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Is Competition Felt in the Legal Market?

I always believed that lawyers somehow created a legal market which avoids, rather than encourages, competition.  If you are a person or company who doesn’t have their own in-house legal department, your historical ability to consider and analyze different law firms is extremely limited.  The lack of attorney advertising made publicly available information about lawyers and law firms virtually non-existent.

While lawyers have managed to insulate themselves from many capitalistic forces, the internet has indeed brought a higher level of competition to the legal market.

The Best Part about Value Billing

The best part about value billing is the focus it places on delivering value.  For all of the chatter about the simplicity of hourly billing and the supposed challenges presented when you have to define deliverables and quote a flat fee, the most important point is sometimes lost.  By talking value, thinking value, and quoting value, you are compelled to deliver value.  Flat fee projects and defined deliverables get really easy when all discussions concerning the project’s scope, price and the rest is driven by whether or not the client is going to receive value at a particular price point.  As the lawyer works through the deliverable list, the entire focus is on ensuring value. At the end of the project, the lawyer’s focus is on identifying the value provided for the client review and consideration. 

If a lawyer doesn’t deliver the value promised, the client most certainly won’t return.

Does The Internet Bring Us Together or Apart

We've all done it.  We've all been victims of it.  A computer connected to the Internet can capture the entire attention of a person, regardless of what's going on around them.  The Internet has the power to isolate people from real world connection with other people.

Technology Makes Perseverance Much Easier

Perseverance has always been a key differentiator between those who succeed and those who don’t.  Achievement can be like a drip of water.  A drip can become a puddle, which can become a stream, then a river and even a canyon. 

It occurred to me the other day that technology makes perseverance much easier.  Instead of a large number of large things that need to be accomplished in order to make things happen, technology makes success much more accessible.  Technology now ties achievement to the accomplishments of a large number of little things made easier.

What’s wrong with the Merits? How Gamesmanship Has Taken Over the Courtroom

There is a lot of talk these days about how large corporations have essentially taken over Washington, DC.  The little guy has no “access” to the political machine.  Many are asking “what good is a right to vote when corporations are pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of those we vote for?”

The same problem that exists in Washington, DC is often replicated across America’s courtrooms.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

I wonder if airlines realize that when they started charging $20 for checking every bag that everyone would start carrying on their bags on to the airplane?  Let's face it, the overhead bins just aren't big enough to handle the luggage of all those people who simply don't want to pay that fee.

What is an Internet Lawyer Anyway?

I practice internet law.  As an internet lawyer, I am often asked the question, “What is internet law?”

Discovery Obstruction Only Seems Like a Good Idea at the Time…

I’m always amazed by adverse parties who play games in discovery.  Their goal seems to be to avoid producing documents.  This is all fun and games during the discovery phase of litigation.

Great Resource for Copyright Lawyers

As you know, we run OverFlowLegal.com, a Pligg site for law.  We have created more legal  categories than any other site out there.  Check out the category for Copyright Law, a great resource for copyright lawyers and copyright owners.  Over 100 other categories of legal content, including some irreverent one, will inform and amuse you.  Feel free to submit your great content or vote on your favorites ...

A Trademark Attorney Loose in Austin, Texas

One of the great things about being a trial attorney is that you get to travel a lot.  Traveling is worth the trip, when you get to go to cool places.  I have been in Austin, Texas for over a week and have a couple of days left.  One of our favorite clients is based in Austin, Texas.  We are now going into our sixth day of consecutive depositions. 

I have to say, Austin, Texas is one of the coolest places I have been in the Continental United States.  This city is incredibly clean.   You’d be hard-pressed to find a single piece of trash or cigarette butt in the street.  The restaurants are amazing.  The people are generally friendly, fit and active.  Zilker Park is one of the coolest parks I’ve been to in any major city. 

So for all of my trademark litigation friends out there, I would highly recommend trying to find some depositions in Austin, Texas.  If you can manage to stay a few days, you won’t mind it one bit.

Turning Web Traffic Into Clients

Most law firms have a website, but few law firms actually get much, if any, business off of the Web.  The first problem most firms face is that their websites don't get much traffic in the first instance.  They treat their website as a brochure and include their web address in the signature line of their email.  They know that prospective clients will probably look them up, and they want to look good to those who care to check.  The second problem is that most law firm websites don't ask prospective clients to contact them.  On the Web, a lot of traffic is transient.  Unless you invite people to pick up the phone or send an email, chances are they will simply drift through.

