LawBizBlog

Practice Succession Planning

Ed — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:04:57 -0500

Selling Your Law Practice

Ed — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:41:23 -0500

New Webinar this Friday!

Ed — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:40:18 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LawBiz® Management

Contact: 310.827.5415, edpoll@lawbiz.com

Law Practice Management Expert Edward Poll to Host New Webinar this Week

Webinar Topic: How to Start Your Own Law Firm

VENICE, CA – Mar. 1, 2010 - Ed Poll, JD, MBA, CMC and principal of LawBiz® Management Company (www.lawbiz.com) and Edward Poll & Associates, Inc., will lead a webinar on “How to Start Your Own Law Firm” this Friday, March 5, 2010 at 9am PST. The webinar will be presented in collaboration with ExecSense Webinars and will available for download from their webpage (www.execsense.com) after the live event.

In “How to Start Your Own Law Firm”, Ed Poll will discuss the process of opening a private practice. The 60 minute event will cover the initial considerations attorneys should make when deciding whether or not to start a law firm, and will then walk through the various steps, including financial and operational matters, that lead up to a successful opening. This webinar, which is available on your computer, mobile phone and iPod, will also discuss specific “Dos and Don’ts,” and will include a FAQ at the end.

Host Edward Poll is a nationally-recognized expert in Law Practice Management. He has operated LawBiz® Management for 20 years and has helped lawyers across the across the country achieve greater profitability and success through his coaching, consultations, and other offerings such as books, and social media outreach.

According to Catharine Lloyd, head of speaker relations for ExecSense, “We were honored to have Mr. Poll lead a webinar on this topic. His work is highly regarded in the industry and the webinar is a great resource for lawyers.”

For complete information or to purchase this webinar, please visit www.execsense.com or call them at (415) 453-3003.

About Ed Poll, JD, MBA, CMC

Ed Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, is a nationally recognized expert in law practice management. He helps attorneys and law firms increase their profitability consulting with them on issues of strategic planning, internal operations, business development, and financial matters. Poll brings his clients a solid background in both law and business. He has 25 years experience as a practicing attorney and has also served as CEO and COO for several manufacturing businesses. In 1990, he founded LawBiz® Management Company and is now focused on coaching, speaking, and training law firms.

Poll is the author of the just released book, Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times (West-Thomson-Reuters 2010) and numerous other publications that have become the definitive works in the legal field, including: Law Firm Fees & Compensation: Value and Growth Dynamics (LawBiz© Management Co. 2008), Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law: Planning and Operating for Survival and Growth, 2nd ed. (American Bar Assoc. 2003); The Profitable Law Office Handbook: Attorney’s Guide to Successful Business Planning (LawBiz® Management Co. 1996); Secrets of the Business of Law®: Successful Practices for Increasing Your Profits! (LawBiz® Management Co. 1998)

About ExecSense Webinars

ExecSense is the largest producer of executive webinars in the world, developing over 500 webinars a year led by hundreds of C-Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, CLO) and partners from 60% of the largest 200 law firms.

Depending on the webinar, it includes audio files and documents in PowerPoint, Word and/or Excel. ExecSense webinars can be viewed on your computer, mobile phone, iPod or printed and viewed offline. Over the course of a year, ExecSense is first-to-the-scene with webinars on breaking news, trends, and skills, often produced within hours of an important event occurring. ExecSense is a privately held company headquartered in San Rafael, California, founded in 2000.

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Practice Development

Ed — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:54:12 -0500

Proud father!

Ed — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:45:13 -0500

Yesterday, I spent the day with my daughter, Deena, who became certified as a Physical Therapy, Women's Health Certified Specialist. She was among a charter group of only 61 physical therapists in the country, 6 in California, who qualified for this specialization. I'm a very proud father ... :-)

It was great to spend the day with her, see her interact with her peers and witness her receiving the specialization certificate on the stage. What a day!

