♫Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way its always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way its always been.
Just open your heart
And thats a start…♫
Words and Music by Graeme Edge and Ray Thomas, recorded by The Moody Blues.
At the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico that is happening on May 14-17, 2008, there was a panel discussion by Jamie Spannhake, Mark Komer, Ed Flitton and Diane Costigan on Living a Life in the Law. This panel presentation was all about achieving a life-work balance while practising law.
To begin with, the panelists had to draw a definition of what is living a balanced life. The definition that was put forward was “Using your time effectively so that no one area of your life is neglected”. To place this in context, Ed Flitton noted that at his firm, Holland and Hart, partners are expected to log 1700 billable hours/year and associates, 1800. On top of that are pro bono hours, education time etc to bring every lawyer’s total logged (billable and non-billable) time to 2500 hours/year.
If lawyers worked a normal number of days/year (231 is typical taking into account statutory holidays and 14 days/vacation/year) that means that lawyers have to log 10.8 hours/day in the office. This clearly implies that lawyers are clearly spending long hours and weekends in the office to meet their billable hour requirements. The situation is further compounded when you realize that there are many law firms out there that have even higher billable hour requirements from partners and associates alike.
So how do you start living a life in the law? The suggestions that were put forward were to build in a sabbatical of 3 months every 5 years for partners. For one, this adds to the motivation to become partner! Furthermore, clients are shared among the lawyers in the firm, as no one can simply leave their practice for 3 months. This promotes a cultural change in the firm to regard clients as firm clients and not to horded clients by partners. This cultural change is seen as being very positive and team-oriented.
Other suggestions were to choose your law firm carefully and try to work with lawyers who share your values. Furthermore, exercise personal leadership in defining what success is and a successful life are to you and not allowing others to set these definitions (and your schedule) for you.
Lastly look to creative ways to rework your time/career relationship with your firm. Jamie Spannhake brought forward her personal story to reduce her time requirements by 30% at her firm, in order to allow her to build a personal practice as a holistic health counselor (www.thenourishingbalance.com). She was the first lawyer at a major New York firm that brought in a reduced hourly rate requirement for someone for reasons that had nothing to do with family and child needs.
The first step is to open your mind and your heart … and that’s a start!
♫I want the easy
Easy money
Easy money
I could get lucky
Oh, things could go right♫
Words and music by Billy Joel.
There is a a new and quite clever fraud scam being attempted against lawyers.
Generally, the fraud was attempted by an entity (CreditCo - in this case from Hong Kong) retaining a law firm to undertake a collection against a debtor (DebtCo). The law firm is engaged to write a demand letter to DebtCo on behalf of CreditCo (in this case, for a largish amount of money).
Low and behold a bank draft arrives payable to the firm in the full amount of the claim! This was the first small alarm as the demand letter did not ask for the funds to be paid to the law firm.
The lawyers notify CreditCo that they have the funds and CreditCo gets anxious and states that they want the money wired to them ASAP (second small alarm). In other words, CreditCo wanted the firm to circumvent any normal caution or internal controls regarding the bank draft and any clearing times on the draft.
In this case, the lawyers called the bank at the number listed on the bank draft. Not surprisingly, the telephone number was answered professionally and the bank draft declared to be valid.
Fortunately, the law firm in question did not accept such assurances at face value. The lawyers, out of an abundance of caution, called their own bank and asked them to make inquiries regarding the bank draft and the issuing bank. Not surprisingly, the lawyer’s bank determined that the bank draft was bogus.
The bank draft, it should be noted, was entirely professional in appearance. And the entire attempted scam was conducted in a professional manner. Lawyers are cautioned to put into place proper prudent internal controls regarding retaining funds until they are reasonably assured that any negotiable instruments are indeed valid and will be honoured by the issuing financial institution. There is no assurance that any negotiable instrument, bank drafts included, may not be forged. Fraudsters count on trust - and internal controls are designed to place any transaction - no matter how innocent - under a critical eye. Lawyers should be examining every and all financial transactions with a view towards whether the transaction is indeed what it appears to be.
