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Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this first interview Ed discusses the importance of a business plan. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
13 minutes, 50 seconds
3.2MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this second interview Ed discusses the power of coaching and mentoring and the importance of learning how to run a business.
11 minutes, 28 seconds
2.7MB
PactSafe is unlocking the who, what, when, where, and how of digital legal agreements you have on your website or mobile app.
This was not an end of career decision for him, but rather the opening of an opportunity.
Our conversation today will focus on risk management to prevent lawyers from getting involved in the first place. An ounce of prevention is much better than a pound of cure.
20 minutes, 10 seconds
4.7MB
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
If you have not listened to it already, make sure you listen to our first interview with Toby Brown on "Pricing Practices for Attorneys" from 9/24/13 about pricing and costing required by lawyers in today's competitive environment..
Also, check out Toby's new book, "Law Firm Pricing: Strategies, Roles, and Responsibilities. The publisher will provide all listeners of our podcasts a $50 discount by mentioning the following code: LFP-TBPC1. Also check out the pricing discussion in my new book, Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law, 3rd ed., released by the American Bar Association in March 2014 on www.lawbizstore.com.
25 minutes, 18 seconds
7.2MB
WordRake, a new software program that enables lawyers to improve their writing and become far more persuasive than without this tool. This is more than checking your grammar; any program can do that. This actually helps you to improve your writing. If you're an associate needing to have your work reviewed by a senior partner, this tool will enable you present a far better product for review ... and of course be viewed as a much better lawyer. If you're a sole practitioner, you may not have the benefit of a good editor at your elbow. This tool will make you better.
Our guest, Brett Burney of Burney Consultants, is a legal technology consultant who offers iPad training and support for law firms, as well as litigation support technologies with iPad, Mac and Windows. In this discussion Ed and Brett will compare and contrast the Ipad with other available products. Your can read more about Brett Burney at his web site www.burneyconsultants.com.
What does a paralegal do? Have you ever attempted to type the plural of paralegal in your word processor; what happens? Evidence that few lawyers, let alone others, understand what a paralegal is, does or contributes to the law firm. Find out:
Our panel members, Cynthia Mascio, ACP, CEDS, a leader in the California paralegal movement, and Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, will discuss these issues from the perspectives of both the lawyer and the paralegal.
25 minutes, 01 seconds
5.7MB
18 minutes, 48 seconds
4.3 MB
25 minutes, 43 seconds
6.0MB
24 minutes, 17 seconds
5.7MB
24 minutes, 16 seconds
5.7MB
Jack Newton is President and co-founder of Themis Solutions and the creator of Clio software. Clio is a fully integrated practice management solution for more efficient operation of the small law firm. Listen as Ed Poll and Jack Newton discuss the benefits of operating "in the cloud."
31 minutes, 12 seconds
7.1MB
What is a library audit, and how can law firms save huge sums of money by conducting such an audit? Cookie Lewis, M.S.L.S. is president of Askinfomania, a legal and business research firm, who conducts such audits. As a legal information strategist, she works with law firms to maximize their return on investment in their library resources and other law library management issues. In her interview with Ed, she discusses such audits, why law firms should consider having one, and how law firms can save many dollars of overhead with the right audit results.
22 minutes, 28 seconds
5.3MB
Maurice Vincent is the CEO of In-House Litigation Support Services which provides a full suite of Attorney services and litigation support that allows law firms and internal counsel to outsource these areas cost effectively. This type of service allows law firms to focus on their core competencies. Maurice, in our interview, first defines the term, "litigation support," and then describes what litigation support providers should be doing for law firms. Ed draws from Maurice how law firms can save money and better serve their clients while using this "out-sourced" service.
26 minutes, 33 seconds
6.2MB
Maridee F. Edwards is an attorney and mediator in the area of professional licensing and ethics matters in Jefferson City, Missouri. She is former Bar counsel for the Missouri Bar and speaks with Ed about civility in the profession.
There has been a recent fervor about teaching lawyers "civility" when dealing with other counsel and adverse parties. Aren't these the principles we should have learned at our mother's (and father's) knees, but somehow seem not to have learned? Are more influenced by "everything is fair in love and war," believing that the adversary system, by definition, is akin to war?
Therefore, everything the lawyer does is "fair" as long as not prohibited by some code. With the fallout in the economy and corresponding pressure on the legal community, is this becoming more acute?
Is the legal profession guilty of misconduct or rather merely reflective of what is happening in the rest of our society?
Maridee and Ed elaborate on this issue and what lawyers need to do in order to both effectively represent clients and stay away from violating rules of professional conduct.
30 minutes, 05 seconds
7.1MB
Bruce Callow a CPA and partner in the Seattle, WA accounting firm of Clothier & Head talks about the "dashboard." His comments were made to the Financial Core Group of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association. His comments identify the new "dashboard" concept of having important financial metrics for a law firm displayed in an easy to understand format. Bruce discussed the most meaningful law firm financial measurements and how to show them to law firm management.
16 minutes, 44 seconds
6.9MB
Stewart Levine, author of Getting to Resolution and his latest work, Collaboration 2.0, talks about the benefits of collaboration, the higher heights that can be reached through collaboration, and the use of technology to aid this process. Among other comments, Stewart talks about 7 requirements for effective collaboration – it is important for lawyers to learn collaboration and to use this skill appropriately.
24 minutes, 14 seconds
5.6MB
Anthony E. Davis is a partner of Hinshaw & Culbertson and co-author of Risk Management: Survival Tools for Law Firms, 2nd Edition. He focuses his practice on risk management and professional responsibility. Anthony talked recently with the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management's Finance Core Group. His comments highlight the importance of the intake process to create the right dialogue with clients and a collaborative relationship, the most effective modality to serve clients best. Ed moderated the presentation.
