Managing a Law Firm
There is a timeless truth in our profession that every attorney eventually confronts: being a brilliant legal tactician does not automatically make you a successful business owner. Running a modern law firm requires an entirely separate skillset—one that balances financial precision, operational scaling, and team culture.
If you are ready to stop firefighting administrative tasks and start building a highly profitable, scalable enterprise on your own terms, explore our complete, interactive master handbook: Managing a Law Firm: The Modern Partner’s Blueprint.
For targeted strategies, quick operational toolkits, and curated expert columns, browse our deep-dive archives directly below.
Lawyers typically hate numbers like cats hate water (or Larry Port - December 14, 2015
As a professional mountain climber, I’ve faced my share of life or death situations — all the way from the tundra of Denali Park to the summit of Mt. Everest. But as frightening as these encounters have been, they don’t compare to the career ...
Adrian Ballinger - December 10, 2015
Look, I get it. Computer backups are a bother. It’s something a staff member typically takes care of, or maybe your IT consultant has you covered. I observe, however, that few lawyers really know what’s actually going on with their computer ...
Mark Bassingthwaighte - December 8, 2015
The difference between a thriving law firm and a law firm that fails can come down to one thing: efficiency. If you cling to old habits and fail to use more efficient methods of managing your practice, you risk sacrificing profits. Here are five ...
Rosemary Kupfert - December 4, 2015
Almost every law firm has issues with collections at one time or another. At the very least, most firms would benefit from making improvements to their collections processes. So let’s take a look at some different approaches to see what might ...
Michael Baker - December 1, 2015
Once again, Attorney at Work readers are the first to receive Robert Denney's annual report on the trends affecting the legal profession, “What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession.” Which trends have staying power? What practice areas ...
Bob Denney - November 30, 2015
Judging by the 50-plus weeks "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" has been on The New York Times best-seller list, Americans have a new fascination with getting organized. By my observation, lawyers as a class are not an organized lot. From ...
Theda C. Snyder - November 16, 2015
To find more clients, stop thinking like a lawyer and start thinking like a small business owner: Evaluate your market, identify what you want to sell and advertise yourself effectively. To that end, remember that people who aren’t intimately ...
Anthony Johnson - November 13, 2015
Writing and editing marketing copy — for a brochure, proposal, website, whatever — can be a high-wire act. If there's more than one lawyer in your practice, you know it's true: Make editing a group event, and it becomes a management nightmare. ...
Susan Kostal - November 12, 2015
Clio, the leading cloud-based legal practice management provider, has announced two major feature releases and eight new integration partners. These new product capabilities and integrations directly address the most commonly-cited challenges ...
Joshua Lenon - November 6, 2015