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Professional Legal Management Week (PLMW) is offering a free 90- minute Webinar “From Boomers to Millennials:
Intergenerational Issues in the Legal Workplace” – available for Download from their website at http://www.plmw.org/webinars.html
We’re excited to have our new website up and running. This version is designed to give you more information, to make it easier for you to find what you need, and to make it easier for you to interact with other members of the Section. Before you look around, please click on this post for a short summary of what you’ll find.
As you browse for the first time, you will notice that we have added a very versatile search feature. The Find An Attorney page will search the roster of all current GPSSF members. You can find an attorney by name, law firm, county, law school, or area of practice. The idea is that members can use this function to locate other solo and small firm practitioners for referral or networking purposes. For it to work successfully, WE NEED YOU TO UPDATE YOUR MEMBER PROFILE!
Because the existing Bar membership roster does not include information about law schools, areas of practice, or board certifications, we need you to add that information to your profile for us. To log in and update your profile, simply click on the Member Login button. Then click the link that asks “Forgot your password? First time logging in? [click here].” Enter your email address, and the site will send you a password that you can use to log in. Once you are done updating your profile, search for yourself on the Find an Attorney page and make sure you are happy with how your profile is showing up.
To encourage members to update their profiles, we are running a contest. On October 1, we will pick one winner at random from the list of all members who have logged in and updated their profile. That winner will receive a gift certificate in the amount of $300 to the restaurant, hotel, or office supply store of his or her choice. To be eligible, make sure you update your profile by September 30 (Executive Council members are not eligible).
Once you have updated your profile, check out our blog. The two most recent entries will always show up on the home page. From the home page, you can click through on these entries to read them in full. Or you can click on the Small-Firm Adventure button in the toolbar on the left-hand side of the page. Finally, you can see all the posts in a particular category by clicking on that category title on the home page.
Note that in addition to posts on Section and Bar News, we also have posts on practical topics. The Practical Practice is a category that will include practice management tips. It already includes a useful Q&A piece with Bar attorney Elizabeth Tarbert and LOMAS Practice Management Advisor Judith Equels about how to handle overpayments from clients without breaking trust accounting rules. The Litigator’s Toolshed includes posts about the nuts and bolts of litigation — it already includes posts about preparing trial notebooks and handling stipulations for continuance of trial. High Tech/Low Budget will contain advice about how to get the most out of office technology without spending a fortune. We especially encourage every member to check out the category titled “You Gotta Try This…” This is intended to be a fun category in which members can contribute recommendations regarding their favorite restaurant, hotel, etc. by adding comments to the topics listed there. Please contribute your local knowledge so that our members will know where to eat/stay when they visit your town.
The blog is intended to be flexible. If you would like to suggest a new topic or category, please include it in a comment on this post. Likewise for any other suggestions you have about the website in general. If you will post them below, we’ll be happy to review them and figure out if they can be implemented.
The Resources page includes a multitude of links to just about every conceivable law-related website. We hope you find it to be an easy index of useful sites. But of course, if you think we missed one, please email us your suggestion.
You’ll notice that the next two events on our calendar will show up on the top of the home page. If you click through to the Calendar page, you can see our full calendar for the year. Events should include brochures and registration forms where applicable.
Our main goal is to make this an interactive forum where information can flow freely. If you have a short article or point of interest that you would like to submit to the blog, or if you have a longer piece that you would like to list in our Publications section, we welcome your submissions. Please e-mail your submission to Ricky Libbert at rlibbert@flabar.org or to Kevin Johnson at kjohnson@tsghlaw.com.
Thanks!
As attorneys, we often act like marketing is a four letter word, something to be afraid of or avoided at all costs. Yet, if you are a solo or small firm practitioner, you are also a business owner and marketing is the life-blood of your existence. We have to market or perish, like it or not. If people don’t know you exist, know what you do or know what makes you unique, you can’t thrive and grow. But… marketing doesn’t have to be all work and no play, it can and should be part of your daily practice habit.