31 minutes, 02 seconds
7.1MB
Gretchen Neels and Ed talk about the new "civility" movement in the legal profession and how the 3, sometimes 4, generations of lawyers in the same workplace need to become more aware of their differences in order to remain profitable and provide expected client services.
Gretchen is the founder of Neels & Company - Strategic Business Communication, based in Boston. In addition to providing consulting and training in the areas of Recruiting and Retention, Networking, and Business Etiquette to professional services firms, Gretchen lends substantial expertise in the area of Generational Harmony. She is the author of Business Etiquette 101: 30 Absolutely, Never Evers for Business, Dining & First Impressions; Business Etiquette 102: 30 Certainly, Always Guidelines for Interviewing, Networking & Meetings, and Cultural Detective - Generational Harmony.
19 minutes, 06 seconds
4.5MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this second interview Ed discusses the power of coaching and mentoring and the importance of learning how to run a business.
11 minutes, 28 seconds
2.7MB
In this interview, Ed speaks with Debbie Epstein about diversity in the law firm with specific focus on gender issues. Debbie is the founder and principal of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, who helps law firms address gender issues -- specifically, how to retain women in their ranks. Women, in many of the top ranked law schools, comprise more than 50% of the graduating classes, and have for quite a few years. Yet, this percentage is not reflected as law firm partners, management or committee members. What is the reason for this and why is it important?
25 minutes, 35 seconds
6.0MB
Today Ed Interviews Scott Simmonds, an insurance consultant for buyers and lawyers. Scott talks about common mistakes that lawyers make when buying both general business and professional liability insurance. He also provides some key clues on how to improve not only your purchasing power but also your coverage.
Scott was a general agent for 20 years and has consulted with buyers for the last 7. While he works out of Maine, his consulting is national in scope.
Listen now for ideas on how to reduce your overhead and increase your protection.
33 minutes, 47 seconds
7.9MB
Bless Your Stress: It Means You're Still Alive! written by Leslie Charles & Ed's guest, Mimi Donaldson. Most of us are concerned by the high stress of our lives, but Mimi suggests that our stress comes from within. While outside events maybe provocation, it's our attitude towards these outside events that create our stress. She points out that the same event can cause severe reactions in one person, while causing little or no reaction in another. And, it's the pause button in our brain that allows us to handle the stress in a more reasoned way.
Listen to the author who says "it's better think like a winner than a whiner"
20 minutes, 39 seconds
4.8MB
PactSafe is unlocking the who, what, when, where, and how of digital legal agreements you have on your website or mobile app.
This was not an end of career decision for him, but rather the opening of an opportunity.
That's why WordRake founder Gary Kinder, a lawyer, writing teacher and New York Times best-selling author, has just introduced WordRake for Outlook, a new software program which "rakes" through e-mails to make them clearer.
Listen for more about the program and Gary's approach to writing that will make your writing effective and persuasive.
31 minutes, 23 seconds
4.6MB
WordRake, a new software program that enables lawyers to improve their writing and become far more persuasive than without this tool. This is more than checking your grammar; any program can do that. This actually helps you to improve your writing. If you're an associate needing to have your work reviewed by a senior partner, this tool will enable you present a far better product for review ... and of course be viewed as a much better lawyer. If you're a sole practitioner, you may not have the benefit of a good editor at your elbow. This tool will make you better.
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
More than 10,000 people daily reach the age of 65, the traditional retirement age; these people face increased health care needs. How will we deal with their needs? Our guest, Brian Sullivan, is a seasoned professional in the employee benefits and health care industry for more than 25 years. He has authored numerous articles in the area of employee benefits and health care, and has delivered dozens of talks around the country to people seeking to understand the complexities of his industry.
This discussion is one of the clearest explanations of the law as it currently stands that you will hear.
23 minutes, 42 seconds
5.4MB
19 minutes, 23 seconds
4.4MB
24 minutes, 17 seconds
5.7MB
In this interview, Ed discusses Avvo with its chief marketing officer, Conrad Saam. Conrad has worked his entire career in on-line marketing efforts for children's products and services. He says that "kids try anything, while lawyers resist change. You have to put the brakes on kids and press on the gas for lawyers." Today, Avvo puts consumers together with lawyers. Learn about Avvo by listening to this "must hear" discussion.
30 minutes, 41 seconds
7.2MB
Dale H. Tincher, CEO of ConsultWebs.com, a web design company for law firms, talks with Ed about SEO, search engine optimization. They talk about how SEO can help produce increased revenues for law firms and some of the interplay between social media and SEO.
24 minutes, 50 seconds
5.8MB
Darryl Cross is the Vice President of Client Profitability for LexisNexis. In this position, he reviews the marketing efforts of many lawyers and law firms. After all, it's marketing... and selling... that creates the revenue from which profitability will result. Darryl discusses with Ed the differences between marketing and selling... and why lawyers either fear or hate to sell their professional services. Darryl and Ed also discuss several easy ways in which reluctant lawyers can be more effective and thus thrive in this downturned economy.
22 minutes, 24 seconds
5.3MB
Stephanie L. Kimbro is an attorney in Wilmington, NC. She talks about the virtual law office and her role as a "virtual" attorney. This is different than a virtual assistant. Listen and learn how you can adopt some of the aspects of the virtual law office in your practice during these tough economic times.
22 minutes, 32 seconds
5.3MB
Karl Robe, APR, possesses 15 years experience, during which he has counseled c-level executives from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups in business-to-business, public affairs and leadership communications. As an author, presenter and coach on a multitude of communications topics, his insights have appeared in The Strategist, Cris Manager, Wisconsin Law Journal and numerous other venues. Karl has achieved an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), certifying a candidate's knowledge of public relations practice, communications, theory, management science and ethics.
