Successful lawyers have many contacts willing to introduce them to prospects or others who can help them. Too many of these introductions are squandered because the lawyer being offered the introduction doesn’t manage the proffer properly. The result is a pleasant but vacuous meeting with no logical basis for continuity, where nothing gets accomplished, all at the cost of creating two new debts. What are the debts? When you offer to introduce me to Jack (below), I owe you. When Jack meets with me primarily at your behest, you owe Jack. We’ve created two debts. If I do this the right way, Jack will thank you for introducing me, and he’ll owe you. I have to do this before ever speaking to Jack. When a referral source offers to arrange a meeting with someone she knows well, thank her for the offer, and ask how she thinks you can help that person. Ask your source why she believes the referred contact will welcome the meeting and benefit from the meeting itself — not from the great work you’ll eventually do for them. The answer identifies the problem that the prospect will acknowledge having. It may prove to be the agenda for your meeting, but it’s definitely the foundation of any worthwhile introduction. To illustrate, let’s say that our client, Janice Brown, wants to introduce us to a friend and colleague. Here’s how that exchange might proceed

What steps can you take to better manage your time so you're truly more productive and less overwhelmed? For this month's Friday 5+ Tech Tips, we asked the practice management experts for their best time management tip: a teensy tweak or trick that has made a difference — or their best advice for overhauling an entire process, if that’s what it takes. Heidi Alexander, Carole Levitt, Nora Regis, Lee Rosen, Catherine Reach and Mark Rosch help you clear the decks! ...READ THE REST

For every attorney-paralegal relationship that is built on a foundation of mutual respect and admiration, there are several razed under constant consternation, engendered by a sense of entitlement on the lawyer's part. For every long-standing relationship between a lawyer and his office manager, there are several that won’t even last a year, as part of a larger cycle of constant ingress and egress. This equation could be reversed, however, if more lawyers recognized the true value of support staff, by treating them as colleagues within the context of a team environment, and abandoning the de facto caste system ... READ THE REST

Running a small law firm is no easy feat. Aside from the fact that law school gives you little in the way of business or technology skills, there’s also the small matter of spending the majority of your time dealing with people at some of the most stressful times in their lives. If you get busy or successful enough to grow, it’s then very difficult to keep everyone in the loop on what’s happening in each file. The sheer volume of emails, phone messages, documents and notes means that despite it being 2015 the reality is you’re tied to paper and the physical file. This is often the point that firms look for a Case Management System — once they become overwhelmed ... READ THE REST

Why is it that we take care of everyone and everything else before we take care of ourselves? Why do we neglect our needs in ways we would never tolerate from another person? Why do we accept this self-treatment? Perhaps it's because no one holds us accountable but ourselves, and we generally do a very poor job of that. Or maybe we think it's selfish to prioritize our own well-being over everyone else's. But it isn't selfish. In fact, it is crucial to our well-being, and benefits our work and the people around us. We simply need to re-frame the conversation we have with ourselves. Instead of saying “Me first,” think of it as “I am as important as all the other people and things that are important to me.” READ THE REST

We’re a bit obsessed with numbers at Attorney at Work. (You have seen “The Friday 5,” right?) As of July 1, we figure our expert contributors have written more than 1,150 original posts since our 2011 launch. That’s “one really good idea every day” for 1,150 days.  We’ve run the numbers on this past year, too, and during our summer break, we’ll be highlighting nine […]

After each recent Supreme Court ruling, I noticed a common pattern. Certain law firms would send an alert within hours, advising readers of the decision. Over the days that followed, other firms’ advisories would trickle in to my inbox or Twitter account. Some are still arriving. News, of course, can present a marketing opportunity. However, the benefit you receive from informing others about it will depend on many factors, including your competition for the readers’ attention, the timeliness of your message and the quality of the piece.

Even the best writer can sometimes confuse words that sound almost the same — call them sound-alikes. A prior post reviewed many of the most common pairs. Here are some more.

One of the downsides of traveling is that email keeps coming in while you’re gone. Although I had an awesome time doing The Undeniable Tour earlier this year, and speaking at the Ungagged conference in London, my inbox turned into a nightmare while I was away. I prefer to keep the population of my inbox at 25 or less. That way I can see all pending messages on one page. I get easily overwhelmed and distracted if I feel like too many pressing issues need my attention. When I got back from London, I had nearly 300 messages in my inbox. Bah! It was time to get a handle on this. ... READ THE REST

Go to law school. Work hard. Get a job at a big firm. The road map for becoming a successful lawyer used to be fairly predictable. But these days, many talented lawyers, uninspired by the BigLaw hierarchy, are striking out on their own. We're seeing more lawyers with entrepreneurial spirit start boutique firms or solo practices, finding new ways to deliver excellent legal services on their own terms. Carving out a distinct space for a new law practice and attracting the right kinds of clients is no easy feat. One big challenge: Without an existing big firm brand attached to your work, it’s up to you to establish yourself as a thought leader and stand out in front of peers and potential referral sources. But what does that mean? How do you find your target audience? And what makes for a true thought leader? Here are five tips for becoming a thought leader in your field. ... READ THE REST