Author: Murray Gottheil

Categories
Law Firm Management

Tales of Fundamentally Flawed Founders

Damaged vintage car with men standing around it.
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I have decided not to pick on Big Law today for a change. Let’s talk about smaller firms with entrepreneurial founders instead.

Sometimes lawyers call me and tell me about how they feel about their law firms. They don’t call me if they are happy. They call me when they want out. Out of the firm, out of their practice area, out of private practice, out of the practice of law altogether. Out of something.

I have heard a good number of tales of woe. One interesting theme is around the flaws of law firm founders. Serious flaws. The type of flaws that drive good people to head for the exits. I have termed this Founder Deficiency Syndrome. It sort of has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

read more about founder deficiency syndrome “Tales of Fundamentally Flawed Founders”
Categories
Fluff

Resentment and My Robot Vaccum

Robot Vaccum
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Saint Augustine is reported to have said that “resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

read more about my Robot Vaccum “Resentment and My Robot Vaccum”
Categories
People I Met Practicing Law The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

The Narcissist

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There was once a law firm which had a particular department which experienced some turn-over in its associates. Lots of turn-over, actually.

The department in question was headed by a lawyer with a ‘strong personality.’ I am not qualified to give a psychological diagnosis of this lawyer, but if I were, I would probably say that this person was a narcissist. If I was being nice.

read more about bad-mouthing departing associates “The Narcissist”
Categories
Client Development

Selling The Extended Team

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Back when I was practicing law, I was responsible for bringing in business to feed myself and a nest full of hungry associates and law clerks. In my early days I was not able to do that using LinkedIn, because someone had forgotten to invent social media. By the time that LinkedIn was in full swing, I had already fallen into a pattern of relying on networking to develop business. It worked well for me, and I really enjoyed having my partners treat me to lunch four or five times a week.

read more about selling your extended team “Selling The Extended Team”
Categories
Substantive Legal Content

How Not to Screw Up Offering Shares to Employees

Train crashing off of building.
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Here is a warning for Canadian business owners and their lawyers. Your plan to motivate and reward your employees may backfire if the messaging is not correct from the outset. There is no better way for an owner to screw up the morale of its most valued employees than to start talking about offering them shares in the company before figuring out exactly how to structure the arrangements.

read more about the mistakes owners make when they offer shares to employees “How Not to Screw Up Offering Shares to Employees”
Categories
Substantive Legal Content

Shotguns

Slice of Cake
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Lawyers use shotgun provisions in shareholders agreements way more than they should. Good lawyers recognize when the shotgun is not favourable to their clients.

Shotgun provisions in shareholders agreements work on the cake theory.

read more about shotgun provisions in shareholders agreements “Shotguns”
Categories
Substantive Legal Content

You May be Negligent if…

Woman sitting at desk and studying a document.
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Canadian Business Lawyers:  You may be negligent if you don’t know that:

read more about tips to avoid being negligent “You May be Negligent if…”
Categories
Substantive Legal Content

Resolving Disputes in Family-Owned Businesses – A Lawyer’s Approach for Achieving Happy Endings for Unhappy Families

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by Maureen T. McKay and Murray Gottheil

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Introduction

Resolving a dispute among shareholders of a family-owned corporation is entirely different from resolving a dispute among shareholders who are not related. Professional advisors who want to help resolve disputes in a family-owned business must understand not only that a family-owned business is different and how it is different, but more importantly, must adjust their approach to take those differences into account.

read more about why family business disputes are different “Resolving Disputes in Family-Owned Businesses – A Lawyer’s Approach for Achieving Happy Endings for Unhappy Families”
Categories
Fluff

Translations From Lawyer Talk Part Nine: Talking to the Newbies

Group of lawyers speaking to each other.
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Beginner lawyers need to understand Partner Talk (“PT”), which is the language that law firm partners use. 

Here to help the newbies are some translations from Partner Talk to Plain English (“PE”):

read more about talking to the newbies “Translations From Lawyer Talk Part Nine: Talking to the Newbies”
Categories
Fluff

Citiots

Fall colours on trees across the water with empty docks in the foreground.

Prior to retiring from the practice of law, I lived in big cities for my entire life. Upon retirement I moved to the country. Due to Covid and people learning that they can work from home, moving to the country is now something that many people are doing.

In any event, there are a lot of new things to learn when you move to the country. One of the first things that you must learn is that it is important to differentiate yourself from the Citiots.

To help you do that, I have compiled a list of ways to tell if you are a Citiot.

read more to find out if you are a citiot “Citiots”