Beat Overwhelm Now!


When I’m working with an individual client, I always listen carefully for signs of overwhelm.
 Whether overwhelm comes from business development activity or (more commonly) from the press of billable work, the result is catastrophic for business development success.

Business development aside, overwhelm can tank a day faster than just about anything else.  On days with overflowing email, an endless task list, and phone calls that just won’t stop, you may find it almost impossible to operate  effectively.  Even if you manage to limp along, overwhelm-driven distraction may send things falling through the cracks.  Over the years, I’ve hones in on a variety of methods to beat overwhelm, and these are the top 10, based on my own experience and client feedback:

  1. Move.  Overwhelm tends to cause mental paralysis, and the fastest fix is a quick burst of physical activity.  Walk around the block or your office floor, dance for 30 seconds (close the door!), or do 10 jumping jacks.  Get your blood pumping.
  2. Lift your mood.  Overwhelm breeds lethargy.  Use music, fresh flowers, aromas, or whatever works for you to get a lift.  I keep a bottle of orange essential oil at my desk because I find that a drop or two perks me up almost instantly, and I have a “get going” playlist of peppy songs that gets me going every time.
  3. Focus intently for a short time.  After the computer and telephone, your most productive piece of equipment could be a digital timer.  When you feel stuck, set the timer for 45 minutes and power through that time, knowing that you can take a break as soon as the timer beeps.  Make it a game:  compete against yourself using the timer to see how quickly you can sort through papers or complete other dreaded tasks.  The timer and competition will get you going, and momentum may keep you working even after the alarm sounds.  Here’s the timer I use.  (I recommend you  NOT use the timer on your cell phone–too much temptation to check email or Facebook there.)
  4. Clean it up.  Clutter reduces productivity and creates overwhelm.  If your desk is too messy (and “too messy” will vary person to person), set aside 15 minutes to clear it off, even if that means stacking papers and moving them to the floor.  If your email in-box is so full that you feel anxious when you open it, set aside an hour to tame it.  (Don’t know how to accomplish that in an hour?  I’ll have some tips for you next week.)
  5. Call in the reinforcements.  Find the right help for your source of overwhelm.  Perhaps your assistant can help you clear your desk, or a colleague may be able to give you feedback to help cut through the mental clutter.  When you feel overwhelmed, it’s hard to see outside the bubble of stress.  Get some help.
  6. Dump it.  One common source of overwhelm is the mental  task list.  When you’re juggling “must do” items in your head, fighting to remember all of them, you’re pulling energy from productive activity for simple memory maintenance.  Do a brain dump and get the tasks on paper.  Free up  your mind for more useful work.
  7. Get out of the office and do something else.  Admittedly, you can’t always implement this tip, but it can be very effective.  Have you ever noticed how often brilliant ideas strike while you’re in the shower, running, walking  the dog, or doing other activities unrelated to work?  When the body is working and the mind is free to wander, creativity flourishes.
  8. Access a different part of your brain.  One litigator I know uses art to focus himself before a trial.  Art allows him to pull back from the logical, analytical side o f his brain and bring forward the emotional and creative parts.  What can you do to bring another part of your skills to the table?
  9. Mind map.  If you’re searching for an elusive link between facts or trying to form a creative argument, try using a mind map.  Get a clean piece of paper, draw a circle in the middle of the page and label it with the problem or circumstance you’re contemplating.  Think about related subjects, actions you could take, and people who might be helpful in addressing the issue, and draw lines and branches to represent the ideas that come up.  If you’re really stuck you may find a mind map more useful than an ordinary list.  Click here for a video on this technique.
  10. If you’ve tried several of these approaches unsuccessfully, you may be exhausted.  Think of your energy as a pitcher of water.  If you pour and pour and pour without replenishment, the pitcher will empty and nothing you try (except adding more wateR) will allow it to pour more.  If a quick break or quick spurt of energy doesn’t refresh you, your pitcher may be dangerously close to empty.  Identifying that spot and taking action is a critical professional competency.

 

Build Better Relationships & A Better Practice by Being Fully Present


Do you often find yourself doing one activity and thinking about another?
  Maybe you check email while you’re on the phone or even while talking with someone in your office.  Or you scan the paper or browse the web while your partner or child is trying to tell you something?

We generally think we’re making good use of our too-short time by multi-tasking, right?  And yet, most of us have also had the experience of getting “busted”:  the person who’s talking realizes we aren’t listening, or we make an error because we’re juggling two (or more) tasks simultaneously.  At a minimum, our stress level goes up because the brain isn’t wired for multi-tasking.

