For the Times You Screw Up

No attorney likes to think about screwing up, or worse, disbarment. We all like to believe that we're practicing some higher form of law, and avoid the sad reality that sometimes, bad things happen to good lawyers.

When those bad things happen, there's something comforting in knowing that you're financially protected. You need to have legal malpractice insurance. I wrote about this need awhile ago, and the importance of what I said earlier stands.

Recently a referring attorney came to me because of some "problem" cases the attorney had dealt with. The attorney explained that because of the mounting needs with the attorney's primary practice area, some clients in the office got "left by the wayside." The attorney wanted me to review the files, and help out.

I took a peek, and fortunately, could save a few. However, for an unfortunate few, the attorney missed important deadlines, which could end up destroying the client's case. In one instance, the attorney's oversight could cost the client over $50,000.

I explained this to the attorney, who informed me that, despite numerous years in practice, the attorney hadn't carried malpractice insurance. I was shocked by the response, even I know that malpractice insurance is a must. Apparently though, the attorney's number of years in practice had proved differently. The attorney had never needed it before, and therefore, didn't believe it's necessary now.

Now, even if the clients wished to sue the attorney for some malpractice, there's little value in that because the attorney has no money, at least to the point of covering the $50,000-plus claims.

The problem my friends, as I've stated before, is that this type of thinking is selfish. You're not doing yourself any favors by not having malpractice insurance. Again, this is the cheapest insurance you'll purchase, for the biggest value (mine is about $700 per year).

Having malpractice is especially important if you're in an office-sharing relationship or a solo or small firm. Your "partners" (because that's how clients view them) will screw up their cases, and despite the fact you've never handled the case or met the client, they'll likely include your name in the grievance/lawsuit. (Don't think you it won't happen either, because it's what I would do if I sued your butt for malpractice - setting aside other particular issues). Having insurance will afford some decorum and security in these solemn situations.

If you can afford to hire an attorney to defend and represent you in these matters, then, by all means, keep up your insane behavior of practicing without insurance. However, if you're like me, and you believe that your clients deserve something if you screw up, then go get your insurance. Get it now.

Why Law School?

Now that I'm a practicing attorney, I can admit that I went to law school because it was an easy alternative to achieve a particular goal: have a professional degree.

As an undergraduate, I majored in Organizational Communication. After graduating, I discovered that there aren't too many jobs available in my particular degree field for someone with a bachelor's degree. Most of the professionals in the field have master's or doctorate degrees. Law school became a good fall back option to achieve the doctorate degree without having to go through a Ph.D. program.

So, like all aspiring law students, I took the LSAT, applied to schools, and waited. The rejections came well before the admission letters. I entered law school in 2005 and worked diligently. I achieved mediocre grades and status, but gratefully, I passed the bar exam.

Overall, I'm happy with my decision, and enjoy my work. However, in all honesty, there might have been something better for me, had I not been so focused on my plan.

There's a great post by Ashby Jones on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that discusses this very issue. The author encourages aspiring law students to seriously think about law school. It's costly, it's grueling, and despite what your law school career services department says, there simply aren't many jobs available where you're making lots of money. The truth is, most graduates make less than $50,000 per year, and except for the small percentage of students with scholarships, will pay $100,000-plus in student loans. In this economy, this isn't a smart business decision.

Vacation Time

I'm taking some time this week to celebrate the holiday. As such, I took my family from Oklahoma to visit my in-laws about 1200 miles away.

The problem most solos discover is that if you're not at the office, the work isn't getting done. Admittedly, there are times I hate taking any vacation time because I know when I return, the work will pile up. I'm sure many of the self-employed feel the same way. The truth is though, you need to get away and have some vacation time to recharge and renew.

This trip has been wonderful, because I've been able to relax and enjoy family time, while tackling some issues with clients, potential clients, and opposing counsel.

The first "life-line" has been LogMeIn. The web-based application allows me to connect with my office server and review files, documents, and other important client materials. It's even better because the program is free. You get the full functionality of your office desktop, without having to be in the office.

