but it’s a little like figuring out how much gas you need in your car: a full tank is nice, but what really need is enough gas to make it to… Continue Reading
3 Things You Can Control
Posted in Finance, ManagementThis morning I consulted my Magic 8 Ball about the impact of the economic meltdown on law practice (which, as I understand it, is the same technology currently utilized by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke) and the results were sobering: As the stock market makes yet another pirrouetting nosedive, we have by now heard opinions… Continue Reading
Surviving an Economic Downturn
Posted in FinanceLast month I wrote an article called Personal Profitability in a Downturn for the ABA Publication Law Practice Magazine. I wrote the article in August and started with the words “Predictions look dire…” Well, if it looked dire four weeks ago, it looks downright disastrous today. All is not doom and gloom, however. The thrust… Continue Reading
Is The Money in Your Trust Account Safe?
Posted in FinanceJim Calloway of the always excellent Law Practice Tips Blog wrote a great post today about the relative safety of trust account funds in the possible event of bank failures. you can read it here. The gist of the article: it is fairly well-known that the FDIC insures up to $100,000 per person per bank. … Continue Reading