Solo In Chicago…Grow Your Practice!

 Powered by Max Banner Ads 

I found this nugget buried in Cook County Board President’s Toni Preckwinkle’s FY12 budget proposal:

Parking fees will be instituted at County facilities. Paid parking will be expanded to include the Criminal Court Building at 26th and California and suburban district courthouses at a fee of $4.75 per day or $65 per month.  This is initiative is expected to generate $4 million in revenue.

It’s obviously just ‘proposed’ at this point but I bet this has a decent chance of sticking. So start mapping out your public transportation options, find those alternative free residential parking options (I can’t picture too many other than maybe near the Rolling Meadows courthouse), or raise your fees.

This isn’t unprecedented…I don’t get to the Collar Counties too much but my recollection is that Will and Lake Counties charge for parking while Du Page does not. Others?

Question:  What has been my most valuable source of client referrals?

Answer:  My law school classmates.

I have very fond memories of law school. Do you? It wasn’t quite as fun as undergrad but many of the things that made college fun also applied to law school…sort of a care free time in life, spending time around a peer group of a similar age/interests, and it was intellectually stimulating. That’s my dominant law school memory. But I do also recall it being a pretty small ‘fishbowl’ like existence. Even at huge, state universities law schools aren’t too large. There were roughly 110 people in my graduating class, far less than even my high school. And there always seemed to be some gossip and just nasty treatment of people occurring. Personally I never saw the value in mistreating or being unkind to others simply as a life ethos…there’s a right and wrong way to treat people. Yet it was definitely part of the law school life for whatever reason.

But if you’re in law school, don’t be a jerk! It might be costly later on.

Is there a more naturally captive and potentially profitable source of business for you than the 100-200 persons whom you graduated law school with, know you well, likely practice law in the same state as you, are in position to refer business to you, but also include enough practice area and geographic diversity so that there’s business to go around and opportunities for reciprocity??

 If you’re currently in law school…develop great friendships and supportive relationships now. It will payoff later.

If you’re out of school you need to engage this group immediately before too much time has past, plus it’s easy to do. Surely you have a class picture or graduation program with a list of your graduating class and most alumni associations have a pretty good alumni directory on the Internet these days. If you’re thinking about starting a practice your law school classmates should definitely be on that initial announcement mailing list. I’d suggest for most of us this is a small enough group that a spreadsheet with each classmate, contact information, and their practice areas should be maintained. And then treat these persons like any VIP referral sources…get them on your newsletter mailing list, wine and dine, simply all the personal touches that show them you care.

A couple re-posts here that I found enlightening…

The article title is a piece from the NYTimes here looking at methods doctors are using to run better businesses.  The 4 business tips from the piece are:

• Limit staff costs;
• Spread-out expenses;
• Go electronic; and,
• Monitor and tweak as needed.

I know only the basics about a medical education but I do find that dentists and doctors generally are better business people than lawyers, not sure why. Two things really stick-out to me whenever I make a visit to the dentist/doctor. First, there’s usually excellent delegation and specialization. Thinking about my dentist just because I’ve seen her more recently, there’s a receptionist, a dental assistant, a person who deals with billing, and the dentist. I’m most impressed by the fact that the dentist doesn’t do anything other than the real dentistry work where she’s needed for a fairly brief time so her value is absolutely maximized….all greeting/prep/billing is done by others. Second, and I’m being a tad repetitive but I think the point is critical, someone other than the doctor/dentist is wholly responsible for financial matters.  With one exception I cannot recall ever discussing money issues with my doctor/dentist. Lawyers can learn a lot through a trip to the dentist to get their teeth cleaned.

And finally, Keeping the Cash Flowing:  A Dozen Tips for Getting Clients to Pay More Promptly. My favorite were:

• Make it easy for the client to pay;
• Consider delivering invoices in person for significant clients;
• Create prompt payment incentives or slow payment disincentives;
• Be the squeaky wheel.

Many points of review for me but one item I’m absolutely using which is new for our billing procedure is “Provide in your engagement agreement that you will charge their credit card or process the withdrawal for the full amount of the invoice 10 days after sending it out.” Get a credit card on the file and get a hold on some money if there’s a payment delay/problem.

Recently my wife and I had our weekly Thursday dinner out at a local Mexican Restaurant in the northwest suburbs. It’s a place within walking distance of our home that has great mole sauce and we’re semi-regular patrons. Well as we paid our bill the woman at the cash register was distracted (partly by our chatting w/ her) and ran my debit card for some $600 instead of the like $25 that should have been charged for our dinner. She immediately voided the $600 transaction but then there was a ‘hold’ on our bank account for $600 that was going to stay in place for a few days which was a problem. But their reaction to the mistake really impressed me and actually will cause me to be a more devoted customer in the future.

The following day one of the restaurant owners reached out to our bank to do everything that had to be done to take the ‘hold’ off of our bank account which was done within a pretty narrow window of time so it would be cleared up before the weekend and before other payments/checks we’d scheduled from the account would be impacted. Additionally, we were given a $25 gift certificate.

I think I have greater affinity for this restaurant because of the above than I would have had if we’d just paid per usual and been done with it. I think it’s because so many people/businesses mishandle their mistakes that when someone gets it right the distinction compared to others is greatly magnified. I think an appropriate sports analogy would be when someone shows class and great sportsmanship following a tough loss. We’re used to seeing sore losers so the contrast is magnified. Now, repeated mistakes or huge mistakes would likely cause irreparable damage but I’d guess that most mistakes are of the one-time, smallish variety that you can profit from…if you react correctly.

My office was recently slower than we should have been in getting a Qualified Domestic Relations Order drafted and approved following a divorce (this is an order required to divide retirement benefits post-divorce). Once this was brought to my attention I personally got this prepared, entered in court, and forwarded to the company’s benefits administrator. The client wasn’t charged and frankly we paid a couple bucks to certify a court order and for registered mail. And we’re tacking this weekly currently and communicating with the client.

We’ll see what happens in the future with this client but if he’s anything like me with the Mexican Restaurant our mistake might turn into something profitable. Think about profiting from your mistakes the next time one occurs…unless you’re perfect.

Here’s another contest from one of our sponsors below. The flyers are perfect for save the dates, party invites, announcements, charity’s, special events, holiday cards and the like. Here’s the contest with winner picked solely at the discretion of Yours Truly…

I’m looking for the best & most helpful answer to the following question:

I’ve often said that the best and worst decisions that I made when starting a solo law practice were over-paying on downtown Chicago office space (worst) and subsequently getting rid of said over-priced Chicago office space (best). What were your best/worst decisions when starting your practice? Most helpful advice to the masses wins! COMMENT NOW.

Prize details

250pcs. Flyers for one winner

4.25″ x 5.5″, 4″ x 6″

14pt Cardstock Gloss, Front Only Printing, nightclub flyer templates and business flyer templates also available for download

3 Business Days Turnaround, *Free Shipping

Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only.

A lot of printing companies are available online. UPrinting offers different printing services such as flyer printing. You can also check out their club flyers.

This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive flyers for hosting. For more information about flyers, please visit UPrinting.com.