My second safety-value is Google Voice. This program allows me to receive calls and disguise my cell phone number to connect with clients. I always try to avoid giving my cell phone number to clients because some tend to call your phone at odd hours, on holidays, or whenever. GV disguises the number to my office line, and rings their phone. I can get voice mail messages, and send SMS messages. GV is so good, one client thought I was in the office because I'd just spoke with him from my office number.

Finally, my practice management system, PracticeMaster, has saved me lots of time. I have full access to my cases and can note problems, discuss issues, and take care of business.

I have nothing to gain from any of these programs, except increased performance in my practice. I've discovered that you can enjoy some family time, and still keep an active tab on the processes in your firm.

"Blawging" 101

Creating a blog is one of the best things you can do for your law practice. The blog gives you the ability to become an "expert" in your specialty. If done correctly, potential clients searching for information will discover your blog and site.

Well-known and esteemed blogger/marketing guru/practice management pro, Jay Fleischman, recently blogged about some easy steps you can use to set up your law firm blog. His tips, which you'll find here, give a brilliant summary of building the law practice blog.

It's important to remember that blogging is one opportunity to liberate yourself. The law firm blog gives you a platform to express yourself. Like Jay mentions though, blogging is difficult. It's not easy to constantly develop new content (remember: the key to getting "Googled" is vibrant, relevant, changing website content).

Blogging can be a rewarding and educating experience. Blogging can help you keep up with current legal developments and the world at large. Go get a blog!

You may also want to check out Jay's related post about fixing up or getting started with your firm website.

The Attorney-Client Relationship: the care and feeding of clients

What's the "golden rule" of good client practice? Never sue a client. Why? Because lawsuit equals bar complaint equals lost time and headaches. While I agree with Jay Foonberg's recommendation, let's face the truth though: sometimes the client deserves it.

While I don't advocate that you sue every single client for an unpaid legal bill, in this economy, it's necessary.So, if you're going to do it, you'd better "CYA" (cover your ass..ets).

First, get your agreement in writing. Too many attorneys have oral agreements, known as abstract understandings, regarding their client relationship. There's a reason we have written contracts and discuss contracts as a first-year law student. Quite simply, your contract is your lawsuit lifeline. Make your contract simple enough to understand, yet dense enough with the material and other information to protect you when the relationship turns sour.

Document, document, document. You're going to improve your chances of recovering your full bill, if you document everything. My line is, "if it's not in writing, it didn't happen." When you make a phone call to your client, opposing counsel, an insurance adjuster, a witness, document the conversation. Keep copies of the letters you send, with your signature.

I used to believe that the only the actual draft on the computer was necessary. An experience with a case taught me that the more documentation showing the event occurred, the better. If you can fax (with a confirmation), why mail. If you can email (with a confirmation), why fax. The point is, document the existence of the event.

More importantly, because your client will allege that you didn't fulfill your agreement, or the issue wasn't complex, or your bill was too high, you documentation will help prove up the extent of your efforts. Your notes and file will show that the client called you five-hundred times a week, and on Christmas, to complain about the other side's behavior. It's hard to dispute the complexity and reasonableness of the bill when the notes back it up.

Third, send regular, detailed bills. Clients freak out when they see your bill, every time. They're not going to tell you, but it happens. Sending frequent, detailed bills will smooth out their overreaction. You and I both know your bill is reasonable, and reflects the amount of work you did. The problem is, unless your bill actually shows how much work you've done, your client won't believe it. If you need more information on client bill, check out this post.

Finally, when you decide to sue the client, make sure your malpractice insurance is current. What, you don't have insurance!? Get it right now. It's the cheapest protection you'll ever have (mine costs $600 per year). You can't protect yourself for less. If you're going to sue clients, you're going to need some help defending those lawsuits.

You should never practice law without malpractice insurance. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to your clients. Malpractice insurance is for the times that you actually screw up, and the client deserves some retribution for your mistakes. In that regard, be fair to your client. Be fair to yourself because you save yourself from potential personal liability and exposure for your negligent actions.

