NexFirm

Five Keys For Cost-Effective Marketing Of Your Legal Practice Or Small Law Firm

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Bruce Segall

Organizations of all kinds struggle with the right level of marketing to support their growth without “breaking the bank.” This challenge is especially true for small professional services firms focused on serving current clients. Some smaller firms engage high-priced consultants or try new search marketing schemes, while many others do without any formal marketing at all. The online world is now bursting with advice for lawyers and law firms on marketing, but much is geared toward large, well-resourced firms. The following are five fundamental steps geared toward those with truly scarce resources:

1. Have a clear, compelling statement about your service niche. As competition for legal services grows, many lawyers report that the flow of referrals has slowed down vs. 10-20 years ago. In today’s challenging environment, you should help your clients and professional contacts help you, specifically by clearly communicating who you serve and what makes you different. Many solo practitioners or small firms have a diverse practice, and want to stay “open” to a broad range of business. While this seems practical, your friends can help you more if you give them something focused and memorable, rather than general, to work with. Commonly called an “elevator speech,” this is used in person or on the phone, but can be easily adapted for emails. I advise you to keep it short, with punchy words and sentences. You should refer to an emerging challenge or issue in your practice area rather than something generic like “I am a civil litigator.” Focus on the quantifiable results e.g. examples of a recent favorable decision. Two resources: (a) Search “lawyers” on 15secondpitch.com for some good examples; and (b) Consultant Peter Helmer has an excellent example at the end of a recent blog post .

2. Use your TIME and resources wisely. Time is the most valuable, scarce resource in marketing. Unless you are a born “rainmaker”, you’ll need a system to fit business development into your already busy schedule. You may have the best plan, but unless you have a disciplined way to execute, your efforts will break down. Here are two tips:

Divide relationship-building into tasks to be completed in a shorter time frame, such as week, month or even quarter
Set aside a time during the week when you know that clients do not call, and make an appointment with yourself for business development

3. Develop and Maintain an Accurate Contact List. Relationships are everything in legal marketing. You can manage some of your closest relationships individually, with great care and customization. You and the other attorneys can’t possibly manage your broader contacts as carefully. For these, you’ll need a firm contact list, an essential aspect of marketing that many professional firms overlook or underemphasize. The list can be housed in many ways - stand-alone or integrated into your other systems. Regardless, the list is only as good as the effort you take to build and maintain it accurately. While many attorneys are good at maintaining their Outlook contacts, keeping a high-quality firm list requires significantly more effort.

4. Have a Regular Process for Cultivating Your Relationships. Clients, past clients and other professional contacts account for most of your new business. To maximize the chance for referrals, you need to stay top-of-mind with these individuals and cultivate relationships. A face-to-face meeting is the best way to stay top-of-mind, and a phone call is also an alternative in today’s busy world. So I suggest a simple tracking sheet whereby you target and record reaching out to 10 people every week, so that 5 respond to you and you have at least 1-2 in person meetings. I further suggest targeting people who worked with you as a client previously, but have moved on to another company. These “client alumni” are more likely than other professional contacts to hire you or at least provide meaningful referrals. LinkedIn is a great way to reconnect with client alumni.

5. Stay Visible. Existing contacts who provide referrals will probably not fill your new business pipeline entirely.

Professionals need to stay visible through speaking engagements, articles, blog posts, guest lectures at law schools, and professional associations. Not only do these activities keep you in front of current clients; they enlarge your circle of relationships. You can find ways to stay visible without investing an inordinate amount of time. For example, write a guest blog instead of committing to your own blog. Or you can simply “post an update” to your LinkedIn network once a month. These take me five minutes, and I often hear people say that they “see me” on LinkedIn.

One final note: I believe that Marketing has to be highly customized to the firm/individual attorney’s situation. For example, this post is especially directed to those whose primary audience is businesses. Those going after individuals should consider tactics used in consumer marketing - paying close attention to rules around ethical solicitations and advertising, of course.

Bruce Segall is a professional services marketer and President of Marketing Sense for Business LLC.

Clarity Versus Certainty: How to Hire the Best

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:19:00 +0000

For many, a great thing about working at a BigLaw firm is the certainty around compensation. With each passing year you and your peers advance up the ranks with an associated compensation increase. There aren't many other jobs out there where you know what you can expect to earn each year for the next eight years on your first day of work.

Small firms cannot provide this sort of certainty, which can make recruiting top talent a challenge. So, how do you compete with the big guys for great talent? Fight certainty with clarity.

BigLaw attorneys have no clarity. None. They don't know how their firm makes money (or does not make money) off of their efforts, how the firm is faring financially, what the partnership objectives are and most importantly, what is expected from them so they may succeed and make partner. Some don't even know what their bill rate is.

This secrecy was tolerable when the certainty of advancement seemed guaranteed. Lately, it is harder to count on the certainty that BigLaw offers. Layoffs, compensation cuts and other career disenfranchising has made it difficult to believe the way that BigLaw lawyers used to. For many, the secrecy of BigLaw has become intolerable.

How can small firm partners leverage BigLaw's newfound uncertainty to recruit the top performers in the field?

Share the firm’s objectives. Provide some background knowledge on the firm's growth and future expectations for business development. Where do you see the firm in 15 years, and what does your hire's position look like in your vision? Knowing there's a plan for growth and that they play an important role in achieving that goal gives your recruits the stability they need to stick with your firm over BigLaw offers.

Create a clear path for attorneys. This means more than a list of titles. It should include the objectives and an understanding of the overall firm development. You should also give your attorneys an understanding of how their contributions effect the firm's reputation and bottom line. Above all, your team will benefit from a strong understanding of how they provide excess value to the firm and how they get paid for it.

Provide professional development tools. Make sure your attorneys know that they will become better attorneys by working with you. BigLaw attorneys can fall through the cracks, but small firm attorneys have the benefit of working closely with senior members. Lay out the processes in place at your firm to help your team members hone their skills. I listed several methods for incorporating professional development into your firm's everyday operations in a previous post.

Small firm partners who know how to communicate all they have to offer can be sure that they will hire the best of the best.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

Every Position, Every Player, Every Game

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:33:00 +0000

I have three active children; so I spend a good deal of my free time coaching a variety of sports teams. It’s fun, rewarding, and at times quite challenging. Everyone wants to win every game we play (I am talking about the parents, of course). It's nice to win, but youth sports are about learning, not just winning. The kids have to make their own mistakes on the field if they are going to develop. So every game I coach, I create a substitution grid that allows me to ensure that every player plays every position in every game. If it is our weakest player's turn to be in the scoring position in a tight game, so be it. Sometimes we don't win as a result, but the kids gain valuable experience and grow to be better players in the long run.

In the practice of law, it seems difficult to risk taking a "loss" in the name of cross training and professional development. But, in terms of the long term strength of your team, providing access to skill building is key. You, your clients and your staff benefit tremendously from these activities. So, how can you incorporate training into your workflow without sacrificing the firm's work quality or reputation?

Here are a few things that have worked for our clients:

Capitalize on teaching moments. Identify matters that are good teaching opportunities and get junior people involved in a meaningful way. Leveraging inexperienced resources to provide assistance on a complicated case may increase billing opportunities, but it is unlikely to further their learning. Assigning more comprehensive tasks on less complicated matters allows junior attorneys to learn to assume responsibility of deliverables, and is more likely to create lasting teaching experiences.

Delegate parts of matters. Give a junior team member part of a matter with clear deliverables. Not only will this give the junior member a chance to work and learn under your supervision, but it will also give you a chance to observe the workproduct of your staff. With feedback and time, you will be able to trust in the quality of your staff's workproduct.

Use mentoring teams. When a matter is large enough to require two attorneys, assign one more-experienced team member and one less-experienced. The more-experienced attorney gets the opportunity to advise and mentor the junior member, and the junior member gets hands-on training. It's a win-win situation. This will also help your firm develop a culture in which junior members don't hesitate to ask for advice when needed, and senior members take an interest in junior members' development.

Perform an autopsy. After a matter project is completed, or an issue occurs, dissect and critique the performance and overall results with your whole staff. This is an excellent way to ensure that your entire team will learn from each others' positive and negative actions. It's also an effective way for the managing partner to lay out a definitive process for similar instances in the future. Performing regular project critiques may even inspire your team to generate new and innovative ideas.

At some point you have to let people take the plunge and do something different. If you can't ever feel comfortable that your team can exceed expectations without your supervision, you don't have the right people working for you.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

What Is SaaS?

