So I thought I’d look around and see what else is happening in the blogsphere…
A simple yet sensible post from Jim Calloway regarding the correct way to state your out-of-office/vacation voicemail. His advice:
Correct:: “I am out out of the office and will return June 15th.” Incorrect: “I will be out of the office from June 3rd through June 15th.” It is unneeded information that could lead to incorrect assumptions.
Good, good, just in time for my little Eagle River trip next week. Mastering the art of solo law firm productivity during vacations or other times away is actually quite important and not always an easy needle to thread.
Level 1 is providing for that bare minimum of coverage while your gone in the event of client emergencies and not upsetting clients too much that you’re gone. Level 1 should handled easily enough by having a lawyer or two who can cover your things or be available for client emergencies (client put in jail or something that can’t wait) and checking e-mail/voicemail daily or every other day or having an assistant handle the phones and contact you only in the extremely urgent situation.
Level 2 is creating a firm that in essence runs itself and remains productive/profitable when you’re out. That’s more difficult and really requires you to be a good manager. And I don’t mean lawyer working more while she’s away…that’s not a vacation. The answer here is great staff and clearly defined roles where they’re doing their work while your gone and it’s billable work…drafting pleadings, monitoring transactions, ect. In my opinion, in a well-oiled solo practice firm the only thing that really must stop when you’re out is new client meetings, the rest of the legal services business should march on.
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I agree with the above. In the past, I have worked quite a bit on my “vacations” and that is something I would like to change in the future. It seems that attorneys should be able to practice some of the time from anywhere by leveraging technology.
Thanks for the comment Tanya. Just back from 6 day vacation…I admit I checked some e-mail and made a couple calls for 1-2 hours mid-vacation. I guess that’s the nature of a small business. But with just a little planning getting away is surely not impossible.