16 06, 2007

Dining Out in France: Go with the Flow

2007-06-16T19:03:48+00:00By |Comments Off on Dining Out in France: Go with the Flow

It seems that a number of clients and readers like reading about my adventures in France. Over 8 years ago I took a sabbatical from practicing law from which I never actually returned. I segued into becoming a coach for lawyers, eventually. During that sabbatical in France I did some travel writing. The following article appeared in the Orlando Sentinel in 1999.

Successful dining in France requires one of two personal qualifications: (a) extensive training in French linguistics, etiquette and cuisine, or (b) a devil-may-care attitude. In my case, hunger and impatience mandate the latter. Forget etiquette. I cannot comply with the only rule I have learned. Here in France it is impolite to place your hand in your lap while dining. My mother would tell you I never did that anyway, but my hyper-conscious teenager has been repeatedly mortified by my infractions of this rule. Evidently the nudity on French beaches, billboards and television commercials subconsciously affects the French as much as the Americans, because the French wonder what you are doing with your hand if it is under the table.

All menus contain a number of indiscernible choices, even if I can literally understand the words (which I often can’t). A dictionary does not help. What kind of lunch item is a ”crunchy mister” or a “crunchy madam?” Or a “hot goat?” The answers: a croque monsieur is sort of a toasted ham sandwich with cheese melted on top, which populates every brasserie menu. A croque madame is more of the same, with a runny fried egg on top of the cheese. The French don’t eat fried eggs for breakfast. They prefer them on top of their pizza…or sandwich…or salad. Salads abound as a main course during the day. Chevre chaud (hot goat) is actually a green salad served with goat cheese slightly melted over small pieces of […]

10 06, 2007

Get Remembered

2007-06-10T07:36:39+00:00By |1 Comment

Years ago at an early morning meeting Jimmy Brill, a veteran estate planning lawyer and the founder of Solos Supporting Solos, asked each of 30 lawyers to introduce themselves and their practices. I didn’t know any of them, and they all faded into a blur, except for one tall gentleman in a straw hat and seersucker suit. He said, “I’m a proctologist in the courtroom.” He got some chuckles and my attention.

I often ask the attorneys I coach on business development to analyze their client list to determine how they obtained their previous clients. Most of them report that the majority of their new clients come as referrals. If your business depends on referrals, your success depends on the likelihood that others will remember you when someone has a problem you can solve.

A couple of months after that morning meeting, I asked someone in the group, “What’s the name of that guy who’s the proctologist in the courtroom?” “Ted Hirtz,” he responded immediately. Ted’s introduction stood out and triggered the memory of enough people for me to locate him again.

[…] «Get Remembered»

6 06, 2007

Law Firm Goes Public!

2019-02-10T23:15:55+00:00By |Comments Off on Law Firm Goes Public!

An Australian law firm went public and was listed on the Austrailan Stock Exchange on May 21, 2007. Australia adopted legislation that permits non-lawyers to invest in the ownership of a law firm, and capital to be raised publicly. The 140-lawyer firm, Slater & Gordon, will initially have shares owned by 42 lawyers and staff, according to The American Lawyer. Legislation has also been introduced in the U.K. to permit law firm IPOs.

If the UK permits law firms to go public,it will probably be the beginning of a wholesale shift in the lawbiz. There will be many detractors and much resistance in the U.S., but moving mega-firms away from the partnership structure to a real corporate structure may have significant benefits. As true business managers and marketing experts have the opportunity to share in the profits of a law firm, the great class chasm between lawyers and non-lawyers may finally disappear. Innovation may become more valued in firms. The billable hour may fall away to value-billing or other creative structures. Firms may develop more balanced methods of valuing the contributions of its employees. Hey! Perhaps even teamwork could become popular.

I confess that I am having some difficulty imagining how a public law firm would work in the near term. I can imagine the possibility of a serious decline in the professionalism of law practice. Even commoditization of many legal services. We are already headed that way, however, and I’m not sure that the public opinion of lawyers can sink much lower.

One result may be that many lawyers will make less money, with most becoming part of the working middle class, instead of the professional elite, and a few becoming ultra-wealthy titans. One could say we are seeing that trend already, however. As firms go public, they will probably stratify more, with legions of paralegals and other non-lawyers. As bright line distinctions […]

1 06, 2007

Marketing: What Are You Already Doing Right?

2007-06-01T12:54:51+00:00By |Comments Off on Marketing: What Are You Already Doing Right?

On a panel for a webcast by the Law Practice Management Program about “Finding and Keeping Good Clients,” we discussed the efficacy of public speaking. Rick Albers, a real estate lawyer in Austin, recounted that another lawyer once told him that he had spoken many times at continuing legal education programs, and never got any business from it. Rick’s mouth dropped open. He himself had referred four matters to that lawyer over the last several years. Rick made those referrals because he knew from hearing the lawyer speak that he was knowledgeable in the relevant area of practice.

Many years ago, when I had my own law firm, my father asked me how I got my clients. I blinked, dumbfounded by the question, and finally responded, “I wish I knew, Dad, so I could get more of them.” That question spurred me to examine my list of current and former clients. I discovered that 75% of my business came from referrals from other lawyers. To my surprise, many of those referrals came from my competitors!

[…] «Marketing: What Are You Already Doing Right?»

 

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