Solo Conference Succeeds at The Water Club By Barbara S, Straczynski May 19, 2010, 3:13 PM
The largest law firm in New Jersey is at The Water Club in Atlantic City right now. That is, solo practitioners in New Jersey, who make up 60% of the lawyers in the state. They're learning, engaged with questions, networking, and getting top tips about running a law practice. In today's economy, that's the route many lawyers of all ages are taking as jobs get more and more scarce. The packed seminar rooms indicate on all fronts that lots of people are eager to build their law practices. I pulled out some quick tips after popping into a couple programs. It was tough to find a seat and the speakers weren't the only ones doing the talking. These solo lawyers want to generate business and build a successful law practice and they've got lots of questions. You can feel the buzz in the air as you walk from one program to the next and meet people in the halls. Stephen Fairley,our favorite Rainmaker, was talking about hiring the right people in the right jobs at your firm, and how that can directly impact your practice. "Move from an office manager to a business manager," he said and "this person should be someone that you mentor and train to walk in your steps." Only hire superstars. As a solo, you cannot accept anything less than a superstar, Stephen said. "Every person in your firm must either make you money or save you money -- a superstar does both." Then I stopped in at Top Ten Ethics Mistakes that Solos Can Make, and heard about the top three mistakes. Failure to communicate is a number 1 complaint from clients. It's not just a saying from “Cool Hand Luke,” but spelled out in RPC 1.4. Communication: (a) A lawyer shall fully inform a prospective client of how, when, and where the client may communicate with the lawyer. (b) A lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information. (c) A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation. (d) When a lawyer knows that a client expects assistance not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law, the lawyer shall advise the client of the relevant limitations on the lawyer’s conduct. In this age of instant communication, this seems like an easy thing to do, but when you’re running a business, the chores pile up and you best not forget this one. The easiest way to give a client the impression you’re doing nothing with their case is to ignore them. And you’re practice will suffer for it big time. Neglecting clients. Very very bad, and right up there with “the failure to communicate.” And, surveys say that what people dislike most about lawyers is procrastination. The last of our top three (you need to go to the program to get the whole top ten) is failure to manage trust accounts properly. Now, if you thought you were in trouble with not communicating and neglecting clients, you’re in the deep stuff now when you mess up your trust accounts. An excellent suggestion from the speakers of this session, (Bill Voorhees, Dave Dugan and Miles Winder) is that you should do monthly 3-way reconciliations. 1. bank statement 2. your checkbook 3. individual client ledgers It’s a bad idea to handle this just like your checkbook. You are accounting the money you are holding against your bank information. As a solo, you should NEVER let someone else do your reconciliation, because YOUR LICENSE is on the line. The lawyer has ethical liability. If you have a bookkeeper do it, then YOU RECHECK it. And another great suggestion, don’t hold funds in your attorney trust account for a long period of time unless it can be justified. Otherwise, you can look forward to an audit. To hear more: Stephen Fairley will presenting “Top Tips for Rainmakers” on Thursday at the Annual Meeting and Convention from 12:15 to 12:45 pm in Studio 2 at Borgata. Dave Dugan will be speaking on “Ethical Legal Fees” at the Annual Meeting and Convention on Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at The Water Club.
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