The increasing sophistication of scams such as this one only reinforces the principle that if it seems too good to be true, if the money seems disproportionate to the services rendered, if the result is just too easy, then the easy money comes with a different kind of price; and the lawyer in question is not lucky when things ultimately do not go right…
♫ The long and winding road
that leads to your door
Will never disappear
I’ve seen that road before
It always leads me here
leads me to your door… ♫
Words and music: Lennon and McCartney, recorded by The Beatles.
At some point in the day you pause and look around you. You came into the law to change the world - or you were drawn to the challenge of a new, exciting and meaningful career. You were deeply concerned with social issues and were looking for a way to make an impact. You saw the law as a way to achieve an intellectually satisfying living. Now you find you are dissatisfied, frustrated by the routine and repetitive tasks of day to day lawyering. All too often, success is measured in terms of financial returns - which these days are far too small. The passion that drew you to the law has been replaced by a deeply held cynicism. Enjoyment is sought thru mind-numbing liquid or alternate means. What happened?
Fortunately if we still have a vestige of our fervour left, then all is not lost. How do we rekindle the enthusiasm, the zeal and the anticipation of our early days in the law? Here is a selection of suggestions to revive our minds and spirit:
Get energized: Lawyers have a high energy level, yet we tie ourselves down to a desk. Sports, dance, art - all these and other areas offer the ability to tap into and redirect our energy into new and positive directions. First paradox: Burning energy outside of the office invigorates you and increases the energy potential in the office. Get involved.
Validate: Since law practice is really just one file followed by another, we tend to lose track of the high points along the way. Open a file and keep it at your desk - and keep it populated with examples of your outstanding work. If possible, display examples of your successes on your walls (newspaper reports, thank you letters (with consent), sport photos, race bibs, musical certificates - and other objective indicia of success).
Show your talents: What are your ideals? Often there are groups that are crying for professional support and help (historical societies, community groups or arts groups, community colleges). Seek out these associations and become an advocate for their causes, a teacher or a member.
Go for it: Lawyers are oftentimes characterized by high emotional sensitivity (which we hide behind a hippopotamus hide), high levels of self-criticism and poor peer relations (we can’t admit any human failings). We hold ourselves to standards of perfectionism that hold us back from trying new things - things that we cannot instantly master. Recognize that new projects only require effort, enjoyment and enthusiasm! Remember to:
“Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.” (author unknown)
Embrace Complexity: Lawyers thrive on complexity and can be bored by the work at hand. Here is the first paradox: Spending time rekindling your passion in life and its positive outlets can generate more energy for you and will result in an affirmative reworking of yourself.
Help Others: Second paradox: Lawyers have a high altruistic need to contribute, to help out and to make a difference. It has often been said that you cannot help someone else without first helping yourself in the process.
Create calm: What is your workspace like? Is it filled with ringing telephones, office noise and constant interruptions? Create an “island of calm” around you. Turn down the ringer on the phone. Stop all interruptions for a minimum of 1 hour a day. Close your door. Try music playing in the background. Try concentrating only on one task at a time.
Seek out others: Lawyers like challenging, successful people. Hunt for these types of people and associate with them. Find a lawyer who is passionate and actively involved in their out-of-the-law interests and take them to lunch. Find a running partner. Build a positive social group. Create the environment of people around you that you need.
Rediscover the child within: Third paradox: Helping the needs of children can result in great benefits for the adults. Lawyers can be great role models to the younger generation and in turn, can learn a great deal from the younger set.
Help your partners: Lawyers are very empathic to others. Fourth paradox: Helping your partners achieve greater satisfaction in their lives can result in greater satisfaction in your own life.
Read: Go and get biographies of exceptional individuals. Often you can see how these people faced difficulties, adversity and setbacks - and oftentimes became successes by simply being the only ones still left in the game. Outlast your setbacks.