22 minutes, 09 seconds
5.1MB
Tom O'Leary is the owner of The Attorneys ATM, a marketing and advertising firm based in Cincinnati, OH and the author of How to Dominate Google, Yahoo and MSN. In the past decade, he has assisted more than 400 small and medium sized businesses with their marketing strategies, with a focus on leveraging the Internet to increase revenue.
Click here to download your free copy of How To Dominate Google, Yahoo And Msn.
23 minutes, 46 seconds
5.6MB
Mark Britton is the founder and CEO of Avvo, Inc. He was interviewed by Ed concerning the novel approach to rating lawyers. Mark talks about the objectives of Avvo: to help consumers enter the legal community with confidence, to help lawyers differentiate themselves and increase their revenues. They do this, in part, by rating lawyers by three separate modalities: Peer review; Client review; and Avvo review. Avvo is now moving beyond just rating lawyers into providing information to consumers. Listen to this interview and learn about the new rating methodology that will envelope most lawyers in the near future.
41 minutes, 17 seconds
9.7MB
Alexis Martin Neely is a graduate of a major university law school, first in her class, clerked for a judge in the 11th circuit and then joined a major, prestigious law firm. But, her real-life experiences in the law didn't match her original expectations. Our interview addresses what those expectations and experiences were. What should a lawyer do who no longer likes to practice law? Alexis has advice for lawyers in this position. Law is a loving, caring, and helping profession. Why don't some clients understand this? Listen to Alexis. As we start the new year, it is good to review these questions and answers.
17 minutes, 51 seconds
4.1MB
Andy Birol is a business growth consultant and author of The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth (CareerPress, 2006); he has advised over 350 business owners and is an expert contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week, among others. He discusses how attorneys can best impact the business clients they advise and how the attorney can best work together with the client's team of consultants and other experts.
After listening to Andy's interview, contact Ed with any additional questions you'd like to have Andy address in a future interview.
16 minutes, 57 seconds
4.0MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this first interview Ed discusses the importance of a business plan. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
13 minutes, 50 seconds
3.2MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this second interview Ed discusses the power of coaching and mentoring and the importance of learning how to run a business.
11 minutes, 28 seconds
2.7MB
In this interview, Ed speaks with Debbie Epstein about diversity in the law firm with specific focus on gender issues. Debbie is the founder and principal of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, who helps law firms address gender issues -- specifically, how to retain women in their ranks. Women, in many of the top ranked law schools, comprise more than 50% of the graduating classes, and have for quite a few years. Yet, this percentage is not reflected as law firm partners, management or committee members. What is the reason for this and why is it important?
25 minutes, 35 seconds
6.0MB
Thom Singer, author of Some Assembly Required, 2nd edition. and The ABC's of Networking, is Ed's guest today. In this fast-paced interview they discuss practice development techniques and increasing your connections by using networking principles.
22 minutes, 01 seconds
5.2MB
Today Ed Interviews Scott Simmonds, an insurance consultant for buyers and lawyers. Scott talks about common mistakes that lawyers make when buying both general business and professional liability insurance. He also provides some key clues on how to improve not only your purchasing power but also your coverage.
Scott was a general agent for 20 years and has consulted with buyers for the last 7. While he works out of Maine, his consulting is national in scope.
Listen now for ideas on how to reduce your overhead and increase your protection.
33 minutes, 47 seconds
7.9MB
Carol Fritz, Partner in Offshore Services for Lawyers, based in Philadelphia, PA, discusses offshore legal work with Ed.
07 minutes, 03 seconds
4.0MB
In this week's podcast, Ed Interviews Holly O’Neill. She is the principal of Talking Business, a company focusing on marketing strategies, focus groups, branding and brainstorming for new products and services.
14 minutes, 47 seconds
3.4MB
In today's podcast, Ed interviews Don Garrison of Quik Sek, a virtual dictation service. He discusses how his company uses "outsourcing" to help lawyers deal with increased secretarial needs. He talks about the company's technology to help lawyers deal with forgotten or never-learned dictation skills needed to use his service. Listen now to this interesting conversation.
14 minutes, 41 seconds
3.4MB
In this podcast, Ed continues the interview with Australian-based Winston Marsh. Winston is a professional speaker and a marketing guru who helps businesses make more money ... heaps more money. This segment continues by shedding light on his unique 2 x 2 x 2 formula to substantially increase your revenue.
An important lesson from Winston is that the work we do is what fuels our dreams. He suggests that we must live our life in a way that achieves our dreams before they carry us off, not after. That may be a great reason to listen to Winston again - to achieve greater success sooner so we have the wherewithal to achieve those dreams.
28 minutes, 04 seconds
6.7MB
Winston Marsh, a professional speaker based in Australia, is a marketing guru who helps businesses make more money ... heaps more money. In this first half of this fascinating interview, Winston addresses his distinctive license plate that helps him remember a key rule in marketing; as well as his unique formula for substantially increasing your revenue. You'll hardly be able to wait for next week for the second half.
27 minutes, 40 seconds
6.5MB
Christopher Marston is the CEO of Exemplar Law Partners, LLC, in Boston, MA. He has been receiving a lot of press coverage lately. Why?
Chris, a member of the Massachusetts Bar, was the CFO of a technology company. This is his first venture into creating his own law firm. He brings his financial and management expertise to the opening of Exemplar Partners.
Chris talks about providing value to clients. This means, among other things, no hourly billing and valuing the firm's human capital by creating the right work environment. He also talks getting clients more involved with their own legal matter to help increase their level of satisfaction.
Listen to Chris's comments which are unbiased by historical restraints of the legal profession. If you agree with him, think about how you can apply his principles to your own law firm and practice.
