Solo In Chicago…Grow Your Practice!

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I just wanted to give a brief shout-out regarding the above which is a CLE I’ll be a part of put on by the IL State Bar Association on February 10, 2011.  It’s a midday (12-2pm) program in Chicago or online. The presenters are a law practice management consultant, both big/small firm attorneys who work in virtual law firms, and of course the requisite ethics speaker.

A good program for anyone looking to start a practice or maximize profits through cost-cutting. There are many, many things that lawyers used to really NEED that they Don’t NEED TO HAVE in 2011.  I’ll help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made.

Update

I ask again…why are you commuting to a single office location on a daily basis??

Chicago No. 1 in road congestion.

Today marks 8 years since I joined some 1,500 of my closest friends down at McCormick Place in getting sworn-in as an active Illinois attorney. It wasn’t the most memorable of experiences with such a large group…I rose from my seat, took the attorney oath and that was about it. Although I do recall a nice dim sum lunch in Chinatown with my parents after the swearing-in ceremony.

I wouldn’t say that “time flies when you’re having fun” applies here but the last 8 years of my professional life have included many high points and surely have been instructive and filled with constant learning. And frankly much of “Lawyerland” is pretty whacked!

So without further adieu, here are my 8 observations from 8 years as an Illinois attorney:

There are too many unhappy lawyers. I suppose this might be something like the chicken and the egg, meaning, what came first becoming a lawyer or the unhappiness but either way it can’t be too healthy. The work we do is serious work but too many lawyers take themselves way too seriously. If you’re working in a practice area that’s not meaningful to you, change; if you think being generally belligerent and treating everyone badly helps your clients’ cases you’re WRONG!

I observe too many lawyers who prey on clients during life’s darkest times. This bothers me greatly and motivates me to be different. Specific to my practice I see this a lot in divorce matters…the “simple” divorce that turns into a $30,000 lawyer debt. I had one of my contempt defense appointed cases recently for a young guy who had some clear mental illness and some of his past lawyers had just strung him along to the tune of many thousands of dollars in legal fees in a case where clearly he wasn’t going to be winning custody and there wasn’t much of a marital estate. BE DIFFERENT!

Client education & massaging client expectations may be the most important things I do. Plus, incessantly pushing clients to solve their own problems, particularly in domestic relations matters. Steering client expectations toward reality is probably the greatest wisdom that comes from my vast 8 years of experience. As with most things, you as a lawyer aren’t evaluated by some perfect/objective standard rather you’re evaluated against the client’s lawyer expectations (make sure they’re realistic).

The Circuit Court of Cook County’s antiquated technology = Injustice. I commented to my wife at dinner last night that if you want to experience information technology circa 1985 just walk into a Cook County Courthouse (seriously, where else would you see carbon paper?). I was looking at an archived 1985 divorce court file in Daley 1113 yesterday and it didn’t look any different than the 2010 version. But the fundamental problem is that the antiquated technology leads to unjust results as I’ve written about here & here.

What’s the deal with “Status Reports”? For anyone outside Cook County, Illinois, “Status Reports” are the most popular type of court date where ostensibly you’re coming to court to update the judge on the current status of the case. Plus, these are almost all set at 9:30 a.m. Problem #1 is that most judges I’m before don’t keep track of each case’s “status” themselves so what’s the point? A handful of judges are starting to have a computer up on the bench to keep detailed notes much like the minutes of a board meeting so at least their “status” is being measured. And there’s 8 hours between 830am & 430pm (hours courthouses are open) so why are 90% of cases set at 930am? The elevators at the Daley Center between 920am-1020am are the most needlessly stress-inducing part of my law practice.

Getting rid of a physical/permanent office (and associated costs) and going solo were my best decisions. These are 2 things I probably could not have envisioned 8 years ago that, currently, I’d have a hard time returning to their alternatives (single bricks/mortar location & being someone else’s employee). I’ve made the statement many times that the worst decision I’ve made as a solo practitioner was over-spending on office space…that’s still true. Using Regus for our client meetings allows me & them great flexibility and I’m never commuting somewhere simply for me to work at an office. And building a business is simply very satisfying (not easy, but satisfying).

