A great deal has been said and written about the epidemic of the unhappy lawyer. Surveys suggest that career dissatisfaction among lawyers, and even rates of depression, are on the rise. Law firm associates are not immune. In fact, a survey from a few years back found that “associate attorney” was the unhappiest job in the United States. Many theories are posited as to the root causes, including overwork, stress, uninteresting work and the adversarial nature of the law. In recent years, firms have increasingly been urged to improve culture and expand opportunities for work-life balance, particularly for young associates. Firms need to change, the thinking goes, to adapt to the needs and desires of millennials. I’m a skeptic. I think today’s “wisdom” about what motivates millennial lawyers will be proven wrong.

Getting quoted in the media is one of the most effective ways for lawyers to raise their profile, gain credibility as a thought leader and attract clients. However, you may not have the time to cultivate relationships with the press or the budget to hire a PR firm. Help A Reporter Out — HARO — is a shortcut to free publicity and can be a powerful marketing tool.

Are you contemplating streamlining, centralizing or outsourcing some or all of your law firm's back-office functions? It's an idea worth exploring. Improving basic processes and using the right technology can help you and your staff minimize frustration and save time, which ultimately benefits your clients. If you’re wondering where to begin, here are five practical ideas.

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the attitudes people bring to work every day and how a positive or negative attitude affects how others perform their jobs — including how they serve their clients. The interesting thing is that the attitude you bring to work directly impacts every aspect of what you do and how you do it. Attitude drives your behavior. It impacts your productivity — and whether you are on track to succeed in accomplishing everything you should be doing. And you almost always bring your work attitude home to your loved ones. So, that begs a critical question: If your attitude is contagious, why not go for the positive?

Lawyers may practice in different areas of the law and serve a wide range of clients, but most seem to share a common aversion: They hate doing timesheets. Despite this near universal resentment toward tracking time, most lawyers eventually learn that they need to be effective in billing clients to have a thriving practice. Here are seven important steps to help make your billing more accurate, client-friendly and effective.

Lawyers hate math. At least most do. It’s why they became lawyers. Which means working with data isn’t appealing to most lawyers, either. But law practices are businesses, and these days, successful businesses leverage data to thrive. Here are some tips to inspire you to learn more about embracing data to grow your law practice.

When Nehal Madhani left his practice at Kirkland & Ellis four years ago, he set out to create an online marketplace to connect lawyers and businesses. First, he learned to code. “I wanted to understand the underlying technology,” says the CodeX Fellow. Over time, it became clear that the productivity tools his new company was […]

It’s no secret that if you make it easier for people to reach you using their preferred method, you’re going to get more contacts — ones that could convert to clients. Today, this is especially true of your website. While phone calls have always had the highest conversion rate, from the initial contact to case sign-ups, technology is rapidly evolving and offers more ways than ever for people to contact you.

One of the most challenging things about new business development is keeping your focus — and perspective. Especially when your billable hours are down or your calendar is emptying, it is all too easy, as my dad used to say, to “jump on your horse and gallop off in all directions.” As with any strategic endeavor, you will be more effective — and happier with the results — if you’ve got your eye on the correct path at all times.

You can’t be persuasive if your message is confusing. Whether you’re arguing a motion or giving an interview on a political issue, clarity is what counts. A qualifier changes the meaning of another word or phrase. Too many qualifiers convolute your message. How Legal Argument Is Like Politics. A recent news story discussed a drop in crime reporting within the Latino community. The police chief expressed concern that undocumented immigrants were increasingly reluctant to report crimes; they feared, he speculated, that a heightened presence would result in deportation.