Where I Get My Help From
It may seem like I've got my stuff together, like I've got all the answers, but the truth is, I still have a lot of questions about running a law firm as a business and how to continue to take what I'm doing to the next level. Granted, I've had time to think about and answer many of the questions you all have had, but you'll notice as your practice continues to grow and with it your understanding of business, that your questions become more nuanced and complicated.If you've read my past posts, you know that when I started out I had someone there to help me answer a lot of these early entry questions and give me some materials to help me start out. His name is RJon Robins and he runs a program called, surprisingly, how to start a law firm. When I started out I bought his program and it was worth every penny.
I was talking to him the other day (we talk about once a month) and I was telling him about how much fun I was having helping all of you. He then asked a very obvious question, "are you telling them to come and check out all of the free material I have" and I sadly had to say no. So I'm doing that again today. You should go and check out his material. There is a lot of free stuff out there and some paid stuff too. I've also put a link on the sidebar to one of his free publications, something that I think all of you should read.
Here's my disclaimer about this though. Remember in my post a few posts ago when I told you about taking down the adsense garbage that was up and pointing you toward things I thought could actually help? Well, I only have two things I'm going to recommend, and this is one of them.
In all fairness to you, though, if you end up buying anything from RJon I'm going to get a little bit of a cut from that. That's just the way the world works. But I wouldn't be recommending this product if I hadn't tried it myself (and I actually still use it). There's no obligation to seeing any of the free stuff, and I think you'll start to see the value he can provide you immediately, so go check it out.
If you hadn't read my previous posts about RJon you can see them here and here and here and here.
The other product I'd like you to know about I'll talk about next week.
Starting a Law Firm and Data Backup
I got a question about data backup and storage, and this is important so I thought I'd write a little bit about it. And actually, I'm going to write a very little bit about it. The same day I received this comment I saw a blog post from someone I follow that talked about the same product I used and did a great job of explaining it.I use dropbox and that's it. Here's a great post about dropbox that tells you everything you need to know.
What to do with Clients that Won't Pay
I'm not sure if I talked about this much, but it's always worth talking about. So, here we go.Before we get to what to do with clients that won't pay, what I'd suggest you do is try to set up a system where clients have no choice but to pay. If they don't make it past that initial hurdle, they don't even make it onto your client list. The system will be slightly different depending on what type of fee arrangement you have set up, so here's a brief overview of two.
If you charge flat fees (like I do) then it's important to do two things, first, agree upon a flat fee, and second, secure a method of payment to ensure that fee gets paid (if you are going to allow payments). What I do is typically ask for about a fourth of the fee up front and then set up a payment plan where the payment method has already been provided to me (post dated checks or a credit card number). I haven't had any problems with this way yet, though I know if people want to weasel out they can. If you don't have to track people down for payment then it's typically much easier to get paid as agreed.
If you charge by the hour, I would suggest getting enough up front to cover at least the first portion of the case (investigation and demand letter, filing of complaint, etc.). Then, in the fee agreement, you have a clause in there that when the retainer amount gets at or below "x" they've got to re-up to keep the representation going.
Now, here's the key to making both of these work, which answers the question "what do I do if clients aren't paying?" - if they don't pay you don't work. Simple as that. A check bounces or they fail to re-up their retainer, you simply write them a letter and tell them all work is suspended until they hold up their end of the fee agreement. Give them a week or so to comply, and if they don't you send them a letter letting them know the representation will be ended unless they get it in gear.
The key here is to have the guts to stop working if you aren't getting paid. For some reason that's a tough thing for lawyers to do (though it isn't tough for anyone in any other business), particularly when you are first starting out and maybe don't have a bunch of other work to fall back on. Just remember that just because you are busy doesn't mean you are running a successful law practice.
That's it. It's that simple.
Super Bowl Picks
I know you all are on the edge of your seat to get my Super Bowl picks. And if you aren't watching the Super Bowl in just about exactly two hours, then shame on you! Take some time off, at least watch the commercials, and have a beer or two. It won't kill you.I'm a bit biased this year because my brother is a big Green Bay Packers fan, though I have no idea why since we grew up in Kansas and I'm pretty sure he's never even set foot in Wisconsin. So I think I've got to root for them, even though I probably would anyway. Put that team in a dome with turf and they are dangerous.
My score prediction, Packers 35, Steelers 24.
Have a great Super Bowl Sunday!! And, as always, if you've got questions, let me know.
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