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We were recently retained by a client strictly based on the above. It felt quite good actually. This is an entity client and the point person in charge of finding an attorney happened to be an old friend of mine. Sadly (but not particularly unusual) she’d had some poor experiences with a number of attorneys they had worked with recently so they were looking elsewhere. This person had known me for several years, although we had lost touch for several years too, knew I used to practice in the area in which they needed representation and….great, we’ve got ourselves a new client.

Do you have clients like these? Do you want some? I wouldn’t mind a few more myself. I think this concept and client-type is very much at the core of Clients for Life which is a great read and something I’ve written about in the past. Because these sorts of people who just trust you and your judgment implicitly are the sorts of clients who will be your clients for like 30 years and probably refer another 30 clients to you over those thirty years. I call that cost efficient advertising.

And yet I observe many habits in lawyers too often that specifically undermine a client’s trust. Some examples:

Lawyers OVER-Promise & UNDER-Deliver. I see this most frequently in simple timing stuff…suggesting something will be done more quickly than is realistic but also in putting forth unrealistic predictions of a case result. Talk through all possible scenarios realistically.

Lawyers DON’T Tell Clients What They DON’T Want to Hear. I find that if I’m agreeing with a client too much there’s often a problem. The problem being I’m sugar-coating things instead of laying out some tough realities that may not be pleasant for a client. Good clients like good leaders want competent and strong advisers around them who are tough, smart, and are leveling with them about ALL possible scenarios.

Lawyers That Aren’t Thorough or Detail-Oriented Enough. I just spoke with a lawyer friend in the last week who called asking me about a post-divorce situation where this new client’s divorce settlement documents included 2 provisions regarding these parents’ (ex-spouses) daycare expense obligations that were wholly opposite of one another. Meaning, in one place the judgment said mom pays for all daycare expenses and in another place judgment said mom/dad split these expenses 50/50. Would you trust the lawyer scrivener of that document again in the future?

These Really ARE Clients for Life. So treat them that way! And beyond just the above, don’t be nickle-and-diming them for the occasional phone call, but rather be constantly looking out for their interests and sending them related notes/articles.

These sorts of clients are BIG. Look, I do plenty of my 1-time, quick legal representation…it’s good work sometimes and necessary. But these great clients who really like and trust you are the clients who make your practice thrive for the long term.

Saw this comment left recently and I thought I’d make light of it. I don’t mind doing a little advertising for the guy if it helps SIC readers:

I just stumbled across this blog and thought it was the right place for this info. I am a criminal defense lawyer in New York and use the number 1-800-ARRESTED. I have started licensing the number for other cities and states. It will make existing advertising far more effective and is an amazing cornerstone around which to build an ad campaign. People always remember the number and it tells people what you do in an instant. If you’d like to talk just dial the number and if my firm answers it means no one has it in your area. Ask for Ken and I’ll go over how it works. It’s cheap, yours for as long as you want it and is the best number for a criminal defense practice without question. Give me a call. Ken Keith

I’ve never been an “800 Number” guy but that sounds like a good one for criminal attorneys. In the family law practice area I’ve heard of a person or two who’ve retained their lawyer by calling 1-800-DIVORCE. I know a lawyer friend of mine actually who has the 1-800-DIVORCE telephone number for the Chicago area and I think he does pretty well. Personally, I don’t like divorce and think it’s something vile and something to be avoided so not something I want as my most visible marketing strategy.

Personally I’ve given greater consideration to various vanity Web domains and redirecting those sites to our Firm’s main Web page. I think that will be part of our marketing strategy as we add a new practice area in comings months…more on that to come.

Anyone using domain redirects successfully??

Seriously, it’s the most often repeated question I see asked again & again & again & again….on lawyer listserves. Some version of the following:

QUESTION:  What do I do if a court filing deadline falls on a holiday/weekend??

