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The Friday Five

Most Popular: Five Really Good Ideas

By The Editors

Getting serious about solving that irritating practice management problem but need a little help? Did you know that you can access — at no charge — hundreds of Attorney at Work daily dispatches by simply searching our archives? There you’ll find practitioners’ perspectives and expert how-to’s on countless conundrums (be it the best billing formats or what the well-dressed wear in court). Speaking of great advice, here are the five most-read Attorney at Work posts from the past 30 days. These are really good ideas!

Document Editing1. Legal Editing with Three Simple Questions
By Mary Lokensgard | Cribbing from commercial forms and recycling language from documents you’ve already created saves a lot of time and aggravation when you’re drafting new documents. But no matter how good your forms are, or how cutting-edge your software is, they won’t save you from the real work that remains after you’ve finished the initial draft: Editing. I’m talking about editing the documents you’ve drafted with care in the first place. READ MORE

Apps2. Four Powerful Mobile Apps for Accessing Your Files
By Noble McIntyre | Our clients and opposing counsel expect us to be able to access files and research at any time and anywhere — just like they do. And now, thanks to my smartphone and iPad, I am able to work any time and be much more productive. If I am waiting for a deposition to begin, for my case to be called, or even to pick up my kids’ carpool, I can be drafting a quick memo or returning calls because I can get what I need and I’m prepared. READ MORE

Play to Win3. Business Development Starters for Associates
By Sally J. Schmidt | Remember when partners would say to associates, “Don’t worry about getting business. Just spend your time doing the work and learning your craft”? Then they would make someone partner and tell them to build a practice. Without having planted the seeds as an associate, it was an uphill battle at best. Now many firms are asking their young people to start thinking about marketing and business development earlier in their careers. READ MORE

Junior Lawyers4. Junior Lawyers: Like Training Pigeons
By Chris Hargreaves | One of the striking things about law practice is our “sink-or-swim” mentality when it comes to junior associates. They do their law studies, we recruit them through various mechanisms, and then we basically just leave them to it. Then comes the “performance review” process, and at this point the problems with the system become evident. High performers are rewarded with financial compensation. Poor performers are noted during their performance review and given feedback about what they need to do better, and we congratulate ourselves on having dealt with the issue. Except that we haven’t. READ MORE

Friday Five5. Trends in Legal Pricing and Project Management
By Steve Nelson | Practice innovation — at least in terms of pricing, project management and process improvement (the three “P’s”) — is the focus of the Legal Marketing Association’s P3 Conference. We asked Steve Nelson to report back on the highlights of P3 2014 — an eye-opener — held in Chicago. Here are five things he learned. READ MORE

BONUS: Really Good Marketing Ideas

FREE download! Even the world’s busiest lawyers are interested in the possibility of new (better) clients. Because it is just so hard to go out looking for clients. All. The. Time. Right? Well, that’s what this free bonus download— one of our most popular ever — is all about: Classic advice on “How to (Really) Get More Clients

Illustrations ©iStockPhoto.com

Categories: Daily Dispatch, Friday Five, Managing a Law Firm
Originally published August 8, 2014
Last updated April 13, 2018
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