Try being fully present with what you’re doing.  If you’re in conversation, close your email and put your phone on “do not disturb” so you can direct all of your attention to the discussion.  Conversations tend to go more quickly when you’re fully present because you’re at full attention, and you’ll notice that you catch not only what’s said, but also the things that are going unsaid that should perhaps be explored.

For instance, imagine that a colleague is briefing you on an expert witness deposition prep session and the words say all is well.  If you are fully present to your colleague, you might notice tension in his face that you would miss if you were looking at papers or email while he’s talking.  Seeing the tension, you’d have an opportunity to inquire and learn that although he can’t put his finger on the issue, something isn’t right about the testimony or the way the expert is presenting it.  That’s valuable information that could go undetected.  (Should your colleague raise the concern without being asked?  Absolutely.  However, many of us are uncomfortable bringing up a concern without any evidence to back it up, and so he might well not mention it.)

The need for presence is even more true when it comes to relationship-building as a part of client service of business development activity.  After all, if you can’t bring your full focus to your client (or potential client, or referral source), why would that person believe that you’d bring your full focus to a legal problem?  Relationships require attention, and attention and multi-tasking are incompatible.

How to become fully present?  I recommend meditation or even a quick centering exercise, which can be as simple as taking 3 or 4 slow, deep breaths.  Bring all of your attention to the present activity, and if you find your attention wandering, breathe deeply again and bring it back.  This level of focus will allow you to be more effective and less stressed.

(Think this sounds silly?  Check out these posts about the business benefits of meditation.  In the 21st century, meditation is recognized for physical and psychological benefits galore.)

As Malcolm Forbes said, “Presence is more than just being there.”  Being fully present focuses all of your senses on the task or person at hand.  It’s a learned skill.  Try an experiment:  resolve to be fully present for a couple of hours a day and see what you notice.  I’d love to hear your feedback!

When Life Throws You A Curveball…


Life has a way of throwing curveballs.
  Sometimes they come in the form of emergencies that demand attention, sometimes they’re staff departures, (planned or otherwise), and sometimes they’re opportunities that you just can’t pass up, even though jumping in will eat every bit of time and energy you have.

How do you cope with those curveballs?  You can implement three strategies now so that you can deal with curveballs as they come your way.

  1. Create an “operations manual”.  Those of you working in large firms may have access to some sort of manual that defines how certain tasks are to be completed.  However, whether you’re in a large firm or working as a sole practitioner, you must have a document that explains how we do things around here.  How should an assistant answer your telephone, when should he schedule appointment for you, and what should he tell clients who need to reach you urgently?  What needs to be accomplished every day without fail?  It’s daunting to imagine creating such a document from scratch.  Start today.  Document every task that you complete and ask your assistant to do the same.  (No assistant?  No excuse!  If everything is in your head, the need is even greater.)  The manual that you build will allow you to cut down on the time necessary to train a new employee, and if you are called out of the office without notice, the manual gives a roadmap to keep things running without you.
  2. Use technology well.  Most lawyers now use some sort of electronic calendar and docketing system.  Who else has access to your professional calendar?  Even if you choose not to allow anyone access to that information on a day-to-day basis, you should consider creating a login that you can provide on an as needed basis to an assistant.  If you are currently working without an assistant, you should create a way for a temporary assistant to have access to your calendar so that she can contact your clients and reschedule appointments if necessary.  (In fact, it may be incumbent upon you to do so, depending on the ethics rules in place in your jurisdiction.)  Let’s hope that you’re reachable in the case of a curveball — but if you’re hit by a bus, some mechanism must exist to meet your clients’ needs.
  3. Maintain a comprehensive “to do” list.  Many of us go through our days tucking “to do” items into our memory.  This approach creates stress, as you’ve experienced i you’ve ever been lying in bed, just about to drift off, when you’re suddenly jolted to full consciousness with the question, did I send that email / make that call??  For purposes of the “what if” conversation, however, if you maintain your task list in your head and get pulled away by a curveball, there’s little change that you’ll be able to sort tasks effectively to be sure every task is covered.  If the curveball should take you suddenly out of commission, you’ll have no opportunity to pause and download all of the tasks in your head onto paper.  Instead, use a Word document, a spreadsheet, or a task management application to keep track of every task (of any magnitude), and be sure you can sort those tasks by due date, importance, client, and project.