Client payment security is my most critical issue. I was going to say something about too often allowing myself to compete on price and the negatives associated with that decision (which is generally a no-no). But even when I have likely charged a rate too low, I can make a nice living from the clients who are paying like clockwork. The practice killer is inconsistent income & I must solve this problem. Our early payment option to clients has been effective in 2010…clients get a 5% discount when they pay by a certain date. I think the other solutions to “client payment security” are using “Evergreen Retainers” (never allowing a client to have a zero retainer balance) and securing client payment plans (when necessary) firmly with a credit or debit card.

I need HELP with the business of law. Both law schools and bar associations are deficient. There is the occasional good program regarding “Law Practice Management” but there’s never adequate discussion about MONEY & PROFIT. I brought just north of zero business experience to my law practice when I began in April ’05. So I’ve finally retained an outside lawyer/business coach for year 9 & beyond.

Sometimes I can actually read when I’m writing on this blog and thus I ended up attending a couple seminars and conferences recently. My random thoughts both from the rostrum and as an audience member…

Out-of-town conferences offer a good opportunity for learning, networking, productivity and FUN. It had been a few years since I attended an out-of-town seminar and I’m surely not here to compare Springfield, IL to San Francisco in terms of the most exotic of conference locations (our Executive Mansion needs better tour docents) but I really enjoyed my 3 days in Springfield at several different levels. In no particular order…it’s easy to remain pretty darn productive at a conference hotel with a smartphone or laptop with you and wireless Internet access freely available. Quite frankly if my wife hadn’t accompanied me to Springfield I don’t think I would have missed a beat on the law firm/work side of things at all. I’d suggest it’s almost a more productive time than just “being in the office.” I’m meeting people, having fun, learning new things and concepts, and on top of legal work at a good conference hotel. Maybe I’ll finally get to Blogworld in 2010.

Get as close to your current clients as you possibly can. That’s among the nuggets from a presentation by management consultant John Olmstead. The overarching marketing point he made was that his lawyer clients often approach him about new marketing/sales ideas but his first questions is, what are you doing with the clients you already have/had? The point is simple right, but often forgotten. It’s a lot more likely that future legal work is going to come from that person whom you know and knows you and you have their contact information and you have a relationship versus engaging some person in the general public who might somehow come in contact with you.

The Connected Lawyer is NOT a fan of 3-in-1 printer/scanner/copiers. But they sure save surface area Bryan!

And some interesting nuggets from the ARDC CLE…

• During 2008, the ARDC docketed nearly 6,000 investigations yet only 124 of those actually resulted in ARDC prosecutions. More than 3,800 of the initial 6,000 alleged case neglect or communication failings.
• The Top 4 grievances docketed by area of law: 1) Criminal/Quasi-Criminal; 2) Domestic Relations; 3) Tort; and, 4) Real Estate/Landlord-Tenant.
• As for fee matters that get to hearing they fall into the following categories:
  –Overcharging…must be extreme. The example was a case of $150,000 in attorneys fees charged for entry of a guilty plee.
  –Billing more than a 24-hour day to a state agency for attorney’s fees.
  –Fraudulent billing at a document review project where the project’s software was timing the lawyer.

Saw this announcement from the ARDC about an upcoming free CLE on October 14, 2009 regarding the new rules of professional responsibility. Interesting, both an in-person (at Northwestern law school-375 E. Chicago Avenue) or online viewing option. My semi-serious goal is to spend $0 for my MCLE hours for the next 2-year reporting period (unless I see something REALLY good)…

October 14, 2009 – 3:00 to 5:15 p.m. (CT) (Live Webcast)*  2.0 Hours MCLE/PCLE Credit in Illinois

What the New Rules of Professional Conduct Will Mean for Your Practice

An overview of the most significant changes to the new Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct to take effect on January 1, 2010.  Justice Fitzgerald will present the Court’s perspective on the adoption of the new Rules and there will also be a panel discussion of hypotheticals comparing and contrasting the new Rules with the prior 1990 Rules of Professional Conduct.

*This program will be broadcast live from Thorne Auditorium at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, 375 E. Chicago Avenue (corner of Chicago Avenue and 750 N. Lake Shore Drive.

For In-Person Attendance on October 14: Seating is limited to the first 500 lawyers.  To register, please call:  (800) 826-8625 or (312) 565-2600.