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Jeremy Diviney

Does the term “SaaS” sound familiar to you? Although this term is slowly merging in the technology world, everyone has been using SaaS for years. It stands for “Software as a Service.” It functions like software but think of it as a cousin of software. The key factor of SaaS is its use of the Internet to reach you. Loosely termed, it uses “the cloud.” Unlike traditional software, you have access to SaaS software anywhere you are connected to the internet.

The Internet started off solely being a reference source of information. Now it has progressed to being interactive, connecting people all over the world. So why not connect them to a single SaaS?

You Mean I Already use SaaS?

You’ve already been using a SaaS, if a single program online enabled you to do the following on any computer:

· store information online

· limit access to this information to a selected group of people

· allow the group to edit this information

· allow the group to share their edits with you.

Hotmail and DropBox are perfect examples of SaaS. People all over the world use SaaS for their legal billing software, accounting software, and word processing software.

What’s the Difference Between Software and SaaS?

With the many similarities and differences between the two kinds of software, here’s a point-by-point comparison:

Jeremy Diviney is Head of Operations at Bill4Time and can be reached at jeremy@bill4time.com.

2011 Year-End Tax Planning: Tips & Strategies for Indivduals

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:47:00 +0000

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Steven Perrotta

2011 Year End Tax Deduction Acceleration Planning, Tips & Strategies:

You may want to consider paying tax deductible expenses by December 31, 2011 instead of 2012, including medical bills, charitable cash contributions, real estate taxes and/or make charitable non-cash donations by December 31, 2011.

You may want to consider paying your January 2012 monthly mortgage bill by December 31, 2011, to get an additional month of mortgage interest tax deduction on your 2011 tax return.

You may want to consider taking advantage of realized losses in 2011 on your stocks/securities while still being invested in the market. There are several ways this can be done. For example, you can sell your original holdings by December 31, 2011, and subsequently buy back the same securities at lesat 31 days later to avoid a wash sale transaction. I would recommend discussing your year-end stock trades with myself as well as your financial advisor before making them.

You may want to consider increasing your 401(k) or IRA contributions for 2011.

If you become eligible to make health savings account (HSA) contributions in December of this year, you can make a full year's worth of deductible HSA contributions for 2011, which would reduce your taxable income.

You may want to consider using a credit card to prepay expenses that can generate tax deductions for 2011.

You may want to consider purchasing big ticket items in 2011, such as a car, in order to assure a deduction for sales taxes on the purchases, if you will elect to claim the state and local general sales tax deduction instead of the state and local income tax deduction.

If you are a homeowner, you may want to consider making qualified energy efficient improvements to your residence, such as installing energy saving windows, and energy efficient heaters and/or air conditioners.

You may want to settle an insurance or damage claim in order to maximize your casualty loss deduction for the year ending December 31, 2011.

If you expect to owe state and local income taxes when you file your 2011 tax return, consider asking your employer to increase your W-2 withholding of state and local taxes (or pay estimated tax payments of state and local taxes) before year-end to increase the deduction of those taxes in 2011, if it won't create an alternative minimum tax (AMT) problem.

Consider prepaying eligible higher education expenses f/y/e December 31, 2011 to obtain extra credit/deduction for 2011.

2011 Alternative Minimum Tax Planning, Tips & Strategies

Taxpayers who are affected by the Alternative Minimum Tax "AMT" have additional considerations to think about. The AMT eliminates and/or reduces the federal tax deductions for medical expenses, state and local taxes, real estate taxes, and miscellaneous itemized deductions. If you are subject to the AMT we encourage you to pay those expenses when they are due instead of trying to accelerate or defer them to avoid/reduce your chances of being in the AMT.

i.e. Instead of prepaying your real estate taxes for 2012 in 2011, wait until the actual due date to pay the real estate taxes since real estate taxes are an adjustment for the AMT calculations.

2011 Income Deferral Planning, Tips & Strategies

Consider asking your employer to pay out your 2011 bonus in 2012.

Consider holding off on selling stocks/securities and other investments with taxable gains until 2012.

Consider holding off on taking taxable distributions from an IRA or other retirement accounts until January 2012, to reduce your taxable income for 2011.

Consider making investments that won't generate income until 2012 i.e. purchase investments that mature in the following year. The income on these investments will be reported in the year the investments mature.

Consider when you want to start collecting Social Security benefits. If you will turn 62 in 2011 or 2012, you are eligible to collect SS benefits at a rate that is less than what you would collect at your full retirement age - Please visit www.ssa.gov for more information on your full retirement age.

Other 2011 Tax Planning, Tips & Strategies for Individuals:

You can make a tax free gift in the amount of $13,000 in 2011 to an unlimited number of individuals.

You may want to consider converting a traditional IRA invested in stocks or mutual funds, which have significant losses into a Roth IRA if eligible to do so. This conversion will increase your income for 2011. If you are in a high tax bracket in 2011 this may not be optimal for you.

2011 Year-End Tax Planning, Tips & Strategies for Businesses & Business Owners

If your Business wil be profitable f/y/e December 31, 2011, business owners may want to consider making fixed asset purchases that qualify for the full depreciation deduction under Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code.

For tax years beginning in 2011, the expensing limit is $500,000 and the investment limit is $2,000,000. A limited amount of expensing may be claimed for qualified real property. Please note: this depreciation expense deduction under section 179 is not prorated for the time that the asset is placed in service during the year.

Business owners should also consider making qualified leasehold improvements that qualify for accelerated depreciation.

Business owners should also consider tax credits such as the: Work opportunity tax credit, this is a credit issued for hiring qualified workers (such as unemployed veterans, etc.) before December 31, 2011.

Self-employed business owners may want to consider setting up a retirement plan, such as a SEP.

Business owners may want to adopt a Defined Benefit Plan or Defined Contribution Plan for additional retirement savings as well as additional tax deductions.

Please note some of these retirement plans can be funded up until the date the tax return is filed, which defers cash outflow.

If you have an interest in a partnership or an S corporation, you may need to increase your tax basis in your entity, in order to deduct a loss that you may be incurring for 2011.

Above are some 2011-year-end tax planning, tips & strategies that can be implemented for the tax year ending December 31, 2011. I would be more than happy to go over with you anything listed above, as well as other year-end tax planning tactics that I feel may fit your particular situation.

Tax planning is very important for everyone; don't let Uncle Sam get the best of you!

Steven Perrotta is Tax Manager at Schulman Wolfson & Abruzzo, LLP and can be reached at sperrotta@swallp.com.

What happens to you if you take drugs?

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:19:00 +0000

I have a four year old son. He is a sweet boy, but I find that it can be difficult to reach him when I employ my subtle parenting techniques that worked so well with his older sisters. With Jake, blunt force trauma is only way to connect. So, I brainwash him.

If I ask him: "Where does money come from,” he is conditioned to answer "Work." If I ask "What happens to you if you take drugs," he responds "you die.”

It's not very sophisticated, but it works. I am considering using the same strategy for conditioning some of the newly minted managing partners at the small firms we work with every day.

Where does money come from? Invoices. What happens to your firm if you don't send out your invoices in a timely matter? It dies.

At NexFirm we have a well structured process for our clients to send invoices. We check throughout the month to confirm that they are entering time as they go (read this prior post to learn why this is critical). Just before the month comes to a close, we review matters to be certain that we have all the information that we need to know how they will be billed. On the last day of the month, we send reminders and follow up with those who haven't entered all of their time. Pre-billing begins in the evening on the last day of the month so that those who need to review can do so in the AM on the first of the month. We follow up (read: hound) billers to review, edit and approve invoices so that we can send them out on the first. For our clients that adhere to our process, bills are out on the first and payments can come in as soon as 15 days later and realization rates are generally high.

For those who do not follow our process, invoices can go out a few days late. They get paid later, but that doesn’t mean they get to pay their own bills later. Not such a great deal, but for those who can afford it they don't fret much. They should.

The cash flow disadvantage that arises from billing late is easy to conceptualize. Some of the other effects are not as evident, but are equally as damaging.

-Realization goes down. When you don't demonstrate a seriousness to collect your fees by having a prompt, methodical billing process, clients can't help but test your boundaries. Payments come in later, which may require your billing department to reach out to clients with "past due" reminders and increase the pain of payment experience. As time passes, the probability that clients find reasons to make deductions to your bills or refuse to pay increases.

-Perception of value goes down. The moment that you resolve a painful issue for your client, the memory of that pain fades. If they are paying the bill months after you have provided your services, they remember only the pain of paying your bill, and not the value you provided.

-Your staff perceives that you are sloppy. A firm that habitually sends out their invoices late is often perceived poorly by the staff. You start hearing them begin sentences with: "Unlike here, but at a real firm..." Obviously, this is not what a managing partner wants to hear.

