Law Practice Today

When all other collection efforts fail, suing a client for nonpayment of your fees may be an unpalatable but necessary step. You must, though, tread carefully and look closely at all the corresponding dangers.

Satisfied clients are clients who will bring you more work. The best way to satisfy clients with alternative billing is to make it an interactive process.

A delinquent client account spells more than less cash flow for your practice. It can also be a sign that the relationship is in trouble.

In the wake of the economic downturn, some lawyers are finding that selling their practice is a viable option for replacing lost nest eggs.

Before you open the doors to your practice, creating a solid business plan and budget are critical steps to helping ensure your firm will be successful.

Every business needs to adopt and follow a business model to be successful – law firms are no different.

Money is essential to keep a law firm running, and Ed Poll explains some tips for creating capital even during tough economic conditions.

It's a question many of us ask, but few of us can answer. Erik Mazzone offers practical advice for attorneys ready to set out on their own.

In a recession, all service industries are under pressure to lower fees. Here are recommendations to help you retain both clients and income.

Removing partners from equity status may seem like a good way to improve finances, but there are many things to take into consideration before taking such a step.

A recent New York Times article, among others, has called the billable hour into question. What follows is a discussion of how lawyers can value and bill their work accurately and appropriately to provide value to their clients and a reasonable fee structure to ensure profitability.

Ed Poll offers wise counsel about how to insure that your firm will operate successfully in a tight credit market and ways to remain solvent in a troubled economic climate.

Robert J. Arndt developed a system called the RULES to help firms evaluate profitability. They allow you to analyze multiple data points rather than look at one piece of the puzzle, which can be misleading. In this article, James S. Schnieders explains how the RULES can help your firm.

Credit card payments are convenient for you and your client. Learn the rules to developing a system for accepting credit so your firm can benefit.

Write-downs and ineffective collections practices hurt many law firms’ bottom lines. Understanding these processes and how they work will help your firm increase its net profit.

Studies have shown that companies using software to efficiently manage their human capital components are seeing a greater profit and competitive stance. By automating routine HR tasks, you can focus on developing your workforce and building your strategic direction. What is the key component of your firm’s ongoing success? Your HR department.

Accurate time tracking is important not just for billable time, but for all working time. It seems like a daunting task, but once you set realistic goals and make the process a habit, it could provide significant benefits for you, your firm and your clients. Use a pen and paper, a Blackberry or supporting software, but whatever your method, start by reading these useful tips for tracking your time.

Many law firm compensation models are designed for individual gains rather than long-term growth and sustainability. Yet if a firm wants to promote the kind of cooperative effort that increases billings and profitability, it must change to a more cooperative compensation model.

If you want to measure your team’s effectiveness and efficiency you need to understand and apply the basics of financial metrics. Read more for a short summary on the process.

Are your long-term investment projects focusing on building the firm's future earning potential? Will your firm be able to attract the best and the brightest by demonstrating how safe their investment of sweat equity will be in the future?

The collection process is one that is proactive. Learn more about the practical steps you should take to ensure clients keep their promises to pay their bills.

Imagine creating bills clients rush to pay. In this article you will learn how to showcase your work, accomplishments and professionalism through carefully crafted time entries. With a better understanding of what is being billed, your clients may just reward this behavior with faster payment and increased loyalty.

Most soloists know they can't go it alone. A successful practice requires teamwork. Yet many don't list their banker as part of their team. This could be a costly mistake.

Simply piling up billable hours does not create more income. In fact, it reduces it for a few simple reasons.

With the emergence of a flat fee society and a Wal-Mart approach to profits firms need to learn how to leverage technology and workflow to beat the billing squeeze.

Understanding the business side of practicing law will do more than help you manage a practice… it will also improve the results of your marketing efforts.

Internal controls for financial transactions reduce the opportunities for mistakes or misconduct. Use this checklist to ensure your office is doing all that it can and should to avoid potential problems.

Can you create an environment where partners have access to capital yet there is true liability protection?

Disaster is inevitable, but law firms can recover through effective planning.

Billing for legal services is an art, whereas pricing it more a science. Is it time for your firm to evaluate its pricing policies to better respond to the needs of the your clients and marketplace conditions?

A lot of nonsense is talked about the "culture" of a firm. Most of it misses the point. Get it right and it is the glue that binds people together. Get culture wrong and the consequences are disastrous.

When looking for that competitive edge, many firms turn to the latest technology. Yet technology is not the panacea for your firm's marketing woes. Author Anne Parys offers important considerations when contemplating the purchase of new technology.

Early in 2005 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made headlines by filing a class action suit against Sidley Austin Brown & Wood - the first of its kind against a law firm. The suit alleged that the firm had maintained an illegal "age-based retirement policy" since at least 1978 and had arbitrarily forced out 32 partners in 1999.

Compensation and incentives are only effective if the recipient understands and values the cause and effect. Structuring a fair and effective plan, however, isn't easy. Read more to find out what your firm should consider when restructuring its compensation strategy.

