In today’s world, there is little doubt that, with very limited exception, the business of law is now a buyer’s market. The number of layoffs at large firms, and the demise of several prominent firms seem to confirm this. Certainly the anecdotes of revenue declines in 2009 do as well. But not only are we… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: January 2009
Take the Plunge II–It’s about time
Posted in CommentaryWell, to be precise, it’s not about time. That’s why it’s time to take the plunge. There are some lawyers out there—you know who you are—sitting in your large comfortable offices wondering what will happen to your firms as this economic cataclysm continues. You know your firms are pursuing the wrong business model. You know… Continue Reading
“You Are Too Efficient. You’re Fired.”
Posted in CommentaryFred Bartlit tells a story in a Legal On Ramp post that bears publicizing: Last night a young lawyer from a top school told me about one of his best friend’s experience in a large Chicago firm (Now – this IS hearsay because it is second hand, but I know the source well and believe… Continue Reading
Trusted Advisor’s Insights On Transparency And Selling
Posted in Client Communications, Client Service, CommentaryMark Slatin has a most interesting post on Trusted Advisor. In Transparency and Selling, he writes: Yet, we’re trained to go in come back with information that will close the sale. Hunt it, kill it and bring it back to eat. • What if, instead of dancing around an answer we don’t know, we just… Continue Reading
Wheat and Chaff: Juries and Litigation
Posted in CommentaryLet me tell you a short story. A senior in-house lawyer is meeting with the CEO to talk about a problem the in-house lawyer had been asked to solve. The in-house lawyer describes how his efforts at negotiation had failed, so he had taken steps to find a random person off the street so that… Continue Reading
Take The Plunge!
Posted in Hourly Rates and Alternatives72 1024×768 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE For quite a while now, Pat Lamb, my partner in Valorem Law Group, has encouraged me to write a “guest blog” entry (we affectionately call it a “glog”) on his blog. Never one to shy away from either a platform or a new adventure, I… Continue Reading
She’s coming soon!!!!
Posted in GeneralMy partner, Nicole Auerbach, has finally agreed to be a regular guest blogger on In Search of Perfect Client Service. If you like some of the material I post, I guarantee you will love Nicole’s offerings. She is much smarter than I am, funnier and definitely a better writer. She is one of a… Continue Reading
Informative Survey: How Clients Buy
Posted in CommentaryRainToday.com has published a new report, How Clients Buy: 2009 Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing & Selling from the Client Perspective. The report, which runs 57 pages and provides data from more than 200 buyers of accounting, financial, legal consulting and other services, costs $345. Among the many highlights and insights: 52% of the buyers… Continue Reading
Value, Like Beauty, Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryEd Poll of LawBizBlog and LawBiz Management has been advising lawyers for 25 years. Ed is one of the people I look to regularly for ideas and inspiration. His recent post, Corporate Counsel Want Value, frames an important question. The post discusses comments by Susan Hackett of the Association of Corporate Counsel about ACC’s Value Challenge. … Continue Reading
How Do Big Law Firms Teach This?
Posted in CommentaryWhat About Clients? periodically reviews its 12 Rules of Client Service. Rule 10 is one of the most nuanced. From today’s WAC?: Rule 10: Be Accurate, Thorough and Timely–But Not Perfect. Ah, devil perfectionism: it’s the curse of eldest children, professionals, many knowledge workers, most lawyers, all spouses, your Mom, and the geek classes, or… Continue Reading
The United States of America
Posted in People, Places and BlawgsGodspeed, Mr. President.
Survey Of GCs–More Alternative Fees Coming?
