Law Business Mentors

Remember when graduating law school was a golden ticket to a great-paying, fulfilling job making a difference for people, companies or the planet? Young lawyers today know that’s simply no longer the case. If you want the trifecta of happiness wealth, and fulfillment in your legal career, you need to shift from lawyer think to entrepreneur think. Whether you’re working for a big firm, hoping to make partner or going it on your own, three shifts in thinking will result in guaranteed internal and external success in your own law practice as we transition into the new economy. By the time … Continue reading »

If you are an estate planning lawyer (or considering adding estate planning to your practice), you’ll want to read this article in the Wealth Counsel Quarterly on how you can build a practice you love that makes great money and gives you control over your schedule. In the article, Law Business Mentor, Alexis Neely, covers the flaw in the traditional estate planning lawyer business model and 5 ways you can start to fix your law business model now. Here’s the 5 ways and you will definitely want to read the article for an explanation because   they are counter-intuitive, but … Continue reading »

I admit it. I cannot sell. I stink at selling. That’s me, the person who couldn’t sell water to a thirsty man. I fear selling. I think of used car and insurance salesmen when I think of selling. My skin crawls when I think of selling. When I opened my firm in 2009, my main resistance was to the idea that I would have to sell. (Insert all manner of icky sound effects here). But I put on my big girl panties and began. With the help of Alexis Neely, my friend and mentor, I learned to overcome my panic-attack … Continue reading »

Are you thinking like a lawyer or a law business owner? Here’s a quick litmus test: Do your daily thoughts revolve around getting Income or ROI? Most lawyers are not even sure what ROI is, let alone how to focus on it. In a nutshell, ROI or return on investment means that you: “Never spend a dollar unless you can make or save MORE than a dollar.” It’s that simple. Getting income is crucial. Never take your eye off that ball. But do take a moment to examine your strategies for getting additional income because you might find you’ve been focusing … Continue reading »

You know you need help in your law practice. You need an assistant who can help you with practice growth strategies – more than just day-to-day legal client work. But where do you start? How will you find the right person and what will they do once you hire them? Hiring an assistant can be a very exciting time, but also a very stressful time. Years ago I remember someone saying to me: “Cindy, I know I need help. I know I need an assistant to help me. But I don’t know what I don’t know. Can an assistant really … Continue reading »

In law school you learned how to lawyer. Growing your law firm requires that you learn the business of law. Interviewing and hiring are two of the essentials you must learn to turn your law practice into a law business you can count on.  Here are 7 stratetgies for you to use in making your next hiring decision.  1.) Don’t hire for potential – who someone COULD be is not up to you. Hire based on who they are now and the experience, skills and training they already have; and if they grow in their role, all the better! It’s a … Continue reading »

When I first started out in my own law practice I knew nothing – literally nothing – about business. Within 3 years I had a million-dollar-a-year revenue generating business. My secret? Systemization & Automation (Note: this goes well beyond mere marketing — marketing alone is a waste of your precious resources if you aren’t systematizing and automating your practice.) I learned from Dan Kennedy, Michael Gerber and the most successful service-based entrepreneurs in the direct response marketing world that it all comes down to systems, and the best systems are either delegated or automated entirely. So, I went to work. … Continue reading »

This is an important public service announcement if you are considering hiring a legal marketing company, agency or service to market your law firm. Please take it seriously. Far too many lawyers think legal marketing will be the answer to their prayers — I get it, I once thought that, too — but what I discovered (and you will, too, if you don’t heed this warning) is that legal marketing is just a teeny piece of the law business puzzle. You’d think it was the whole enchilada if you pay attention to what every online marketer in the legal space … Continue reading »

One of the questions I get asked all the time is ‘how long will it take before I see and experience return on investment (ROI) from my new Assistant?’ The quick answer is – approximately 90 days. At first, 90 days may feel like a lifetime. However, when you consider the milestones you’ll hit in that time, and the full support you’ll receive after ramping up, 90 days really isn’t that long at all. A lot of ‘downloading’ takes place in the first 90 days of a lawyer/assistant relationship. Both parties need to set aside and invest time to allow … Continue reading »

Dear Lawyers: I know you’re buried. Overwhelmed. I know you’ve probably thought about throwing in the towel at least once already this year. We hear it all the time around here. One email I received this week stood out in particular. (I do personally read all your comments & emails, so keep them coming.) She wrote about how she can’t keep up – hearing over and over “how I should be ‘transforming’ my practice while I am also worrying about making payroll, not screwing up cases, and meeting deadlines. PLEASE STOP TELLING ME HOW HORRIBLE IT IS, and give more … Continue reading »