If you use these strategies, you’ll be able to handle the curveballs that come your way.  Remember that curveballs generally come with no notice, so assess your preparations today and begin to fill the holes you discover now.

Legal Business Development: Plans Are Important, But Nothing Happens Without Action!


It’s obvious that action is required to bring in new business, right? 
Sometimes, though, you have a great justification for not action…  When everyone is out of town or busy, when you’d like to get started with networking, but no available group feels like a good fit, when you just don’t know where or how to get published or to get an opportunity to speak, what then?

Here’s the simple truth:  you will hit roadblocks, quagmires of uncertainty or doubt, and even roadblocks in your business development journey.

A few of my clients have run into this situation, and their response often predicts (or even determines) their level of success.  Those who move forward in a helpful direction, even if it isn’t optimal, tend to do well; those who stall out and wait for the “right” conditions tend to flail and eventually fail.  The successful ones pursue a common line of analysis, and that’s what I’d like to share with you today.

Step one:  determine whether this is an obstacle, meaning a temporary challenge that can be resolve through action or by the passage of time, or a roadblock, meaning a long-lasting challenge that is due to issues you don’t control.  Imagine that you’ve identified an organization that sounds ideal for your practice.  If it’s on hiatus for the summer, that’s just an obstacle.  If your review of the events calendar shows that activity has dwindled to nothing and that the organization appears to be moribund, that may be a roadblock.

Solve or wait out obstacles; strategize an alternative approach to get around a roadblock.  Continuing the organization example, if the group is on hiatus for the summer, you can simply wait for Fall to get involved, and perhaps you can consider helping the group find ways to stay active even over the summer.  If the group is moribund, however, even though you could try to revive it, it probably wouldn’t be the best use of your resources, so you should look for another activity.

Step two:  if you’re waiting out an obstacle, get started with something else in the meantime; if you’ve hit a roadblock, go to plan B.  Could you identify some leaders in the group whom you might contact directly?  Is there a next best organization you might join?  You might choose instead to work on getting an article written and published, or you might track down a speaking opportunity that makes sense for your strategic plan.

There is always a viable Plan B.  If you find that you’re tied to a single approach, pull out a piece of paper and brainstorm alternatives, giving yourself permission to list even the silliest ideas in service of finding the right idea.

Whether you adjust your plans to move around an obstacle or a roadblock, you must keep moving.  Don’t allow an obstacle to prevent you from launching or continuing your business development plan.  There’s always more than one route to a goal.  Choosing to wait until you can execute your original plan (or even what feels like the best plan) is analogous to delaying the start of an exercise program because you plan to ride your bike but can’t because it’s monsoon season.

In summary:  make your plans, but be ready to adjust them in response to obstacles and roadblocks.  Plans are important, but when it comes to business development (and just about everything else, too), nothing happens without activity.

Nothing happens without focus


“I know how to burn a hole in paper without a match or a lighter or anything.”
 Last week while I was playing in the park with some kids, Anna, age 7, showed me how to use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight on a piece of paper and burn a hole in it.  It was magic to her until I explained that the magnifying glass focuses the sun’s rays to make them much stronger than they’d otherwise be.  And for Anna, the ability to focus was almost more exciting than the magic she’d perceived, because she could understand and repeat it.

Focus.  It’s an easy concept to grasp but sometimes a difficult one to apply, especially when you’re facing numerous demands on your time and energy.

You know multitasking isn’t the answer (you do know that, right?) but it can be so very tempting.

As I often tell clients, if you can’t focus on business development so that you act consistently on a cohesive, strategic plan–if you allow yourself to be pulled this way and that by whatever is most pressing at the moment–you will not be successful in growing your practice.

But it’s easy to get distracted, especially by something as truly pressing as billable work.  That’s why I’ve selected quotes about focus for your review (below).  Consider putting them where they will catch your attention.

That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity.  Simple can be harder than complex:  You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.  But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
~Steve Jobs

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power.  Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.
~Tony Robbins

You don’t get what you want in life.  You get what you focus on and expect.
~Tony Rush

Often he who does too much does too little.
~Italian Proverb

 

5 Ways to Generate Content that Get You Noticed, Connected and Hired


I was a guest on my friend and colleague Jory Fisher’s BlogTalkRadio show last week.
 After talking with numerous clients who were experiencing writer’s block, Jory and I agreed to discuss content generation:  why to create content (meaning, generally, written or oral information relevant to your practice that you share with an interested audience), how to use your content, and what to do to make the creation simple.  Here’s the show description:

There it is…  The blinking cursor on the empty screen.  You need to write a blog post or article, to put together your next presentation, or even to come up with something witty and thought-provoking for social media.  You’re stuck–but you can escape the pressure.