-Your borrowing costs are higher. The shorter and more dependable your cash recovery cycle is, the more access you have to borrowing at favorable rates.

Needless to say, the busier you are with the daily operations of managing your practice and providing services to your clients, the less time you’ll have for administrative tasks such as invoice preparation and review. But when you weigh the pain of spending a few hours a month to get it right against the negative impact to your firm (and your finances), can you really afford not to?

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

You are Wrong, I am Right.

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Quite often I converse with attorneys who start their sentences with the phrase "The right answer is...” It's absolute and it feels reassuring and neat; for every problem, for every question, there is a perfectly right answer. This phrase always gets me wondering: who are they trying to convince, me or themselves? Are they giving me the right answer, or are they just forcefully making the case that it is not the wrong answer? Or more to the point, that they are not wrong.

I got to thinking about being wrong, and the fear that we all have about being wrong after watching an interesting TED Talk. Kathryn Schulz lays out what we all know and see every day; we have been trained not to be wrong. As an attorney, you are indoctrinated even deeper into a code of always being right. It is generally a good instinct to possess as an attorney; clients do not like to work with lawyers who provide incorrect advice or work product that contains mistakes.

As a small law firm owner, or an aspiring one, you need to wear another hat that is critical to your success: that of an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs take risks, try new things that are uncertain and yes, they make mistakes. Successful entrepreneurs make lots of mistakes. Often, doing it wrong is the only way to figure out how to do it right.

How can you start taking calculated risks when it feels so uncomfortable? The answer is planning. By leveraging the best available information to determine possible outcomes, comparing risks of action against no action and establishing ways to measure success, you will feel empowered to take smart calculated risks and make good decisions.

To get started, focus on the following:

-You are never going to have perfect clarity. At NexFirm I spend my days helping aspiring founders and managing partners of small firms launch and grow their businesses. We look at critical decisions from every angle and bring to bear all of the information we can put our hands on. In the end, we determine the probability of potential outcomes and make the best decision we can. Often it comes down to one simple point, can we live with this decision if the worse (not worst) case scenario plays out. You will never have perfect information or the “right” answer; if you wait until you do you will never affect change.

-You are likely to overestimate the risk of the unknown, and underestimate the risk of no action. If you are working at a BigLaw firm and you think that you will “probably” make partner, the odds are against you. If you think you can’t do better for yourself as a small firm founder than as an associate, you are again playing against the odds. Staying with the status quo always seems more comfortable, and the unknown feels risky. Planning levels the field, allows you to measure the risk of no action fairly against proactive decisions and move ahead.

-In the small law firm business, the odds favor those who pursue growth. Many small law firms tend to suffer from the same problem; when they are busy they don’t have the time to engage in business development, when the work ends they starve while they feverishly work on bringing in billable hours. Growth brings diversification and richer financial resources, and it is a key to longevity.

Try to step out of your comfort zone and seek out some calculated career risks, investigate and quantify all that you can to make the best decision possible and don’t focus so much on not being wrong. You may not get the right answer, just the best answer.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

7 Reasons to Invest in LinkedIn as Part of Your Business Development Effort

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Bruce Segall

LinkedIn has gotten a lot of press recently, between a very successful IPO and surpassing 100 Million members. 1.5 M lawyers are now on LinkedIn. But still some lawyers hesitate. Statistics by themselves don’t justify spending precious time building a LinkedIn presence. The second annual Salary and Social Media Survey, jointly sponsored by the Law Firm Media Professionals and Hellerman Baretz Communications (April 2011), does provide some persuasive reasons. For example, one law firm marketer said:

“LinkedIn has resulted in a number of referral opportunities for a variety of our attorneys, as well as meeting requests to discuss potential client representations.”

This doesn’t often happen quickly, however, so I wanted to summarize some other reasons for including LinkedIn as part of your business development effort:

1. It doesn’t take a lot of time. LinkedIn requires setting up your own special type of profile. With a little guidance from readily available online reasources, you can do this on your own in 60-75 minutes. With someone to help you, it could take 30-45. Once set up, you can spend as much – or as little – time as you want, although spending more time increases chances for success.

2. Become “smarter” about your network. LinkedIn is especially helpful the first time you meet someone or speak on the phone. If you are somewhat low-key like me, LinkedIn is a way to establish a common connection immediately and seem “smart” about people. Just the other day, I noticed that a connection graduated three years before my wife at the same school – in the same sorority no less!

3. Re-connect with old colleagues. Layoffs and turnover continue in corporate America, but your clients remain loyal to you even if they have moved on. LinkedIn’s “Advanced People Search” feature enables you to find these “Client Alumni” - an invaluable source of referrals and future business. Using this feature, you can reconnect with colleagues from firms you worked for earlier in your career – another valuable referral and networking resource.

4. Increase traffic to your firm web site. LinkedIn provides a free distribution channel. After you finish a new legal alert or other material, post the piece to your firm website. Then you can initiate a LinkedIn “Discussion” (LinkedIn’s equivalent to ListServs) that includes a link to the item. Called “Inbound Links,” these are a key way to increase the ranking of your website in Google search results. LinkedIn provides many other opportunities to post inbound links.

5. Use your marketing dollars wisely. LinkedIn offers many opportunities to make yourself visible at absolutely no cost. First, “Share an Update” about your speaking engagements and CLE lectures to those who can’t attend. The bigger your network, the more people you reach. You can also use the “Events” application to spread the word. These are just two ways –there are many more.

6. Leverage new features that LinkedIn is constantly developing. Just in the last year, LinkedIn introduced “Answers,” where LinkedIn Users post general questions on any topic, including five legal categories. Some of you may know about the option to have a firm profile in addition to your individual profile. Last November, LinkedIn gave these profiles greatly improved capabilities, including space to add video content.

7. You can have fun with it. I personally enjoy reconnecting with old colleagues and finding out interesting facts about people in my network. LinkedIn is career-related, but also a lighter diversion. You can spend a minute on LinkedIn as a break during the day or while watching TV on weekends.

While LinkedIn offers great benefits, you should keep in mind some of the ethical concerns governing lawyers and promotions. For example, LinkedIn recommendations are an important part of most people’s online profile. But the question of whether lawyers and clients can recommend one another generated a huge response, with no clear answer: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/10/linkedin-recommendations-yay-or-nay/

Some attorneys I know find LinkedIn intriguing and fun initially, but then find it taking time without producing tangible benefits. If this happens to you, I suggest just focusing on one or two things. Like “Sharing an Update” with your network before every speaking engagement. Or taking 10 minutes on a Sunday to look up the profiles of every person on your calendar during the coming week. Remember one of the reasons to invest in LinkedIn as part of your business development:

It doesn't take a lot of time.

Bruce Segall is a professional services marketer and President of Marketing Sense for Business LLC.

Grow Your Small Firm

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:02:00 +0000

91% of practicing US attorneys own or work for firms with 4 or fewer lawyers, according to Zap Data (a division of Dunn & Bradstreet). Many are “solo by choice,” as Carolyn Elefant likes to call them. From my perspective, there seem to be many small firms that would like to grow, and would enjoy financial and operational benefits by doing so, but don’t feel they know how to successfully execute a growth plan.

Trying to grow your practice can be scary, particularly if you don’t have a good handle on your firm’s financials. The first and most important step is to gain a concrete grasp of your firm’s financial position and outlook, and to run some “what-if” scenarios to account for ups and downs that can occur. This will allow you to identify the resources that will be available to finance the addition and define the objectives that need to be met to have a successful outcome.

The next step is to create a compensation framework for potential partners, of counsels and associates. Consider what is needed to attract and maintain the caliber of talent that you seek, as well as the expected return to your firm. For an experienced, business generating partner you will derive less financial benefit (on a percentage of billings basis) than a more junior attorney who is not a self sufficient rain maker. Be mindful to establish simple arrangements that incentivize the behavior you want and don’t create conflicting interests within your staff. Once you have created compensation frameworks, you may occasionally choose to sweeten a deal to attract a unique person, but you want to be careful not to stray too far or too often.

You will want to target candidates that add to the firm’s capabilities, not just those who increase billings. If you have a significant level of stable billings, you will probably look to hire an associate to maximize your return. If you are looking to grow your firm’s scale, expand capabilities or add to management capabilities, a partner level addition is the right path. If you have a very up and down caseload which at times requires experienced staff and at other times does not, you might look to add of counsels that can generate some work to keep themselves busy, but who are also available to service your clients.

