Now lawyers use every term they can think of because some court somewhere once said the language in the contract didn’t cover the dispute. Sometimes that’s a good reason, but often it is not. Rather than a considered approach, most lawyers start with a template that has been reworked over decades (centuries?) without ever removing archaic language.

We appear to have reached the tipping point with regard to whether employers can ask job seekers about their current compensation. In addition to the various jurisdictions that have passed legislation prohibiting such inquiries, many companies, such as Amazon, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, have instituted companywide policies prohibiting them. And many law firms have done the same — even those that have little or no operations in the jurisdictions noted. The question now is: What will the impact be?

Keeping clients happy is not just about providing quality service and results, but also ensuring your fees are fair and your billing is professional and transparent. Avoid Surprises, Avoid Disputes Most clients’ biggest fear is how much they will pay. They’re always afraid of getting a massive invoice at the end of the month. Before they […]

Do you get nervous before speaking in front of people? Even worse, do you have trouble letting go of your performance once it's over? For lawyers especially, it can be hard to shut off your mind. So it’s useful to think about another context where performance is vastly improved the less you think about it: professional sports.

There are several types of security defenses you can put in place to guard your network and data against ransomware and other threats. But there is one defense that focuses on the human side of this vulnerability, teaching us all to be harder targets in this battle of wits: security awareness training (SAT).

The mother lode of content creation is unique content that can be branded as solely belonging to the lawyer or firm. This can be produced and updated quarterly, annually or as news and events require. It establishes the publisher as an authority with its finger on the pulse of its chosen market. Notice I write “chosen” market. This has to be highly focused and should dovetail perfectly with your brand. Let me give you some examples.

In the legal industry, knowledge is power. In its traditional sense, that phrase may conjure notions of a zero-sum game: I win, you lose. In recent years, however, the business world has begun recognizing a new key to success: emotional intelligence. Not only does emotional intelligence increase your ability to be personally more successful, it also can lead to greater team and firm success. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked and seldom leveraged.

An Essential Guide to Select the Right Law Practice Management Software for Your Firm We’ve all heard that lawyers are risk averse when it comes to technology. And it could be easy to draw that conclusion from the most recent ABA legal technology survey report, which reveals that the number of lawyers taking advantage of […]

For this edition of Friday Tech Tips, we asked the practice management technology experts: "What’s your best tech tip for collaborating well with others?" Here's good advice from Jim Calloway, Andrea Cannavina, Jared Correia, Darla Jackson, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, Catherine Sanders Reach, Deborah Savadra and John Simek.

Why is it so hard to save for “attorney retirement” while you’re building your own firm? You started your practice to have more control, freedom to choose certain clients (and fire others) and potentially, make more money. Hopefully, all or at least most of these are occurring, but I imagine it’s still challenging to save […]