In today’s market, “content is king”.  Whether you write or speak (or both!), the information and expertise that you share is the key to getting found by your ideal clients and the media, gaining entree into the right business circles, and landing new business.  Join us to discover five simple ways to ramp up your content generation and how to use the content you create to advance your business.

Generating information that is useful to your target audience and that showcases your knowledge and skill is a key way to market your practice…  But sometimes, it just seems like a pain to do.  And sometimes, even when you’ve put in the effort and produced the content, you may wonder how to make the most of it.

Five Easy Ways to Generate Amazing Content will show you how to create great content easily and how to use content you create for maximum effect.  Although the interview was focused on women entrepreneurs of faith (Jory’s client base) rather than lawyers specifically, every bit of it is applicable for legal business development.

The interview is some of the best content I’ve offered in quite some time, so be sure to check it out.  In the meantime, here are the 5 ways to break writer’s block and streamline your content creation:

  1. Read a daily news source or blog (Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review blog, your local business journal) and find ways to relate your business/offerings/message/purpose to at least one story daily.  You may not choose to use what you come up with, but it’ll get your brain moving.
  2. Keep a list of client questions and case studies.  Bonus:  make it your habit to write down one story each day, something that has occurred to you or a client or contact, and relate that to your practice.  Always watch for teachable moments.
  3. Read blogs in your area of practice and watch for ideas with which you disagree.  You can add your two cents as a comment on the blog or through your own blog, article, etc.
  4. Track what people are discussing on social media that’s relevant to your practice.  Expand the topics and offer your perspective.
  5. Make a prediction:  what do you see trending in your industry or with your clients?  Then connect the dots for your audience by recommending how they can take advantage of changes or avoid upcoming problems.

If content creation is a part of your business development strategy (and, almost without exception, it should be!), download the show and give it a listen.

Habits determine outcome, so get your habits right


Every single one of my clients faces the need to build new habits at some point.  
Whether it’s replacing an unhelpful old habit or building a new one from scratch, the process of illuminating automatic behavior and changing it can be quite difficult.  At the same time, building a habit that operates without conscious thought and that supports desired outcomes is a marker for success.

You have to have the right habits.

Especially when it comes to business development, I’m a proponent of building strong habits.  Why?  Because habits build a structure that takes over in the face of challenges.  Habits are behaviors that we perform without thought.  They just happen.  And when they don’t, we feel so uncomfortable that, for better or worse, we usually revert to the habit.  There’s a lot of power in a habit.

But it isn’t easy to establish a new habit, and it’s often even harder to break an old one.  We’ve all heard the “do it for 28 days and you’ll have a habit” advice.  That doesn’t match my experience, though, and too often it doesn’t match my clients’ experience.

Several recently published books explore habit, but Duhigg’s The Power of Habit captured my attention.  In an Amazon Q&A, Duhigg shares what sparked his interest in habit:

What sparked your interest in habits?

I first became interested in the science of habits eight years ago, as a newspaper reporter in Baghdad, when I heard about an army major conducting an experiment in a small town named Kufa.

The major had analyzed videotapes of riots and had found that violence was often preceded by a crowd of Iraqis gathering in a plaza and, over the course of hours, growing in size.  Food vendors would show up, as well as spectators.  Then, someone would throw a rock or a bottle.

When the major met with Kufa’s major, he made an odd request:  Could they keep food vendors out of the plazas?  Sure, the mayor said.  A few weeks later, a small crowd gathered near the Great Mosque of Kufa.  It grew in size.  Some people started chanting angry slogans.  At dusk, the crowd started getting restless and hungry.  People looked for the kebab sellers normally filling the plaza, but there were none to be found.  The spectators left.  The chanters became dispirited.  By 8 p.m., everyone was gone.

I asked the major how he had figured out that removing the food vendors would change peoples’ behavior.

The U.S. military, he told me, is one of the biggest habit-formation experiments in history.  “Understanding habits is the most important thing I’ve learned in the army,” he said.  By the time I got back to the U.S., I was hooked on the topic.

Duhigg’s book is divided into three parts:  The Habits of Individuals, which explores how habit works and how to create and change them, The Habit of Successful Organizations, which describes how various businesses use (and perhaps abuse) habit formation, and the Habit of Societies, which investigates societal habits and related ethical questions.  Filled with stories, anecdotes, and tweetable insights, the book is a quick read that seems to be well-grounded in research and experience.

