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INCREASING PROFITS

6 essential tips for law office administrators to attract more clients

As a law office administrator, one of your key responsibilities is to ensure the growth and success of your firm. A crucial aspect of achieving this goal is consistently attracting new clients. In an increasingly competitive legal landscape, it’s essential to employ effective strategies that can help your law office stand out. Consider these tips to help you gain more clients and enhance the reputation of your law firm. Develop a Strong Online Presence: In today’s digital age, having a robust online presence is imperative for any business, including law firms. Create a professional and user-friendly website that highlights your firm’s expertise, practice areas, and contact information. Optimize your website for search engines to improve its visibility. Leverage social media platforms to engage with potential clients, share informative content, and… . . . read more

INCREASING PROFITS

5 ways to keep the referrals rolling in

Referrals can be a powerful source of new clients, and they can help you build a strong reputation in your community. Here are some tips on how to get referrals for your law firm: Provide excellent service The first step to getting referrals is to provide excellent service to your current clients. When clients are happy with the service they receive from your firm, they are more likely to refer you to their friends, family, and colleagues. Make sure that your firm is providing top-notch service to all of your clients, and encourage your attorneys to go above and beyond in their interactions with clients. Ask for referrals Don’t be afraid to ask your clients for referrals. If a client expresses satisfaction with the service they have received from your… . . . read more

BILLING AND COLLECTIONS

Scheduling payments can boost collections

One of your most important tasks is managing the financial health of your law firm. You know that collecting payments from clients can be a challenging and time-consuming process. However, with the right strategy, you can improve your collections and ensure your firm is getting paid in a timely manner. One effective strategy for improving collections is scheduling client payments. By setting up payment schedules, you can help clients stay on top of their financial obligations and avoid late payments. Here are some of the ways scheduling client payments can benefit your law firm: Improved cash flow By scheduling payments in advance, you can better predict your firm’s cash flow. This allows you to plan for expenses and ensure that your firm has the resources it needs to operate smoothly…. . . . read more

Learn to recognize and avoid burnout

Law office management can be a stressful occupation as it involves financial and compliance responsibilities and balancing the needs of partners, associates, staff and clients in a fast-paced environment. Here are some tips for law office administrators on why they might suffer burnout, how to recognize it, and what they can do to prevent and deal with it. Understand the causes of burnout: Burnout is a form of chronic stress that results from prolonged exposure to job demands that exceed a person’s resources. For law office administrators, burnout can stem from factors such as heavy workloads, long hours, inadequate staffing, high levels of responsibility, and dealing with emotionally charged cases. Recognize the signs of burnout: Some common signs of burnout include chronic fatigue, irritability, cynicism, feelings of disengagement or detachment… . . . read more

INCREASING PROFITS

4 directions to send your law firm marketing message

If you’re looking to market your law practice, there are several techniques you can use to attract prospects, engage with them, and turn them into clients. To make the most of your marketing efforts, it’s important to focus on the data first. The better you understand your potential clients’ online and offline media behaviors and preferences, the better you can customize your messages to them across multiple channels. One effective way to expand your reach is to network on social media. Social media platforms are excellent tools to stay connected with clients and peers, increase brand recognition, and share thought leadership. Pay attention to which social media platforms your potential clients use, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and consider using several to reach a broader audience. You… . . . read more

INCREASING PROFITS

Should a lawyer do administrative tasks to save money?

By Elizabeth M. Miller Should a lawyer do administrative tasks to save money? Of course, the answer is no. Struggling business owners will spend time to save money, whereas successful business owners will spend money to save time. Because you can always get more money⁠—you cannot get more time. So, you need to ensure the work you spend your time on makes the biggest impact. This is called leverage and leverage is the best kept secret of the rich. It works like this: If you spend five hours per week on administrative work at $400 per hour x 4.3 weeks per month it will cost you $8,600.00 per month of billable client hours. Over the course of a year that is $103,200.00 of billable time that you could be billing… . . . read more

MORE PROFIT

The art of delegating to increase firm revenues

By Elizabeth Miller Law firms are unique in that unlike most other businesses which sell a product, lawyers sell time. Their time is, for a better description, “their stock in trade”. Based on this concept, to be profitable and generate sufficient revenues to carry the firm, lawyers should be spending their valuable time doing client billable work. The exception to this are contingency cases and hybrid cases which consist of a part contingency/part billable hour retainer agreement. Contingency cases, however, have to be profitable for a law firm also. With this in mind, the key to profitability and work product efficiency in a law firm is to assign legal tasks to the lowest paid but most qualified person to complete a task. When partners spend their time doing work that… . . . read more

STAFFING

Is it a recession or not? The answer may surprise you

By Lynne Curry My in-box filled with questions after I posted a Recession Fears Loom blog. Readers asked how I made sense of the different views voiced by economists and politicians. As a law office manager with responsibilities around staffing and profitability, you are probably watching to see which way the economy goes. Here’s the background, and my answer to “are we headed into a recession?”: Some say “yes.” Over 60 percent of the 750 CEOs surveyed by the business research firm Conference Board expect a recession in the next 12 to 18 months1. Another 15 percent of surveyed CEOs report their region is already in recession.1 The most recent gross domestic product report that tracks our overall economic health showed a second consecutive quarter of negative growth, the textbook… . . . read more

INCREASING PROFITS

12 MORE marketing secrets of superstar lawyers

By Trey Ryder #13: They provide client service beyond compare. They return phone calls quickly. They work day and night to finish projects. They have backup plans for their backup plans. They err on the side of caution. They hire a bright, responsive support staff. And they always go the extra mile. Whatever it takes, they get the job done. And the superstar’s staff is equally committed to bring the client the best result on time, on budget. #14: They make sure everybody knows they welcome new business. One obstacle successful lawyers face is that other lawyers think they don’t want new clients. As a result, they quit referring cases. When prospecting for new clients, superstar lawyers know it is far better to receive too many inquiries than too few. They make… . . . read more

INCREASING PROFITS

Public service attorney pay grows but still below private sector

According to new research from NALP, salaries for public service attorneys have risen since 2018, particularly for attorneys working in civil legal services and public interest organizations. The results from the NALP/PSJD 2022 Public Service Attorney Salary Survey show that the median entry-level salaries for civil legal services and public interest organizations increased by $9,500 and $12,700, respectively, since the last survey was conducted in 2018. As shown in Table 1 below, that compares to increases of about $1,000 per year over the 2004-2018 period, although that growth was sometimes stagnant in the period from 2008-2014, depending on the kind of organization. Increases in median public defender salaries were more modest, with entry-level salaries only growing by $1,400 since 2018. However, the most experienced public defenders with 11 or more years of experience… . . . read more


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