What I’ve been reading of late…

Big firms cut back on law school recruiting. Yada, yada, yada.  Some examples from the article seemed to be 50%-60% cuts in summer associate positions and on-campus fall interviews. Well, you’re at the right place, Solo in Chicago.

Was it worth it? With debt of up to $250k, some law grads are dubious. Some? I don’t think it’s only a DEBT issue. This is my story which I bet is common. I decided to attend law school without giving that decision nearly enough thought…it was sort of an after-thought to generally boost my career prospects and to temporarily avoid permanent career decisions. I had no specific goal to work at a big firm or necessarily to work directly as a lawyer in private practice at all. Now I’m out and not particularly enamored with the “practice of law,” thinking of things to do that I would enjoy more, and I’m got this $40,000 weight around my neck.

Blogging Assistant PD Accused of Revealing Secrets of Little-Disguised Clients. Yeah, a little more anonymity and avoiding calling specific judges A-holes might best be avoided.

Okay so not only do us domestic relations lawyers get the most ARDC complaints filed against us but now we’ve seen two of us get jailed in the last 6 months by judges up on the 30th Floor. Here’s the bit regarding the most recent jailing…

I’m not jumping to any conclusions on this situation. I know and respect the judge doing the jailing greatly in this case and I believe the judicial canon of ethics never allows judges to respond to these sorts of situations so we’ll likely never know the full story. A tad scary though…both jailings are along the same corridor where most of my cases are.

At least according to John Cesario, ARDC at today’s Working With Challenging Clients seminar @ CBA:

1.  Criminal;
2.  Domestic relations;
3.  Torts/PI;
4.  Real Estate.

Ah splendid, my 2 primary practice areas in the top 4. Real estate’s a bit of a head-scratcher…where’s the contentiousness in ho-hum transactional work?

That was the subject of one of Chicago Laywer’s Ethics columns recently. I’ve never done this but the article covers some interesting cases and issues. It would be nice if the Rules of Professional Conduct were touched on a bit more. Here’s the general rule apparently:

Generally, when a lawyer takes a deed to a client’s property at the outset of the attorney-client relationship as part of the retainer agreement, and it is understood that the deed is only being held as a lien, and not intended as a conveyance of title, there is no violation of the rules.

I haven’t heard or seen of too many firms doing this but obviously there are cases on the issue that are cited in the article. Personally I’ve only had clients sign-off on agreed Judgment Liens that I’ve then recorded against property to secure a certain amount in legal fees.

The gist of the 4 cases cited seem to break on a) Are you holding the deed as a lien or is an actual conveyance intended; b) Do you take the deed as part of an initial retainer or is this a separate business transaction with a client later on. Generally holding a lien is fine and doing everything up front as part of a retainer agreement is the way to go. The trouble comes when issues about the lien/conveyance aren’t laid out in enough detail and when they’re transacted after the attorney-client relationship has been formed because then your conflict of interest issues arise.

Your failure to pay your annual ARDC registration fee that is? I kinda thought that was about right, but I read otherwise in the February ’09 Illinois Bar Journal (pw protected or get the hardcopy or become an ISBA member).

Perhaps you’re thinking about how embarrassed you are that you haven’t paid your dues timely. Nobody has said anything to you yet, so maybe, you think, if you continue to ignore the problem, nobody will find out about it – and then you can save some bucks, too.

Bad idea, says Grogan. First of all, people will find out – and judges will be the first to know. SCR 756(g), Grogan notes, requires the ARDC Administrator to remove from the master roll the names of those lawyers who haven’t registered by February 1.

Though he says that his agency may allow lawyers even a few more days of grace beyond that date, sometime in February ARDC does notify the chief judges of each of Illinois’s judicial circuits of the names of all lawyers in their individual circuits whose names have been stricken for failure to register. The chief judges circulate those lists among the other judges. Lawyers on those lists who dare attempt to appear in court as counsel can anticipate some embarrassment as they are queried about whether they’ve yet complied with the rule and been reinstated, for those who have been removed from the master roll are not authorized to appear in court or hold themselves out as attorneys, Grogan notes.

Very informative, I’ll admit I think I’ve paid an annual registration fee a few days after the first of the year and didn’t think much of it. I guess no big deal but beware of February 1st. Likely not something you want to hear about coming from the bench with that new client standing beside you.