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
If you have not listened to it already, make sure you listen to our first interview with Toby Brown on "Pricing Practices for Attorneys" from 9/24/13 about pricing and costing required by lawyers in today's competitive environment..
Also, check out Toby's new book, "Law Firm Pricing: Strategies, Roles, and Responsibilities. The publisher will provide all listeners of our podcasts a $50 discount by mentioning the following code: LFP-TBPC1. Also check out the pricing discussion in my new book, Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law, 3rd ed., released by the American Bar Association in March 2014 on www.lawbizstore.com.
25 minutes, 18 seconds
7.2MB
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
More than 10,000 people daily reach the age of 65, the traditional retirement age; these people face increased health care needs. How will we deal with their needs? Our guest, Brian Sullivan, is a seasoned professional in the employee benefits and health care industry for more than 25 years. He has authored numerous articles in the area of employee benefits and health care, and has delivered dozens of talks around the country to people seeking to understand the complexities of his industry.
This discussion is one of the clearest explanations of the law as it currently stands that you will hear.
29 minutes, 3 seconds
6.8MB
Todd Gerstein is President of Smart WebParts. He talks about "time leaks" experienced by lawyers. His new product is called "Smart Time." It's designed to assist lawyers in capturing time they expended but failed to record. Studies have shown that time is "leaked," lost or never recorded, to the tune of at least 100 hours per year. At $200 per hour, this is $20,000 in revenue per year that was never billed -- and thus lost; simply because of careless lawyer behavior. Listen to more .....
13 minutes, 32 seconds
2MB
Patrick J. Lamb is a founder of Valorem Group, a pioneering law firm in business litigation, based in Chicago, Illinois. He has long been a proponent of alternative fees. Listen as Ed and Patrick discuss the definition, concept and implementation of alternative fees.
34 minutes, 33 seconds
7.9MB
What is a library audit, and how can law firms save huge sums of money by conducting such an audit? Cookie Lewis, M.S.L.S. is president of Askinfomania, a legal and business research firm, who conducts such audits. As a legal information strategist, she works with law firms to maximize their return on investment in their library resources and other law library management issues. In her interview with Ed, she discusses such audits, why law firms should consider having one, and how law firms can save many dollars of overhead with the right audit results.
22 minutes, 28 seconds
5.3MB
Patrick Lamb, partner in the Valorem Law Group of Chicago, IL, is a leader in the national discussion concerning value billing. In today's conversation, Patrick talks about short-term and long-term pressures on legal fees resulting from the financial crisis facing our country. Patrick and Ed also discuss the impact that those pressures will have on lawyers' compensation.
20 minutes, 32 seconds
4.8MB
Bruce Callow a CPA and partner in the Seattle, WA accounting firm of Clothier & Head talks about the "dashboard." His comments were made to the Financial Core Group of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association. His comments identify the new "dashboard" concept of having important financial metrics for a law firm displayed in an easy to understand format. Bruce discussed the most meaningful law firm financial measurements and how to show them to law firm management.
16 minutes, 44 seconds
6.9MB
Mike Downey is an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in St. Louis, MO. He recently spoke to several members of the Finance Core Group, Law Practice Management Section, American Bar Association, about the reasons for and some ethical considerations of alternative legal fees. His comments were well-spoken and directly on target for lawyers who have client responsibilities in negotiating fees before the inception of legal work.
27 minutes, 24 seconds
6.4MB
Anthony E. Davis is a partner of Hinshaw & Culbertson and co-author of Risk Management: Survival Tools for Law Firms, 2nd Edition. He focuses his practice on risk management and professional responsibility. Anthony talked recently with the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management's Finance Core Group. His comments highlight the importance of the intake process to create the right dialogue with clients and a collaborative relationship, the most effective modality to serve clients best. Ed moderated the presentation.
31 minutes, 02 seconds
7.1MB
Patrick Lamb is well-known Chichago-based attorney. He is a partner in the Valorem Law Group. Listen as Patrick and Ed discuss Value Billing.
29 minutes, 57 seconds
6.9MB
Michael Korn is a financial representative of National Financial Network, LLC, in New York City. He was a small business owner before entering the financial services field several years ago. Now Michael specializes in working with small business owners and law firms to set up health plans and employee benefit programs -- as well as helping owners and senior management build, protect, and manage wealth.
19 minutes, 55 seconds
4.7MB
Today Ed Interviews Scott Simmonds, an insurance consultant for buyers and lawyers. Scott talks about common mistakes that lawyers make when buying both general business and professional liability insurance. He also provides some key clues on how to improve not only your purchasing power but also your coverage.
Scott was a general agent for 20 years and has consulted with buyers for the last 7. While he works out of Maine, his consulting is national in scope.
Listen now for ideas on how to reduce your overhead and increase your protection.
33 minutes, 47 seconds
7.9MB
In this podcast, Ed continues the interview with Australian-based Winston Marsh. Winston is a professional speaker and a marketing guru who helps businesses make more money ... heaps more money. This segment continues by shedding light on his unique 2 x 2 x 2 formula to substantially increase your revenue.
An important lesson from Winston is that the work we do is what fuels our dreams. He suggests that we must live our life in a way that achieves our dreams before they carry us off, not after. That may be a great reason to listen to Winston again - to achieve greater success sooner so we have the wherewithal to achieve those dreams.
28 minutes, 04 seconds
6.7MB
Winston Marsh, a professional speaker based in Australia, is a marketing guru who helps businesses make more money ... heaps more money. In this first half of this fascinating interview, Winston addresses his distinctive license plate that helps him remember a key rule in marketing; as well as his unique formula for substantially increasing your revenue. You'll hardly be able to wait for next week for the second half.
