I just concluded a stay at a Four Seasons Hotel. When checking out, I was stunned to see two $100 plus charges for phone calls. When I inquired about the charges, I was told that the first minute of each call is $8 and each subsequent minute was $3. The rates are not listed on… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: February 2010
10 reasons entrepreneurs hate lawyers? Really 10 reasons why most clients hate lawyers
Posted in CommentaryCourtesy of Dan Hull’s post on this same topic, I was drawn to a post by Scott Edward Walker on Venture Hacks, Top 10 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. I actually read this post half a dozen times looking for my favorite reason in the list of 10 so I could quote something here. But… Continue Reading
Thanks to LexBlog for post about moi!
Posted in People, Places and BlawgsThanks so much to Lisa Kennelly at Lexblog for a very kind post about this blog in Kevin O’Keefe’s fantastic Real Lawyers Have Blogs. Kevin is a pioneer, perhaps the pioneer in this area, and he was the person who convinced me that I could be a blogger. In large measure because he surrounds himself… Continue Reading
Service is a choice. What choices do you make?
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryCourtesy of a tweet by Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich, I was directed to Speed, In The Right Direction, a post about lessons to be learned from Apollo Ohno, America’s most decorated winter Olympian. Ohno had a hugely successful Olympic experience in Turin, and then hit the celebrity circuit. Blogger Randy Hall picks… Continue Reading
Fee Sharing is a necessary part of joint venture work
Posted in CommentaryI’ve written before about the great value clients can receive when firms work together for the client’s benefit. But I have not written about this from a fee-sharing standpoint, and I have certainly not written about this as well as my friends Dave Bohrer and Michael Kallus at Confluence Law Partners. Check out their post… Continue Reading
A return to the good old days? Dream on.
Posted in CommentaryFrom the January 2010 McKinsey Quarterly: Even though cost containment remains a high priority, many respondents worry about the sustainability of the cost reductions and are only somewhat confident that their companies are adequately prepared for even bigger cost challenges, which they expect in the coming year. These are among the findings of a survey… Continue Reading
Once More, With Meaning: Ours is a Service Business
Posted in Client Service, CommentaryCourtesy of the inestimable Scott Greenfield, I was referred to a post by self-proclaimed leadership expert, Andrew Hughes. It appears that Andrew’s leadership expertise comes from being "part of the senior leadership team of a national [Australian] law firm." As I have said, the odds of the words "leader" and "law firm" appearing in a… Continue Reading
Lessons from Blast Emails
Posted in Commentary, Marketing, Branding and SalesEvery two weeks, I receive an email from a legal staffing vendor. Each time I receive it, I deleted it. Each time I went through that short process, I was annoyed. Today, I finally unsubscribed. It is highly unlikely I will ever choose to do business with this company, and the annoying blast… Continue Reading
A court hearing with 5 attorneys
Posted in CommentaryMy partner just returned from court. All by his lonesome. This was a multi-party extravaganza, but one of the parties was represented by 5 attorneys. Count them–one for each finger. One for each day of the work week. How many spoke? Just one. To visualize this, raise your hand with all fingers extended. Then… Continue Reading
Does buying “The Brand” ensure quality?
Posted in Commentary, Marketing, Branding and SalesAs a small firm, we are frequently told that people will buy "The Brand" (read, big firm) for harder matters because The Brand protects the buyer in case something goes wrong. We generally respond to this by pointing to our own big firm pedigrees, talking about actual trial experience, which most big firm lawyers lack… Continue Reading
Do AFAs create the same bad incentives as hourly billing?
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesMy recent post Discounts: It’s like putting off necessary surgery drew this thoughtful comment, which I believe merits a response. First, the comment: Although you suggest that hourly billing law firms which discount will merely increase the number of billed hours to prop up their bottom lines, there is no evidence to suggest AFA firms… Continue Reading
Intelligence. Experience. Wisdom.
Posted in CommentaryRegular readers know that I am an NPR guy. I was listening to Scott Simon this morning on the way home from the gym. Scott had been off the air for a bit while undergoing surgery, and he made some comments at the end of today’s show: It wasn’t until after Dr. Edward Benzel, Chairman… Continue Reading
Perspective.
Posted in CommentaryAmid the cacophony of our daily lives, from politics to fee structures, I was given pause yesterday when told that Valentine’s Day is the 20th Anniversary of this iconic photograph, taken by a camera on the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Earth from 4 billion miles away.
Discounts: It’s like putting off necessary surgery
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesI started looking at some tweets this morning and saw an interesting one by "@jayshep" –Twitter-speak for Jay Shepherd, where he cites to an article (sub. req.) on discounting hourly rates. The article quotes Jay as saying "It’s incredibly easy to get discounts." I am intrigued, and continue reading: “I’ve talked to many in-house… Continue Reading
What will help you make your business people happy?
Posted in CommentaryWhen dealing with in-house counsel, there are some questions you always need to ask. This is one of them. Your in-house clients have clients too. Frequently, they run the business. They can influence your contact’s career path, compensation and life. You need to do what you can to make sure your contact’s interactions with the… Continue Reading
The Transition to Alternative Fees: A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing Is Still A Wolf
Posted in CommentaryAlternative Fees cannot simply be a different route to the same end. If AFAs merely become a surrogate for what would have been charged under the hourly model, nothing has changed and we have learned nothing. The wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. In the absence of hard before and after data, the… Continue Reading
Team Building
Posted in CommentaryOne of the things I hated when I worked in an Amlaw 100 firm was the relentless pressure to "sell" the virtues of other practice areas, as if every partner and every practice area was of elite quality. When the partner or practice area was of elite quality and the client had a need in… Continue Reading
Illinois Privilege Law: A Trap For The Unwary
Posted in CommentaryThe Chicago Daily Law Bulletin just published a short article by my colleague, Reeghan Raffals, on Illinois courts’ narrow definition of the "control group" entitled to privilege and Illinois’ rather restrictive choice of law rules used to analyze privilege issues. Those considering litigating in Illinois are well-advised to understand the significance of the rule before… Continue Reading
Welcome Confluence Law Partners to Blawgo-sphere
Posted in People, Places and BlawgsMy partner Nicole Auerbach and I had a chance to meet yesterday with Dave Bohrer and Michael Kallus of Confluence Law Partners. We love these guys because of their approach to pricing legal work in their area–IP litigation. CLP does flat fee IP litigation. That’s right. I’m not making this up–check out their website. Dave and Michael… Continue Reading
Customer Service In Action: A Great Story
Posted in Client ServiceKayak.com is a way cool company. If you travel and want to choose amongst the best options, rather than having the choice made for you, it is the best place to go. But that’s not why I am writing this post. My partner Nicole Auerbach shared this great article about one of Kayak’s founder’s, Paul… Continue Reading