When you’re on trial or your vacation’s booked, and someone wants to schedule a meeting with you, what happens? You offer times that do not conflict with these non-negotiable commitments. How about when opposing counsel or a key client presses you to meet on a day you’re already committed to …Read More
You’ve been waiting for Alex, your associate, to get back to you on the Smith file. You: “Alex, what’s happening with those interrogatories?” Alex: “I’m working on them.” You: “AAAANNND??” We hear it often: clients expressing frustration with a colleague or staff member who did not do what was expected. …Read More
It’s perfectly natural that if we don’t know how to do something we otherwise think might be a good thing to do, we tend to delay doing it. We don’t want to risk screwing up, we don’t want to feel like we’re wasting time, or we don’t marshal the necessary …Read More
This past Friday, I received a hand-written note from a large company thanking me for my business after I’d called them with a tech question earlier in the week. The company is IContact, the email service we use to send these SuccessTips. My first reaction was to determine if it …Read More
There’s an excellent list of resources on Plain Language and the Law at PLAIN (Plain Language Association International). One of the best articles is LEGAL WRITING 201: 30 SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE READABILITY (OR, HOW TO WRITE FOR JUDGES, NOT LIKE JUDGES) Read it here: https://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/Legal/legalwriting.pdf Setting aside the debate as to …Read More
Legal marketing research repeatedly shows that good prospective clients are often lost because they feel that the attorney they’re considering simply talks too much. The problem with talking too much is that you risk: 1. giving the impression that you’re not a good listener 2. making incorrect assumptions 3. overwhelming the prospective client …Read More
Serving on not-for-profit and civic boards is one of the most common marketing strategies for attorneys. But making such service pay off is often not so easy – and it’s never automatic. Many attorneys get frustrated when, after years on the annual golf tournament steering committee, or the local hospital …Read More
The paralegal who doesn’t give you the level of detail you want The important client who takes too much time explaining things The associate who crams every conceivable detail into an otherwise routine document The referral source who just wants “the big picture” The partner whose attention is always bouncing …Read More
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