Law Practice Today

Upon reading the second edition of How to Build and Manage an Estate Practice, by Daniel B. Evans, I was impressed by its scope and comprehensiveness. It is designed to provide practical advice to Trusts and Estates practitioners and it does just that by offering helpful advice ranging from defining or limiting your practice to staffing your office. It also serves as a primer for attorneys to use in considering a decision to concentrate their practice in Trusts and Estates.

The section on marketing provides a useful summary of all the usual sources and methods of client development and their respective advantages and disadvantages. A reference to the use of email newsletters would be a helpful addition. Email newsletters are an inexpensive means of presenting oneself and one’s practice to prospective clients.

The ethics section is especially helpful given the frequency of ethical situations confronted by Trusts and Estates attorneys. An additional subject worthy of mention is the ethical problems associated with durable powers of attorney and the frequent instances of fraud in their usage. A comment on this would be useful for the practitioner.

The section on fees and billing is quite inclusive and practical. It details for the practitioner the major issues involved and practical advice on fee agreements, rates (hourly and alternatives) and the preparation and timing of bills.

The section on communicating with clients and client satisfaction is right on target. It brings home the importance of satisfying clients to build a successful practice helped in part by referrals from satisfied and grateful clients. I was particularly impressed by his statement that a lawyer must “care about the client and the clients’ problems” in this section. I have personally found working with and helping clients with Trusts, Estates and Fiduciary matters to be satisfying and rewarding. Thank you notes from clients, many written on billing statements are one of the most rewarding aspects of my practice. I would recommend adding an introductory remark concerning the personal satisfaction derived from helping people. Mr. Evans also implies correctly that it is difficult to succeed in this practice area if you do not care about and empathize with your clients.

The mundane aspects of the practice, namely office management ranging from stationery and reference material requirements to equipment and file organization are covered in detail. Another subject important to the economic viability of a Trusts and Estates practice, the advantages of engaging associates and paralegals, is well presented along with the rationale of delegating tasks that can be efficiently and less expensively handled by paralegals and/or associates. The training costs are covered in detail but an additional comment on retention would be helpful. Specifically, a discussion of the appropriate environment to promote retention and the relationship of retention to the recoupment of your investment in training, which as the author notes, can be significant, would be useful additions.

Mr. Evans presents helpful advice on actual work practices in servicing a client and preparing estate plan documents and recommendations. The forms in the Appendix ranging from fee agreements to questionnaires and checklists are especially helpful as is the CD-ROM containing them which is included with the book.

All in all, this book provides useful and helpful information and is recommended reading for Trusts and Estates practitioners as well as for those lawyers considering a Trusts and Estates practice.