September 30, 2009
- Using Google Trends as a Legal Marketing Tool
Lawyers should consider using Google Trends as a legal marketing tool. Google's Hot Trends lists the most popular Internet searches during an hour-long period. However, up until recently, you had to navigate to Google Trends to obtain a display of the most popular 100 searches. As of a couple of days ago, those searching on Google will now see a graph at the bottom of the page whenever they happen to type in a search for one of the top 100 searches. The feature (only available for now in the U.S. (…)
September 22, 2008
- Obstacles to Marketing for Attorneys
As a practical matter, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to marketing for attorneys is a scarcity of time. Most lawyers are consistently "under the gun" and pressed for time due to case demands, transactional demands, client demands and/or billable hours. Young lawyers in law firms are often overhwelmed by the challenge of learning how to practice law, learning how to operate in a law firm environment, meeting deadlines and billing the requisite number of hours. The practice of law leaves little time for other activities, and marketing or client development are often ignored in favor of survival within the firm and hobbies outside of the firm. Young lawyers often rationalize that they don't have time to market their services or build a book of business; they're too busy trying to service clients and current demands on their time. (…)
September 21, 2008
- Marketing for Attorneys through Abandoning Billable Hours
The September 2008 edition of Corporate Counsel contains an article about Pfizer that has important implications in the marketing for attorneys world. The article mentions how as of January 1, 2008, Pfizer is directing practically all of its labor and employment matters to the law firm of Jackson Lewis for a period of two years. Rather than using billable hours or flat fees for each case or matter, Pfizer and Jackson Lewis have agreed that there will be a yearly cap on legal fees. (…)
July 23, 2008
- Alternative Billing by Lawyers
I recently began representing a client that is using a large law firm for all of its single-plaintiff employment discrimination cases. The large law firm charges for its services for that client on a flat fee basis, with the fee determined based upon the stage at which the case is resolved. My law firm serves as local counsel for the large law firm on a case in Utah and is paid on an hourly basis. I have been impressed, however, with the large firm's creative use of alternative, flat fee billing. Lawyers and law firms need to continue to implement alternative fee arrangements that will lessen and eradicate billable hours.
July 14, 2008
- Lawyers and Time Off
I've spent the last few days relaxing in San Diego with my wife. It has been great to walk on the beach, exercise, and have Sunday brunch at the historic Hotel Del Coronado! (…)
July 9, 2008
- Lawyers and Substance Abuse
In addition to suffering from high levels of depression and anxiety (and maybe as a result thereof), lawyers appear to have more problems with alcoholism than do individuals in the general population. (…)
July 3, 2008
- Studies on Depression among Lawyers
Some studies indicate that lawyers are more prone to depression than individuals in other professions. In one study, lawyers in the State of Washington were found to suffer from statistically higher depression levels when compared to the population in general in Western industrialized countries. [See Patrick J. (…)
July 1, 2008
- Depression in the Legal Profession
Lawyers and prospective lawyers should be aware of the factors contributing to professional discontent (including billable hours), and then seek to correct and avoid them. (…)
June 30, 2008
- Too Many Lawyers Suffer from Poor Emotional Health
Many lawyers are happy and live fulfilled lives. As a segment of society, however, lawyers seem to suffer more from depression than the population in general. Elevated levels of depression among lawyers have been suggested by various studies and by anecdotal evidence. According to one observer, the legal profession is one of the least happy and least healthy of all professions. Moreover, levels of lawyer satisfaction have arguably been declining. Lawyers generally have strikingly high levels of depression, stress, other mental and physical problems, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse. These problems highlight how difficult it is to practice law. (See Patrick J. (…)
June 26, 2008
- Too Many Lawyers Are Unhappy
The truth is that lawyers disproportionately suffer from depression and related problems. Many lawyers wish that they had chosen a different line of work. Students and individuals who are considering the practice of law should be aware that many lawyers are discontented. Those within the legal profession should acknowledge significant discontent among its members and should seek ways to raise levels of professional satisfaction. While it is true that lawyer discontent is not universal, and that there is a broad spectrum of career satisfaction within the legal profession, the profession needs to acknowledge more openly and frequently that discontent is a widespread problem that needs to be thoroughly studied and addressed. As pointed out by one prominent commentator back in 1993, lawyers are in a state of crisis wherein morale, professional fulfillment, and professional confidence are low. [See Anthony Kronman, The Lost Lawyer: Failing Ideals of the Legal Profession at 1-3 (1993)]. What was true in 1993 has become increasingly true over time.
June 24, 2008
- Popular Image of Lawyers Isn't Always Reality
Many popular television shows, movies, and books have portrayed a glamorous image of lawyers. The overt message is that lawyers live rewarding professional lives that are full of drama, passion, and a nonstop barrage of interesting, novel, and groundbreaking issues. The popular image of the lawyer is that she "loves her job": she does what she does because she has passion for her work to the exclusion of almost anything else in her life. The lawyer is viewed as a willing workaholic who regularly sacrifices self, family, outside interests, and friendship for the love of the case, the client, or the business deal. Of course, the media portrays lawyers as invariably having excess money and living in posh or trendy apartments or neighborhoods. Rarely, if ever, does the media focus on depression or unhappiness among lawyers. A thorough awareness of such depression and unhappiness is the first step toward neutralizing the negative effects of billable hours and moving away from the 6-Minute Life
June 23, 2008
- Looking Optimistically at Billable Hours
It is possible to thrive in a billable hours-based system. Lawyers in private practice can establish priorities and mindsets that will help them enjoy their work and minimize the negative effects of billable hours. The practice of law in a billable hours world - or the 6-Minute Life - has advantages upon which lawyers (and paralegals) should capitalize. Further, lawyers can and should implement alternatives to billing by the hour. It is helpful to explore various alternatives to billable hours, and continue efforts to eradicate billable hours from the practice of law. Billable hours have not been used by the legal profession over an extended period of time, and there is every reason to believe that the profession can abandon its fixation on them.
