Lawyers as Teachers

Published October 2, 2012

How Good a Teacher Are You?

It is not surprising that Rebecca Mieliwocki, honored earlier in 2012 as “Teacher of the Year” at a White House ceremony, went to law school as part of her training. Lawyers are, after all, teachers. They tell stories to instruct jurors and judges for the benefit of their clients. But lawyers can also use teaching techniques in many other ways to make “The Business of Law®” more successful. How good a teacher are you for these subjects?

Your Fees

Attorneys must educate their clients about the value of their services. Most clients recognize the importance of and are willing to pay a fair fee for value. What they do not want is to pay too much – to pay for inefficiencies, duplications, or unnecessary services. To avoid fee disputes, lawyers must regularly demonstrate that their skills and the way in which services are delivered to the client coincide with what the client wants and needs to have.

Your Knowledge

Lawyers often know a great deal about industry and economic issues that are important to clients, and can educate their clients about trends and developments using blog posts. A blog combines the lawyer’s observations on breaking legal or regulatory issues with specialized content and research and can offer the option to comment and ask specific questions. This defines a teaching relationship, and also often defines the beginning of a client relationship.

Your Staff

In the current law firm world, lawyers and staff are affected by the ongoing transformation of client expectations and legal service delivery. Lawyers must take the lead in helping all staff members understand this upheaval in the way law is practiced. Secretaries, technology specialists, project managers – any and all staff need a better understanding of the forces reshaping law firms, and the lawyers who employ them should provide that understanding.

Your Colleagues

Young lawyers can enhance their situations by educating their firm’s partners on what the lawyer has actually done in a key area like business development – attending trade shows or writing articles and blog posts are valid marketing activities that, when properly accounted for, can help the young lawyer who engages in them make a convincing argument: “This is what I’ve done to promote myself and promote the firm.” These efforts may not be known, so those who matter must be taught their value.

It’s All About Communication

Education is all about communication. It is essential that those with whom a lawyer interacts knows what the lawyer is doing and understands why it is being done. It benefits your practice, both in terms of client relations and improved collection of your fees, and in the process helps you derive greater personal satisfaction from the practice.

Categorized in: Client Relations, Coaching, Management

Audience type: Administrators, Associates, Large Law Firms, Small Law Firms, Sole Practitioners