Attracting the people you want is very similar to a sales process. To be successful, you need to identify and define the factors that differentiate the job opportunity you are providing from the others that are available in the market. Consider creating a slide deck to communicate your selling points, such as a more competitive bill rate structure, better service capabilities, fewer conflicts, a better technology platform or a better compensation structure. You will want to define what it means to work for your firm and why it is a better platform for them on a personal level; explain how you help them develop their business developing skills, show how you help them develop new legal skills, demonstrate a better work life balance with work-from-home capabilities and let them know their voice will be heard.

When you work for BigLaw, the career path that your employer has placed you on is clear. Make sure that the career path you provide to your prospective employees is equally clear. People need to understand how they can move up in your organization, what moving up can mean in terms of income, and how they will develop professionally in your organization.

Lastly, share with prospective employees the lifestyle benefits they will enjoy when working for your small firm. Potential employees want to feel empowered; let them know that they will be brought into the firm’s process if they join your team. While this does include the personal touch of knowing everyone’s name and having direct communication with the people who have their names on the door, the participation in your management process will inevitably attract interest. Sharing information about the performance of the firm, staffing decisions and planning, client development strategy or even operational issues like IT and benefits selection are unheard of in BigLaw; in your firm your employee will be part of a team with a purpose.

A little financial planning, along with a bit of “sales” strategy can go a long way to finding and attracting the resources that will take your firm to the next level. It’s a process that takes time and doesn’t typically come together on the first go round, so get started today!

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

10 Small Firm IT Goofs

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 10 May 2011 17:29:00 +0000

Small firms are nimble and small firms are exciting, but small firms can rarely compartmentalize functions like larger firms do.

One function that is often underserved is that of Information Technology, sometimes known as IT or simply computers.

Technology continues to grow in importance to firms of every size. Most office workers use a computer as their primary way to interface with customers and their work product.

Many small firms don’t have a staff person – much less a department – to set up and manage their technology. When an aspect of a firm’s technology fails, the ripples can be huge.

Here is a list of 10 Small Firm IT Goofs and how to address them:

Not Backing Up. It used to be that tape backups would be made and someone would have to rotate them out on a daily basis. Now, online backup services from Iron Mountain, Mozy, Carbonite and others provide automatic, off-site backups. In the event of a computer loss or failure, these services can quickly restore the contents of your data. There really is no reason not to backup anymore.
Putting Servers On-Site. There are very few reasons why people need a server on-site anymore. The availability of “cloud” or software-as-a-service (SAAS) products ensures that there is no longer the need for on-site servers except in rare occasions. Furthermore, the cost of these services has continued to drop so that the finances are very attractive.
Hosting Your Own Email. It used to be that hosting your own email server was actually cost-effective. With various email hosting companies providing mailboxes for typically under $20 per month, it makes sense – financially or technically – for a typical small firm to host their own email.
Not Encrypting Your Data. Data encryption is now secure and affordable. It also provides you and your clients with an extra level of assurance that in the case that a computer or disk is lost or misplaced that the information will remain confidential.
Sharing Files Via Email. As soon as you start doing this, you will end up having file version error. There are numerous file sharing tools that let multiple people work on the same file and the software keeps track of the latest version. These tools include Google Docs, Microsoft SharePoint and others.
Buying a Phone System. Phones that use the Internet are now the only way to go. They provide you with features that traditional phone systems don’t offer, they can go where you go, they’re affordable. There’s simply no reason to NOT go with a VoIP (voice over IP) phone system.
Having No Plan for Computer Outages. Your computers will eventually not work. Either they’ll stop working for a myriad of reasons or they’ll become lost or stolen. As computers are critical to the ongoing functioning of businesses nowadays, having the ability to be back up and running within 24-48 hours is critical. Businesses today need to have availability to spare computers, either on-site or through a provider. In addition, the computer replacement needs to be able to have all of its data – typically emails and files – restored quickly and reliably.
No Eye to the Future. One of the aspects of computer technology is that it is constantly changing. However, knowing what will work for your firm and what should be avoided is difficult to know, even for technology experts. However you manage your technology, be sure to have a trusted advisor that can help you make sound technology decisions.
Hanging on to Obsolete Technology. Supporting obsolete technology can be expensive. Systems that consist of common technologies typically interoperate better and experience less conflicts. So, while keeping equipment or software that’s already paid for may sound attractive, it makes good business sense to retire obsolete technologies.
Trying To Do It Yourself. Much as the adage goes “An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client,” unless one is skilled in technology and can keep those skills current, find a trusted resource that can at least advise you on how to take advantage of current and emerging technologies.

Look over these items and see which ones resonate for you. Then take the needed steps to ensure that your technology infrastructure serves you well.

Mark Mathias is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NexFirm. He has more than 30 years of experience with large and small company technology matters.

Top Five Tips For Having A Fun Legal Career

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:14:00 +0000

I’m going to start off with a statement that will shock many attorneys: WORK SHOULD BE FUN. Given the number of lawyers born with Type A personalities, many of us begin our careers believing that the practice of law should be hard, and that the harder it is, the “better” we are doing. While hard work is certainly one of the hallmarks of a successful career, the truth is that when you are in the right job and work environment, work is and should be fun.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years about making the practice of law both enjoyable and fulfilling:

Have a positive attitude. People who rise to the top of an organization almost always have great attitudes (and perhaps equally important, in difficult times, are often the last to go). While this might sound trite, the truth is that people like working with people who have a “can do” attitude, who smile and who generally seem to like what they do. The best way to get experience is to take on a broad range of projects so you can both gain skills and figure out what you like to do and what you are good at (more on that later). The best way to keep getting picked for great teams and projects is to be someone with whom others want to work. That means expressing enthusiasm for what you do, for learning new things and for helping others around you.

Be a team player. While this often goes hand in hand with having a positive attitude, being a team player is a really important part of having a successful and enjoyable career. For starters, working on a team is usually more fun. It is also a great way to learn as you have people off of whom to bounce ideas and to observe how they tackle issues. Lastly, the more people know they can count on you, the more you will become a “go to” person, making you more valuable and more likely to receive the kind of assignments you want to have.

Work with people you like. If you have the attributes described above, chances are you will have increasing opportunities to work with people you genuinely enjoy. The people with whom you like to work will choose you for their teams, and the clients you most enjoy will ask for you on their projects. While of course it is important to learn to work well with people you might not adore (particularly early in your career), one of the most fun parts of becoming a more senior attorney is being able to select the kinds of colleagues and clients with whom you want to work. One of the real indicators of a truly successful career is: when your phone rings or you receive a message in your inbox, do you look forward to picking it up or opening it? No matter how much money you make, if the answer to this question is not most often a resounding “yes!” you need to make some changes. Having fun engaging colleagues and clients is the ultimate reward for your hard work.

Seek out mentors. Mentors come in many shapes and sizes, and most likely there isn’t going to be only one person who can help you grow as a professional. Look for senior attorneys who have specific skills you want to gain, as well as those who are willing to take the time to teach you. Identify people who can help you hone your technical skills, who can teach you how to be a successful rainmaker, and who can help you navigate the internal and external politics of your organization. These skills probably won’t all be found in the same person, so develop strong relationships with several people who can teach you the skills you need to continue to grow as a professional.

Figure out what you are naturally good at. If work is consistently hard for you, you are either in the wrong firm, the wrong career, or both. Take a step back and identify the things at which you are naturally good. Are you a great negotiator? Writer? Adviser? Structurer? Project manager? With what kinds of issues or problems do your colleagues repeatedly come to you? How about your friends? By identifying the skills that are not hard work for you, you can start to differentiate yourself, and build a career from the things at which you naturally excel. This will be both a lot more fun and a lot more rewarding than working hard every day.

Beth Anisman is the CEO of B&Co., a NYC based consultancy and an executive advisor to NexFirm. She can be reached at banisman@bandcollc.com.

Getting the Word Out

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Adele Lemlek

How do you promote yourself? Your firm? When you are looking for new business and expanding your practice, what do you do? You promote your brand. Individuals have a brand just like corporations. Like a corporate brand it is a promise of deliverability of an experience or service or product. In this case that service or product is you.

How do you know what your brand is? Take an inventory of your skills and accomplishments and past work history. Are you an incredible negotiator? Do you get the deal done? A great mediator? Determine what your reputation is. If you are not sure, ask co-workers or your clients how they perceive you. Are you the go-to person? Are you the hard working creative problem solver? If others perceive you differently from what you want your brand to be, don’t despair. You just need to re-brand yourself as so many companies have had to do.

For many companies and people your brand evolves over time as markets change and people mature. There are many things you can do to reinforce your brand and expand it.

