Practice Smart.

One of the news stories making the rounds in the legal world is the story of the screwed up excel spreadsheet in the Barclay’s - Lehman deal.  In short, as the story goes, an associate and a law clerk made a formatting mistake in a giant excel spreadsheet, causing Barclay’s to buy millions in Lehman assets it did not want to buy.  Barclay’s is now looking for relief from a bankruptcy judge.  This story is passed around as a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology, the dangers of associates, or the dangers of associates using technology.

Doesn’t that kind of miss the point though:  where are all the partners?

I’m not defending the associate and law clerk involved.  I’m just saying: when a law firm really blows a gajillion dollar deal like this, it might be nice for someone to take responsibility besides the two lowest paid people in the room.

{ 0 comments }

This morning I consulted my Magic 8 Ball about the impact of the economic meltdown on law practice (which, as I understand it, is the same technology currently utilized by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke) and the results were sobering:

As the stock market makes yet another pirrouetting nosedive, we have by now heard opinions from both ends of the spectrum:  “don’t panic, it’s panic that is the problem” and “it’s all over, barter your legal services for canned goods”  If that doesn’t cause you some massive cognitive dissonance, go buy yourself another cup of coffee and wake up.  I traded my 401k portfolio to a barista for a grande latte this morning.  But I digress.

Here’s the thing:  you can only control what you can control.

I don’t want to go all Yoda on you or anything, but this is a good time to figure out the difference between what you can control in your practice and what you can’t.  Freaking out about the things that you can not control not only doesn’t help, it also comes with the opportunity cost of not doing some things that might help at least a little.

The things you control will not solve this problem (unless you happen to be a key member of the international financial community, in which case I humbly suggest that you STOP READING THIS BLOG POST AND FIX THE ECONOMY), but they may help dampen the negative impact.  Think of it as boarding up windows before a hurricane.  If the storm is bad enough it won’t save you, but it can’t hurt and might help.

In that vein, here are 3 things you can control, 3 things you can focus all your excess worry and energy on right now:

1. Collect — your outstanding accounts receivable.
2. Stop — working for clients who are not paying you.
3. Slash — budget items that are not mission critical.

You might have other things that you can control, as well, but if you focus on just these three, you may collect a bit more income, stop doing some unprofitable work, and slash a few expenses that don’t help you serve your clients or make money.  The result is a bit more positive cash flow to help you keep on trucking.

At least that is what my Magic 8 Ball told me.

{ 0 comments }

Big day in Chapel Hill today.  A new Starbucks opened a few days ago and it is located right on the route that my wife and I (we carpool whenever possible) take to work.  This morning we decided to stop in on this Monday morning and tank up on some Starbucks coffee (no surprise to those of you who follow me on Twitter).

It was about 7:30am when we dragged ourselves into the place.  (Yesterday was our 12th anniversary so we were out drinking celebrating with a bit more abandon than was probably prudent on a Sunday night.)  We were greeted at the counter by an exceptionally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed barista.  Now, I generally like happy, enthusiastic people in life, but this chick was peppy with a capital “P” and had clearly been mainlining espresso for several hours.

As we handed over our reusable commuter mugs (it is a ticketable offense in Chapel Hill if you fail to use one of these and instead grab a paper cup) the barista fairly well screamed at us, “are you having a SUPER AWESOME TERRIFIC Monday?”  As I restrained my wife from stuffing the peppy barista headfirst into one of the giant coffee grinders like a weirdly caffeinated variant on the ending of Fargo, it occurred to me that this is a lesson everyone in the service business (yes, that includes lawyers and bar association employees) needs to pay attention to:  try not to annoy your clients.

Whether you practice divorce law or work up collateralized debt obligations (and if this is your practice area, thanks for helping to destroy the economy, I never wanted to retire anyway) your clients come in to see you in a particular emotional state and frame of mind.  They may be depressed, nervous, angry, or even happy (do any of you practice happy people law?  What’s that like?), and it is your job to understand that feeling and mirror it.

You don’t need to go all crazy active listening (”what I hear you saying is, you’d like to kill your spouse and hide the body…”) just get attuned enough so that your behavior doesn’t annoy your client.  Be sensitive to the fact that while you may be having a great (or awful) day, your clients are having some kind of day of their own and don’t need you harshing their mellow or, God forbid, trying to pep them up at 7:30 a.m.

Have a SUPER AWESOME TERRIFIC Monday!

{ 0 comments }

A couple of days ago I was part of a three person panel putting on a “60 Sites in 60 Minutes” program for the North Carolina Bar Association Practical Skills CLE.  Practical Skills is a fun program to teach because it is always well attended and is packed with lawyers who have just recently passed the bar exam.

The other two members of my panel were Lee Rosen and Stephanie Kimbro, both practicing North Carolina lawyers and smart technologists.  The program was a big success and we gave the attendees a bunch of sites that are useful, interesting or fun (and sometimes all of the above) to put in their favorites menu right away.

I’ve included the list of sites (with links) here on Law Practice Matters in case you would like to check them out.

{ 0 comments }