Marketing should not be confused with selling. Marketing is so much more. Marketing is everything you do or say. It is your online presence. It is your visibility in your community. It is your website, your promotional materials, and even your business card. It is the impression your office and your team create when a client enters the door for the first time. It is the way you follow up with referral sources and prospective clients once they leave your office. This list could go on and on.
Do a marketing audit. What are you doing now? Make a list of every possible thing you can think of that looks or feels like marketing to you. Start with you. How do you dress to greet your clients? What do you say? Are you punctual? Friendly? What is the client or prospective client’s first impression of you? What can you do to improve? If this is hard for you, ask someone you trust to help you do a self-evaluation. Ask them to be brutally honest and take their criticism, if any, as constructive. We can all improve. You don’t have to incorporate all of their suggestions at once, try one a week until you notice substantial improvement.
Take a hard look at your office. What does the client see or experience as they are approaching? Is there onsite or offsite parking? Does your office pay for parking if a fee is required? Does the client know this in advance? What do the parking facilities look like? Are they clean, well-lit and safe? What does the client see as they approach your front door? Is the building appealing to the eye? Are the lawn and gardens well kept? Is there garbage lying around? What about cigarette butts and the people who put them there? Do you have team members or others standing near the door who are smoking? What kind of impression does this give? Evaluate your office and its impression as if you were going to interview a new trusted professional for your own needs.
What does the client experience the moment they walk in the front door? What do they see? Is the décor inviting? How are they greeted? Are they immediately seated or expected to wait? What does your waiting room look like? What do they smell? Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies or leftovers from lunch? Are they offered something to drink while they are waiting? How long do they have to wait? What happens if you are delayed?
As you can see, this inquiry can go on and on and we haven’t really gotten beyond the front door. It should. I would suspect most attorneys have not done this level of evaluation and introspection. Your success, both now and in the future, depends on how each of these questions is answered. You might be experiencing a level of success you are comfortable with or you might be brand new to the practice of law. Do you want to take your practice to the next level? If so, start with the basic first impressions you, your team and your office are projecting. How can you create a memorable experience for your client that will permanently establish in their mind your ability to meet their professional legal needs?
There are significant resources available to assist you. First, look to the Florida Bar—both LOMAS (Law Office Management Assistance Service) and of course, the General Practice Solo and Small Firm Section. They offer people, systems and continuing legal education opportunities to assist you in putting your best foot (and face) forward.
For more information, questions or to request a copy of a Marketing Audit, please contact Peggy Hoyt at Peggy@HoytBryan.com.
What solo or small firm practitioner doesn’t want to think of his or her firm as extraordinary? Of course, only a few solo and small firms truly fit this description, but what makes them extraordinary? Do they simply have and expend more financial resources on staffing, office decor, and client gifts? Or are they simply more responsive to their clients than the rest of us? Join us as several of the most creative, energetic, and dynamic attorneys in the country share their secrets for making their solo or small firm truly extraordinary. And, best of all, we will learn how to do this without blowing our budgets! Save the dates of April 1-2, 2011, for the General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section’s Annual Conference, HOW TO CREATE AN EXTRAORDINARY SMALL FIRM ON AN ORDINARY SMALL FIRM BUDGET. This year’s conference promises to be nothing short of spectacular!
The Walter S. Crumbley Award originated in the Practice Management and Development Section in 2004. When the Practice Management and Development Section merged with the General Practice, Small and Solo Firm Section in 2007, the Executive Council of the merged sections decided that the award should be continued. Unlike the Tradition of Excellence Award, the Crumbley Award is open to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. The Award is for achievement in the advancement of practice management and ethics education for lawyers and their office staff. It is not limited to general practice or small firms. Recipients have included an educator, a law office administrator and a government lawyer.
The 2010 recipient of the Walter S. Crumbley Award is Michael R. Cavendish. Mr. Cavendish is a member of Gunster, Attorneys at Law and is the first large private law firm recipient. He concentrates on complex commercial disputes, environmental law, real estate and finance.