Hopefully you won't have to sue a client, but if you remember to CYA, you'll be in a stronger position to win.

UPDATE (12/16/2009): Ed Poll has a great article in Law Practice Today about suing clients. Some great information.

Domains

A lot of my recent articles have focused on marketing your law firm. As I've admitted, I'm not a marketing expert, I've just seen what works, and what isn't. One thing I don't think works is "generic" email addresses.

I can't remember where I saw the comment, but it went something like this:

You'll know the quality of your lawyer by the quality of his email address.

There's truth in that. Although I know plenty of good lawyer with generic addresses, I believe people expect lawyers to fork over the money to register their own domain address and website. I think it shows people you care about your professional image. Moreover, if you've worked on developing your marketing scheme, your email address is a crucial component in that scheme.

The same goes for law firm blogs, websites, and other online marketing materials. I'd recommend against using free services like Blogger and Wordpress.com (not the platform). Pay the little money each year, get yourself your space.

The Basics of Getting Paid - Part 3; Open Accounts

Note: I started this post, but never published it to finish off the series.

The reality of any business is that you're going to have work to get paid, especially if you're billing by the hour. This is especially true if you're practicing the traditional method of billing by the hour (there's another reason flat fee pricing is so great).

The key to avoiding delinquent accounts is to bill effectively. Like your telephone sales pitch, your billing statements should succinctly and eloquently describe the services. Nobody likes to pay for a 10 minute phone call, unless the phone call had value. Clients will resent you, and will consciously avoid paying bills they feel are valueless.

One the lessons I learned early is that "drafted motion for summary judgment" doesn't nearly have the panache as, "Researched case law regarding [legal issue], using [list resources consulted]. Discovered these cases: [list cases]. Drafted argument section of motion for summary judgment based on [case name or legal theory]."

Although clients don't understand any of the legal jargon, they do understand that you did a significant amount of work. Remember, the easier you can make it on them, and the more you can justify your costs, the more likely you'll be to get paid.

To Market, To Market to Buy a Fat . . . Law Practice

I work in an office with a number of different attorneys. I like my office-sharing arrangement for several reasons, but most especially because I get to bounce ideas off others and get suggestions for building my practice.

One of the regular discussions we have is about bringing in new clients. If you're already a "superman rainmaker," then "help" my bounce rate, and move onto this site. If you're like most of the lawyers in my office, then you're an average to less-than-average rainmaker, and you're questioning what needs to change.

For whatever the reason, most lawyers I talk with say that they don't have time to market their firm. This is shocking, because without marketing your firm dies. Remember, there's the practice of law, and more importantly, the business of law.

Honestly, I don't have a simple answer, and I can't claim any special SEO, rainmaking, or "superman marketing" skills in internet marketing. However, I will disclose that if I don't receive at least 1 new /potential client phone call per day, it's a bad day. So, in no particular order, here they are:

Get a web presence.

I use a combination of things (some discussed below), but most importantly are my blog and my website. I'd like to think that having a "sub-domain" makes my site stand out in Google, but the truth is, I screwed up when I designed it, and now I'm stuck because I like it. Note too, that for the month of October, the blog received 969 page visits (there's a screw-up there too, if you're interested, check the comments), and my website averaged 4 visitors per day (165 total). That's successful.

For both the blog and website, I use Wordpress as a base with a customized Headway Theme. I wrote this post about my experiences and satisfaction with Headway. Headway did in 2 months, what I couldn't do in 12.

Claim Your Google Business Listing

My listing is number 3 (sometimes 2) on each of my target search phrases. In the last 30 days, my Google listing had 50 "actions", with 12 of those resulting in direct clicks to my website, and 3 new clients (a 6% return on a $0 investment).

The Google business listing works for you, with about 5 minutes of actual labor time. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Social Media

Get involved in "social media." At a minimum, you should have a firm fan page (become our fan) on Facebook, a Twitter account (my account's here), and a LinkedIn page (here's my page).

