Managing a Law Firm

Microsoft’s idea of attractive headings doesn’t suit most legal documents. But you can permanently change your default heading styles so you can start every new document with headings in the right typeface and font color. One of the first things ...

How much should you actually save for retirement? Everyone from your brother-in-law to your favorite (or least favorite) financial pundit has a view. But, are those opinions even remotely accurate? As opposed to pontificating about retirement ...

At first glance, communications may seem like a bygone problem for lawyers today. Haven’t smartphones made it easier to stay in constant contact with your clients? It’s true that smartphones offer you more mobility and instant, real-time ...

In "Why Lawyers Really Struggle with Work-Life Balance," I listed six steps to building a practice that runs smoothly and allows you to have a life: 1) acquire better management skills; 2) implement better technology; 3) create and install ...

To save time and labor in writing emails, consider composing templates or boilerplates that can easily be inserted into new emails and email messages you respond to. That’s the premise and promise of Ant Text, an add-in for Outlook and Outlook ...

Lawyers are essentially professional writers. Last year, I saw my friend and New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler speak at Phoenix Comicon about how he managed to be a prolific writer and handle the business side of being a ...

In an earlier post, "Money Management Tips for New Associates," we focused on how freshly minted lawyers can start their financial life on the right foot. Now let's fast-forward a few years and consider some guidance for mid-level associates and ...

Back in January 2017, I was having breakfast with a local lawyer when he said, “I think I need to raise my rates this year. I am just not making enough money, and raising my rates should make the year more profitable.” This led me to ask, "Do ...

In previous columns, I have talked about the concept of tribes and building a network to support you when your practice takes off in a major way and you need extra help. But have you thought about ways to broaden the scope of your community to ...

Straight out of law school, I joined a small law practice. I didn’t start out as an associate with a large salary and plenty of document review projects to hit my hours. I had to eat what I killed and immediately begin bringing in clients. If ...