ANSWER:  Look at the Statute on Statutes (5 ILCS 70/1.11) and read this 2nd District case, Bertell v. Rockford Memorial Hospital.

The statute reads:

(5 ILCS 70/1.11) (from Ch. 1, par. 1012)
Sec. 1.11. The time within which any act provided by law is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is Saturday or Sunday or is a holiday as defined or fixed in any statute now or hereafter in force in this State, and then it shall also be excluded. If the day succeeding such Saturday, Sunday or holiday is also a holiday or a Saturday or Sunday then such succeeding day shall also be excluded.

So in your typical situations if there’s a filing deadline that falls on a Saturday, your filing would be timely if made on the following Monday. But what if Monday is a “legal holiday” pursuant to the State Commemorative Dates Act (5 ILCS 490/60) and yet it’s not a “court holiday” in the relevant circuit court where the case is pending? Well, that’s why you as a lawyer need to keep updated on reading appellate cases like Bertell (or you plan ahead a tad more and don’t wait until the last day for filing).

In the case the Plaintiff alleged that Defendant had improperly detained him and that Defendant had failed to file a timely petition for involuntary commitment. Defendant had to file its petition within 24 hours of detaining the Plaintiff. Plaintiff was initially detained over a weekend so the weekend days were clearly exempt in terms of the 24 hour deadline. Defendant eventually filed the petition for involuntary commitment on Tuesday. The “strangeness” of Monday’s holiday was the cause of this case.

Monday was Lincoln’s birthday and a legal holiday according to the State Commemorative Dates Act but the 17th Judicial Circuit Court was open for business. Well, both the trial and appellate courts held for the Defendants that even though the court was open since Lincoln’s Birthday is designated a legal holiday, Defendant’s petition was timely.

Good piece on the above from Illinois Lawyer NOW.

Although my interest in the NBA has waned a good bit since Jordan’s game-winner over Byron Russell and the Jazz back in ’98, it was difficult to avoid the media circus surrounding LeBron James’ announcement that he would sign with the Miami Heat and the fallout therefrom. I was just the slightest bit surprised and disappointed that he left Cleveland because personally I most admire those coaches and players who’ve stayed with a team or location for the long-term and really built a meaningful and successful legacy, through the highs and the lows…Paterno, Wooden, Bird, Magic, Jordan.

Isn’t it a bit like the lawyer who jumps to big law for the money, security, and anonymity instead of building a practice that involves going through the lows and highs yet in the end having birthed a living company?

I like this nugget from the Washington Post’s Micheal Wilbon:

Something my friend Charles Barkley said on NBA TV the other day resonates with every single old-school player I’ve talked to. “In fairness, if I was 25 I’d try to win it by myself,” Barkley said. “Not technically ‘by myself,’ but I would want to be the guy. LeBron is never going to be the guy.”

Kinda like an “Associate” at Biglaw, no? You’re never going to be the guy. Being a follower and not wanting to be the centerpiece in your career isn’t always bad, right. Good money and employment security are powerful draws, just ask LBJ. Just be sure it’s what you really want.

Sure, the early years for a legal entrepreneur aren’t too glamorous earning $20,000 per year for a year or 2 but if you learn, grow, and stick with it there’s some serious accomplishment at the end of the rainbow. You’re building something; you own something; accountability…the buck stops with you; you’re a job creator; and, you’re a Leader!

Here’s a reminder from my 12/19/09 review of Small Giants:

The book concludes with an inspiring chapter, The Art of Business, and profiles the founder of Inc. magazine, Bernard Goldhirsh and his quotation…

I kept thinking that the entrepreneur is like an artist, only business is the means of his expression. He creates a business from nothing, just a blank canvas. It’s amazing. Somebody goes into a garage, has nothing but an idea, and out of the garage comes a company, a living company. It’s so special what they do. They are a treasure.