In July, 2008 and again in July, 2009 Mr. Cavendish was tapped as the national correspondent on litigation management by the National Law Journal, and wrote two features on lawsuit and legal dispute management during the Great Recession. Mr. Cavendish has lectured extensively on practice management and led the seminar “Managing Passive Law,” a seminar on how business management principles can help companies and lawyers resolve legal disputes more efficiently. He also lectured on “Nanojurisprudence” on how lawyers can borrow concepts from the natural sciences in their law practice and advocacy.
Mr. Cavendish has been named to Florida Trend’s Legal Elite for 6 consecutive years. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbel and was a Law Dragon Finalist in 2006 and 2010. Mr. Cavendish is an outstanding example of the younger lawyers whose technological abilities are advancing the business of being lawyers at a meteoric rate. The General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section is proud to recognize Mr. Cavendish for his many accomplishments and the contribution of his time and efforts to educate both fellow lawyers and their clients on the business of being a lawyer.
The Section presented the Crumbley Award to Mr. Cavendish at its Awards Reception during the Annual Meeting of The Florida Bar in Boca Raton.
Do you use directory assistance from your phone?
Have you ever looked closely at your cell phone bill to see how much they charge for Directory Assistance? It’s $1.75! For directory assistance (business directory only), completely free from your phone (cell phone included), use 1-800-GOOG-411. 1-800-GOOG-411 is not only free, but useful too. This telephone service provides not only numbers, but directions to get to your location should you need it.
I use 1-800-GOOG-411 at least 4 times a week when I’m in my car and think of a lawyer or business I need to call. Saves time, energy and money! It’s free!
OK, here’s the scenario: Imagine that I’m traveling to your neck of the woods for a hearing or a deposition. When it’s over, I’m going to want to find a good restaurant with good food and maybe a little local color. Where would you send me?
Please share your recommendations with our readers by adding a comment to this post. Extra credit if you can recommend a specific dish to try!
There are probably as many different ways to prepare a trial notebook as there are ways to research case law.
The hardest part of preparing the Trial Notebook is incorporating the Order of Proof (or How to Tell Your Story) in a cohesive manner. One of the easiest and most effective ways to approach this complex issue is to rethink the process. Tilt the prism. Pretend you are writing the Great American Novel.
Remember, you are trying to convince a jury of your peers (who usually have very little knowledge of The Law) to evaluate your client’s set of circumstances. You also want them to consider the evidence presented in the most favorable light for your client to WIN THE CASE.
Most novelists engage the reader by addressing their hero/heroine’s Goals, Motivation, and Conflict. Every worthwhile plot will encompass these key elements very early in the story – usually in the first three pages. The premise for that being, if the reader is not interested in what will happen next, their mind will wander off in another direction to think about something more interesting. YOUR JOB in creating the ideal trial notebook is like writing that novel. You need to find a way to keep the jury interested IN YOUR SIDE of the case. This can be done with visual aids, dramatic opening statements, and the order (lineup) of witnesses who tell the jury about the case. Corroborating the story and the facts presented is the reason for the Trial Notebook.
Try to keep the Trial Notebook as compact as possible. One large 3-ring binder is recommended. The following is a sample Table of Contents:
The above information can be arranged in the manner easiest to use during trial. Just label the dividers for the separate tabs (color-coding the tabs if that works for you), and put the necessary documents inside the tabbed dividers of the 3-ring binder for quick access.
You may want to do a “rehearsal” in your office to make sure all the information you need is readily available in the Trial Notebook. (Also include a zip-lock plastic bag containing a supply of yellow post-it notes, paper clips, and extra notepads/pens/pencils to take with you to the trial.)
One more thing: Keep a separate list of ALL witness telephone numbers, and a fully-charged cellphone for use at a moment’s notice.
We thought it would be fun if we could create a forum for members to discuss their favorite books. What are you reading these days? What would you recommend to other section members? Fiction, non-fiction, short stories — anything is fair game.
