Un-Billable Hour: Business Management Strategies for the Busy Lawyer Around the Community Table

Our first episode of 2022 is kind of about everything. It’s about trends, helping law firms leverage tech, outsource routine tasks, and grow their business. Guest Chad Burton is a highly-regarded legal practice futurist. Through his work with Modern Law Practice and CuroLegal, he works one-on-one with practitioners to help them understand what they need and how to engage existing solutions to move them forward. Understanding the capabilities of today’s tech isn’t intuitive. It takes work. Burton shares insights into emerging trends in 2022. Hear what he thinks will happen with non-lawyer owned law firms and the introduction of non-lawyer licensed legal practitioners in specific legal sectors. Other trends include alternative business structures (ABS) such as LegalZoom, Elevate Services, and fee-splitting providing legal services to a vast pool of underserved Americans. He also offers thoughts on outsourcing routine work through emerging enterprises such as Lawclerk, UpWork, and GetStaffedUp, not only outsourcing tasks but offshoring them.  Special thanks to our sponsors LawClerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.

We know the pillars of marketing: acquisition, production, and purpose. But in this episode of the Un-Billable Hour, class-action guru Gerald Maatman gets down to basics and talks about your marketing bedrock: your brand.Building your practice starts before you ask for a client’s business. It’s about your brand, what you’re already known – and respected – for. Hear how developing expertise, building knowledge, public speaking, and thought leadership earns you the business before you even make the call. There’s a lot to work on here, from giving every case your all, to learning to see the challenge from your client’s perspective, to creating lasting relationships. It’s not easy, and it’s not fast. But a thriving law practice is not about luck. It’s about hard work that never ends. Learn valuable lessons from a true business leader.  Special thanks to our sponsors LawClerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion. 

Struggling to find joy and fulfillment in her work at a prestigious law firm, guest Ali Katz thought striking out on her own was the way to go. But she found herself battling the same demons, too busy producing paperwork to achieve work/life balance and find satisfaction by fully serving her clients. Then it hit her. There’s nothing wrong with the legal profession, what’s wrong is the way lawyers run their practice. Author of the new book, “The New Law Business Model: Building a Lucrative Law Practice That You (And Your Clients) Love,” Katz teaches lawyers how to reinvent their practice, build enduring client relationships, and bring the love back to lawyering. Learn the difference between “money debt” and “time debt.” Explore new ways to engage clients and show them the value you provide. Stop doing things the old way and focus on superior client outcomes.  Special thanks to our sponsors Law Clerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.

With today’s tight, post-pandemic labor pool, trained, quality legal intake professionals are scarce. Law firms are increasingly turning to outsourced intake, receptionist, and onboarding services. Jeff Mosler, CEO of Nexa Receptionist Holdings LLC (you probably already know their Alert Communications brand) explains how law firms leveraging the flexibility of a turnkey, pretrained outsourcing platform can maximize marketing investments, answer calls in just three rings, and carry potential clients from a curious call to a signed retainer. Stop wasting marketing dollars on lost leads.Even for established firms, an outsourced platform – with the ability to engage by phone, web chat, email, and text – can help firms engaged in one-time, mass tort cases as needs ramp up then scale back. For big firms or small, a trained, on-call pool of legal intake specialists could be the answer.Special thanks to our sponsors Law Clerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.

Guest Mark Rockwell helps lawyers and law firms build purpose, passion, and profit. Learn the five biggest – and crazy simple – mistakes lawyers make every day that undermine their business.Rockwell helps lawyers understand what they want, who they are, and where they want to go. Without structure and vision, what’s the point? When lawyers find themselves spinning their wheels, busy without achieving goals, Rockwell helps create structure and processes that build order and direction.For the first 10 listeners to reach out at (503) 784-7205 or Mark@CoachRockwell.com, Rockwell offers a free one-hour coaching session. He also offers a free e-book, “Five Mistakes Lawyers Make That Kill Their Career,” at www.CoachRockwell.Com.Special thanks to our sponsors Law Clerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.

Initial prospect consultations are lost hours if the prospect doesn’t become a client. Guest Theophan McKenzie is a professional sales consultant who helps attorneys and law firms across the country learn a better way to stop wasting time and stop letting prospects walk out the door. McKenzie’s innovative, nontraditional sales techniques teach attorneys to turn off their “lawyer brain” and build immediate, lasting connections with prospects. Learn how to stop selling yourself and start listening to the prospective client.Special thanks to our sponsors Law Clerk, Alert Communications, LawYaw, and Scorpion.

From the football field to the boardroom, talent development expert Ben Murphy has learned a few moves critical to building a motivated and productive team.Host Christopher Anderson and Murphy discuss how law firms can better hire, train, motivate and retain a team.Murphy explains why 56% of executives fail within 18 months of being hired and how to avoid these common pitfalls. He also details how managers can effectively manage a team working remotely and manage across generational divides.Ben Murphy is vice president of Titus Talent Strategies.Special thanks to our sponsors, Scorpion, Lawclerk, Alert Communications and LawYaw.

Giugi Carminati reveals the lawyer traits that show lawyers desperately need legal project management, yet still resist. Special thanks to our sponsors, Scorpion, Lawclerk, Alert Communications and LawYaw.

Entrepreneur Jaclyn Foster compares contract versus full-time paralegal services from cost to efficiency and battling turnover. Special thanks to our sponsors, Scorpion, Lawclerk, Alert Communications and LawYaw.

Success coach Ken Hardison shares what it takes to assemble an A-team for a lucrative and satisfying law practice. Special thanks to our sponsors,  Scorpion, Lawclerk, Alert Communications and LawYaw.