Intake Session Critical to Collecting Legal Fees
The intake process of the first session between attorney and client is critical for collection purposes. One could prognosticate collection success by understanding the effectiveness and completeness of the lawyer's intake session with the client.
See Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid From Intake to Invoice for more information about the intake process.
Interestingly, Wall Street Journal wrote an article about Countrywide and the source of its problems. The headline mentions the underwriting process being inadequate with many clues being overlooked and ignored. Hence, the credit crisis.
The Future of the Law Firm
A recently released report from the Eversheds international law firm discusses some conclusions for the future of the legal profession. One of the elements not really addressed in my reading of the release was the disconnect between lawyers and their clients in large corporate enterprises. Why should this be the case? Why should lawyers and the folks they represent be far apart in their thinking about the profession and how it is being conducted?
There is no simple conclusion. But one element may very well be that clients (General Counsel) feel pressure down from their CEOs and Boards of Directors. They need to be more price and cost sensitive. Partners in larger law firms, on the other hand, want larger compensation packages for themselves in order to be seen as peers of the CEOs who are earning far more than in the past; lawyers do not want to be seen as vendors, but as peers ... and frequently compensation is a factor in this perspective. Of course, it's hard to be a peer with a CEO whose average compensation went from 4:1 to 17 and even 34:1 between him/her and the average employee working for him. And it's a bit disingenuous for that executive to say that lawyers' fees are too high. Even in companies whose stock is falling, or whose profits are falling, it is rare to see the CEO offering to reduce his/her compensation.
Here are some of the key findings of the research report and my thoughts related thereto:
My Shingle has standing room only
Carolyn Elefant, proprietor of My Shingle, discussed marketing a solo and small firm by creating a network of professional colleagues. She attracted a standing room only crowd at the LegalTech show in Los Angeles and held the audience in the palms of her hands. Job well-done!
Chevron GC gripes against technology vendors
Charles A. James, General Counsel of Chevron, Inc., started his keynote remarks at Los Angeles’ LegalTech program by describing his employer, Chevron, as one of the Corporate 5!
I’m familiar with Corporate 100, AmLaw 100, etc. When he spoke about the top 5 companies in the world, he jarred my sensitivities. He’s right, of course, and I intellectually knew that. But, he connected with the emotional side of my understanding. He got my attention.
Of course, that’s the function of the keynote presenter – get the attention of the audience. He did that by describing his gripes against technology vendors ... and challenges to law firms.
Discussing how much work Chevron "farms out" (outsources) to outside counsel, and the metric (see below) he uses to increase the size of his internal legal department, Mr. James was more candid than I recall from other GC.
IRS changes mileage rates
Thanks to Michelle Gallagher for the following information:
This is the first time in my memory that the IRS is reasonably current with today's economic realities! <g> If you have to go 10 miles to the grocery store, the IRS believes it will cost you $5.85 for the trip! All the more reason to ride a bike or shop more locally ... How has your life been impacted by "Big Oil"?
LA Tech Show
New York (ALM) is the “big one.” Chicago is home of the ABA. And now, Los Angeles is doing its part in promoting the effective use of technology. The partnership between ALM and Los Angeles County Bar Association continues to grow. Countervailing trends are at work and I’m eager to see the results with the show opening tomorrow.
Travel has become more difficult and expensive, thus localizing efforts to bring the information to the people rather than the people to the information makes sense. Of course, you do remember we’re talking about technology? There should be no reason to travel to see the benefits of technology ... just do it over the web!
On the other hand, as the phone company realized years ago, “high tech, high touch” is required to be truly effective today. Thus, personal contact and demonstration and networking are essential even in a techie world. Hence, the LA show.
There has been so much consolidation in the legal services world of technology, however, that it will be interesting to see just how many vendors are left standing to show in Los Angeles.
Stay tuned for more. As I said, I’m eager to see the 2008 version of the show.
Mike Downey, attorney with Hinshaw and Culbertson LLP in St. Louis, MO talks about Alternative fees
Mike Downey is an attorney with Hinshaw and Culbertson LLP in St. Louis, MO. He recently spoke to several members of the Finance Core Group, Law Practice Management Section, American Bar Association, about the reasons for and some ethical considerations of alternative legal fees. His comments were well-spoken and directly on target for lawyers who have client responsibilities in negotiating fees before the inception of legal work.
27 minutes, 24 seconds
6.4MB
If all else fails, sue!
It's very hot where I am today --- over 100 degrees. Many parts of our country are facing one natural disaster or another. Sweltering heat, overrun rivers, fires, etc. You name it, and Nature seems to be telling us that she is in control, not us. Can we do something to address Nature's wrath? In many cases, the answer is yes ... be sure we have enough power for air conditioning, build the levees well enough to withstand the "500 year storm," etc. You get the idea. There must be the political will to do this.
Likewise, in our law practice. Clients get angry with us, they have financial reverses, they didn't get the result they expected or, for some unknown reason, they just don't pay their bill. Can we do something to avoid this situation? More so than with weather, the answer is "yes." We can be more proactive in both our intake session --- setting reasonable expectations --- and we can be more vigilant monitoring our clients' behavior after our billings are mailed, making sure we get paid for work we do or we stop working before the client will be prejudiced by our cessation.
I discuss some of these scenarios in my book, Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice, which is mentioned in today's LawBiz® Tips alongside my article, "If All Else Fails, Sue."
Double billing - A new twist
New York's Attorney General announced a settlement with two law firms who will pay $500,000, plus, to avoid prosecution.
There is a new twist raised in these cases. Under the "double billing" phenomenon, a lawyer cannot bill two clients for the same minute of time. When using the hourly billing system, you can bill only one client for each segment of time to be billed. In other words, when waiting in court for a matter to be called, and billing client A for that time, the lawyer cannot bill client B for that same waiting time though he/she is doing other work for client B pending the call of the court. Or, while charging client A for travel time, the lawyer cannot charge client B for working on his matter on the plane.
The new twist is that lawyers in two law firms were listed as employees of the New York State's pension funds. This gave them retirement credits from the funds even though they either did no work at all for the funds or were gainfully employed and paid by the law firms, not the funds. This takes "double billing" to entirely new level!
Jay Larock, Director of Product Management for Corel WordPerfect Office talks about the new WordPerfect
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite X4 is here. Jay Larock, Director of Product Management for Corel WordPerfect Office, is interviewed by Ed, talking about the latest version of WordPerfect's Office Suite. Several important features have been added. Ed specifically addresses the WordPerfect improvements, their outstanding word processing application.
19 minutes, 15 seconds
4.4MB
