Columns

Last month’s United Airlines overbooking debacle and the subsequent PR disaster and brand implosion has me thinking of the value of communicating clearly. There’s much to be critical of in United’s behavior and initial poorly worded erstwhile ...

There was a time not that long ago when I counseled lawyers not to spend too much time writing and publishing articles. Back then, they were largely passive, short-lived marketing efforts. Today, however, as clients conduct their own internet ...

Jamie Spannhake | Here are five ways to spring clean your personal and professional life.

There is an old folk story that makes a fine metaphor for client development. In the tale, hungry strangers (read: the law firm client team) facilitate the people of a town (the team’s clients) giving them food (solving a problem and ...

If you still have 496 business cards in the original box of 500 you received when you began practicing, it’s time for a few pointers.

If you’re a solo practitioner or in a small law firm, you are likely a slave to your smartphone, making sure clients can always reach you. As the managing partner at a small firm, I found it increasingly difficult to keep up with my clients' ...

Until recently, law firms have had to rely on generic business software for managing customer relations, including intake. Salesforce is the longtime leader in that category. Starting with Avvo’s release of Ignite, however, law firm-specific ...

A big part of a lawyer’s role is negotiation, and that means numbers. A lawyer has to be able to calculate the value of whatever is being negotiated. Case evaluation is part art and a lot of math. Pulling a number out of the air and hoping the ...

Last month I signed up to take the California bar exam in July. (I'm fully aware I might be insane.) Taking the Arizona bar exam right after law school, when I had no obligations outside of studying, was challenging enough. This time, I reached ...

It seems that every solo lawyer I meet has a list of things they would like to be doing better in their practice. Sometimes the motivating factor is business growth, sometimes it’s efficiency. At the heart of many “to do” items, though, is ...