Categories
Legal Fees

Things are Better When Someone Else Pays

Man holding credit card.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Years ago, a young person I know was quite proud to show me his first credit card. I was underwhelmed and said: “Big deal. Anyone can get a credit card with their own name on it. The trick is to get a credit card with someone else’s name on it.”

I was reminded of that incident recently when I got a notice in the mail from a major insolvency firm telling me that a fund which I had unwisely invested in was insolvent, the insolvency firm had been appointed as the receiver, and a large law firm has been appointed as ‘representative counsel.’  Now I had reason to worry that all was lost.

read more about how great it is when someone else is paying your legal fees “Things are Better When Someone Else Pays”
Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

Always Failing at Something

Speed boat at the dock partially submerged.

When I practiced law, I was fairly good at doing the many things that a lawyer has to do in order to deliver great client service. I always offered to meet at the client’s office. I listened carefully to the clients to ascertain their goals and concerns. I insisted that I work to a deadline and if the client did not volunteer a deadline, I prompted them to set one. I frequently made the deadline on Monday so if I got overwhelmed with work, I could finish the project up on the weekend. I almost always met my deadline, and on the rare occasion that I was having difficulty doing so, I would call and explain the situation and give the client options, such as having me work all night to meet the original deadline, extending the deadline or having an associate take over the project.

read more about how difficult it is to do everything well in a law practice “Always Failing at Something”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Law Firm Compensation Systems: Getting What You Pay For

A stack of gold bars.

I was once hired at a firm to replace a much more senior corporate lawyer who I will call Carl.

One of a number of things which Carl had done to cause the firm to search for a replacement was that he had gamed the compensation system. Under that system, Carl was paid a bonus based on a percentage of his billings, without reference to collections. This would be a fatal flaw in any compensation system, but at the time the firm was new to that type of thing and had not yet figured that out.

read more about the problems with law firm compensation systems “Law Firm Compensation Systems: Getting What You Pay For”
Categories
Law Firm Management

The Best Article Ever Written (by me) About Retiring from Law Firms

Football fans watching a game.
Photo by Tembela Bohle from Pexels

Let’s say that a partner at a law firm has been there for quite a while and is getting older, a situation in which I once found myself.

And let’s say that the partner is done with working lots and lots of hours and wants out. Perhaps the partner has become tired or has had a health scare or no longer deals with stress as well as he or she or they once did or finally realizes that there is more to life, or whatever.

read more about how law firms should handle retiring partners “The Best Article Ever Written (by me) About Retiring from Law Firms”
Categories
Legal Fees

A Lawyer’s Perspective on All that Hourly Rate Nonsense

Pile of Euros coins.
Photo by Panos and Marenia Stavrinos from Pexels

“Our policy is to push the work down to the least expensive professional resource who can provide an excellent work product, and by doing so you get the best value for your money.”  

Said every partner in a law firm, ever. And they mean it when they say it. That is in fact their policy. And in theory, some day they will figure out how to manage their law firm so that they can consistently comply with that policy. Of course, there is a difference between theory and practice. For example, in theory communism works. Not so much in practice.

read more about the difference between theory and reality in legal bills “A Lawyer’s Perspective on All that Hourly Rate Nonsense”
Categories
Legal Fees

Estimates or Guesstimates?

Desks with computers and phones at a call centre.

Every time I phone a call centre for just about any company, it turns out that they are experiencing a higher volume of calls than anticipated, and although my call is important to them, they must keep me on hold for a very long time.  It really makes you wonder why, after all of this time, they have not yet started anticipating a higher volume of calls and hiring more staff. Especially since my call is so important to them. I know that something does not quite add up, even if I have not zeroed in on the exact problem. I suspect that it has something to do with them lying to me and my call not actually being all that important to them.

Read more about how bad lawyers are at estimating fees “Estimates or Guesstimates?”
Categories
The Practice of Law

Why Can’t You Make My Open-Heart Surgery Shorter?

A team of medical professionals performing surgery.

At my first firm, Eric was a client lawyer. He was not much for reading legal documents, but he knew how he wanted them to look, and that was short.

read more about why clients want short documents “Why Can’t You Make My Open-Heart Surgery Shorter?”
Categories
Firm Culture

Lamenting Never Having Found the Legal Dream Team

Sign saying "It Was All A Dream"
Photo by Nadi Lindsay from Pexels

You may have heard the saying that ‘If you owe a $100,000 to the Bank, you have a problem; but if you owe $100,000,000 to the Bank, the Bank has a problem.’ 

The first time that I saw this principle in action was in the case of a rather large company that became insolvent years ago. This company owed so much money and there was so little chance of any of it being recovered, that the Bank could not be bothered to spend the money required to shut it down, and no other creditor thought that it was worth their while to drive it into bankruptcy. So, the insolvent company kept sputtering along for quite a while.

read more about why great lawyers are often not appreciated in law firms “Lamenting Never Having Found the Legal Dream Team”
Categories
Fluff

Translations From Lawyer Talk: Part Two

Group of lawyers speaking to each other.
Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels

As a continuation of my public service, I offer the following additional translations from Lawyer Talk to Plain English:

read more about what lawyers really mean “Translations From Lawyer Talk: Part Two”
Categories
The Practice of Law

Let’s Pretend that the Closing Date is Realistic

Hand holding pen signing agreement.

My many years of practice taught me that clients usually want to close their transactions quickly. 

You would think that they would want to close when everyone involved has had the time to do the job properly, but that does not seem to be the case.  Apparently, ‘quickly’ is when deals have to close.  Now, in fairness, there is often a good reason to close a deal quickly. A business reason, or a tax reason, perhaps.  But, more often than not, the desire to close the deal quickly seems to constitute an independent, over-reaching, crucial goal.

read more about how lawyers are forced to fib about closing dates “Let’s Pretend that the Closing Date is Realistic”