27 minutes, 40 seconds
6.5MB
Donald A. Downey, Executive Director of minisoft Worldwide, is interviewed by Ed Poll about collecting both WIP and AR. Don suggests that WIP (work in progress) that is not quickly converted into AR (accounts receivable) becomes sediment that needs to be cleared out.
Where the law firm uses the accrual method of accounting, there is an economic motivation to clear it out; where the law firm is a cash basis taxpayer, there is little motivation to do so ... but the law firm merely fools itself into thinking that there is still value in the amount that isn't quickly converted to an account receivable and then paid by the client.
Listen now to the full interview.
25 minutes, 12 seconds
5.9MB
Fee problems lie at the feet of lawyers, not clients. In this podcast, created by the Canadian Bar Association, Ed Poll discusses how lawyers can protect themselves and increase their realization rate for increased cash flow.
Ed takes a "Fresh Look at Fee Collection for Lawyers."
If you desire more information following this podcast, we recommend Ed's book, Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice.
Alternative fees continue to be a prominent topic among lawyers. Our next several podcasts will feature interviews that Ed has conducted over the last 18 months with prominent thinkers on this subject.
Jeff Carr, General Counsel of FMC Technologies, responds here in the first of two interviews with him.
In today's world, the preeminent method of billing is still based on the hour. It's not the way that lawyers have billed traditionally. It used to be that bills were given on a bottom line for value rendered services.
Changes resulted largely by corporate counsel and insurance counsel in the 1970s, or perhaps more so in the early 80s, when people were frustrated with that kind of billing system. We went to the billable hour as a way to impose some cost control and as a way to understand the way law firms were billing us. Now of course we've got a whole generation of lawyers who know nothing else at this point.
Jeff Carr discusses this "new" horizon.
Hugh Q. Gottschalk, an attorney in Colorado, leads us in yet another perspective on alternative legal services pricing. He also discusses understanding the cost of your services, budgeting for litigation and structuring the actual fee agreement with a client.
These discussions should be considered in light of the "reasonableness" of legal fees... and most importantly, how the lawyer can deliver quality services at a price that will produce a reasonable profit for the lawyer at an acceptable price to the client.
Ed Poll interviews attorney Rick Simses on the subject of alternative fee billing. They discuss sharing the risk of a matter with the client... what it means and how it should impact the client's fee.
24 minutes, 51 seconds
5.8 MB
PactSafe is unlocking the who, what, when, where, and how of digital legal agreements you have on your website or mobile app.
This was not an end of career decision for him, but rather the opening of an opportunity.
Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct has been modified to include familiarity with technology as part of the definition of competence.
Listen and, more importantly, go to the Tech Show.
19 minutes, 34 seconds
4.5MB
That's why WordRake founder Gary Kinder, a lawyer, writing teacher and New York Times best-selling author, has just introduced WordRake for Outlook, a new software program which "rakes" through e-mails to make them clearer.
Listen for more about the program and Gary's approach to writing that will make your writing effective and persuasive.
31 minutes, 23 seconds
4.6MB
Our guest, Brett Burney of Burney Consultants, is a legal technology consultant who offers iPad training and support for law firms, as well as litigation support technologies with iPad, Mac and Windows. In this discussion Ed and Brett will compare and contrast the Ipad with other available products. Your can read more about Brett Burney at his web site www.burneyconsultants.com.
23 minutes, 19 seconds
5.5MB
18 minutes, 55 seconds
4.3 MB
24 minutes, 17 seconds
5.7MB
24 minutes, 16 seconds
5.7MB
Todd Gerstein is President of Smart WebParts. He talks about "time leaks" experienced by lawyers. His new product is called "Smart Time." It's designed to assist lawyers in capturing time they expended but failed to record. Studies have shown that time is "leaked," lost or never recorded, to the tune of at least 100 hours per year. At $200 per hour, this is $20,000 in revenue per year that was never billed -- and thus lost; simply because of careless lawyer behavior. Listen to more .....
13 minutes, 32 seconds
2MB
In this interview, Ed discusses Avvo with its chief marketing officer, Conrad Saam. Conrad has worked his entire career in on-line marketing efforts for children's products and services. He says that "kids try anything, while lawyers resist change. You have to put the brakes on kids and press on the gas for lawyers." Today, Avvo puts consumers together with lawyers. Learn about Avvo by listening to this "must hear" discussion.
30 minutes, 41 seconds
7.2MB
Dale H. Tincher, CEO of ConsultWebs.com, a web design company for law firms, talks with Ed about SEO, search engine optimization. They talk about how SEO can help produce increased revenues for law firms and some of the interplay between social media and SEO.
24 minutes, 50 seconds
5.8MB
Derek Flower is Senior Account Manager for Fujitsu's Imaging Products Group.
He talks with Ed again, this time about the new ScanSnap S1500. This, according to Ed, is one of the best tools lawyers can have within their immediate reach. And the cost belies the benefits the ScanSnap delivers.
Listen to Ed and Derek discuss the benefits of this latest entry from Fujitsu.
17 minutes, 00 seconds
3.9MB
Stephanie L. Kimbro is an attorney in Wilmington, NC. She talks about the virtual law office and her role as a "virtual" attorney. This is different than a virtual assistant. Listen and learn how you can adopt some of the aspects of the virtual law office in your practice during these tough economic times.
22 minutes, 32 seconds
5.3MB
Rick Borstein is the Business Development Manager of the Legal Market for Adobe Systems, Inc. He talks with Ed about all the different versions Adobe Acrobat 9 and their associated features. He also discusses Acrobat.com for file sharing and collaboration.
