Sometimes I review lawyers’ marketing materials and get bored because “professional” is so often misinterpreted as a straightjacket. Everyone has “years of experience” that will “create value” for their clients through “excellent client service.” Important, necessary, but oh-so-very-dull, isn’t it? In today’s economy, if that’s all you can say about yourself and your practice, you’re […]
When I shifted from practicing law to consulting and coaching, I realized that it’s critical for me to protect my own time and energy. I began to get a deeper understanding that in a very real way, I am my own product and I must protect that product. The irony, of course, is that the […]
I gave a 1-hour presentation about rainmaking last week in the Chicago office of a large law firm, and following the presentation, a lawyer approached with a question: Is it ever too late to rebuild professional relationships that have languished? The short answer is that it depends on the relationship. The deeper the relationship, the […]
Most of us didn’t have any law school training about business development. (Fortunately for today’s students, that’s starting to change.) Law school classes tended to assume that the clients would just be there and that being a good lawyer is all that’s necessary to build a book of business. I’m not convinced that was ever […]
I strive to avoid procrastinating or, if resistance is futile, to procrastinate productively. Even before temptations like Facebook and YouTube existed, I learned that wasting time would only leave me further behind and frustrated. (One exception: when I was working in a large firm, I once spent a delightful afternoon with a partner who was […]
In the fall of 2013, I offered a webinar titled Conquer Procrastination! How to Manage Your Time to Build a Profitable Practice and a Rich Personal Life. It turned out to be one of my most popular offerings yet. I walked through the five root causes of procrastination and what you can do to counteract […]
When a law firm hires me to work with a junior associate, very often one part of the engagement centers on the associate’s leadership presence and self-confidence – how he or she presents to others. (Of course, that focus is not by any means unique to junior associates.) Although reviewers may use a variety of […]
Overwhelm can tank a day faster than just about anything else. When you have more email than you can handle, an out-of-control task list, and phone calls that just won’t stop, it’s almost impossible to operate effectively. Even if you manage to limp along, you may find that you’re distracted and that things are falling […]
Newsletters offer a way to stay in contact with a large number of contacts easily, consistently, and productively. Newsletters focus on substantive information, and assuming you’ve defined your areas of practice carefully enough, your content will be valuable to recipients and therefore welcome. Better yet, if your topics are timely and if you include an […]
Pop quiz: Who are your best referral sources? List the top 10 right now. If you are a more junior lawyer in a law firm and don’t yet have your own clients, list the senior lawyers for whom you do the most work. How easy did you find it to make this list? This information […]