I was surprised to learn that, according to cited Duke University research, more than 40% of actions are habits rather than action motivated by conscious decision.  Duhigg defines habits as “the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day.”  That’s when I began to pay close attention to the book.

Habits are based on a three-step process:  a cue that triggers the action, the action itself, and the reward.  Using examples such as the habit of checking email (routine) in response to a message waiting alert (cue) to relieve boredom (reward).  Duhigg explains why habits are so difficult to change.  When a cue triggers us, we crave a reward, and the habit occurs automatically.

To change a habit, Duhigg teaches, choose a cue and a reward, then focus on the reward until you crave it, and preferably join a group composed of others who believe that change is possible.  It sounds easy enough, and Duhigg offers plenty of examples, but he also acknowledges that habits become deeply and often unconsciously engrained, making change difficult.

I was particularly intrigued by Duhigg’s recitation of research that demonstrates the success of those who make specific plans for action well in advance and know how they’ll work around obstacles.  We’ve all watched carefully cultivated habits fall apart when work gets unusually busy or a child gets sick, and Duhigg’s recitation of finding after finding serves as a strong prompt to anticipate obstacles.

What’s in it for you?

The Power of Habit offers both conceptual and concrete tips on how to make habit-building more conscious and more successful.  As noted above, every single client I’ve worked with in the last six years has bumped into habits at some point.  Bad habits (such as returning to the office with intentions to follow up with a new prospect only to watch days slip by without any movement) have to go, and new ones take their place.  Implementing Duhigg’s suggestions will  help.

I wish The Power of Habit had offered more discussion around identifying harmful habits that are not obvious, such as the realization that Iraqi riots wouldn’t occur without food vendors’ presence.  It’s one thing to know what habits are getting in the way, and it’s another entirely to see a pattern of blockages without being able to identify the linchpin habit that’s creating problems.  (Very often, an outside observer is the best way to spot that habit.)  Once you’ve identified the deleterious habit, though, Duhigg can help you to change it.

I’m studying The Power of Habit to help my clients find more effective ways to build automatic behaviors.  If time is limited, I’d strongly recommend that you read at least the first four chapters.  You’ll get a good grounding in how to create and change habits, and you’ll likely find yourself at least skimming the rest of the book.

In the meantime, ask yourself:  what do I do with little or no thought that’s getting in my way?  What reward am I craving?  How can I get that reward without the harmful behavior?  What should I substitute?  Even if your study of habit remains on that relatively surface level, you and your business will benefit.

 

The Art of the Ask: How to Ask For Business (And When Not to Ask)

How do you ask for business?  We all know intuitively (or through training) that those who don’t ask typically don’t get business.  However, many lawyers are reluctant to ask explicitly for business, and rightly so.  A flat request can disrupt a relationship if the answer is “no”, and, under some circumstances, asking can even be an ethical violation.  Even when those concerns are not in play, some lawyers may feel pushy if they ask for business.  And yet, the inner voice cautions (or should caution!), if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Knowing whether and how to ask for business requires  you to check several considerations.  A few examples are:

  • Listen to your gut…  If you’re sensing that an explicit request for the business may be too pointed, you could be correct.
    Try a gentler approach (something like “I’d be happy to suggest an approach for that”) may blunt the approach and yet get the message across.
  • …But notice how often your gut tells you not to ask.  If your gut almost always tells you that asking would be too pushy, it’s time to do some work on your comfort level.  What conditions would have to exist for you to feel comfortable in asking for business?
  • Look for the win / win.  Lawyers often use rather violent language for business development:  “eat what you kill” compensation systems, “killer instinct” in pursuing new work, and “bagging a client”, for instance.  This language casts the lawyer as the hunter and the potential client as the victim or the target.  Although few lawyers actually regard their potential clients in that way, the fear or being perceived as a ruthless hunter may prompt a lawyer to hold back.  It may even prompt lawyers to ask for business so tentatively that the request implies that the potential client would be doing the lawyer a great favor by hiring him.  When you issue a good request for business, you know the benefit and value you’re bringing, and you can weave it into your request.
  • Listen to the potential client’s concerns and offer some feedback, leading naturally into an offer of further help.  If you take this approach, be sure that you don’t stray into giving legal advice without sufficient knowledge of the facts.  You can suggest potential avenues or approaches for consideration, though, and offer to help if your contact would like to explore them.
  • Invite a potential client to your office for a consultation, and specifically mention that you’ll discuss your engagement letter and answer any questions they may have.  If you know enough about the client and the matter to be sure that you would be willing to accept it, this can be a natural way to move the conversation forward.