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫ It’s good for all my people
it’s good for all my people
it’s good for all my people
and it’s good enough for me
Gimmie that old time religion…♫
Words and music anonymous, first published by Charles D. Tillman.
Think of a lawyer and an image of a solo warrior heading off to battle springs to mind. Unfortunately, like most stereotypes, it is increasingly out of touch with reality. Law firms have discovered that to survive and thrive in modern society, they have to reach back to the old-time concept of teams and leaders. Firms have discovered that groups led by effective leaders possessing so-called ’soft’ skills: coaching, counselling, mentoring, tutoring, and motivating – are much more effective than just groups of lawyers and staff working together. A group of people is not a team. A team comes together for a shared goal or task, such as handling a particular client, a file or area of law. What are the benefits to firms and clients from building teams? First, teams outperform groups, team members support each other’s growth and learning, teams maximize the use of human and other resources, there is continuous improvement and knowledge sharing amongst the team members and the output of a team is synergistic – greater than the sum of the individual parts. Furthermore, teams are willing to push work down, allowing firms to not only mentor and grow juniors, they provide head-room for senior counsel to tackle higher-value work and allow a firm to transition to alternate billing methods – having work competently performed at the lowest cost to the firm while maximizing profitability.
So how do you evolve from individuals to groups to teams? Here are some suggestions put forward by Donald Clark and others in this area:
Build the team: The first duty of a leader is to ensure that the foundations for team development have been put into place. This is based on the work by Herzberg on Hygiene and Motivational factors. Any issues lying within the following topics that affect the team must be resolved to the satisfaction of the members in order to take them to the next level: Working conditions, Policies and administrative practices, Salary and Benefits, Supervision, Status, Job security, Fellow workers, Personal life. For example, including someone who for one reason or another will not fit within the dynamics of the team will only frustrate the other members and prevent the team from moving forward. This last factor is so important that elite military teams themselves select their future members from potential recruits.
Communicate the vision: What is the goal to which you are striving? Let the team members know how each of them plays a role in reaching that goal.
Be Passionate!: One of the greatest motivators is seeing a leader’s passion to accomplish the goals of the team. Conversely, a lack of passion sends a message that “this doesn’t really matter all that much”. Get behind your team and radiate energy!
Enable others to act: Give your team members the tools and the space to get the job done. Then get out of the way – micromanagement is not a leadership style. Trust your members to do what is right.
Get Dirty!: You are encouraging the team members to reach beyond their current abilities into new and unknown territory. Leaders are willing to be the first to try something and show that not getting it right the first time is just fine. Stretch and pull others along with you.
Encourage: There are three distinct styles of leadership: Authoritarian, Participative and Delegative. Note that each of these styles is used in different situations and with different people. The Authoritarian tells people what they want done and how. Typically this is used in crises situations when time is short and the team members are already well motivated. The Participative leader involves people in the decision-making process, reserving the right to make the final decision. Typically this style is used where the leader does not possess all the information to make the right decision. The Delegative leader sets the priorities and allows the team members to decide what has to be done and how to do it. The delegative leader remains ultimately responsible for the work of the team and is comfortable with the decision-making ability of the team.
Radiate Values: In facing a decision, there are usually at least two options: doing something right and doing the right thing. You can take the short-term expedient decision or you can take the high road, realizing that this route sows seeds that bear fruit over a longer time frame. As a leader, the decision that you take will say volumes about your values to your team.
Be in Character: Great leaders possess common character traits. The US Army has enumerated 23 Traits of Character. Check this list and reflect how many apply to you and to the leaders in your firm: Confidence, Courage, Integrity, Decisiveness, Justice, Endurance, Tact, Initiative, Coolness, Maturity, Improvement, Will, Assertiveness, Candour, Sense of humour, Competence, Commitment, Creativity, Self-discipline, Humility, Flexibility, Empathy/Compassion. As clothes make the man, then character traits make the leader.
Law firms are catching that old time religion and transforming their firms into well-oiled teams. After all, it is good for all their people!
