Some clients make you love working for them. They make you want to excel. They bring out the best you have to offer. DSW is one such client, and I just have to share the experience we had yesterday. In December, we won a trial for DSW. It was the company’s first trial–they want to… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Scoring client service–great idea from Matt Homann
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, People, Places and BlawgsI loved this post by Matt Homann suggesting lawyers score their client service on the quality of the client’s experience as well as the quality of the result. Matt’s “scorecard” is included at left. Matt’s suggestion is to ask your clients to show where you fit in the quality of experience/quality of result chart and… Continue Reading
New book on customer service
Posted in General, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedComing February 7, Uncommon Service was featured today in the Daily Stat. Here is the write up on the book from the HBR store: Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance – for as long… Continue Reading
“Smart” products helping lawyers capture even more time only add to hourly rate feeding frenzy
Posted in Client Service, Hourly Rates and AlternativesI got an email today that is proof that mass emailers don’t care a bit about who receives the emails. The mass email, on behalf of Smart WebParts, offered this enticement: Smart Time moves timekeeping into a new era, finally offering timekeepers a way to keep up with today’s hypermobile, multitasking work environments. In this new… Continue Reading
Not all fixed fees provide the same value to clients
Posted in Hourly Rates and AlternativesI saw a post on a LinkedIn discussion on alternative fees that made me wonder …. For transactions, we almost always give the client a choice of a fixed fee or an hourly rate. If they don’t immediately see the difference (and most do), we explain to them that our fixed fee is based on… Continue Reading
BigLaw just can’t shake it’s reliance on hours!
Posted in Hourly Rates and Alternatives, Leadership and ManagementI got a kick out of a post at Above The Law, Associate Bonus Watch: Dechert’s Bonus Is Contingent On Something That Sure Sounds Like Billable Hours. The unstated but unmistakeable conclusion from the memo is that even firms that say hours aren’t important place disproportionate importance on billable hours. ATL quotes one tipster saying:… Continue Reading
Patent Litigator Martin Lefevour joins Valorem Law Group
Posted in General, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedMy partners and I are pleased to announce that patent litigator Marty Lefevour has joined our number (formal bio here). Marty has a wealth of experience, both as an inside lawyer and as a partner at Katten Muchin. The subject matter of the litigation has been quite diverse, including software and internet-based technologies, financial exchange… Continue Reading
Do you have a muse?
Posted in CommentaryI just read a terrific post on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, To Inspire Innovation, Get a Muse. Michael Schrage starts his post with this: Yves Saint Laurent and Pablo Picasso — brilliant entrepreneurs as well as celebrated artistes — claimed inspiration from muses.So, apparently, did Steve Jobs. Perhaps the newly-knighted Sir Jonathan Ive… Continue Reading
The importance of proofreading
Posted in Client Service, GeneralFrom the world of sports: A dispute over contract language that affects seven fired Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coaches for over $3 million may have been one of the factors that led to the dismissal of Paul Vance, the team’s senior vice president of football operations and general counsel, according to league sources. A source said… Continue Reading
Rate increases again–that time of year
Posted in UncategorizedGreat post by Jay Shepherd on “modest” rate increases. You know that any post that begins “If you see lawyers with their arms in slings, it’s probably from too much patting themselves on their backs” is going to be a good post. Jay notes that rates have gone up 10% since 2009 during a massive… Continue Reading
Auctions, RFPs and wasting time and opportunities
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesSix years ago, I ran this post: “Dan Hull has a good post on his What About Clients blog about price competition. His approach is not to compete on price but instead to compete on service, not price. His insight, which I cannot improve on in any way, is that “if clients come to you… Continue Reading
Important words to know for great customer service
Posted in General, UncategorizedIn five words or less, courtesy of Tom Peters. A sample: 4 most important words: “What do you think?” (Dave Wheeler @ tompeters.com: “Most important 4 words in organization”) 4 most important words: “How can I help?” (Boss as CHRO/Chief Hurdle Removal Officer) 2 most important words: “Thank you!” (Appreciation/Recognition) 2 most important words: “All… Continue Reading
“Endless Possibilities” discussed in New Normal Post
Posted in GeneralMy latest post on the ABA Journal’s online New Normal column, Making a commitment to change and opening up ‘Endless Possibilities’ is now available. My thanks to ESPN’s John Kincade and Seth Godin for the inspiration.
It’s a great time of the year for law firms!
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, Hourly Rates and AlternativesI’ve been away from my blog the past little while. I had a case that was to start trial on October 24th. We finally picked a jury on December 5th and a verdict on December 15. The complete win for our client made this marathon worth it, but the trial occupied my complete attention for… Continue Reading