One common source of controversy in practice management is the proper way to handle unintentional overpayments by clients. For an explanation of the issue, we asked Judith Equels of The Florida Bar’s Law Office Management Assistance Service and Elizabeth Tarbert, Ethics Counsel for The Florida Bar, to discuss the mistakes that lawyers make in handling such overpayments and to offer us their recommendations for best practices in this area.
The following series of questions and answers summarizes their responses:
Q. When a lawyer receives unearned fees from a client, does it make a difference how those fees are characterized?
A: Most definitely. If the attorney and client have not agreed in writing that the payment is non-refundable, the payment of unearned fees is refundable, must be deposited and held in the trust account until earned by the lawyer.
Q: What is the difference between a true retainer and a deposit against future fees?
A: A deposit against future fees (“evergreen retainer,” for example) is just that – money given to the lawyer to apply against fees that will be charged to the case/matter in the future. This money has not yet been earned, and must be held in the trust account. A deposit against future fees is not the same as a true retainer. The following is an excerpt from TFB E.O. 93-2:
In essence, a “true retainer” is akin to an option contract: the client pays the attorney a fee for the right to employ the attorney. The “true retainer” is therefore earned upon receipt and should not be deposited in the trust account.
Q: Can a lawyer deposit a true retainer into the lawyer’s trust account?
A: No. See answer above.
Q: Must a lawyer deposit an advance against future fees into the lawyer’s trust account?
A: Yes. An advance against future fees is not yet earned; unearned fees are always held in the trust account.
Q: If the lawyer has the client’s consent, can the lawyer treat that advance as earned income and place it in the lawyer’s operating account?
A: The lawyer and the client must agree in writing that the advance payment is non-refundable, and assuming the fee is reasonable, the lawyer may then deposit the fee portion into the operating account. However, if any portion of the advance payment (now the agreed-upon non-refundable payment) represents costs, that portion (earmarked for costs) must be held in the trust account until disbursed for the purposes intended. If the client writes one check to the lawyer representing both the non-refundable fee and costs, the lawyer must deposit the entire amount into trust, then when the check clears withdraw the portion representing the nonrefundable fee, leaving the portion for costs in trust until disbursed as costs as agreed by the client.
Q: When a client makes an erroneous overpayment, how should the attorney handle the situation?
A: It depends. First, call the client and make certain the money received is an erroneous overpayment and not an intended advance payment. Confirm the response in writing.
If the client instructs the attorney to treat the money as an advance against future fees, the money should be deposited into the lawyer’s trust account.
If in fact the money is an erroneous overpayment:
(1) and the entire check is an overpayment, return the check with the signature line torn off, accompanied by a cover letter.
(2) and part of the client’s payment by check is an erroneous overpayment, deposit the entire amount into trust because part of the check represents client funds that the lawyer has no entitlement to and client funds must always be held in trust. The lawyer should then remove the portion that represents the lawyer’s earned fee from the trust account and deposit it in the lawyer’s operating account and disburse the erroneously overpaid amount out of the trust account to the client. The lawyer should never agree to refund the erroneous overpayment to anyone other than the maker of the check/overpayment in question.
(3) and, if the erroneous overpayment is by wire transfer, ask the bank to reverse the wire. If the bank cannot do this, make sure you have the wire transfer Fed reference number, and confirmation that the wire has actually cleared the bank, then cut an operating check for the overpayment and mail with a cover letter. Beware of unscrupulous clients. If the client does not answer the lawyer’s inquiry, or asks the lawyer to “sit” on the money for a while, but does not want the money to be considered a “true” or “conflict” retainer, the lawyer may be unwittingly helping the unscrupulous client hide money. There must always be a valid (legal work – case or matter-related) reason for holding money in trust for a client or third party.
Q: Are there any other considerations that affect the handling of unearned fees?
A: As stated above, unearned fees must be held in the trust account. Lawyers always should execute a signed fee contract and/or letter of representation with the client that clearly defines the scope of the work to be performed, why money is being held in trust, and how and when it will be disbursed. In addition to the signed representation agreement, it is considered a best practice to notify the client in writing (giving the client a reasonable time period to respond) before drawing down on the advance fee payment once it is earned.
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