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫ Listen, do you want to know a secret
Do you promise not to tell, woh, oh, oh
Closer, let me whisper in your ear…♫
Words and music by Lennon-McCartney
In my Practice Tips column for March, 2008 in the Benchers Bulletin, the newsletter of The Law Society of British Columbia, I wrote on “Electronic devices – encryption and client confidentiality issues” for lawyers. In that article I discussed the distressingly regular occurrence of a lawyer’s computer being stolen or ‘lost’. I recommended that lawyers start installing and using whole disk encryption (either software or hardware) technologies to ensure that there is an additional level of security between the client confidential information on that computer and any unauthorized person who tries to access that information.
Accordingly, it was gratifying to see that InfoWorld in an article posted April 7, 2008 entitled: Are Extra Laptop Features Worth It? stated:
“Our verdict: For any industry in which security is paramount or even legally obligated (the medical, legal, and governmental fields, for starters), the additional cost of hardware encryption is minuscule when weighed against the technology’s ease of use and its role in avoidance of liability.”
In my opinion, all lawyers should be looking at whole-disk encryption for their portable devices (laptops, flash drives etc) and should be considering it for their office networks as well (there have been instances when desktop computers have been stolen - even in broad daylight - from lawyer’s offices).
Contemplate, if you will, having to tell your clients that a computer containing their personal information has been stolen and that they should consider steps to guard against identity theft and the compromising of their personal information. This conversation is *so* much easier when you can also tell them that the entire disk in question has been encrypted using a state-of-the-art system and is very unlikely to be hacked. As they say in those TV ads, the cost of encryption - minuscule; the sense of relief - *priceless*.
And the clients can rest assured that there isn’t someone out there saying “psst….do you want to know a secret?”..
♫ What a feeling.
Bein’s believin’.
I can have it all, now I’m dancing for my life.
Take your passion
and make it happen..♫
Music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara
Having returned from speaking and attending ABA TECHSHOW 2008, I now have the perspective of time to reflect on what I saw and heard and discern the trends and emerging issues that flowed from the conference.
First off, there were many new faces at Techshow this year, particularly among the speakers. This was a good thing as the introduction of new ideas and perspectives that fresh blood brings to the conference cannot be underestimated and Techshow does a fine job of this. There were also many new vendors on the exhibit floor and that added a degree of novelty to the conference as well!
The social events (Techshow after Dark, the Techshow speaker dinners) were a great success, even if the band at Techshow after Dark was a bit loud. The attendees were wonderful - they came loaded with lots of questions, terrific comments and suggestions and fully contributed to the sense of sharing and knowledge exchange that is so much a hallmark of ABA TECHSHOW.
In terms of the undercurrents running through the educational sessions, certainly e-Discovery continues its relentless march through the legal corridors, transforming everything in its path. It is difficult to believe that there is any litigation lawyer in North America today who is not at least aware of the need to consider the implications of electronic evidence in virtually every case.
It was reassuring to see the emphasis given to two closely-related issues: Records Management and the Paperless Office. These two go hand in hand, in my opinion. Furthermore, I saw a sea-change at this year’s TECHSHOW - and that was the overall acceptance that integrated case (or practice management) and legal accounting software is the foundation on which any law firm should now be built. Virtually all lawyers (at least at TECHSHOW) now recognize that these products are not only getting better and better (Amicus Attorney+ Amicus Accounting, LexisNexis Front Office and Back Office (Time Matters + PC Law), Practice Master + Tabs 3, LawStream, ProLaw etc) but they save a tremendous amount of time and effort as well. Furthermore, they are now being integrated into the paperless office, which only increases the scope of their use and reach.
Two other related issues: IT Security and Privacy were also big and will only get bigger as we move to a fully digital law firm and concerns over personal privacy and identity theft continue.
And lastly I was most impressed by the emergence (or should I say, surge in interest) of using a Mac in a law office. These sessions were very effective in not only demonstrating the usefulness of this platform and the benefits that it offers; they also pretty much debunked most *if not all* of the myths that Windows and IT staff put forward to stop a Mac from being used in a Windows-centric office and network.