What Do Men Want?

There’s a magazine where I live called Northern Michigan Men’s Magazine or NM3.  The headline for this month states:  “What We Men Want?” I thought it was an interesting question, so I am posting it here, and despite the fact that it is somewhat off topic to the things we normally talk about.

But it is a damn good question.  Both men and women would be happier if they could figure out the answer to this seemingly simple question.

Offering General Counsel Services on a Flat Fee Basis

Every once in a while, I’ll dive into my web traffic statistics and see something really interesting.  Sometimes, search terms which bring people to our primary law firm web site are funny.  Other times, I am filled with a sense of pride to come up number one in the search results.  Check out these Google search results for “flat fee general counsel services” in which our law firm comes back number one.  For start-up, small and rapid growth companies, a flat fee approach to providing services makes a lot of sense.  How, you ask?  Simple.  You simply define what is and is not included in the flat fee amount.  The client is encouraged to use you as aggressively as possible on these issues.  It is the lawyer’s responsibility to ensure that the client receives value.  Instead of waiting for the call, the attorney actually reaches out to the client on specific issues.

Why Lawyers Won't Take Risks With Thier Clients

Not every case is ripe for an alternative billing arrangement.  Litigation is more challenging to bill on a non-hourly basis than most other matters.  Defense litigation is perhaps the most challenging of all.  On the plaintiff’s side, we often work on an alternative billing arrangement, sometimes a monthly flat fee and sometimes a blend of reduced hourly rate plus contingency fee.  On virtually everything else, we bid projects on a flat fee defined deliverable basis.  There are lots of advantages to flat fees including the fact that costs certainty allows many more clients to say “yes” to a project which they might otherwise punt or handle on their own on an hourly fee proposal.

Are Two Really Better Than One? How could I have waited this long…

I never understood the concept of polygamy.  I love my wife dearly.  She challenges me every day to be a better person.  But could I really handle two wives? 

Let’s face it.  Sometimes one really is enough.  I don’t want helpings of dessert.   I love dogs but wouldn’t want more than one.  Two heads might draw way too much attention.

The Time is Right for a Referral

We are constantly talking about ways to generate quality business.  I stress the word quality because it means a couple of things to our firm.  First, it means clients that appreciate our operation, such as our flat fee alternative billing model and use of a transparent extranet system.  Second, quality refers to clients that appreciate our niche focus on particular areas of law, such as internet law and complex litigation.  Finally, quality means the type of client that will want to come back and use our services when, and if, it requires legal help again.

Do You Represent?

I just finished up my first board meeting for my alma mater law school, Michigan State University College of Law.  As a relatively recent graduate, it was fantastic sitting in a room full of practitioners ranging in number of years of practice from freshly admitted to the bar all the way up to those entering their fortieth year of practice.  I silently concluded that there was no better way to exhibit passion and admiration for your school than to give of your time, and in most cases with these individuals, financial support as well.  Ultimately, it led me to question whether or not I properly represent the school and law college that has given so much to me.

Why Do You Practice Law?

At some point in our careers, lawyers end up in a rut.  If you ask them why they practice law, they would be hard-pressed to come up with a compelling answer. 

Some lawyers practice merely to make a living, to bring home a paycheck.  Other lawyers feel the law is a calling and focus on professional responsibilities of our chosen endeavor. 

Willing to Risk It All Every Day

Some might call it character flaw.  Others see it as a quality which makes me uniquely me.

I’ve lived life rich.  I’ve lived life poor.  I am here to tell you.  Life is about the same at both ends of the spectrum.  There is good and bad in everything.  The best things in life are found in nature and they are free.

Battling The Internet’s Distractions

Law firms take different approaches to Internet access by their lawyers and staff.  Some law firms block certain sites.  Many law firms track Internet activity by their staff.  All law firms battle the distractions that come with the World Wide Web.  

To me, the best way to ensure continued productivity is to keep everyone motivated.  The Internet provides a convenient and appropriate respite from the sometimes taxing work that law firms do.  So instead of trying to monitor or limit employees' activities, law firms should simply spend more time managing projects, tasks and motivation.