Social Media Sites

Use these strategically and make sure they reflect your brand. Promote yourself accordingly. You can post material and articles and participate in discussion groups. Make sure you provide meaningful information. Always express yourself professionally -- don't write anything that you don't want anyone to see or would regret later. Remember, there can be repercussions. If you have a picture of yourself, ask what it says about you. Does it represent you in a professional manner?

Online Presence

Write thoughtful blogs or participate in forums where you can demonstrate your knowledge or "out of the box" thinking. Write an article and publish it on your blog.

At Work, At Social Functions

How you behave and carry yourself at work will impact your brand just as how you behave socially will. Attend conferences and workshops. If there is a social component to these, attend them as well. It is a great place to make connections. Don't forget that how you behave at social business functions is also important. People do take notice and remember.

Volunteer and/or Professional Associations

We are all pressed for time but charities and professional associations are great places to reinforce or extend your brand. By volunteering for a charity or joining a professional association and getting involved you can participate in appropriate activities to get exposure and promote your brand. Take on new challenges to expand your brand. At many professional organizations, they host seminars and events. Program an event and find speaking engagements. Speaking at CLE events is a great way to position yourself as an expert in a particular area and network with other practitioners. Many Bar Associations put on their own CLE courses and look to their members to speak.

Want to change or extend your brand?

Want to expand your practice into a different area? Taking on a leadership role in a professional association may be the way to position yourself as a leader in the eyes of current or potential clients. Blogging about the industry or commenting on other blogs is a way of showing your expertise -- the possibilities are endless. All it takes is some hard work and creativity.

Adele Lemlek is the principal of Alto Consulting, specializing in marketing and business development. She is the former Director of Marketing for the New York City Bar Association where she stewarded the New York City Bar’s 2005 re-branding. She frequently speaks at programs and workshops on creating a personal brand.

Securing Your WiFi

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:03:00 +0000

With security breaches in the news almost once a week, business owners are beginning to realize that data security isn’t a tangential issue to business operations. It’s a key concern, for you and your clients. This is especially so for attorneys.

As WiFi technology becomes cheaper, more convenient, and easier to use, it becomes more and more ubiquitous, especially in high-density cities. Just by sitting in a coffee shop in Midtown, you usually have access to more than a handful of networks.

One of the reasons why WiFi equipment is so widely used is that it’s easy for people to install. Out of the box it's typically set for being completely open and being willing to "talk" to just about every device that presents itself.

While that's good for ensuring that these devices work quickly, they are completely devoid of any security to protect you and your data.

Having an open WiFi network means that anyone who happens to be in the neighborhood can see and access not only your Internet connection, but also the other devices on your network, such as computers, printers, shared disks, etc.

The good news is that all equipment that provides WiFi service has built-in security capabilities that can help protect you.

The two primary ways to secure your WiFi connection are:

· Password protect or hide your hotspot (figuratively speaking)

· Encrypt your data

Every WiFi hotspot has a name, called an SSID (service set ID). A WiFi hotspot can choose to broadcast its SSID or not. If the SSID is broadcast, everyone within range can detect that a WiFi hotspot by that name is available. If the SSID is not broadcast, people who know it's there and know its name can still access it by telling their device to connect to a hotspot with that name.

Once a WiFi hotspot has a name, the administrator (usually you) can determine whether or not there's a password that's required access. If not, the hotspot is considered "open."

But password protection doesn't guarantee security. Without encryption, all of the data that's transmitted between the hotspot and the computer device is visible to people who know how to monitor this information. These items can be emails, transactions, word processing documents, etc.

There are two major types of encryption that consumers use: WPA (or WPA2) and the older WEP. If available, use WPA2. This requires the sharing of a "pass phrase" that people use when they connect to the hotspot. It allows the hotspot and the device to encrypt the data so that only people who need to access the data can.

Another feature of some of the higher-end WiFi hotspots is a "guest" network that lets visitors have access to the Internet, but not your local network. This way, you can give people Internet access while keeping them away from your network. The Apple AirPort Extreme is one such example.

The bottom line is: be sure to secure your WiFi hotspots. Most manufacturers make it very easy to do, including Linksys (part of Cisco) that offers installation software for their products that configure everything for you so you don't have to be a tech to do it.

Keeping your network and Internet access secure is a smart and easy way to protect you and your data.

Mark Mathias is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NexFirm. He has more than 30 years of experience with large and small company technology matters.

Communicating With Clients: Social Media and New Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Communicating with your customers has never been easier than it is now. The trick is: Do you have something worth paying attention to?

Much as laser printers and desktop publishing software gave people the ability to publish their own newsletters, the Internet -- and in particular social media -- allows people to speak on the global stage.

At the business level, most people use social media to promote their organization, their services and their products. Although the list of available social media platforms and networks grows every day, the most common for marketing are still the two largest: Facebook and Twitter.

One thing to realize is that social media is entirely content driven, which requires a balance of quality and quantity. People often believe that by having a Facebook or Twitter account, you must be very active in order to be effective. Yes, there are people who seem to post all the time, but that's like the person who doesn't stop talking. People typically get tired of others who don't say much of value.

The lesser said is oftentimes more listened to.

While it's natural to want to post about yourself (this is what Facebook was originally intended for), the savvy social media poster knows that unless you're Ashton Kutcher, people aren't really following YOU…they're following what you know. When celebrities tweet, they’re marketing a product just like any other business. In Ashton’s case, he himself is the product. For a small law firm, your products are your services and your expertise.

Craft your message to your intended audience. As an expert in a specific area, demonstrate your skills by discussing breaking news that affects your area of practice. Let people know about loopholes or pitfalls they should be aware of. Tell them about an upcoming event where you're speaking or exhibiting that they may wish to attend.

You need to promote your law firm’s social media offerings whenever possible. Link to them on your website, mention them in marketing literature, at speaking engagements, even on your business cards. Don’t expect anyone to go out in search of your Twitter account unless you make it as easy as possible. You may not see an immediate effect on your bottom line, but you'll garner followers that will come to know you better and hopefully contact you when their needs align with what you offer.

By using social media, you can reach people that would otherwise never know about you. If they need your services, great, but they can also recommend you to others who may need you. Either way, social media can help your business grow and flourish.

Mark Mathias is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NexFirm. He has more than 30 years of experience with large and small company technology matters.

My Sister Is Smarter Than Your Sister

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:17:00 +0000

This may seem a bit off the topic of small law firm management, but I promise it is on point, so indulge me.

Muddy Waters is an institution for coffee drinkers in Uptown Minneapolis that serves as a morning bell, an afternoon hangout and the late night rally point for a progressive, multi-generational crowd. My sister, Danielle, and her partner, Sarah, inherited a mess when they bought the place, but after a few short years they made Muddy’s thrive. Then, several months ago the landlord passed along a huge rent increase, forcing them to seek a new location.

Dealing with their landlord, seeking new space, funding the build-out and breaking ground on construction each came with their own stress, expense and worry. As usual, Danielle took these negatives and turned them into gold.

She transformed the Muddy Waters website into a chronicle of the process for their patrons to see, recounting landlord negotiations, uploading design plans and posting weekly photos and videos of the construction progress (Check it out- http://www.muddywatersmpls.com/). She even invited patrons to come to the construction site each week to view the progress and have a free cup of coffee. The response has been fantastic, and the support from their customers and the community is unprecedented.

The genius in these activities is simple: communication connects people. Muddy Waters makes their clients and the community feel as if they are part of the process, part of the family and hopefully, part of the solution to their predicament. Her customers take ownership of the new place at an emotional level, and they become focused on making it succeed.

One of the big benefits you have as a small law firm competing against BigLaw firms is the personal side: Your clients know you, like you and want you to succeed. They aren’t rooting for Skadden Arps, but they are rooting for you. You want to foster that, and the way to do it is by making them feel like they share your success. Communicate what makes your business tick.

Are you redesigning your company logo? Share your options with your clients and let them chime in with their preferences. Thinking of bringing on a new partner? Ask your clients what they think of her. Thinking that you should pursue new clients but don’t know who? Maybe your clients have some ideas.

Why are we programmed to handle tough decisions in private? And why do we feel successful by scurrying away, working diligently and then orchestrating a big reveal as if to say, “Look at what I accomplished”? Unfortunately, what you accomplish is cutting the people you need the most out of the loop. Get past the idea that it is weak to have problems and questions, and use your tribulations as a way to invite those you need onto your team. Aside from getting your clients on your side, they will help you make better decisions and ease your stress.