For those who want to learn more about Adobe's products after listening to this interview, you go to Rick's blog, at blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw
29 minutes, 28 seconds
6.9MB
Tom O'Leary is the owner of The Attorneys ATM, a marketing and advertising firm based in Cincinnati, OH and the author of How to Dominate Google, Yahoo and MSN. In the past decade, he has assisted more than 400 small and medium sized businesses with their marketing strategies, with a focus on leveraging the Internet to increase revenue.
Click here to download your free copy of How To Dominate Google, Yahoo And Msn.
23 minutes, 46 seconds
5.6MB
Stewart Levine, author of Getting to Resolution and his latest work, Collaboration 2.0, talks about the benefits of collaboration, the higher heights that can be reached through collaboration, and the use of technology to aid this process. Among other comments, Stewart talks about 7 requirements for effective collaboration – it is important for lawyers to learn collaboration and to use this skill appropriately.
24 minutes, 14 seconds
5.6MB
Mark Britton is the founder and CEO of Avvo, Inc. He was interviewed by Ed concerning the novel approach to rating lawyers. Mark talks about the objectives of Avvo: to help consumers enter the legal community with confidence, to help lawyers differentiate themselves and increase their revenues. They do this, in part, by rating lawyers by three separate modalities: Peer review; Client review; and Avvo review. Avvo is now moving beyond just rating lawyers into providing information to consumers. Listen to this interview and learn about the new rating methodology that will envelope most lawyers in the near future.
41 minutes, 17 seconds
9.7MB
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite X4 is here. Jay Larock, Director of Product Management for Corel WordPerfect Office, is interviewed by Ed, talking about the latest version of WordPerfect's Office Suite. Several important features have been added. Ed specifically addresses the WordPerfect improvements, their outstanding word processing application.
19 minutes, 15 seconds
4.4MB
Derek Flower is Senior Account Manager for Fujitsu Products of America, Inc.
He talks with Ed about ScanSnap's standard model, S510, and their new mobile model S300. As Ed noted, the ScanSnap is a "must have" for most legal practitioners.
15 minutes, 36 seconds
3.7MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this first interview Ed discusses the importance of a business plan. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
13 minutes, 50 seconds
3.2MB
Peter Brusso, CEO of Infocard.cc, works with service businesses to create small CD-ROM business cards. He interviewed Ed at Ed's State Bar of California annual conference booth in September, 2007. Peter is also CEO of podcastingforlawyers.com.
In this second interview Ed discusses the power of coaching and mentoring and the importance of learning how to run a business.
11 minutes, 28 seconds
2.7MB
Jim Arden, a California litigating attorney who focuses on attorney malpractice and legal ethics, discusses the issues of computer security. Technology is a great tool that allows us to be more effective and more efficient. Along the way, however, we can have our tools corrupted. Jim Arden delineates some of the problems with wireless computers in our current environment. Jim asks questions such as: Will your refrigerator be the transmitter of a virus to your computer network? (Did you ever think this was possible?) What security protection will you need this year? Is virus protection, spyware and firewalls enough? Listen to Jim Arden for the answers... and more.
24 minutes, 42 seconds
5.8MB
Once again Ed has the pleasure of interviewing Rick Borstein. Rick is the Business Development Manager of the Legal Market for Adobe Systems, Inc. Among other topics, they discuss the search element of Adobe Acrobat®.
18 minutes, 52 seconds
4.4MB
Russ Ruffolo, Asset Recovery and Recycling Coordinator of MRK Group LTD
Recycling Electronic Equipment
Russ Ruffolo is the Asset Recovery and Recycling Coordinator of MRK Group LTD in Elgin, Illinois. Though based in Elgin, his company's focus is national. Russ will talk about recycling electronic equipment. In California alone, 6,000 computers become obsolete daily! And 680 million computers will become obsolete within the next few years! What happens to them? Russ will discuss the importance of recycling, the methods of recycling and what to look for.
14 minutes, 21 seconds
3.4MB
Microsoft Office 2007 for Lawyers
Donna Payne is president and founder of Payne Consulting Group, a training and development company headquartered in Seattle, WA. She and the company have authored 12 books on Microsoft Office including the best-selling series: Word for Law Firms and Excel for Law Firms. She was an original member of the Microsoft Legal Advisory Counsel and is a frequent speaker at legal and technical conferences.
Donna discusses with Ed the new Microsoft Office 2007 and the dramatic differences between this edition and all of Microsoft's previous formats.
This edition is truly a remarkable switch in format that will require users to pay attention.
25 minutes, 27 seconds 6.0MB
Ed Poll interviewes Zafar Khan, chief executive officer of RPost, a new electronic registered mail system that allows you to both certify receipt of mail by the recipient as well as the contents of the attachments. Not even the U.S. Postal service can do the latter. It's the next best thing to having someone watch the recipient read your post. And, the best part, you don't even have to sign up for the service, just pay for the post as you use it. Listen for more details as Ed interviews Zafar.
21 minutes, 24 seconds
5.0MB
In today's podcast, Ed interviews Don Garrison of Quik Sek, a virtual dictation service. He discusses how his company uses "outsourcing" to help lawyers deal with increased secretarial needs. He talks about the company's technology to help lawyers deal with forgotten or never-learned dictation skills needed to use his service. Listen now to this interesting conversation.
14 minutes, 41 seconds
3.4MB
Ed interviewed Norm Thomas, Director of Business Development for Microsoft Professional Services Solutions. Norm starts the discussion with Microsoft's approach to developing solutions while using its platforms and applications.
He then continues to discuss specific applications to help improve the efficiency of lawyers, and concludes with a sneak preview of their presentations at the forthcoming LegalTech Show in New York.
Ed starts his interview by asking Norm to clarify his role with Microsoft.