A cultural trend was the sheer number of people (mostly faculty!) who were actively blogging as the conference went on. The list included: Kevin O’Keefe (Real Lawyers Have Blogs), Sharon Nelson (Ride the Lightening), Dominic Jaar (Wines and Information Management), Tom Mighell (Inter-Alia), Jim Calloway (Law Practice Tips Blog), and many others! Indeed, I smugly did a blog post on the Keynote Speaker Marc Rotenberg while listening to the presentation right from the ballroom floor, only to find that Reid Trautz (Reid My Blog!) seated right behind me, on his MacBook Pro, had beat me by posting to his own blog moments before on the same topic (if anyone thinks that there isn’t any competition among bloggers, think again!). How cool is that?!!
Notable and cool speakers for me were:
Tom Mighell (*the Chair of this year’s Techshow*) who did a great job in interviewing the great Keynote Speaker Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC.ORG). Steve Best, my co-speaker in Drafting Bills Your Clients Love to Pay was exceptional and made my job effortless. Ben Stevens, who did both sessions in the Mac Track, was terrific.
And of course the speakers on 60 Sites in 60 Minutes (Tom Mighell, Reid Trautz and Craig Ball) and 60 Tips in 60 Minutes (Brett Burney, Barron Henley and Sharon Nelson) were funny, entertaining and also informative in continuing the fine TECHSHOW tradition of these sessions!
This was a wonderful TECHSHOW - and I can’t wait for the 2009 version when my fellow Law Practice Magazine Profitability co-columnist Laura Calloway takes over as 2009 TECHSHOW Chair! This is one conference that is is sure to stoke your imagination and take your passion and make it happen!
♫ How do we ever keep this secret
How do we keep it in the dark…♫
Words and Music by A. Wilson, N. Wilson, A. Hammond, H. Knight, recorded by Heart.
I have just heard Marc Rotenberg, the Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC.ORG) in
To say that he was effective at putting the fear of God into the audience regarding the privacy, or lack thereof, of your information on the Internet, would be a gross understatement.
Along with a number of highly interesting issues that he raised (in light of the Spitzer resignation) he dealt with the issue of the collection, retention and pervasiveness of personal information when using most internet search engines, web mail services, IM services and the rest.
When you consider that web search histories, emails, IM Chats and the like could be demanded from third party providers and these demands could include solicitor-client communications or research being conducted for a client, the collection, use and disclosure of this data takes on particular importance.
This raised the inevitable question: “Just how do you protect yourself when using the Internet?” Marc responded by referring to the EPIC Online Guide to Practical Privacy Tools. This web page lists links to services that allow you to send ’snoop proof email’, surf anonymously, block ads, cookies and spyware, call using VoIP in a private manner, use secure instant messaging, ecrypt and erase files and information on your computer, set up secure firewalls and much more.
This is a treasure trove of information for anyone who is concerned about their information being available on the web. They also help lawyers answer the question of how do they keep things secret….
♫ So you got the looks but have you got the touch
Don’t get me wrong, yeah I think you’re alright
But that won’t keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don’t impress me much…♫
This week I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of distinguished corporate counsel for the Legal Marketing Association - Vancouver Chapter speaking on: How in-house counsel view their lawyers, law firms and their marketing and business development efforts.
Panelists were Marie-France Leroi, Senior Counsel at Terasen Inc, Gigi Chen-Ku, General Counsel for Translink, Heather Northrup, Senior Counsel with RBC Financial Group and Sue Doi, Counsel for Intrawest ULC. There was a great deal of discussion on the topic on how outside counsel can best work with in-house counsel. During the presentation we had a question from the floor that opened up a whole new area of discussion …and that was novel and interesting as well.