Muddy Waters has done what took Apple Computer billions to achieve; they have become bigger than the product they sell. Muddy’s is about community, personal connection and history, just like Apple is about sleek, modern individuality. To make your law firm more than a place that pumps out documents, into something bigger that your clients want to succeed, invite them into your process.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

I Used to Think David Pogue was the Devil: How to Keep Control of Your Week

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:42:00 +0000

It all started as a 10-minute break on Thursday afternoons. I would read David Pogue's technology reviews in the New York Times Personal Tech email: Sometimes I’d chuckle, sometimes I’d find out about new technology and occasionally, when I was busy, I would just click delete. Good stuff.

Along the way, I started feeling anxious when that email showed up in my mailbox. It was a warning that the end of the week was here, and it made me feel like a quarter of a month had slipped away and again, I hadn't achieved everything I had hoped to. Scrolling through the long list of columns he’d written, I would freak out. How does he put out so many articles, reviews, books and webcasts each week?!? His emails, I felt, were mocking me.

Even though it was all David Pogue's fault, I decided to take action. Managing my time better each week would help me avoid feeling this bad each Thursday. I created a task list, and I figured out the 8 best ways to take control of my week.

1) Create a detailed task list each week. Without one, your days will become a series of reactions: to emails, to phone calls and to the other requests and distractions that we all experience. Keep a master list of everything you’d like to do, and select items from that menu to focus for the week.

2) Plan on Friday. Set aside 3pm to 4pm on Friday afternoon to plan. No exceptions. You will hit the ground running on Monday morning. More importantly, next week feels far away, so you can convince yourself to schedule big tasks that you might avoid when you’re in the heat of battle. Plus, you’ll know if you need to work over the weekend because you have an unmanageable week coming up. Send out requests for information and assistance on Friday, and set meetings and conference calls as well. Giving notice will help keep others from gating your efforts.

3) Be strategic. Don't put things on your list simply to check them off. Compare your task list against a list of your strategic goals. Items that don't help further strategic imperatives should come off the task list. (If you haven't taken the time to list your strategic goals, you ought to. I will write about that another time).

4) Don't be a doormat. We are all forced to commit to tasks because someone is bugging us. Don’t let pressure take you away from important things you want to accomplish. To be in control of your career you must keep control of your schedule; so make plans that serve your objectives and tell the squeaky wheel to keep squeaking.

5) Leave time for emergencies, and personal business. Some emergencies can’t be avoided. If you don’t leave time to deal with them, you’ll never have time to complete the things you want to. We all have personal lives that require our attention, so leave some time for that too.

6) Say no. If you treat every request you receive as an emergency, your week will be out of control. Things that come up are almost always less important than the plans you have scheduled, so stick to your guns. You have to say no. When you can't say no, try to carve out tasks that fit into your schedule, or delegate so that you don't find yourself off track.

7) Don’t let deadlines rule you. Facing deadlines on top of deadlines, it’s easy to forget to make time for the things that are not time sensitive. Like lunch. And thinking. Leave time in your schedule to do important but leisurely things like taking clients and colleagues to lunch or committing new ideas to writing. If you wait until your schedule slows down to do these things, you are never going to do them.

8) Set expectations. When you decide what you won’t be doing next week, let those who are affected know (nicely, of course). Sharing your upcoming week’s plan will allow others to adjust, and hopefully be an aid to you instead of an anchor.

Once you’ve gotten your schedule under control, you can enjoy David Pogue on Thursday afternoons, too.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

Why Attorneys Love Their Firms: Building Commitment, Forging Team Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:02:00 +0000

Speak with attorneys who have stayed with the same firm for a long time and the most consistent reason given for their longevity is that they like the people with whom they work and feel like they are “part of something special”. Very rarely is money cited as the number one reason why an attorney stays where they are. This is a powerful reminder that law firm management needs to stay focused on building and maintaining a culture. A mistake smaller firms often make is thinking that, because of their size, people are more naturally staying connected. This is far from the truth, and establishing culture for small firms is just as important as for a large ones.

The critical components of building a strong culture are communication, teamwork and fostering a genuine connection among the members of the firm.

Communication is the cornerstone of a successful firm. Small firms often believe that because they are small, everyone knows what is going on; but often smaller firms, especially where people don’t necessarily come to the office every day, suffer from disenfranchised employees as much if not more than large ones. Establishing a communications strategy is critical. At least one partner should take responsibility for keeping the other attorneys and employees in the loop. Firms should have regular meetings to keep the team connected to firm developments, and send out periodic firm newsletters and briefings to make sure that all members of the firm are aware of what is going on with their colleagues and firm business.

Without an effective communication structure, it’s impossible to create an atmosphere of teamwork, another important characteristic of a successful small firm. Teamwork can be achieved by simply pairing up attorneys on projects, including client projects and firm initiatives. Pairing attorneys who don’t typically work together is a smart tactic for expanding the feeling of camaraderie within the firm. Creating a task force to work on a special challenge is a great way both to solve a problem and to build a sense of community. Establishing a social committee responsible for planning firm outings or events can be a fun opportunity to keep people excited. It doesn’t need to be fancy or take a lot of time; there are small firms with committees dedicated to wine, education, exercise, or even just planning the firm holiday party. Bringing people together to volunteer for a charity connected to the firm can also be an inspiring way to both give employees an opportunity to do something good and connect in a meaningful way with their coworkers.

While it should be obvious, the human touch is probably the most important component to building a strong sense of commitment to the firm. “Showing up” when a member of the firm is going through a hard time or celebrating a special occasion is incredibly important. One former colleague still cites her entire group’s attendance at a memorial service for her father as a significant example of why she loves her firm. Just calling or stopping by someone’s office when you know they are facing a challenge can be very meaningful. Similarly, acknowledging birthdays, births, firm anniversaries and other important milestones adds to a sense of connection to the firm.

While many firms focus on making sure people feel well compensated at the end of the year, just as much focus needs to be spent on making sure people feel connected and excited to be part of the firm. Build a strong sense of community and your firm can enjoy the increased longevity of your most important assets – your people.

Beth Anisman is the CEO of B&Co., a NYC based consultancy and an executive advisor to NexFirm. She can be reached at banisman@bandcollc.com.

Spend Smarter: How to Manage Your Legal Budget

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:36:00 +0000

This week, we'd like to present an interesting article written by the ABA and highlighted by Paul Lippe of Legal OnRamps. We hope it will interest our readers, as we think that in-house counsels are thinking along similar lines.

All of the points in this piece create big opportunities for small firms (especially #5), because they require a "quarterback" for outside legal services. Positioning your firm as the leader who defines the objectives and the process will show your worth to your clients. They'll be more than happy to pay for your service.

Perhaps the best and most resonating point that Lippe makes is that there won't be a "return to normal" any time soon. Consider his advice and create a new normal for your firm.

Top 10 Ways to Better Manage Your Legal Spending

Eating Our Own Dogfood: Using My Own Services

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Every day, I meet with founding partners to discuss their practices’ IT needs, and we often touch upon PC (or Mac) support mechanisms that will allow them to replace a lost or malfunctioning computer in a timely manner. I cannot stress the importance of this kind of system. In our view, timely means the next business morning. There are expenses associated with support like this, but the math clearly shows that it is more expensive not to have it. For an average attorney who bills 7 hours, losing one business day means thousands of dollars. These dollars add up fast if a few days pass. This doesn't include the reputational cost you incur when your attorney has to tell a client they can't service them because of a bad computer. For a small firm, this can make you seem small time and cause clients to question your capabilities.

Often, I hear "We won't need this. I've had this computer for 3 years and I've never had a problem." My favorite: "I have a Mac, and it's flawless." It all sounds great until your computer goes bad, as mine did this week. Oddly, this is actually the second time in a year that this has happened. Last time my daughter poured a glass of water on my keyboard. Goodnight, nurse. This time, I have no idea what happened; it just quit. Of course, it happened at the worst possible time. Things are booming here at NexFirm and I couldn't be busier working on proposals for new clients or working harder to meet the needs of our existing clients. As you can imagine, lots of deadlines and no computer equals enormous stress. To make matters worse, I had photos of my kids, my music, and a bunch of other personal documents on that computer. I felt completely crippled.

As unfortunate as it was, it gave me a chance to "eat my own dogfood," or to see how NexFirm's support and replacement service would work for me in this jam. You might think that as the CEO of NexFirm I would get preferential service, but in practice I get on the end of the line behind our clients. (Least favored nation status, so to speak.) So, I waited to receive my computer, which arrived the next business morning, just as we promise to our clients. While I waited, I used our web tools, which allowed me to access my email and documents and to stay productive working from my home computer. When I received my new system, I hadn't lost any data, and all of my applications were just as I’d left them. In the end, my heart attack turned out to be a tiny blip.