Reviewing Our Operation

Ed — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:57:33 -0500

New webinar available for download

Ed — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:44:29 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ExecSense Publishes Webinar on How to Market Yourself as a Banking Lawyer in 2010, Led By Edward Poll of LawBiz Management Company and Edward Poll & Associates, Inc.

(San Francisco, CA) (February 11^th, 2010) Ed Poll, LawBiz Management Company and Edward Poll & Associates, Inc.., has been selected by the speaker board of ExecSense to lead a webinar on “How to Market Yourself as a Banking Lawyer in 2010.” The webinar is now available for download and watching on a computer, mobile device, iPod or printed and viewed offline.

In “How to Market Yourself as a Banking Lawyer in 2010”, ExecSense examines specific ways to use social media web sites, press releases, speaking engagements, and published articles as a way to market yourself and attract more clients in the upcoming year. Take the 60 minutes to view this webinar (on your computer, mobile phone, iPod or printed out) to understand how to do a better job marketing yourself as a banking lawyer through each of these media and the best ways to establish yourself as the go-to banking lawyer that clients will want for their most challenging legal matters in 2010.

For complete information or to purchase this webinar, please visit or call us at (415) 453-3003.

About ExecSense Webinars

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Dominance

Ed — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:00:35 -0500

Celebrate our YouTube Anniversary!

Ed — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:45:00 -0500

Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times

Ed — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:12:18 -0500

West Pub. Co. has announced the pre-release offering for my new book, Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times.

I'm very excited about the new book ... and encourage you to take advantage of West's offer. You can also see the new offering at LawBiz.

Law schools don't help lawyers

Ed — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:59:43 -0500

In the teleseminar today sponsored by West LegalEdcenter and LawBiz Management, we heard from 3 recent graduates. Their comments were poignant. Law school deans and management should take heed, listen to these comments and then take action.

For the first time, prospective law school students are considering the economics ... they are conducting a cost benefit analysis ... considering their return on investment (ROI). And some are saying the ROI is not good enough.

What is your opinion? What are the considerations that would cause you to go to law school today?

And, if you're a lawyer, what did your law school do or not do that prepared you for today's real world in the legal profession?

Client Security Fund video

Ed — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:36:09 -0500

Solos are mistreated by the Bar

Ed — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:05:10 -0500

The following is a comment from a very successful consultant, Alan Weiss, one who has had experience with both large corporations and individual executives and consultants: "Small businesses employ far more people than major corporations, and they create many more net, new jobs than do Fortune 1000 companies. They are the real engine of the economy. ... They are poorly treated at the moment by the banks and the government."

Sole practitioners and small firms comprise between 65% and 80% of the profession, depending on whose statistics you believe. One would think that the Bar would be advocating for these members and focusing their educational efforts to help this group of lawyers improve the economics of their practices. Somehow, as suggested by Weiss above, this body of lawyers is "poorly treated ... "

If a dispute over fees every arises in the future (as it did in the Pete Wilson, California Governor era), don't be surprised if the Bar fails to garner support from this group.

State to compel lawyers to respond timely

Ed — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:00:19 -0500

California has new rules. If you're part of an HMO, doctors will be required to treat patients within 10 business days of the patient's phone call; and patients seeking urgent care that does not require prior authorization must be seen within 48 hours! Telephone calls to doctors' offices will have to be returned within 30 minutes!

This is in response to a 2002 law that mandated more timely access to medical care.

Can you imagine the State mandating that lawyers respond timely? That people have timely access to legal care? We now have mandated legal care iin criminal matters where the defendant can't afford a lawyer. And, California is experimenting with providing the same rights in selected civil matters.

In medical care, it seems that government intervention is required in order to provide timely and effective care. When will lawyers learn to do that which is right ... providing effective legal care on a timely basis for their clients ... without Bar or government intervention? And when will the Bar understand that its members are lawyers, not clients, and truly seek to help lawyers effectively deal with the economic challenges they face?