The question was in the context of the corporate client wanting to provide feedback to the outside firm - but the outside firm never appearing open or willing to hear the message. Worse, the danger signs are there for the outside law firm - calls by in-house counsel are not being returned promptly, the invoices appear to include ‘education time’ for the associates, the firm now appears to have an attitude of ‘entitlement’…among others. So the question is - what is the best way for the outside firm to hear the message early enough to prevent the loss of the client?
The solution that was proposed from the audience (some of the best tips come from the attendees during presentations!) was for the marketing department to establish one person…call them a client concierge…to establish a line of communication with the client. The client concierge would be there to act in a similar manner to a concierge in the best hotels…to ensure that the questions and needs of the hotel guests are being met. The client concierge can hear the concerns and questions of the client - and ensure that they are directed to the right people in the law firm - and act as an early-warning system to ensure that the law firm is not only attentive to the client but is seen as being proactive and open. This implicitly recognizes that while the legal services may be top-notch, the service levels surrounding the delivery of those legal services may not be.
It is an interesting concept and one that recognizes that the firm as a whole is a team and the team has an overarching reason (*or reasons*) to ensure that the client is happy and has an open channel to raise small concerns before they jeopardize the entire client relationship. It is really a question of client ‘handling’ and ensuring that the firm has the right ‘touch’ for the client and continues to impress the client with all that they do.
♫ Must I forever be a beggar
Whose golden dreams would not come true
Or will I go from rags to riches
My fate is up to you.. ♫
Words and music by R. Adler & J. Ross, recorded by Elvis Presley.
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives, according to Abba Eban. By reviewing the alternatives that others have exhausted before us, the hope is that we can then learn from their wise advice. Here then, are further tips in the history of legal financial management:
- Establish an adequate credit policy
Always, always take trust deposits (advance fee retainers) and never work once your advance fee retainer is exhausted. Have a client engagement letter that clearly sets forth that a client’s trust balance must be in the black at all times or a firm will cease work, will seek to be removed as counsel of record and will return files back to clients (always check on the ethics of withdrawal in your jurisdiction in any particular circumstance for non-payment of your fee). Do not make exceptions. Have your practice management system set up to warn you well in advance of the exhaustion of retainers so that you can write to the client and tell them of what must be done and by when on their part in order that you continue with the file on your part.
- Become comfortable discussing fees with clients
Quick question: What should always be found at a birthday party and never on a legal file? Answer: A surprise. Clients do not like surprises, especially if they relate to the size of an account. This can be avoided by telling the client at the first meeting what you charge, how you charge and when you charge and what you expect from the client. Do not be afraid of scaring off the client – a client who is unwilling to face the cost of a legal procedure at the outset is not likely to change their mind at the end of the file. Better to put your time into marketing and attracting the type and class of client that will pay your accounts than putting that time into a file on which you are not going to get paid.
- Track your time
The first step in determining whether you were profitable on a sale of a service is being able to determine the costs of services delivered. To do that, you need accurate costing mechanisms that can include both direct and allocated (or fixed) costs. Direct costs are your time, and any direct disbursements incurred for the file (court reporter fees, filing fees etc). Allocated costs are the file’s share of the office overhead – staff salaries, rent, insurance fees, electricity rates etc. Since the biggest direct cost is the time that you put into the file, you cannot determine what a file cost you to produce unless you can track the time you put into the file – billable, non-billable, written-off etc. Why is this important? When it comes time to distribute funds among partners, not knowing the true costs of the files worked on can lead to gross inequities. For example, let us look at two files, each of which generated $100,000 in revenue (after disbursements). File A took three years and involved 400 hours of legal time (at $250/hr = $100,000) + hundreds of hours of staff time. File B took six months and 100 hours of legal time (at $250/hr = $25,000) and the same amount of staff time. Which file was more profitable? Not only was B more profitable, you could argue that File A resulted in a net loss to the firm since the total of legal and staff costs exceeded revenues. Yet, in most eat-what-you-kill systems, each file would be treated equally when it comes to determining partner compensation! Financial cost analysis can help you determine which files and practice areas yield the greatest return to the firm and which are black holes
- Use current and former clients as marketing tools
It is well understood that the best source of repeat and referral business is from existing satisfied clients. What is needed is a communication method to make past clients still feel like they are part of the firm and inform them of the services that can be rendered by every member of the firm. A newsletter – hardcopy or electronic, that provides updates on the firm and topical news on areas of law that are of interest to the readers – is a very good way to continue to foster the relationship. The readers will then have you and your services somewhere near the top of their minds and will be able to provide a quick recommendation when the need arises. There are of course, many other ways of marketing your services to your past and current clients. A good source of information and tips are: the Legal Marketing Canada Blog by Doug Jasinski, the Law Firm Web Strategy Blog by Steve Matthews and The Lawyer Coach Blog by Allison Wolf, who is the past-Chair of the Legal Marketing Association, Vancouver Chapter (*and of course, the LMA itself!).