I thought I’d share a little tale from a recent courtroom hearing experience I had that worked out great for my client but not so great for the other guy (or woman in this particular case). And not as a matter of immodesty but rather because I could see something like this happening to me and it’s a good reminder of the importance of doing at least a little client preparation before your next court hearing. Because I know with me, there are 2-3 hearing types that I do ALL THE TIME (contempt defense, child support modification, dissolution of marriage prove-up) but my clients don’t.

My issue last week was a parentage case for retroactive child support and there was potentially some $30,000 at stake. Simply, this was a case where the mother of 2 children filed for child support some 8 years after the children were born and the Parentage Act potentially allows for retroactive child support to be awarded for that time period between the date of filing and the date of the birth of the children, so in this case some 8 years. That’s a lot of $$$ at some $1,000 per month in child support.

Well, one of the factors that a court must weigh in deciding these retroactive cases is:

(5) The extent to which the father would be prejudiced by the delay in bringing the action (750 ILCS 45/14(b)).


OK, so if you’re not an Illinois domestic relations attorney you might be asking yourself, and why do I care? CLIENT HEARING PREPARATION.

The lawyers representing the mother in my case repeatedly asked her whether her delay in bringing this case would “prejudice” the father (my client). And she repeatedly answered, YES! And there were several reasons why the judge in my case ruled in the father’s favor but the “prejudice” factor was one of the 2 primary reasons the judge cited. And why did the mother say that, yes, the father would be prejudiced? SHE DIDN’T KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD PREJUDICE! Something just a bit of CLIENT HEARING PREPARATION may have taken care of.

And Now, the Tricky Part:  Naming Your Business. We’ve written about the ethical issues related to law firm naming in the past here but it still seems to me that there’s a real dearth of creativity when it comes to the law firm names that I see.   Quick, how many firms do you know that don’t simply include some lame/uncreative use only of a practitioner’s or various partners’ last names? I think I know two, other than the gentleman profiled in the WSJ article. The piece includes 12 examples of different companies and their strategy in company naming. I’d suggest that is an area ripe for innovation and an instant marketing advantage for someone starting a practice.

Divorce lawyers:  Facebook tops in online evidence. Not a bad place to start if you have a dicey case particularly with child custody issues.  Good old social media! The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81 percent of its members have used or faced evidence plucked from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking sites, including YouTube and LinkedIn, over the last five years. I have. Some examples from the piece:

– Husband goes on Match.com and declares his single, childless status while seeking primary custody of said nonexistent children.

– Husband denies anger management issues but posts on Facebook in his “write something about yourself” section: “If you have the balls to get in my face, I’ll kick your ass into submission.”

– Father seeks custody of the kids, claiming (among other things) that his ex-wife never attends the events of their young ones. Subpoenaed evidence from the gaming site World of Warcraft tracks her there with her boyfriend at the precise time she was supposed to be out with the children. Mom loves Facebook’s Farmville, too, at all the wrong times.

– Mom denies in court that she smokes marijuana but posts partying, pot-smoking photos of herself on Facebook.

How to get more business:  20 tips on marketing the small law firm (page 10). Plenty of ideas, pick a couple and implement now. A couple easy ones:  *Get out of the office & *Get your newsletter on track on a consistent basis (at least quarterly).

Taking the Leap to Self-Employment. Good piece really taking a hard look at the challenges of self-employment. You must be motivated to sell a product or service for which there’s demand & the business idea should be based on expertise you already have. Good teaching point for lawyers, you’ve got to be marketing like crazy early in the history of your practice and can’t be learning your business idea from scratch at the same time. The light at the end of the tunnel:  Even in the face of failure, most entrepreneurs are not willing to give up. “Once they taste having more control over their lives,” he said, “they almost never go back.”

In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That. And finally a mildly humorous story from our current, touch economic climate (perhaps I need to take a look at my law school transcript)…

One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average.

But it’s not because they are all working harder.

The school is retroactively inflating its grades, tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years. The goal is to make its students look more attractive in a competitive job market.