Asking for business requires both the right mindset and the right words or technique.  You might get hired without asking for the business, but until you master this skill, you can’t count on growing your book.

Think about your current “low hanging fruit”, or the potential clients most likely to retain you right now.  What approach would be most helpful for them?  What approach will open the possibility of working with you most effectively?  When have you held back from a request, and how might you recover and adjust your habits going forward?

What are you willing to risk to grow your practice?


What are you willing to risk to grow your practice?
 The reality is that reward almost always requires some risk, whether it’s the risk of stepping outside your comfort zone, the risk of putting an investment on the line, or the risk of rejection.

There’s no point in taking foolish risks, but without taking some risk, you’re unlikely to accomplish your goals–unless, of course, you aim too low.  By nature and by training, we lawyers tend to be a bit risk-averse.  This month’s quotes offer food for thought on risk…  How do you decide when to take a risk and what stakes to accept?

It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win.  ~John Paul Jones

You can measure opportunity with the same yardstick that measures the risk involved.  They go together.  ~Earl Nightingale

Life is inherently risky.  There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.  ~Denis Waitley

Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his idea, to take a calculated risk, and to act.  ~Maxwell Maltz

Can’t-Miss Articles


There’s a lot of analysis these days about practice and law school in light of the recession and the recovering economy.  
Most of these articles are focused on large law firms (for a variety of reasons ranging from the better availability of data to the different economic pressures), but the discussions are relevant whether you’re a sole practitioner or working in one of the largest firms in the country.  Practices aren’t fungible, but the “legal industry” is a system, and what happens in one sector will create an effect in another sector.

Here are a few articles that you can’t miss.  I’d suggest you make time to read them today, but don’t let next week start without your having read and digested each of these.

1.  The Last Days of Big Law:  You can’t imaging the terror when the money dries up.  This articles takes a critical view of large firms (and the lawyers who inhabit them), using Mayer Brown as the prime example of all firms of its size and caliber.  While some of the points seem unduly negative (painting life for all partners as “demeaning” and “altogether soul-crushing” for associates), it makes some important points.  Most notably, the article recounts the challenges that more junior lawyers (associates and income partners) face in landing new business and receiving credit when they succeed in doing so.  (And see also this response from a former Mayer Brown partner.)

Who needs to read it?  Anyone working in an AmLaw 200, and most especially those who are midlevel or more senior but not yet equity partners.  Those who are in AmLaw 51-200 may want to read especially closely:  these firms are earning a decreasing share (48% in 2003 vs. 42% in 2013) of the market, which is itself increasing–3% in the last year and 84% in the last ten years.

And if you’re in a smaller firm, you’d better read it too, since there’s usually a trickle-down effect (positive and negative) from the larger firms.

My take is that there’s some interesting anecdotal information that’s heavily skewed to the negative, but there’s also some truth that deserves exploration.  I do think too many lawyers are hoping for a return to “business as usual” and that only those who can adapt to the changing economy and business landscape will prosper.  I’m dubious that the fear and predatory competition that the article describes is systemic, and I expect that the profession will continue to evolve to meet the business.  Still, this is the can’t-miss article of the week.

2.  Is Law School a Good Deal After All?  Analyzing a recent paper titled The Economic Value of a Law Degree, this article concludes that:

“over the course of a career, your average J.D.-holder will make almost $1 million more than a similar worker with just a bachelor’s degree (or about $700,000 after taxes).  Even law grads on the low end of the salary scale seem to fare better than their merely college-educated peers.  Crucially, the paper finds no evidence that the earnings premium has declined since the economy crashed.”

Worth a read, both for the pro and con points.

3.  Planting Trees, And The Reason Business Development Is Difficult.  This article illustrates one of the easily overlooked common-sense rules of business development:  it takes time.  No matter how talented or skilled you are, you have to invest time into listening, engaging in dialogue, and delivering value.  If you’ve wondered why your stop-and-start business development efforts haven’t paid off, this will explain it.

4.  The Small Firms Lawyer Considers Big Ideas.  It seems only fair to highlight an article that’s specific to small firm lawyers, and this is a good one because it highlights the advantages that small firms have in agility and entrepreneurial thinking.  In a larger firm?  The question, as always, is how you can apply similar principles to your own practice, even though your firm will operate very differently.

That rounds up my top four articles for this week.  What have you read that I missed?