23 minutes, 21 seconds
5.5MB
This week, Ed interviews Rick Borstein, Business Development Manager for the Legal Community for Abobe Systems, Inc. Rick discusses The new version of Adobe Acrobat® and how new features are of special interest to lawyers.
Fee problems lie at the feet of lawyers, not clients. In this podcast, created by the Canadian Bar Association, Ed Poll discusses how lawyers can protect themselves and increase their realization rate for increased cash flow.
Ed takes a "Fresh Look at Fee Collection for Lawyers."
If you desire more information following this podcast, we recommend Ed's book, Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice.
Leading and Learning, Inc. provides consulting services to the corporate world by guiding organizational change management. Billie talks about succession planning -- probably the single most important change that any organization can face.
Jeff Carr, General Counsel of FMC Technologies, in another interview, talks about the "DuPont Model" and compares this model to his own expectations when interacting with outside counsel for FMC. Jeff talks about how the law firm needs to partner with the Corporate Law Department, collaborating together, as contrasted to the traditional vendor-buyer relationship. Collaboration produces more effective representation at a lower cost to the company without discounting either the value or the per hour fee of the lawyer. Although alternative pricing is an important topic that will likely appear again in our podcasts, this is the last interview in our current series on the topic.
Alternative fees continue to be a prominent topic among lawyers. Our next several podcasts will feature interviews that Ed has conducted over the last 18 months with prominent thinkers on this subject.
Jeff Carr, General Counsel of FMC Technologies, responds here in the first of two interviews with him.
In today's world, the preeminent method of billing is still based on the hour. It's not the way that lawyers have billed traditionally. It used to be that bills were given on a bottom line for value rendered services.
Changes resulted largely by corporate counsel and insurance counsel in the 1970s, or perhaps more so in the early 80s, when people were frustrated with that kind of billing system. We went to the billable hour as a way to impose some cost control and as a way to understand the way law firms were billing us. Now of course we've got a whole generation of lawyers who know nothing else at this point.
Jeff Carr discusses this "new" horizon.
Hugh Q. Gottschalk, an attorney in Colorado, leads us in yet another perspective on alternative legal services pricing. He also discusses understanding the cost of your services, budgeting for litigation and structuring the actual fee agreement with a client.
These discussions should be considered in light of the "reasonableness" of legal fees... and most importantly, how the lawyer can deliver quality services at a price that will produce a reasonable profit for the lawyer at an acceptable price to the client.
There are four personality styles – What is yours? Why should you care? How does your style impact your client relationships? Gayle N. Carson, President of Carson Research Center tells us why we need to know and why we should care about this issue.
Jim Michalowicz, is the Litigation Program Manager for Tyco Corp. Formerly, he was with DuPont in a similar capacity for 13 years. Our interview with Jim also includes two other folks from the Tyco Legal Department who will also focus on development the best business practices for their legal department - developing the most effective and efficient approaches to handling the legal affairs of Tyco. Jim combines information management, relationship management and best business practices in his role as manager. Listen as Jim explains further about Tyco's approaches and what he expects from outside counsel that work with and for Tyco.
Christopher Marston is the CEO of Exemplar Law Partners, LLC, in Boston, MA. He has been receiving a lot of press coverage lately. Why?
Chris, a member of the Massachusetts Bar, was the CFO of a technology company. This is his first venture into creating his own law firm. He brings his financial and management expertise to the opening of Exemplar Partners.
Chris talks about providing value to clients. This means, among other things, no hourly billing and valuing the firm's human capital by creating the right work environment. He also talks getting clients more involved with their own legal matter to help increase their level of satisfaction.
Listen to Chris's comments which are unbiased by historical restraints of the legal profession. If you agree with him, think about how you can apply his principles to your own law firm and practice.
Steven A. Lauer, having been both inside and outside counsel, shares his thoughts on how today's lawyers should approach inside general counsel to gain their trust... and their business. He currently is the Director of Integrity Research, Integrity Interactive Corporation.
Let's take another look at what general counsel are searching for when they hire outside law firms. This time, Thomas S. Brooks, Vice President of AT&T Law & Government Affairs, shares his views on the subject.
Ed Poll interviews attorney Rick Simses on the subject of alternative fee billing. They discuss sharing the risk of a matter with the client... what it means and how it should impact the client's fee.
Ed Poll, principal of LawBiz®Management interviews Gayle Carson, president of Carson Research Center, on the topic of time management. While no one can truly manage time, Gayle shows us how to "pick up" 22 eight hour days over a year's time. That would make one very interesting vacation, or allow us to do a lot of additional billable work.
Jeff Riffer, senior litigation partner in the law firm of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro in Los Angeles, CA, discusses why and how he uses Microsoft's OneNote™ software for day-to-day litigation.
In looking for software to help him win cases, he originally wanted software that would help him organize facts and data he obtained during the progression of the lawsuit, software that would be learned easily, and software that would be easy to use.
As litigation unfolds, attorneys learn many disparate facts; they don’t always know if the facts will be important during trial or even how they may be connected to other parts of the case. Thus, the software must be capable of collecting the information and then searchable later when the entire picture comes into keener focus.
In other words, the process is analogous to the collection of pieces of paper with notes scribbled on them. However, with many pieces of paper, especially in cases with many documents, organization is often difficult. With Microsoft's OneNote™, this process became much easier for Jeff.
In our interview, Jeff Riffer talks about OneNoteTM and how he uses the software.
Many say the guru of creating blogs and promoting blogs is Kevin O’Keefe of Lex Blog (www.lexblog.com). In a recent interview Ed discussed with Kevin, one of their favorite subjects, using the internet (including blogging) to market one's law practice.
Remember how we used to take notes on a piece of paper and stick it in our pocket … or use a 3M Post-it? OneNotetrade; allows us to capture all our random thoughts, to-do's and miscellaneous ideas, place them in OneNote™ and then either search for them or organize them at a later date.