- Establish your own financial nest egg
There are ways to ensure your financial future – today. Set up at least one financial institution to automatically pull and invest money from your checking account every month. It will take perhaps a few hours in total to establish and then you’ll be investing, in good times and bad, without doing any work at all. You can set up instructions on how those funds are to be invested – in stocks, mutual funds, term deposits – but the important fact is to start planning for your retirement – now. Once the account is established – take an interest in it and check it daily – to find out how you are doing. Measure your return against stated goals – determine if you are being well served by your financial advisor. Remember that you may lose in the short term – but over the long haul you will be adding to your financial stability and resilience.
- Don’t use the Lottery as a partnership retirement plan
One of the major issues facing smaller firms is dealing with the introduction of new partners and the funding of the buyout of existing but aging partners. Not having a succession plan in place that compensates the aging partner over time by establishing a retirement fund leads to the firm being unable to attract new partners - as any interested new partners who are on the upswing are most likely unwilling to contribute their billings to fund the exit of a diminishing partner. Furthermore, the lack of any retirement planning results in partners staying on in practice simply to maintain a cash flow and not for any compelling business reasons.
- Don’t forget how to Smile!
How do you greet your clients? Recall that attitudes are contagious – does your reflect that you are busy, happy and looking for more? Clients desire lawyers that are successful – and look for lawyers that act that way. Being glum about the stock market or your finances and the state of the economy etc may reflect the way you feel, but it may not be the best client development and retention tool. It also may not be a great way to approach your finances and your financial planning. Being cautiously optimistic allows you to keep your cynical side on alert while also exuding an air of confidence and competence to those around you. It may also be beneficial to reflect that notwithstanding the downturn out there, our predecessors have faced worse (the ‘29 crash was much more personally devastating and longer lasting).
Ambrose Bierce, never known as an optimist, said that history was: “An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.” However, Johan Huizinga said that: “History is the interpretation of the significance that the past has for us.” Whether we are an optimist or a pessimist, our fate, whether rags or riches, lies in our hands.
(this post is based on a column originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch’s newsletter BarTalk)
♫ Now that I feel the ground
I’m close to home..♫
Words and music by: Babel Fish
Further to my earlier post on Jott, Jott has now announced local numbers in Canada!
Below is the list of available Jott numbers in Canada. Find the number in your area code and program it to your speed dial.
AURORA : +12898020110
CALGARY : +14037751288
EDMONTON : +17806287799
HALIFAX : +19024828120
HAMILTON : +19054819060
KITCHENER : +15199572711
LONDON : +15194898968
MARKHAM : +12898000110
MONTREAL : +15146670329
OTTAWA : +16136861502
QUEBEC CITY : +14189072209
SAINT JOHNS : +17097570047
SHERBROOKE : +18193401636
TORONTO : +16477245365
TORONTO : +14168001067
VANCOUVER : +17787868229
VANCOUVER : +16044841347
VICTORIA : +12509847093
WINDSOR : +15198000031
WINNIPEG : +12042728154
Now we can be Jotting using a local dial-in number (or at least for the major cities, anyway). I feel like I am closer to home!