Columns

Those who know me know I love sports. So, it should come as no surprise that I follow sports-related teams, figures and organizations on social media. About twice a year, I run across a list targeted at young would-be athletes of things that ...

I know very few attorneys who are really comfortable networking. I think that’s true of most businesspeople. Even those who are naturally outgoing tend to clam up once an otherwise purely social situation acquires a business networking aspect. ...

If you’re wondering whether blogging helps with your search engine results, it does. Here’s what happened when I started blogging about a new law. My goal was to break this law down into the elements that businesses need to know about and ...

Many lawyers are intimidated by technology issues, including how to keep their data safe. Yet in a world where large cities can be held up by ransomware attacks and hackers can shut down multinational law firms, we are far past the point where ...

As you edit your work product, pay special attention to instances where a stronger verb could replace a verb and its direct object. Besides being less persuasive, weak verbs plus explanatory words lengthen your writing [not, “make it longer”].

Let me tell you a story about a brainy brief writer. She was smart, hardworking and loved practicing law. But she had few clients of her own. This made her beholden to others at her firm. Over the years, she came to believe she could never be a ...

When awards season and Chambers nominations roll around, some firms find themselves scrambling to cobble together nomination applications. It’s understandable. I’ve been on both sides: crafting nominations, judging entries and writing copy about ...

In the years it takes before your lawyering skills develop to where you can produce work product that clients will pay for, you cost your firm a lot more than you generate. That’s expected, but it doesn’t mean that in the interim you can’t ...

Lawyers are essentially professional writers. Last year, I saw my friend and New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler speak at Phoenix Comicon about how he managed to be a prolific writer and handle the business side of being a ...

When discussing business development, we often talk in terms of strategies — identifying top prospects, building niche practices or targeting selected referral sources, for example. But every now and then, I am reminded there are terrific ...