Every year, when you apply for or renew your malpractice insurance, your provider asks whether you have a "dual calendar" system, like that’s good practice for running a law firm. Only, it’s not.

Mixed-use work and personal email accounts can quickly become ultra-confusing. Yet, many lawyers still utilize the setup, ostensibly (and ironically) for ease-of-use/simplicity. 

As much as I advocate for the use of cloud software by law firms, sometimes there can develop an over reliance on such tools by lawyers. 

Law firm managers have always preferred to have staff onsite, and the ongoing pandemic has represented a significant change in circumstances. Even now, many law offices are either entirely remote or adhering to hybrid arrangements, where attorneys and staff are sometime in the office, and sometimes at home. Now, that may not be likely to change even as the majority of the population is vaccinated against the coronavirus.  

Lawyers who relied totally on networking and the personal referrals generating therefrom have taken a hit of late, as many of those in-person marketing opportunities have dried up, or been significantly reduced. It’s not the end of networking as we know it, even if it feels that way.  

What happens when you don’t convert a lead? For most law firms, the answer is a resounding "absolutely nothing." 

Legal consumers, like all consumers, prize convenience, speed and responsiveness. Law firms often strike out in trying to meet that three-part requirement. In fact, most law firms don’t have an intake system at all. And it’s costing them money.  

Email drives business, yet it also drives most of us crazy. If this is the year you want to take control of your email, check out this post for some steps you can take.

Lawyers are great at bragging on themselves via their websites, and a significant number of attorneys supplement that with "superlatives." You know, awards like "Super Lawyers" that you can apply for and/or purchase. Those specific awards, and the general superlatives of your own resume, go a long way to convince leads to become your clients, but those don’t get you the whole way there. 

One place lawyers don’t put enough emphasis is in the design of website practice area pages. Many lawyers draft super generic content. It's important to realize that potential clients are coming to you because they want your expertise and because they want to learn more about the legal process.