January 2007

Do you have a New Year’s resolution as it relates to your practice?

“I’d like to be able to contact at least one prospective client a week. Business development can be challenging, but it is even harder if you don’t try. I also resolve to have a thicker skin and to not take it personally if my efforts do not pay off right away.”

“We are often under tight deadlines and juggling lots of ‘emergencies’ at once. I’m going to try to remember to say ‘thanks’ to everyone who helps me serve the client as well as I do.”

“I need to get my bills out to clients promptly, to limit the amount of time written off, and to follow up on collecting accounts receivables. We have to remember that law is a business, and we have to adhere to business practices like anyone else.”

“I have to get a handle on my nonbillable time. I find myself doing a lot of things that are not billable—administrative work, business development, volunteer work—and sometimes I am stretched too thin to be of use to anyone. I need to determine what is most important to me and focus on being more efficient with my time.”

“Not to dump a month’s worth of time sheets on my secretary on the last day that they can be entered!”

“My resolution this year was not to make any resolutions. It is so easy to break them and then feel terrible about doing so. Instead, I am implementing ‘best practices.’ I’m looking at attorneys around me that I think are doing well and I am seeking out mentoring from them. How do they balance work and family? How do they approach business development? How did they get to their level of skills? Why are they ‘successful’? How can I be more like them? It will take small steps and what I learn will last me my entire career.”

“I work in an extremely large firm. My resolution is to get to know more of the attorneys I work with here.”