Must-Read Articles

I’ve found several articles that you can’t afford to miss this month.

1. Don’t Be a Dewey Dozen: Use This Checklist to Make Sure Your Firm Isn’t Dewey.

Although this article is ostensibly written for AmLaw 250 firms, most of the points have validity for firms of any size. Your firm must be liquid, it must have compensation packages that make sense, and it must understand what’s important to its clients. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Read this article.

2. Survey Says Post-Recession Shifts Are Here to Stay.

Still waiting for business to get “back to normal”? Quit. In fact, brace for more changes. While some of this may look like bad news for lawyers on the surface, if you dig a bit deeper and think creatively, you’ll begin to see opportunity.

3. The Haiku of What You Do

How you introduce yourself has a lot to do with whether you’ll get referrals (or direct business) and how you’re perceived. I offer five styles of introduction in The Reluctant Rainmaker, and modified haiku is a sixth. Suggested by Matt Homann of the [non]billable hour, try crafting an introduction by answering:

• Who do I help? (Answer in Five Words)
• What do I do for them? (Answer in Seven Words)
• Why do they need me? (Answer in Five Words)

Read the full article for samples and more about the approach. And a hint: if you can’t answer the questions in the specified number of words, you’re making it too complicated. (Hat tip to Gyi Taskalakis for this one.)

4. The need for change

There’s a good chance that there’s something you’d like to change in your practice or in your life. If you’re in the estimated 62-75% of lawyers who are unhappy (there’s a sobering statistic), you must read Chris Guilleabeau’s article. Others should read it as well, with a view to whatever change you might feel necessary.

5. 7 Tips on How to Make Your Conference Panel Rock

Sitting on (or moderating) a panel at a conference is always an interesting experience. Scott Stratten, author of UnMarketing, has some terrific suggestions on how to put together a speaker’s panel that’s a “think tank” rather than 4 or 5 mini-presentations.