Before you can make the correct business decisions when it comes to revenue for your firm, first you must understand the value of your current cost structure. This excerpt from Aurthur Greene's latest book, The Lawyer's Guide to Increasing Revenue, will help steer you in the right direction.

Losing money in your firm's real estate is avoidable if you know the right steps to take during the leasing process. Nancy Packer, President and COO of U.S. Equities Realty guides you in the right direction.

Ed Poll finishes his series on alternative billing by interviewing attorney Rick Simses.

Ed Poll interviews Jeff Carr on the profitability and practicality of alternative billing practices.

If consumers can find what they need to know on the Internet, will they still need lawyers? The answer, of course, is yes, but in what capacity? Read more about how firms are changing to meet the evolving needs of their clients.

Do you have a profitable law practice? Do you know how to measure success? Ed Poll’s “measurement sticks” will guide you as you examine your own firm current management practices.

Dennis Kennedy provides a second round of valuable resources on Alternative Billing.

Unfunded Obligations (UO) are a necessary enticement and a liability for many law firms. In some cases, UOs have caused firms to dissolve rather than carry this burden. What should your firm do if it is faced with UOs? Ward Bower has some ideas.

Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell team up to provide you with valuable resources on Alternative Billing.

Are you a "Main Street Lawyer" with a fee structure based on large firm billing practices? Do you work with unsophisticated clients—clients who are inexperienced in dealing with lawyers? Your clients may appreciate the simplicity and clarity of an alternative fee arrangement.

Ed Poll discusses alternative fee arrangements, or, as one attorney describes them, alternative pricing structure, with seasoned attorney Hugh Gottschalk.

Attorney Ralph Palumbo examines how to align the goals and incentives of the lawyer with those of the client through alternative billing structures.

This Three-Act Play offers an informative yet humorous glimpse at how one organization examines the pros and cons of creating an alternative billing structure.

The business side of managing a firm is not taught in law schools. So it's not surprising that for many firms, budgeting is more an afterthought than a significant part of planning. How can you change this? Patrick Lamb has some ideas.

Basing income solely on a minute-by-minute accounting of your day is tantamount to being an hourly employee, albeit one with a significant hourly rate. This article examines how rethinking your current billing practices and offering clients an alternative arrangement could bring more life to your practice, and more life to your life.

It is the topic no one wants to talk about, but what would your firm do if it lost one of their major clients?

2004 All organizations, including law firms, must deal with the issue of retirement. James Cotterman of Altman Weil provides a primer on the topic and related issues.

Retirement is a journey, not a destination. Stephen Gallagher explains how to develop an Exit or Retirement Plan for senior attorneys, key partners, and shareholders.

It takes an average of three to five years for a new lawyer to break-even on their firm's investment in them. See how you contribute to the net profits of your firm by knowing your own personal financial formula.

Looking to increase profits at your firm for the next year? Don't rely on faulty assumptions such as past performance when projecting future budgets. The key is realization, not increasing the volume of hours billed.

Of the many ways to make a law office efficient, managing your finances is one of the most important. Here is some advice on how to achieve financial efficiency.

With the economy picking up, it is time to think about how you are going to take advantage of it. Being prepared will prove to be your best offense this year, ultimately gaining more revenue for your firm.

Ward Bower examines today's solo and small firm competitive environment and gives some tips on how to be successful.

There are several elements that have been consistently present in successful turnarounds. Learn what it takes to make it.

Competition among law firms is intensifying with the reality that companies are reducing the number of services of fewer law firms. Steven Lauer discusses how you can respond to this successfully.

More and more American workers rely upon employer-provided retirement, health, disability and life insurance plans to provide protection for themselves and their families and to enhance their total compensation packages. What do you need to know to be savvy? Here's some key facts that all women need to know about employee benefit plans.

Most corporate law departments are charged with managing the legal exposure of the company. As part of that task, legal departments assure that the cost of the legal service is proportional to the overall corporate objective for which the legal service is deployed.

"How much capital do we need to have to be properly capitalized?" is a question I am often asked. In this time of economic uncertainty, it is an even more appropriate question.

New partners and old partners alike often have questions about how capital accounts work in a law firm setting. John summarizes some of the key issues for those struggling with how to establish or administer these accounts for their partners or shareholders.

Like any other business, a successful law practice requires cash to operate. Sometimes, however, cash is in short supply. That's where bank loans come in.

How do you tell if your firm is financially doing great? There are some obvious indicators, but do you know which ones can also be indicators that you are in financial trouble? Joan explains what to look for.

Are you sure your current fee agreements are covering all the points you need? Check out his comprehensive list to double check.

Are your current fee agreements detailing all your services and billing practices? These tips will help you reevaluate your current agreements and build better ones.

I've never encountered a law firm which did not operate on a cash basis. That means that your revenues are not earned from a tax perspective until they arrive in the door. It doesn't matter if you sent an invoice one day or one year ago. You have no taxable income to declare until you receive payment.

Merriam Webster's interpretation of 'savvy' is 'practical know-how'. To have practical know-how in financial management is a crucial component of responsible leadership. In today's competitive environment being a responsible leader in a law firm takes even more than practical know-how in financial management.