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesNearly 75% of all law departments are facing budget cuts in 2009. Over 30% are facing cuts of between 11% and 20%, while 35% are facing cuts between 6% and 10%. These are among the bleak results from an Altman Weil flash survey of General Counsel. So, how do the respondents plan to deal with… Continue Reading
Hours Based Bonus + Bad Economy = Warning To Clients (Watch Your Wallet)
Posted in CommentaryIn a Friday post, Above The Law reveals that Arent Fox utilizes an hours-based bonus system. If an associate does not exceed 1950 billable hours, no bonus. And then in hundred hour increments, associates can receive ever increasing "productivity bonuses." Arent Fox is not alone in using this system. Consider, for a moment, the incentives… Continue Reading
Jim Hassett Takes A Detour–But It’s Worth It
Posted in Commentary, People, Places and BlawgsEarlier, I wrote about Part I of Jim Hassett‘s 5-part series on alternative fees. Jim has already written the entire series (if you want it in full format, it’s available here). But showing great agility, Jim has adapted Part II on his blog posts to incorporate some dialogue created by Part I. Jim shares some… Continue Reading
LL Bean and Trusted Advisors
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryCharles Green has a wonderful post on his Trusted Advisors blog about LL Bean: Urban Myth Or Rural Superstition. Pulled from The Consumerist, it tells a story of the Maine Outfitter’s legendary customer service. Guy’s wife orders 3 monogrammed shirts for him for Christmas. Oops. Wrong size. She calls to place the order again with the… Continue Reading
What About Clients? Shines Through
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryFrom time to time, Dan Hull and his colleagues at WAC? repeat some of Hull McGuire’s Rules of Service. I love this post summarizing Rule No. 9: Lawyers aren’t special. We’re in a service business. Get used to it. Rule 9: Be There for Clients 24/7. Snippet: Returning telephone calls promptly and keeping your… Continue Reading
Lessons From My Wife’s Broken Wrist
Posted in Client Communications, Client Service, CommentaryLast Saturday, my wife slipped and broke her wrist. Yesterday, her wrist was surgically repaired. She’s doing fine. I learned a couple of things while at the hospital that are germane to this blog. Here they are, in no particular order: 1) Your waiting room says a lot about you. A few weeks ago, I… Continue Reading
Dear Cool Law Firm.
Posted in GeneralLike a proud parent, I feel an irresistable urge to share some "Valorem highlights" from our first year. I’ll save you the case highlights–can you imagine a fun post on lawsuits? We just got a letter from a management consultant in New York. His salutation was "Dear Cool Law Firm." For us, that ranks up… Continue Reading
A Brief Look Back. A Sober Look Forward.
Posted in CommentaryAs Valorem was celebrating its first anniversary on January 1st, I spent a bit of time thinking back on the things that shaped our birth. One of those things was a prescient post by Gerry Riskin way back in August 2007. Gerry is, in my view, the world’s foremost consultant/advisor to law firms. He also… Continue Reading
Fred Bartlit Spices Up Legal On Ramp Discussions On Hourly Rates and Big Firms
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and Alternatives, Leadership and ManagementBefore founding Bartlit Beck in 1992, Fred Bartlit was "the man" at Kirkland & Ellis. As big and impressive as K&E is now, it was that and more when Fred was there. His departure to set up Bartlit Beck was big news. Few have seen big firms, big clients and small firms and big clients as… Continue Reading
Jim Hassett Begins Series on Alternative Fees: What’s Wrong With Billing By The Hour?
Posted in Hourly Rates and AlternativesJim Hassett has posted the first of five posts on Alternative Fees in his terrific Legal Business Development blog. The first post in the series is What’s wrong with billing by the hour? It’s a good summary. I’ll provide links to the next four posts as they appear.
Cravath To Declare War On Billable Hour?
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, Hourly Rates and Alternatives, Leadership and ManagementWhen legendary CBS Evening News Anchor Walter Cronkite announced his opposition to the Vietnam War in February 1968, President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, "That’s it. If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America." It was a turning point in the war. Evan Chesler is a senior partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore … Continue Reading
2009 Marketing Partner Forum just weeks away!
Posted in GeneralThe 16th Annual Marketing Partner Forum is being held on January 28-30, 2009 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa in Dana Point, CA. The theme of this year’s conference is "Lighting the Way: Strategies For Influencing Change. In the current environment where change is as necessary as breathing, its hard to imagine… Continue Reading