June 19, 2008
- Professional Fulfillment for Lawyers Is Tied to the Nature of their Work
The exhilaration of hard work and billable hours is multiplied if the case or transaction is "high profile" in some way. A lawyer who is working on a brief relating to a newsworthy public controversy or a significant constitutional issue finds tremendous satisfaction in the nature of her work. Likewise, there is great satisfaction in helping a client whom the lawyer likes or whom she believes has been wronged. Lawyers also pride themselves in helping clients with whom they do not agree, or in taking cases or transactions that present an uphill battle. The nature of a lawyer's work and interactions can create professional fulfillment and satisfaction.
June 17, 2008
- Many Lawyers Prefer to Be Too Busy than to Fall Behind on Billable Hours
Lawyers in private practice are usually too busy to sit around bemoaning the fact that they are obligated to live their lives in six-minute or fifteen-minute increments. It is only over lunch or during breaks in the courthouse that lawyers will complain to each other about the hectic and unrelenting pace of billable hours. As in other professions, the typical large-firm lawyer is wont to affirm that she would rather be "too busy, than not busy enough." There is something comforting, and yet simultaneously disturbing, about being overly busy. If a lawyer in a law firm has too much work to do, she generally contents herself with the fact that she at least is not faced with the prospect of looking for work within the firm or outside of the firm and falling behind in the race for billable hours.
June 6, 2008
- Some Lawyers Thrive on Billable Hours
Some lawyers actually like and thrive on billable hours. Living in six-minute or fifteen-minute increments agrees with their temperaments and provides them with the structure and measurable results they crave. Indeed, many individuals who choose law school could be classified as type A personalities: they work hard at everything and are hyper-competitive. The billable hour system provides an arena in which such individuals can compete and compare themselves with others. It is easy for a lawyer who bills hours to keep a daily and hourly score and to determine whether she is "winning." Many law firm associates and partners go so far as to discuss their billable hour totals with their fellow associates and partners in an effort to see where they stand in relation to each other. If a partner is lagging behind in her billable hour totals, there is a simple solution for catching up: bill more hours, stay late, and spend weekends in the office.
May 28, 2008
- Spectrum of Professional Satisfaction in Legal Profession
Despite the stress and emotional problems that are common in the practice of law, not all lawyers are discontented. There is a spectrum of generalized professional satisfaction in the legal profession. Many judges, law professors, special interest lawyers, government lawyers, and in-house corporate lawyers are happy with their work. While lawyers who bill their time generally seem to have less professional satisfaction, many lawyers at large and medium-sized law firms would not trade what they do for any other job or professional opportunity. I am acquainted with numerous lawyers in law firms who love what they do. While some of these individuals would retire from the practice of law if they were to win the lottery, there are others who would continue practicing law regardless of how rich or independently wealthy they were to become.
May 24, 2008
- Stress and Burnout Common among Lawyers
While not all commentators agree on the reliability and significance of available research, it is clear that lawyers as a group suffer from poor emotional health and have strikingly low levels of professional satisfaction. Depression and stress among lawyers are not limited to the United States, but are also common in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other parts of the world. Paralegals also experience many of the same anxieties and levels of burnout that are reported by lawyers.
May 23, 2008
- Lawyers Suffer from Poor Emotional Health
Many lawyers are unhappy, and one of the chief causes of unhappiness is billable hours. A common refrain among lawyers in private practice is their expressed dislike for billing hours. I know one lawyer who splits his legal practice between contingency fee matters and billable hour matters. He has told me that he is generally happier when he is working on cases that do not involve billable hours. Billable hours have had a strikingly negative effect on a major segment of the legal profession.
May 20, 2008
- Billable Hours on Steroids
A relatively recent phenomenon in the world of billable hours has been the introduction by certain insurance companies of a more rigorous and exacting way of billing for one's time. Although there are variations in how such companies require that billing be done, most of these companies require that their outside lawyers not engage in "block billing." Block billing means that a lawyer lists more than one task in an increment of time that is greater than six minutes. For example, a lawyer who bills 3.7 hours for a client during a particular day may engage in six different tasks (e.g., drafting a letter, engaging in telephone conferences, performing legal research, drafting a memorandum, etc.) during that time frame. Traditionally, a lawyer who spends 3.7 hours performing six different tasks for the same case or transaction would simply describe each of those tasks and record that it took 3.7 hours to do them as a group. According to the model now espoused by many insurance companies, a lawyer would need to break down the amount of time spent on each of the six different tasks for that day, rather than simply stating that it took 3.7 hours total to do them. In addition, clients who do not allow block billing will often refuse to pay for conferences between lawyers within a particular firm, and refuse to pay for any time necessarily spent by a lawyer in traveling.
- Law Reviews
Many of the negatives and harsh realities associated with private legal practice are only discussed in law reviews and other esoteric legal sources that almost no one - including lawyers - will ever read. Many law review articles are never read, or are read by only a handful of professors or law students. There are more than 425 different law reviews, and most law reviews produce at least a dozen or more articles each year, resulting in a staggering quantity of material.
