Management

What’s Your Plan for an Emergency?

When I was 37, I had a heart attack (actually, the doctor initially called it an “event,” which I liked much better than “heart attack”). I landed in the hospital for about 10 days, during which I had quintuple-bypass surgery. Then I spent about six weeks getting fully back up to speed. It wasn’t fun. It [...]

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Why Do Some People Get More from Their Team?

You’ve visited offices and watched employees and noticed the difference. Some teams are amazingly energized, hustling, and productive. Some teams are lethargic and slow, and they can barely find the energy to greet you at the door. Why? There are many reasons why the culture is so dramatically different from one office to the next. [...]

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Did the Employee You Fired See it Coming?

We fired an employee a few weeks ago. She never saw it coming. She was truly surprised that she got the axe. I’ve noticed that the people we fire rarely see it coming. I’ve always thought they were kind of clueless. Recently, however, I recognized that their surprise is not evidence of their cluelessness. Their [...]

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What Happened to 2011?

It’s a new year, and most of us have resolutions that we intend to implement in the next 12 months. Realistically, and unfortunately, most of us will likely drop the ball on those resolutions. We will look back on the year, and—if we even remember our resolutions—we’ll wonder where the time went. We’ll blame the [...]

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Ditch the Annual Plan and Think Small

This is the time of year when lots of attorneys are excitedly starting on their new annual plan. They’ve got a plan for improving their people, their technology, and their marketing. The plan comes along with time lines and key economic indicators of their progress. They’re jazzed to make some progress and have lots and [...]

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How Do You Keep a Good Associate?

This is a struggle. The grass is always greener. People come, and people go. Today, they go more often than they stay. It’s the nature of a more mobile society with different ideas about loyalty. It’s not worth being distressed by the societal changes. It is what it is. Now we deal with it. This [...]

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How Do You Motivate the Right Associate to Work and Build a Practice Within Your Office?

I’ve struggled with this question for years. I’ve recently adopted a new plan. In fact, my new plan is one of my two primary objectives for this year. Before I explain the new plan, let me just say this: attorneys can, pretty much, all become effective marketers. They just need the right motivation. How do [...]

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How Do You Compensate an Associate?

Today, we’re continuing the conversation about law firm associates. I’m responding to the attorney who wrote about his 45 years of hiring associates and his recent realization that he hasn’t ever made any money from his efforts. Before we hit the compensation issue, let me say this. The guy who started this has a point [...]

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