While I don't believe these have a strong effect on your overall marketing success, they certainly don't hurt. I like the interactions I can get with people, and the ability to reconnect with friends.

If you're not sure about Twitter, just Google "using Twitter for marketing" and you'll get a number of hits. Again, if you're hoping to get clients from Twitter, you're on the wrong path. Use Twitter to connect with others and share experiences, build relationships, ask questions, and gather news.

Blog

The only proven way I've seen to get noticed by Google is to update your content regularly. This means having fresh information, targeted to those you're seeking to attract.

Therefore, in my opinion, the only true way to do that is through your blog. The blog will add fresh content to your website that Google's little web minions can hunt for, devour, and vomit to the Google search servers for the world to find.

Pick a topic that relevant to your practice area, and explore relevant issues and problems. Perhaps a new case or statute came out that's going effect your clients. Write about that. The world is open for you.

"Kiss the Babies"

There's something to be said about the importance of "kissing babies." You cannot be successful if you're not out there meeting people in person. You can't build relationships and form networking bases if other attorneys and professionals don't know who you are. You build trust by mingling with others.

Don't become a "hermit attorney" who locks himself into the office and forgets to chat with others.

The Family & Friends Dilemma

There's a common question among all private practitioners about the practicality of representing your family or close friend in legal transactions.

The problem is two-fold: 1. Sometimes as an attorney (especially a new one), the only people that will hire you are your friends and family; and 2. The best referral sources for new clients are your friends and family.

There are some dicey waters when representing "kin," not the least of which is the issue of fees.

Most people are aware of the "family and friends discount." If you're not, it goes something like this:

Because we're (insert your relationship), that means that I'll get a "discount" (often interpreted as free) for the work you perform on my behalf.

I saw this happen to my father (a podiatrist) during each family vacation we took. Family members would expect him to perform complex or time consuming work, simply because he was "kin." I know that he didn't mind doing the small procedures, and I know he often invited family members back to his office to perform more complex work. The truth is, most professionals don't mind helping others because of relationships, the difficulty comes when you're also trying to make a living and protect your interests.

Therefore, I'd like to point you to a great article addressing some of the concerns and problems practitioners should consider before accepting the "family business." I think Mr. Baron's first suggestion about fees is especially important. I send a bill to my family/friends that reflects 3 things: my regular hourly/flat fee total, my discounted ("family & friends") fee, and the words, "Thank you for your business & our friendship."

I think we sometimes forget how important it is to thank our friend for their business. It's easy to forget that we're the ones choosing to reduce the fee, not the other way around.  My thought has always been, business in the door is always better than none-at-all.

Remember, most of the time your family member or friend is only looking for a "bargain," not free business. If you can provide that bargain, then you're going to get their business, if not, they'll finish the question and move on to another provider.

I'd like to know what you think about Mr. Baron's article and some of these issues. he addresses Do you add special "bargains" for family/friends/special clients, that most of the general populace pays for? For instance, I give my full estate planning package to my friends/family, and I also discount or "cap" my contingent fee on cases. Please comment.

Another Chuckle & Solo Practice

Courtoons is a blog I subscribe to. It has a variety of law related cartoons. I thought today's was especially funny in light of a recent push by new and old graduates to go solo.

I found this website statistic (I don't know reliability - it was #1 on Google) that showed that in 2006, 36% of all practicing attorneys were in solo practice (this document for Texas states 57% of Texas attorneys are solo or small firm lawyers).

The overwhelming trend is for attorneys to join the workforce as solo or small-firm lawyers. I think some law schools are seeing this trend and quickly realizing that their old model of "BigLaw push" is failing.

A law school organization at my alma mater invited me to speak. Of the 15 or so individuals at the meeting, more than half indicated they seriously consider entering solo/small firm practice upon their graduation. That's a serious commitment, and an absolute need that isn't addressed by the law schools.