Specialization in law practice management

Ed — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:02:31 -0500

In a recent article, I suggested that bar associations offer a specialization certificate in law practice management:

"Specialists and their clients do benefit in some way from the more intensive training, but this really is just a matter of degree from the typical CLE requirements.

What if bar associations took the principle further by offering to lawyers specialist certifications in law practice management skills? How is this different from the specialized training that many lawyers have received by earning their CPA or MBA? These questions are important and need to be answered affirmatively and creatively if CLE training is to meet the real needs of lawyers in today's marketplace."

I'm glad to say that I've received many responsive comments. Let us know what you think.

Law school fails to prepare students for real life

Ed — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:49:50 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Derek McIver

Ictus Initiative

617-717-8294, Derek@IctusInitiative.com

LIVE WEBCAST TO DISCUSS BUSINESS EDUCATION AT LAW SCHOOLS

Panel Asks: Are Law Schools Preparing Graduates for the Real World?

VENICE, CA January 19, 2010 – Nationally-recognized law firm management expert Ed Poll, JD, MBA, CMC, announced today an upcoming live webcast to discuss how the nation’s law schools teach – or fail to teach – the fundamental principles of business. “Law School: Are Recent Graduates Prepared for the New Era?”, which takes places January 27 at 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET, will feature four recent law school graduates who will describe how law school did or did not prepare them for them for The Business of Law®. The session is presented in association with West LegalEdcenter®.

“Law practice and all its supporters represent a multi-billion dollar industry that is governed by the same business principles that govern other professions,” explains Poll. “Yet law schools pay little if any attention to these real-world business concerns. The result is that recent graduates enter their new profession woefully unprepared for the realities and the rigors of the industry. It’s time for that to change.”

Over the course of the session, the recent graduates will describe their current environment, relate their experiences in the legal world, and engage in a lively discussion about the state of business education at the nation’s law schools. Moderator Ed Poll will also discuss his top 10 principles to succeed in this era. As Poll explains, law practice is much more than being able to research case law – new graduates need to be educated on client management, billable hours, fee collection, profitability, and business management. Mr. Poll will use the session to demonstrate the importance of these skills, and educate participants on the basics of The Business of Law®.

Those signing up for the live webcast will also be given a unique opportunity to learn more about Poll’s business principles: all participants will be offered a special package deal on books and CDs from the LawBiz® store, including Business Competency for Lawyers (LawBiz® Management Co. 2006) and Poll’s newest book, Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times (Thomson West, available February 2010). This special package will be made available to attendees immediately following the seminar. In addition, Ed offers weekly insights on his YouTube® channel (YouTube.com/LawBizGuide) and can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/lawbiz.

About Ed Poll

Ed Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, is a nationally-recognized expert in law practice management. He helps attorneys and law firms increase their profitability by consulting with them on issues of internal operations, business development, and financial matters. Poll brings his clients a solid background in both law and business. He has 25 years experience as a practicing attorney and has also served as CEO and COO for several manufacturing businesses. In 1990, he founded LawBiz® Management Company and is now focused on coaching, speaking, and training law firms.

Poll is the author of numerous publications that have become the definitive works in the legal field, including: Growing Your Law Practice in Tough Times (Thomson West, available February 2010), Law Firm Fees & Compensation: Value and Growth Dynamics (LawBiz© Management Co. 2008), Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law: Planning and Operating for Survival and Growth, 2nd ed. (American Bar Assoc. 2003), and The Profitable Law Office Handbook: Attorney’s Guide to Successful Business Planning (LawBiz® Management Co. 1996).

Cellphones and their Liability

Ed — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:44:02 -0500

The Business Model

Ed — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:45:45 -0500

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Ed interviews Conraad Saam, chief marketing officer of Avvo

Ed — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:41:43 -0500

In this interview, Ed discusses Avvo with its chief marketing officer, Conraad 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

Click here to listen.

When to Hire

Ed — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:49:05 -0500