As private practice attorneys, we’ve all been on the receiving end of lawyer jokes — sometimes by well-intentioned family members, other times by members of the community. You may feel as though the people around you believe your sole focus is money. As you build and market your practice, it’s important to actively fight that perception. Ultimately, prospective clients want an attorney who makes them feel comfortable. They want someone who is trustworthy, with a "human touch" as well as the knowledge and experience to do the job.

Here inside counsel “asks,” that can help make you their favorite lawyer.

When I was a salaried associate at a large law firm, I received four weeks of paid vacation every year. And I always took every single day. I was shocked to find out I was in the minority, and that many attorneys hadn’t taken a vacation in years! In fact, according to surveys conducted by Glassdoor and Harris Interactive, only 25 percent of Americans take all of their paid vacation and nearly 42 percent do not take any vacation. I get it: Taking a vacation actually requires a lot of time and effort. Not only must you make travel plans and related arrangements, but work has to be managed. Don’t let those hurdles overwhelm you, though. Here’s how to get away and enjoy it!

You should be ... and it’s easier than ever! Here at MyCase, a leading online legal practice management software, we recently announced the addition of a built-in credit card payments feature to our Payments service. MyCase customers can now accept online payments from clients using both credit cards and checking accounts (also known as eCheck or ACH payments) seamlessly through their MyCase account, no third-party integration required

The benefits of flat-fee billing arrangements are numerous, from predictability to efficiency to increased client satisfaction. But not all legal matters are appropriate for flat fees. So, how do you know which practice areas are right for a flat-fee structure? The short answer comes down to two words: predictability and repetition.

Ah, summertime. Some of us toss things in a bag and answer the siren call of the road, while others are happy staking out a quiet space on the patio for a good read. Either way, a little mellow downtime shouldn’t go to waste. We’ve collected some of our most popular posts — the classics that get quoted, reprinted and shared over and over — to kick off your summer and ignite some creative thinking.

The best lawyers are often the most creative lawyers. But that doesn’t mean they are, or even want to be, labeled as “creative.” Creativity has a certain connotation to it — and it’s traditionally been a term associated with, well, creative people like artists, musicians and writers.

Each year, Bob Denney’s big fourth quarter report on What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession keeps us on top of the most important business trends. But there's no need to wait for year’s end to feel a little smarter about the legal landscape. Around midyear, Bob issues an update reporting on fluxes in the marketplace. So, what’s bubbling up at 2016’s halfway point? Like all previous reports, this update is not based just on law firm surveys but also on information we are continually gathering from legal departments, other providers of legal services, the legal and business press and data compiled by various resources. We are not attempting to report on every development, many of which are obvious and widely recognized, but only on those that we believe are having, or will have, an impact on the profession.

Forget juggling. Most of us feel like we're endlessly spinning plates, hoping we can keep all the parts and pieces of our lives from crashing to the ground. And then comes summer, and the promise of a little down time to relax and refresh — or at least remove a few plates from the stack. Assuming, of course, you can squeeze out any time for yourself at all. To wrap up our "Read the Classics" week, we offer five popular Attorney at Work posts that may help you find a little more time to savor the summer.

Two of Legal Tech Industry’s Most Influential Players Together Deliver One-Stop-Shop Legal Technology Solutions Abacus Data Systems, Inc. (Abacus), the premier provider of fully managed legal technology solutions, has announced that Amicus Attorney (Amicus), one of the world’s leading practice management solution for lawyers, will become an integrated part of the Abacus family.