Featured Articles
Web-Based Client Portals: The Benefits to Lawyers
In the first post in this series, attorney and MyCase Director Nicole Black introduced the concept of law practice management software platforms with built-in client portals. In part two, she outlines the many benefits that web-based client portals offer lawyers. Client portals are incredibly valuable tools for law firms because they allow lawyers to…
Fun and easy team building ideas
Everyone has a preference or comfort zone when it comes to working as part of a team. Some people desire and thrive in collaborative settings, while others dread collective decision making and would prefer to work alone. However you feel about working as part of a team, the reality is…
Focus on Law Firms: Managing Law Firm Fraud Risks - An Internal Control Checklist
Although the majority of employees are honest, a trusted employee will steal when three elements exist: pressure, opportunity and rationalization. Pressurearises when an employee is faced with a significant financial problem that he/she may feel unable to discuss with, or seek help from, others. Opportunityis present when the employee believes…
What’s Killing Efficiency in Your Law Firm?
I recently came across an interesting article, published in Attorney at Work, that discusses five key areas that are potentially killing efficiency in today’s legal firms. http://bit.ly/1X80nYz These five common efficiency killers include: Staffing and task assignment errors Manual billing Clinging to paper Tethering work to the office technology Settling for…
Fun and easy team building ideas
Everyone has a preference or comfort zone when it comes to working as part of a team. Some people desire and thrive in collaborative settings, while others dread collective decision making and would prefer to work alone. However you feel about working as part of a team, the reality is…
Improving your firm’s productivity ratio - leverage systems and staff
After working with legal firms for 25 years, as a consultant and accountant*, I focus on one simple formula to consistently and effectively measure a firm’s efficiency – the productivity ratio. The ratio measures the number of support staff to fee earners. For example a 1:1 ratio will have 1…
Focus on Law Firms: Managing Law Firm Fraud Risks - An Internal Control Checklist
Although the majority of employees are honest, a trusted employee will steal when three elements exist: pressure, opportunity and rationalization. Pressurearises when an employee is faced with a significant financial problem that he/she may feel unable to discuss with, or seek help from, others. Opportunityis present when the employee believes…
CLIENT EXPERIENCE (CX) PART 1 – IS IT DIFFERENT FROM CLIENT SERVICE?
Providing exceptional and consistent client service is critical to your firm’s success, but to be a real winner, you will have to deliver an exceptional client experience (CX). With clients now in the driver’s seat and law firms aggressively competing to hold on to clients or take work away from…
Model Conflicts of Interest Checklist
What’s old is new again. Conflicts of interest still remains one of the most recurring regulatory infractions reported in the Bencher’s Bulletin’s regulation of the profession section. Integrating this simple, but effective, checklist into your daily practice, will help reduce this risk by implementing preventative procedures rather than reactive efforts….
The Key to Co-Creation: Courageous Dialogue
“Creative leadership is about being courageous enough to ask powerful questions, to engage in dialogue, and to create an atmosphere of trust and safety in which difficult and open questions can be explored. It’s more like an improvisation than a set piece, more jazz than playing to a score. We all improvise…