It doesn't matter whether these ideas we want to retain for later use come from our own mental meanderings, meetings, brain-storming sessions, conference calls or other sources. Irrespective of origin of the idea we want to capture, we can do so and then worry about organizing and using it later.
Listen to Scott, our very first discussion in our Podcast series, explain more about OneNote™, a new product worthy of your serious review.
27 minutes, 41 seconds
6.5MB
24 minutes, 51 seconds
5.8 MB
Our topic today is on smartly moving your law office.
Most of us don't appreciate the finer points of moving furniture, boxes of files, computers and all the other paraphernalia that makes up a typical law office... while not losing billable hours!
Dr. Bill Saleebey provides some clues to achieving a successful move in this interview with Ed.
Couple his words of wisdom with Chapter 36 of Ed's best selling book, The Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law (2nd ed.), and you will be assured of success!
22 minutes, 34 seconds
5.2MB
Leading and Learning, Inc. provides consulting services to the corporate world by guiding organizational change management. Billie talks about succession planning -- probably the single most important change that any organization can face.
Our conversation today will focus on risk management to prevent lawyers from getting involved in the first place. An ounce of prevention is much better than a pound of cure.
20 minutes, 10 seconds
4.7MB
Alexis Martin Neely is a graduate of a major university law school, first in her class, clerked for a judge in the 11th circuit and then joined a major, prestigious law firm. But, her real-life experiences in the law didn't match her original expectations. Our interview addresses what those expectations and experiences were. What should a lawyer do who no longer likes to practice law? Alexis has advice for lawyers in this position. Law is a loving, caring, and helping profession. Why don't some clients understand this? Listen to Alexis. As we start the new year, it is good to review these questions and answers.
17 minutes, 51 seconds
4.1MB
Our conversation today will focus on risk management to prevent lawyers from getting involved in the first place. An ounce of prevention is much better than a pound of cure.
20 minutes, 10 seconds
4.7MB
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
If you have not listened to it already, make sure you listen to our first interview with Toby Brown on "Pricing Practices for Attorneys" from 9/24/13 about pricing and costing required by lawyers in today's competitive environment..
Also, check out Toby's new book, "Law Firm Pricing: Strategies, Roles, and Responsibilities. The publisher will provide all listeners of our podcasts a $50 discount by mentioning the following code: LFP-TBPC1. Also check out the pricing discussion in my new book, Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law, 3rd ed., released by the American Bar Association in March 2014 on www.lawbizstore.com.
25 minutes, 18 seconds
7.2MB
Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics.
Maridee F. Edwards is an attorney and mediator in the area of professional licensing and ethics matters in Jefferson City, Missouri. She is former Bar counsel for the Missouri Bar and speaks with Ed about civility in the profession.
There has been a recent fervor about teaching lawyers "civility" when dealing with other counsel and adverse parties. Aren't these the principles we should have learned at our mother's (and father's) knees, but somehow seem not to have learned? Are more influenced by "everything is fair in love and war," believing that the adversary system, by definition, is akin to war?
Therefore, everything the lawyer does is "fair" as long as not prohibited by some code. With the fallout in the economy and corresponding pressure on the legal community, is this becoming more acute?
Is the legal profession guilty of misconduct or rather merely reflective of what is happening in the rest of our society?
Maridee and Ed elaborate on this issue and what lawyers need to do in order to both effectively represent clients and stay away from violating rules of professional conduct.
30 minutes, 05 seconds
7.1MB
Gretchen Neels and Ed talk about the new "civility" movement in the legal profession and how the 3, sometimes 4, generations of lawyers in the same workplace need to become more aware of their differences in order to remain profitable and provide expected client services.
Gretchen is the founder of Neels & Company - Strategic Business Communication, based in Boston. In addition to providing consulting and training in the areas of Recruiting and Retention, Networking, and Business Etiquette to professional services firms, Gretchen lends substantial expertise in the area of Generational Harmony. She is the author of Business Etiquette 101: 30 Absolutely, Never Evers for Business, Dining & First Impressions; Business Etiquette 102: 30 Certainly, Always Guidelines for Interviewing, Networking & Meetings, and Cultural Detective - Generational Harmony.
19 minutes, 06 seconds
4.5MB
Andy Birol is a business growth consultant and author of The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth (CareerPress, 2006); he has advised over 350 business owners and is an expert contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week, among others. He discusses how attorneys can best impact the business clients they advise and how the attorney can best work together with the client's team of consultants and other experts.
After listening to Andy's interview, contact Ed with any additional questions you'd like to have Andy address in a future interview.
16 minutes, 57 seconds
4.0MB
Bless Your Stress: It Means You're Still Alive! written by Leslie Charles & Ed's guest, Mimi Donaldson. Most of us are concerned by the high stress of our lives, but Mimi suggests that our stress comes from within. While outside events maybe provocation, it's our attitude towards these outside events that create our stress. She points out that the same event can cause severe reactions in one person, while causing little or no reaction in another. And, it's the pause button in our brain that allows us to handle the stress in a more reasoned way.
Listen to the author who says "it's better think like a winner than a whiner"
20 minutes, 39 seconds
4.8MB
There are four personality styles – What is yours? Why should you care? How does your style impact your client relationships? Gayle N. Carson, President of Carson Research Center tells us why we need to know and why we should care about this issue.
Ed Poll, principal of LawBiz®Management interviews Gayle Carson, president of Carson Research Center, on the topic of time management. While no one can truly manage time, Gayle shows us how to "pick up" 22 eight hour days over a year's time. That would make one very interesting vacation, or allow us to do a lot of additional billable work.
© 2024 Edward Poll & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