Without my NexFirm team, how might my experience have been different? A quick check today showed a 7 to 10 day wait to receive a new laptop from Lenovo. Dell was no better. Since that would be untenable, and we couldn't find a way to get a replacement that met the specifications I needed on short notice, I probably would have been forced to buy something inexpensive from Best Buy to get through the week while I waited for a new system. That would have meant spending the day buying and configuring a computer, as well as trying to restore my data. Then another day when my permanent system arrived. The answer is lots of unproductive time, how much is hard to say.

Think carefully about the cost of not having IT support for your users, and include lost work time and the cost of temporary replacement solutions. It's bound to be more than the cost of having a support system in place, and it will certainly save you from stress and aggravation.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

Would Rex Ryan Make a Good BigLaw Managing Partner?

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:12:00 +0000

As I emotionally recovered from the heartbreaking news that the NY Jets won’t be competing in this year’s Superbowl, I decided to go back and reread a post I first wrote in September but never published (some of the people here thought that Rex Ryan was controversial so the post would annoy readers). Aside from the fun I had watching my team prepare for what promised to be an exciting season, I was really surprised to learn about the training camp coaching process as I watched Hard Knocks on HBO. More to the point, I was incredibly impressed with the communication techniques I saw. The NY Jets seem to be doing a better job of managing their organization than any law firm I can think of. What can we all learn from Rex’s management style? Set clear objectives, provide feedback and constantly measure whether your message is being received.

An organization with a single purpose.

During the first team meeting of the season, coach Rex Ryan’s slide show starts with the objective: Win the Superbowl. He follows up with the steps to reach this goal: “To have the most wins on offense, to have the most wins on defense and to have the most wins on special teams.” Well, this might not be a surprise, but it surely is clear.

Do your attorneys know what it means for your organization to “win the Superbowl,” or the steps it takes to get there? If not, communicating your goals as an organization will allow them to keep focused on what is important, to think strategically and to be motivated by something that is often forgotten these days: Purpose.

Clear communication of individual objectives with honest feedback.

The frankness of Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum in player meetings is noticeable. He tells one player “I am not sure that you are good enough to make it in the NFL,” and tells another “you played your best but the other guy was just better than you.” The biggest surprise is that the player always appreciates the feedback!

Your attorneys may not respond well to such harsh feedback, but they do want an honest assessment of their work, good or bad. Well articulated objectives and uncolored feedback are tools that we all need to succeed professionally, and we all value managers that provide them. On the flip side, failing to let your staff know how they are doing creates frustration and distraction.

Speaking the language of your team.

It seems like Rex Ryan thinks that the language of his team is exclusively four letter words; maybe not a good strategy in a law office. But I notice that his players, when interviewed, seem to use the same phrases that he does. In my mind, that is a sign that his message is received and processed by his audience. Speaking in a vernacular that resonates with the team is just the first step, repeating and measuring the receptiveness of the group is the key. Scenes showing the coach visiting players in their bedrooms at lights out demonstrated his technique, but there are many ways to get belly to belly with your team and find out if they are clear on their assignment.

How do you suspect it would help your organization if you defined and communicated the company’s goals, clearly articulated each team member’s role and provided critical feedback on their performance and spent more time talking with them to make sure that they were on the same page as you? Give it a try, who knows, you might just win your Superbowl.

Oh, and don’t throw the ball on 3^rd and goal from the one yard line.

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

Starting Up – What to Spend, Where to Scrimp, How to Save

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:44:00 +0000

If you have just started or are contemplating starting a firm, it is critical that you keep costs low so that you can maximize returns. However, just like the old adage “penny wise, pound foolish,” in some instances it is important to make the investment up front to set your firm out on the right path. Below are answers to commonly asked questions relating to some of the bigger expenses so that you can make smart decisions from the outset:

Do we need an office?

Making a real estate decision can be tricky for a new firm. Some law firms can work “virtually” forever, for others a physical office will be critical to building your client base so that you can demonstrate your stability. You need to know enough about your existing and prospective clients (and your working habits) to know how important this is to your reputation and productivity, and whether a virtual office, shared/temporary offices or a dedicated office for your firm is the right decision for you. In all cases, if you are just starting off, postponing a lease can be a great way to save on a major expense. If you can work from home or a friend or client’s offices for the first 3-6 months, you will save while you build cash reserves for future expenses.

What about a website?

Yes, your firm will need a website. It lets people know who you are and what you are doing. Unless you have experience building websites, this is one case where hiring a professional from the outset makes sense. Typically this is something that can be done well at low cost. Ask your friends who they used, or look at websites you like and contact the developers listed on the site.

Should we hire a marketing firm?

Marketing firms can be expensive. For firms delivering atypical services, honing your message to the marketplace can be critical to attracting clients, and it might be necessary to hire a professional to help you deliver that message. For firms offering more straightforward services, a marketing firm is likely not necessary at the outset so long as the message about what you are offering is very clear. Marketing firms can also help you develop your logo, business cards, presentation templates and brochures, so they can be very helpful in defining your message if that is important to your business. Please note that often website designers can help with logos and business cards, so a marketing firm is not necessary unless you have a complex message or look that you are trying to convey.

We have computers. What else do we need?

A law firm cannot deliver services to its clients without the right technology. What you need (and how much you need to spend) varies significantly depending on what you are doing and how many attorneys you have. See Mark's post for a longer discussion, but at the very least you will need computers, phones and probably a PDA. Your software needs will vary, but many firms will need a robust document management solution to keep the vast quantity of open files organized. This is particularly true for litigation practices, but it is critical that all attorneys have an effective way to store and retrieve their documents. A comprehensive billing system will also be necessary so that you can track time and get bills to clients in a timely fashion. Shop around and make sure you aren’t overspending, but having the right technology is critical.

Should I hire an assistant?

There are many third party services that can provide you basic administrative support without the expense of hiring someone full time. If you need phone answering and basic calendaring and presentation support, many third party providers can assist you. If you require more fulsome support, and it allows you to devote your time to higher revenue tasks, hiring an administrative assistant might be the right decision for you. As with many of these decisions, you need to be honest with yourself about what you really need to get your job done efficiently and effectively, and spend wisely.

For a new firm, the variety of services and related costs can be confusing and overwhelming. Spend your money where it is needed and put off whatever costs can be put off without sacrificing the quality of your services. The “right” choices are different for everyone, but the more you can smartly save up front, the better your chances of success.

Beth Anisman is the CEO of B&Co., a NYC based consultancy and an executive advisor to NexFirm. She can be reached at banisman@bandcollc.com.

Look Before You Sign: Learning What You Need Takes Time

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:31:00 +0000

Starting your business always costs more than you think, so holding onto your cash is typically going to be your primary objective when you first start out.

Many startups are founded by people who have left large firms where most, if not all, of their technology was provided for them. So, if that’s you, you’ll have to make all of these decisions yourself. And, if you find yourself unprepared, you’re not alone.

If I can offer any advice, it would be these two things:

1. Retain the right to cancel services, and pay as you go if you can.

2. Customize your systems to suit your needs.

Sure, it’s possible to go out and buy all of the technology products and services you think you’ll need: computer, software, phones (desk and mobile), email, Web sites, scanners, and all the other gadgets Fortune 500s take for granted. But paying a service for just what you need is a great way to try out a solution beforehand, and it helps you decide if you need to make the larger financial and contractual commitment.

By using a service that you can modify or cancel, you’re assured of keeping your initial capital outlay as low as possible while you try out services that are appropriate to your new business. For example, do you need a desktop computer and/or a laptop computer and with a myriad of options out there, which ones are right for you? Don’t go out and buy the entire Apple store (and the 2 year contract that their mobile devices usually require) if you spend the day in your home office and only need a computer for email and word processing. An inexpensive desktop might be all you really need. Or, if you’ve got a lot of international clients, don’t commit to a long international phone plan without trying out cheaper web-based options, like Skype.

More than likely, you’ll need a technology environment that’s quite different than you had before you started your firm. Rely on people who focus on small business successes (I can recommend at least one good firm) before plunking down your valuable cash on something you may have to “make do” with for three to five years.

When you do decide whether to buy or license your technology, you’ll know it works for you.

Mark Mathias is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NexFirm. He has more than 30 years of experience with large and small company technology matters.

Tracking Time On Time

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:45:00 +0000

There has been an interesting flow of news stories lately about BigLaw firms cracking down on late time keeping. Hughes Hubbard plans to cut the salary of attorneys by as much as 20% if they don’t get their time items in on a timely basis (their definition being “within 5 days”). Simpson Thacher is doing something similar. Akin Gump’s managing partner Steve Pesner recently penned an email to his team on the subject that was unforgettable—“For those of you who think you are exempt from doing time sheets on a daily basis, I’d suggest that you re-evaluate your importance and get ready to prove that (a) you are busier than I am on legal work, (b) you are busier than I am on client development work, (c) you are busier than I am on firm work and (d) [redacted] and I do not have better things to do with our time than beg you to be responsible … and incidentally, it is my understanding that the job market is not so good right now in case you did not know.”

While these might seem like rude and forceful reactions I, for one, don’t think that these are overreactions. The timely recording of billable work enables three critical outcomes for a firm: the precise collection of billable time, the rapid collections of receivables and real time analysis of staff utilization. As you can imagine the bottom line effect in a BigLaw firm is significant, ranging in the millions each year. While the dollars are smaller, the effect on a small firm is more dramatic.

Take for instance the precision of time collection. I’ve heard higher estimates, but in my experience (at NexFirm), a timekeeper can lose as much as .3 hours per day by delaying the recording of entries to the end of the day as opposed to making them in real time. To be conservative, let’s round it down to .1, or six minutes per day. At $400 per hour, it is $10,000 per year in lost revenues. For a firm of three, call it $30,000 of pure profit out the window. I think any small firm would find this to be a meaningful amount.

Utilization management can drive even larger profitability gains. In the business of legal services, each minute that ticks away is gone forever and can no longer be monetized. Using real time entry data, a managing partner at a small firm can more efficiently allocate work to those who are not busy. If these efforts result in an additional .1 of billable hours per attorney per day, tack on another $30,000 of profit to our theoretical three person firm.

Sending bills out to your clients on time starts by having all of your time entries in the billing system, and drives a shorter cash collection cycle. It’s a bit harder to put a dollar amount against this benefit, but if you run a small firm you are undoubtedly well aware of the need to drive cash collections.

Encouraging your attorneys to track their time entries in real time can pay big dividends. To make this happen, create a billing environment that is user friendly and easily available. Create a culture that encourages real time recording of entries; start by explaining the importance of these efforts to your team, set a good example by doing it yourself and provide reminders and policing that prevent timekeepers from getting off track.

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http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/hughes-hubbard-is-the-latest-firm-to-crack-the-time-keeping-whip/

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/11/akin-gump-partner-pens-email-fantasy-about-firing-delinquent-time-keepers/
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David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.

Business Development, Making Rain and Growing Roots

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:23:00 +0000

“You’re either growing or you’re dying.” This is the motto of a former colleague who is now responsible for generating tens of millions of dollars of annual revenue for his firm. While this sounds like a somewhat trite aphorism about business development, after several years of advising small (and large) businesses, I have come to understand just how true this is, and how ignoring this advice can lead to disaster.

Many firms are started on the strength of one or two large relationships which they hope will continue to support them for decades. While having one or two significant sources of revenue is very helpful to starting a new business, it is critical from the outset that you focus on diversifying your client base so that you are not overly dependent on any one client relationship to sustain your firm.

In addition to diversification of your client base, it is crucial that you have both deep and broad relationships with each of your clients. As people change jobs and companies more and more often, a multi-million dollar relationship can dwindle to zero in just months if you don’t have multiple champions in the firm when your key point of contact moves on. Similarly, your firm can go from stability to teetering in that same period if you don’t have multiple other clients to backfill that revenue.

In order to avoid these common pitfalls, it is imperative that you both stay in front of multiple people within each of your client firms as well as work consistently to broaden your relationships. This can be done in numerous ways, including writing newsletters that are distributed to your network, offering on-site training sessions to both existing and prospective clients, and spending as much time as possible meeting in person with members of your network to make sure that you are top of mind as potential assignments come in. In addition, it is always a good idea to be meaningfully involved in industry associations and philanthropic organizations so that you can continue to broaden your contacts and increase both your and your firm’s name brand recognition in your community.

While all professionals are busy with servicing existing clients, business development is as much a part of any successful professional’s job description as delivering work product to clients. Without consistent growth, your firm and future are in jeopardy. But when business development is a constant part of how you operate, you will find that you have increased “stickiness” with existing clients and routinely bring in new clients and projects, which is the key to sustaining a successful and healthy business for the long-term.

Getting your professionals started on business development takes activity on your part. Help them to identify and target contacts that are potentially important to your firm. Show them how to leverage the people they know to get introductions to those that they don’t. Encourage them to get out and spend time with the people they are targeting; meals, drinks, concerts and ball games are all time better spent than in the office where there are no clients.

Keeping focused can be the hardest part. Meeting regularly to discuss progress of business development efforts is critical. Meetings should focus on the discussion of next steps for each target, feedback on what has worked and what has not and the exploration of how connecting people can assist the process. Encourage your professionals to include others in your firm when they can. When progress isn’t occurring, don’t hesitate to reassign prospects and let someone else have a try.

Keeping your firm growing will help you to reach a number of objectives, apart from simply driving higher profitability. Employees engaged in business development will feel more connected to the objectives of the firm, as well as cultivating important skills. New clients and deeper client relationships will likely bring in different types of work, variety that attorneys will find interesting and motivating. And the success of the firm will keep employees proud to be a part of it, with the knowledge that they are directly helping to build its success.

Beth Anisman is the CEO of B&Co., a NYC based consultancy and an executive advisor to NexFirm. She can be reached at banisman@bandcollc.com.

An Ounce of Prevention

noreply@blogger.com (NexFirm) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:10:00 +0000

Today, I received a letter from hedge fund where I have a small investment, letting me know that a laptop, along with my personal information, had been lost. It read: “In order to assist you, we have arranged with a security company to provide you with complimentary use of an identity theft protection service, which includes $1 million in identity theft expense insurance, for two years.” They were obligated to contact over 600 past and present investors. The estimated cost for their new insurance expenditures is over $10,000. That doesn’t include the long term costs they might incur if any identity theft actually occurs, nor does it include the time and reputational damage they’ve experienced, nor the sleep I’m sure they’re losing, worrying if this will be the death of their three-person firm.

Learn from their example. The New Year is a great time to think about liability issues, the potential game-ending risks at your firm and above all, what you can do to mitigate or completely remove them. Often, a small effort can fix potentially big problems. In the example above, employing endpoint encryption on users’ PCs, only a few hundred dollars per year, could have avoided this entire fiasco. (Shameless plug: NexFirm provides encryption service.) As your firm grows and matures each year, the risks you incur will change; and ongoing, periodic review is required. For most law firms, the largest risks lie in three areas: Data protection, Regulatory compliance and Insurance coverage.

Data protection

It’s good if your firm protects data from potential loss with a security system. It’s better to prevent unauthorized users from accessing that data, whether it’s lost or sitting on your office desk. So, get encrypted. Encryption is a get out of jail free card: If encrypted data is lost, you don’t need to notify clients, you don’t incur liability and you don’t need to worry that the data will be compromised. Virus protection is the other side of the coin. We recommend an administrator-directed security solution so you can confirm that your anti-virus regimen is followed religiously. And to make your data protection plan complete, you need firm backup procedures, replete with data recovery plans. To be fully effective, your backups must be off site, encrypted and provide a restore time frame that supports your business needs.

Regulatory compliance

Requirements change with surprising frequency and effect many parts of your operation, including data archival and employment responsibility. Touch base with the regulatory bodies in your jurisdictions of practice and confirm that your procedures comply with regulations. It makes sense to have an employment attorney review your employee handbook each year to make sure that you incorporate changes to the law and to confirm that your firm is using the best practices available.

Insurance coverage

You are forced to review your malpractice coverage each year for renewal, a helpful process that allows you to reassess your professional liability. This is a good time to review the other types of liability your firm incurs and to assess whether additional coverage strategies make sense. General liability, crime, fiduciary, employment practices, error and omissions and several other types of coverage could be worthwhile. This is also a good time to consider creating or updating a buy/sell agreement for the partnership and purchasing life insurance and long term disability insurance for the principles of the firm.

I wish I could promise you that doing this type of review will be fast, easy and inexpensive; it may not be. Compare that to the tumult you will experience should your firm face an issue, and you will find that the time and expense are well spent. And, of course, if you feel stuck or generally unenthused by the project, give us a call at NexFirm. We’re happy to help!

David DePietto is the founder and CEO of NexFirm. He can be reached at dd@nexfirm.com.